[Otto42]

Agreed. If I see a third party commenting system, I typically just close the tab instead of leaving a comment. It's not worth the hassle to me to deal with whatever your commenting system requires.

Name/email/url. These three simple fields make it easy. Don't make me try to figure out how to talk back to you.

[thetylerhayes]

Not sure if you were directing that us as well, but either way just wanted to clarify: we (Disqus) actually do offer guest commenting functionality by default. You can continue commenting similarly as you do on any non-third-party system by simply not logging in to an account when posting a comment.

[Otto42]

I wasn't actually responding directly to you, but I will.

Doesn't matter if you offer guest commenting by default. I close the browser tab the moment I see the non-standard comment box. I don't have any idea what hassles some arbitrary-comment system will have, so unless I really have something to say, then I'll just not bother.

I have a Disqus login, and sometimes I'll have something important enough to say that I'll go through the pain of using it. But it's not easy, nor simple to do. It adds extra burden on the user, and IMO reduces conversation on sites.

This is not unique to Disqus, the same problem exists for all third-party comment systems. The fact that the comment system is third-party is the fundamental problem that you'll need to overcome. When I see somebody else's branding on the comments, I'm out. Don't even stick around long enough to read them.