Yeah, I generally prefer kbin's UI over lemmy's but given the backend is in PHP I have concerns that it might not be able to scale effectively with its growth.
Not saying that PHP is a complete showstopper but there are valid concerns in terms of maintainability...
Honestly the only way to play them is to drop into "hot zones" so you have constant action. However surviving those requires lots of skill (and luck) which especially when starting out is a really unpleasant experience.