Well, I can safely say that /e/ has always been a bit on the slow side. As for people with names, they usually just stop using them. I've had friends that have posted with names, but they stop because they see no use in it. Conversely, people who do use names usually first go a while anonymously. And about the spam: it's died down a lot, so they probably came back. Furthermore, I doubt cum would have chased away the amount of people you were talking about
