But... it does discourage discussion. It's a Q&A site, not a forum. You don't just post some thoughts and reply to other people's thoughts: you post either a question, or an answer. If you need clarification on a post, you comment. It's not a discussion forum.
And I'm not a new, disgruntled user. I like the site a lot and am quite active on the IT Security stackexchange site. From my semi-moderator's point of view, the only place for discussion is the chat function (which only a few regulars use).