Not only do I agree entirely with deprecated but I'd go further. Sadly (IMO) this site has been on a downward spiral for even longer. Losing Abigail was perhaps the start of it.
These days I login, usually just for a few minutes a day and check out the latest postings made by the monks who have made the greatest impression on me... btrott, chromatic, merlyn, dominus and lhoward and then leave.
Another problem is the number of votes mediocre nodes acquire is often out of all proportion to their real value. So, if I've time on my hands I'll upvote the 'worst nodes' (they rarely deserve it) and downvote the 'best nodes' (they rarely deserve it).