How about an example of say, someone shows something new on HN, and the number of commenters providing alternate services, line up? I guess the 'shameless-plug' types are fine (because they provide value) but my point still would be, why not just discuss the pros and cons of what is being shared?

Or, another example may be. It has been consistent, that whenever a thread starts up about any given password managers, the discussion right away diverge to myriad of other password generators. Back in the days, it used to be about bookmarks managers.

I agree that this is a subjective topic in itself. My main concern is that as the number of people commenting gets large, the value being derived out of any post, gets challenging. My argument here is, that this should have been potentially managed better online.