I share your concerns. For me it "should" be ~4+ years. But that assumes that I can post at the same rate, which I won't be able to.
I primarily follow HN for news, with the option of discussion and clarification of said news. Many (most?) of my comments are buried deep in the comment tree, as responses to specific comments, and tend to get one or two responses.
And that sort of thing - responses back and forth, clarification and additional questions - are the sort of thing that won't be able to be done. There is no sense in posting a reply to someone with less than a thousand karma if it's buried deep in the comment tree, even if it's something the parent commenter is interested in, even if it is something that other people would be likely to want to have answered. Because it is a niche conversation, and there are so few people visiting it that it is unlikely that someone with 1000 karma will visit it.
If I cannot comment, why stay? Most, if not all, of the interesting articles are crossposted elsewhere, places where I can comment.
I primarily follow HN for news, with the option of discussion and clarification of said news. Many (most?) of my comments are buried deep in the comment tree, as responses to specific comments, and tend to get one or two responses.
And that sort of thing - responses back and forth, clarification and additional questions - are the sort of thing that won't be able to be done. There is no sense in posting a reply to someone with less than a thousand karma if it's buried deep in the comment tree, even if it's something the parent commenter is interested in, even if it is something that other people would be likely to want to have answered. Because it is a niche conversation, and there are so few people visiting it that it is unlikely that someone with 1000 karma will visit it.
If I cannot comment, why stay? Most, if not all, of the interesting articles are crossposted elsewhere, places where I can comment.