As someone who was on ff for nearly 20 years, I'm really angry about the direction the site has gone. My guess is that they're not getting enough ROI for their paid options which have always been an awful value. More and more stories are being monetized. The chat is basically FUBAR since it is now on every single page and isn't mobile friendly. Their site is getting bogged down more and more with AI which they push as a premium feature especially with stories. They also tried to so more of a curvage model by letting people push premium pics and videos. And don't forget their laughably poor "films" which looks like a slideshow of uncanny valley 3d art with narration (This is based off the trailers. I wouldnt have ever paid actual money on that crap). Back in the day the site was well regarded because it wasn't overrun with clout-chasing content creators. Sure, they were always there, but the were much easier to ignore. Now it is ever present. Also, what's the deal with everyone and their mom shilling for KiK messenger? Its utter garbage.
The time to archive stuff was way back before all this pay wall stuff happened. So many stories that are now essentially lost media that even the internet archive doesn't have. And I imagine all the premium stories are destined for that too if that place is the author's sole source of revenue.
And things are just going to get worse. They are trying to become a legitimate business making more "communities" under the name Shine Horizons (check out the site in the page footer), so not not only are they going to try to force more people to pay for subscriptions, they want to make even MORE online spaces with this premium model.