I agree that there are too many comments. Perhaps a fix would be to discourage users from commenting by asking them politely not to. For example, the "add comment" box could be removed from the story page, and you might need to click on a link to add a comment, just as you usually have to do for a comment reply. Then a note could show up every time reminding the users that they should not comment if they do not believe their comment will add something valuable to the discussion. I would think that most users come here because they enjoy the quality of the discussion, and if reminded that their actions are reducing that quality, they might hold back on commenting. Many times I read a comment after writing it, see that although it does add a little, it does not add enough to the discussion, and just close the tab without posting the comment.
