I visited Codechef after 2-3 years, just out of curiosity, like how they are doing.
I was very active at Codechef in my first year, Long Contests used to be such a big thing & a huge learning opportunity. And I'm so sad to see that now they don't even have regular contests except Starters. Even the website looks very different than it used to be.

I left CodeChef after mass plags & then Unacademy taking over, they changed everything, and it was disheartening to see that. But now the site looks more like an EdTech platform, just the way Unacademy wants it maybe? Full of paid courses.
I thought the discuss section might be active - as it used to be, but it was hard for me to locate it, and BOOM! It was not the same as before, either. Everyone left I guess.
It was hard to see Codechef this way, considering the fact that my first step into the CP world was Codechef, and that innocence, and activeness. Idk why no platform does something like Long Contests, they were game-changing for me.
I don't even see people bragging about their rating of CodeChef anymore, like 5*, 6*.

And that actually scares me, about the future of Leetcode. Because if Codechef taught me how to run, leet code gave me a platform to run. I know Leetcode is way big (at least now) than Codechef, but nobody knows the future, and if such cheating and plags will continue without a strong response and the innocent user base feels getting cheated, LC might face the same fortune as Codechef. Ik I'm overly pessimistic here, but I never thought of the future of Codechef this way either.

And trust me guys, it's not about LC or Codechef, it's more about us. I know ratings and stars, are tempting, they excite you to perform and get better, and it's disheartening when someone cheats. But let them. Just do your shit. I was also in that Zone when cheaters used to beat me, and I used to be pissed off, but no more now, I'm always < top 1300, so cheaters don't affect me now. So just do your shit. And trust me guys, this rating, stars, nobody cares after University. Even in university I never got calls solely based on my ratings, they just help you to excel in interviews and more importantly boost your confidence that yes, you can solve anything. That's it. It's more like a learning and fun activity (and confidence booster - that you can only earn by hard work & solving yourself) than something which can fetch you opportunity. If we continue to do so (cheating), I'm not sure how we are helping ourselves and importantly the community.
Please don't because you are spoiling yourself more than helping you.

I'm sorry if I sound overly pessimistic, or wasted your time. But I'm genuinely concerned because I love the platform, the community, the contests, and the thrill.

~ 3* Coder from Codechef which later became 2000+ rating on LC