>I just want to be able to create albums and put photos in them. So the storage was useful and the ostensible reason for the change (reversing the "tonal shift") doesn't convince me.
So, in other words... You're not the user they're trying to attract. That's exactly what they're saying.
Not quite. I am using their storage and I don't want to particiapte in a "community". The pictures in my albums don't bear much comparison with work that more able photgraphers than me can produce, but I'm selective about the pictures that I publish and spend time working on them in Lightroom. I'm not stuffing Flickr with cat photos like some social feed.
tldr is that I may not be the kind of user that they want or can support for free, but I think my use of the site is valid and I'm happy to pay to continue using it that way.
So, in other words... You're not the user they're trying to attract. That's exactly what they're saying.