STOP FLAGGING SPAM.
I've given up on seeing any reversion to the old forum format. The new format sucks compared to the old one, for reasons we've all expressed repeatedly, but the PTBs have won. They've worn me down with their unresponsiveness. After six months, I'm done bashing my head on the wall. I've decided to put up with it in exchange for the community interaction, however noticeably reduced that's become.
But my sense of community is much weaker than it was before the overhaul. For me, it's declined to the point where as of today, I'm officially done spam hunting. I no longer care what newcomers may think when they see a spam as the new post to every other discussion. I don't care what people think of TR when they see a damned spammer staying on the 'Power Users' list for weeks after the PTBs are notified. I don't care because it doesn't feel like 'my' site anymore. It's become too difficult to track the spam down, especially having to load second or subsequent pages to get to the porky posts, being unable to see more than four previous posts, etc. The current discussion format is so poor that removing a few cans of ham from the cluttered-up corners isn't going to make much of an improvement.
I encourage others to do the same. STOP FLAGGING SPAM. Let those that think this is a good forum layout clean it up for themselves.