That number seems to indicate why they've started to use all the dark patterns for people to create an account. You can no longer see comments other than at the top level. Some subreddits require registration to view. All these things are artifacts of the new design that do not exist on old.reddit.com.
I'm thankful HN is not designing for 'engagement' or MAUs at the UI level.
I'm thankful HN is not designing for 'engagement' or MAUs at the UI level.