I accept the motivation but it makes this site more sterile. A Q&A becomes the domain of the OP and any who answer and nobody else who has something else to contribute does not bother to weigh in. I expect I would learn to ignore the issues I bump into here if I spent regular time here. SE soured me to Q&A when they went all PC and I was hoping that Codidact was going to be run for the visitors. It looks like a lot of emphasis has been made to make it professional and polished and pander to the wishes of the answerers. The best way to get new people to answer questions is to make their contributions WELCOME rather than a nuisance. I hazard half of the visitors have met SE before the first time they find Codidact, the expectations that they have will be carried over.

Our aim is to run Codidact for the communities that use them, both regulars and visitors. (Every regular was once a visitor; we need to draw people in.) I'm having trouble understanding how threaded comments make people feel unwelcome. And if people have answers to questions, we want to give them the extra visibility of actual answers, not have that answer be buried deep in comments like on Reddit or Quora. What am I missing? I feel like I'm not fully understanding your comment, sorry.

I read all the answers and comments before I engage. I see no point in repeating something that may already be in an answer or previous comment that would be wasting everyone's time so I cannot leave comments unexpanded. So all top level comments may as well be expanded unless there are really lots and I would have nothing to add anyway.

I do not want to drill down into something that I came here for. If I want to read an encyclopaedia to broaden my interest I visit Wikipedia, if I search for an answer on a topic I read all the wisdom I can.

Threaded comments are fine if they expand easily without hiding other stuff. I almost only post answers on EE but am a visitor everywhere else. I want to enjoy my visits to everywhere not just when I have my answering hat on at EE.

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.... Random internet stranger came here for information as a result of text search, not for protocol or to make nice with the regulars. The more he finds ANY information, the more likely he may stay. The easier he can share even a tiny bit of information that he can the more likely he is going to come again. Until a visitor has voted, commented answered or asked a question Codidact is just a Google result behind a extra click. Make the engagement EASY and the number of regulars will grow faster.

The visitors are the only reason for this site, a mega ton of answers means nothing if people only occasionally visit due to a google result. You want community then be engaging instead of standoffish. Offer everything you have, hold no pearl of wisdom back and neither shun even a dirty pearl (poor comment) from a swine herder, it may be what you came here looking for.