I mean, there's a reason forums have been using alternating colors for posts since back in the VBulletin days. It's to decrease eye strain. It's not a "stylistic" choice. It serves a very real purpose. The same is true for table lines in the topic lists. It's to reduce eye strain. Getting rid of those elements just makes everything blur together and makes me want to spend less time looking at the site.
I'm also not seeing a way to sort topics based on the platform flair.
As far as inside the actual threads, everything just screams decreased readability. The spacing between posts, the lack of alternating colors, the usernames being reduced to a tiny font at the bottom of the posts. It all just creates one giant blob of eye strain.
And I know what your response to this is going to be, "we're creating customizable looks for forum members." And hey, that's great. But if this is the default "best foot forward" that new people are going to see then I just don't think it's going to have the effect you're hoping for. I think the decreased readability of your minimalistic look is going to drive people off, not bring them in.
The manage user button is really nice though.
...and what about "likes?" Isn't that still the number one requested feature?
I posted a thread similar to this in the beta forum.
I dont know who read the ticket. If it was Allen, Devin, or someone else. But to their credit they did respond. They advised me to try the new alternative style they created which became the classic mode in the gear box menu.
And thats when I bailed out of the beta. It was crystal clear that they thought I represented the fringe minority. That everyone was going to love the changes and theyd give classic mode to us complainers. And frankly I just dont have the energy anymore to convince Allen or Error that theyre wrong. So I gave up and left.