But it's probably inevitable that Hacker News will wither and go away (or at least stop being a place that attracts people like me). Eventually, somethign will replace HN like something replaced Slashdot (which had fantastic comments with not that much moderation, back in the day) and Usenet.
No, because new people wouldn't be informed about behaviour that breaks the site rules nearly as much, and thus continue breaking the site rules which makes it less attractive for the "old guard" to interact and more attractive for people who find posts that break the site rules appealing.
It would still stay decent for a few years, but after a decade or so it'd be unrecognizable IMO.
Of course, that prediction was sourced from out of thin air and unsubstantiated guesswork. Just writing my reasons of why I think so.
But it's probably inevitable that Hacker News will wither and go away (or at least stop being a place that attracts people like me). Eventually, somethign will replace HN like something replaced Slashdot (which had fantastic comments with not that much moderation, back in the day) and Usenet.