My pet peeve with Medium is how they had zero profile customization options when they started off. No custom themes or design, the focus was (allegedly) on the content, not its presentation.
Last time I checked, they now let you personalize your profile and its design and include a custom username.medium.com URL for your profile. They became the very thing they said they weren't.
YouTube shows a "something's broken" error. Similar errors when trying to access Gmail. Tried on multiple browsers and connections, got the same result. The search engine works fine, as of now.
You are right. I'd bought some gems with my Google Opinion Rewards money, and the only use someone has for gems is for costumes and backgrounds - all cosmetic changes, nothing that affects the gameplay. IIRC you can use gems to change your class if you wish, but you get an Orb of Regeneration at Level 100, so you can change your class for free at that point.
What I hate even more is blatantly copying from a project that already exists. Sure, the target audience is different and the focus is on people who don't know how to code.
But where's the business model? Will they be hosting the "HN clone" on their own servers? I thought Reddit already does that.