I've noticed the same. Never seen it get overloaded before, but it's happened several times over the past week.
I thought that's a soft-lockout that's supposed to tell you to stop trying to comment on a topic. If you're persistent and really want to, you can after a minute or two, but if it's not that important, you go "meh, I guess not" and go on your merry way.
Re:Ask HN: Has HN Had an Upgrade?
by comfypotato on Wednesday March 01, 2023 @12:55PM
(#34985717)
If my understanding is correct, they disable the “reply” to limit more comments. On every comment beyond a certain depth, reply is disabled for some time immediately following the comment.
Maybe it was the threads you were talking about. Maybe it was said upgrade process.
It was probably coincidence. Personally I doubt anything has changed.
What are you considering a lot of comments? The largest I’ve seen since I’ve been here was the Roe v. Wade overturn post, and it was around 1000. The site’s acting no different for me now than it did then.