Time will tell if there's any difference due to people leaving. I think the reason I find it interesting and others do as well is because we aren't given any hard data on the actual amount of users left, how many decided to stay and only lurk going forward, how much of the user base were heavy contributors etc. The pushback also was adamant that there would be zero change, and if they're right then they're right, not going to hurt my feelings.
While I think it sucks that they chose to go the direction they went, which with how much I hate ads forced my hand to walk away, I'm not upset and deeply affected to my core, I know Reddit will keep chugging along without me.
Whole point of this post was to discuss the changes that happened due to us leaving and if they were noticeable.