I don't mind the end of Intense Debate I just wish Disqus would go away too. Those third party comment services are just the same as having to register to leave a comment. I would rather look for a Twitter link and comment off the site than deal with the mess of Disqus logins.

I do miss Plinky. It was something a bit fun and simple when you needed a break or something fresh to keep your mind working. Doesn't WP.com have a blogging prompt though? I thought you would have mentioned that but maybe you don't know about it. I only remember it once in awhile but they do have some decent stuff, not so different from Plinky.