New XRMXX -- stay here or leave

Like I am certain a great many of you, I have decidedly mixed feelings about "new" XRMXX. I fought it as long as it was possible, always opting to return to "old" XRMXX. I loved old XRMXX. It was one of the very best implementations of a site like this. Almost everything looked and worked as it should. "New" XRMXX? Not so much. It is in the nature of humans to get used to almost anything. I tried and tried with "new" XRMXX, and still hate it.

I must say that "new" XRMXX is one of the more baffling developments I have ever seen. It seems a giant step back in almost every respect. Almost nothing looks "right." Either it's too much white space, poor organization, baffling logic, pictures and icons that are either too big or too small, or stuff that simply doesn't make sense. And, overall, it just looks butt-ugly.

Adding to the mystery is why XRMXX has been so hell-bent in forcing the change from its really excellent old format to this new one, increasing the pressure to switch by making it ever more difficult to continue to use the nice old format. XRMXX even went out of this way to claim that everyone loved the new format when that quite obviously wasn't true. In fact, it was the other way around: almost everyone seemed up in arms over this forced change.

That said, one must assume that XRMXX had some sort of reason for making the change. It SHOULD be obvious to them that people are quite unhappy about it, and enough people have offered suggestions on how to improve the new format and at least make it look and work halfway decent. While sometimes change happens for change's sake, more often than not it's for economic reasons. XRMXX is one of the few sites that is "free" without the harassment and the constant solicitations most "free" sites are infamous for. XRMXX's approach had been to make premium available for those who want it without pushing it and chipping away at what was once free. Major kudos to the site for that.

Still, I have to assume that economics must have played a reason for XRMXX to force this new design on its users. Only, I can't see how the new layout makes the site more economically viable. How does it generate more revenue for XRMXX (revenue they are certainly entitled to, given their overall terrific job)? I have no idea.

As is, when we were finally forced to use the new format, when XRMXX terminated our beloved old one, my first reaction was to take down all my many galleries and delete my account. And I still consider that. But overall it's a bit like being unhappy with Facebook and Zuck's never-ending shoveling more and more ads onto Facebook users. There is no real alternative to Facebook. Likewise, there is no real, comprehensive alternative to XRMXX. Sure there are other sites, but none like the old XRMXX.

So what is a longtime XRMXX user to do, especially those of us who have been posting galleries that then generate hundreds of thousands of views and clicks for XRMXX? Try to get used to the "new" XRMXX that still doesn't look any less dreadful to me than when it was first revealed? Grin and bear it? Try to live with it? Or just sigh, realizing that no good thing lasts forever, and close this chapter?

What do you all think?