I'm just curious why is everyone is ripping on the new default theme. How many out there is actually gonna use the default theme? Yeah some will use it but change the colors but a majority will purchase a premade theme or commission a custom theme to be made. They have said in the past that they want the new look to be as recognizable as the current default theme and they have done that while making it look a little more modern.
It looks that way, and as a developer I can empathize. That said, if you look closely, comments on the style aren't really about the style per-se, but an expectation, spoken or unspoken, about 2.0 having a 2016 type of UI that will give them an obvious reason to "buy".
For prospective customers, buy simply means buy, for existing ones, buy means upgrade -- even if it doesn't cost anything, there are natural barriers to such upgrades, and these customers are looking for a good reason to do it, whatever that is for them.
2.0 in it's early stage isn't far off the mark here. It just needs a different type of UI to wrap the wonders under the hood, which can be as simple as a very different type of style from what we are used to. Admins preferring the standard can use the original 2.0 style.
A reddit-type layout as a primary option would be welcomed by many. A poll I opened on TAZ a few months ago showed that half of the respondents would be willing to move from XenForo if such an option was available, the demand is there. Look at
WF's feed, and
threads.
Except for adjusting the like system to support positive and negative values (+1 and -1), this is mainly at the style level, more easily within reach versus something that would entail rewriting several major parts of the backend, yields better results, and everyone is happy.