Vice seem to have correctly identified that the quality of that discussion (and the branding) was not adding much to their content. Thumbs up for trying something different.
It's interesting commenting about the quality of comments on a site that is nothing but. Maybe Hacker News, etc. is the future, although I'd like to think that on-site and off-site comments can co-exist (and for 'off-site' read twitter, facebook, etc.) The problem with all the off-site options is that you have to know they exist. At least on-site comments provide a fixed, available 'place' for discussion to take place.
I have a feeling the solution is just better moderated comments sections. Many sites just chuck up a form and auto-publish anything entered into it; that might work at really small scale, but soon descends into chaos once a critical mass is reached. One day, I think, more comment sections will looks like mini-HNs.
That one wouldn't be actually bad if people stuck to good solutions in terms of usability. I mean, half of the forum boards on the Internet would be an order of magnitude better if the owners started them as a subreddit instead.
I think there's a place for both, but the Reddit-style boards make every discussion ephemeral. No matter how interesting the topic or diverse the discussion, it's gone and forgotten in 2 days at most. On old-school boards, a major thread of discussion can last for months, or longer. Plus there's something to be said for a chronological presentation of posts. Yeah, trolls get more exposure, but it also means everyone sees every view (up to whatever the moderation policy of the site is), so you don't get the Reddit hivemind effect nearly as much.
Now, given the decline in quality recently, one can only hope VICE employs the moderation tactic to their own articles too...