>> This becomes a problem when several highly-ranked stories on the HN are links to sites I assume are behind paywalls, so I simply don't click on stories with

>> This becomes a problem when several highly-ranked stories on the HN are links to sites I assume are behind paywalls, so I simply don't click on stories with from those domains. I think that's a bad assumption. I read the top stories quite regularly, and I haven't come across a paywall in a very long time.