Yes, in serious. I'm personally not much of a Lego collector and/or builder, but two close friends of mine are. They were big Lego fans and collectors for most of our lives (decades). I'd say 10-15 years ago they started to complain about declining QC and just generally lower quality. Molds were clearly used for much longer, parts having worse tolerance and either not fitting well or being lose. Then the creative side also got worse, with kits just not meeting previous standards either. Clearly just being cranked out for the sake of releasing something, often under license (Star wars, marvel or whatever).

Then when the patent ran out, some (select few) of the alternatives started to gain favor. Unfortunately I don't remember who, but I can ask next time I see either of them. Not saying everything they make is great, but actually less problems with gas parts, and some kits are apparently just like old Lego.

They are for some sets and lines, but some sets are much worse than Lego used to be, and those sets tend to be made in China from my experience.

They are sacrificing quality, for more special pieces, more tie-ins and more volume. They have a solid 1/3 of Walmart and Target toy sections at this point.

You can see defects and weak points in their new sets, and yet the price has gone up with everything else.