A few comments:
1) There isn't a vbulletin site in the world that comes anywhere near our traffic. Won't scale.
2) Actually, it WAS designed by a high school student in the 90's ;-)
3) Every time there is even the slightest change, there is an outcry. Every. Single. Time.
As for this particular change... some changes are driven by technology, some are driven by economic factors. This is a change of the second type.
As for customer service - we love you guys. Even when you're frankly being a pain in the ass. You have no idea how hard we fight for you when it's an "economic" issue. Some we win, some we lose.
We're tough though - complain away ;-)