I didn’t get home Internet until late 2007, and I never followed Star Wars news/discussions when online at the school/library before that point. So while I can’t say I hated the prequels prior to 2008, with each prequel I watched in/around the time of release, the sense that something was amiss with the filmmaking grew, and with it dissatisfaction. I distinctly recall the ennui I felt towards SW in the interregnum between first seeing ROTS and first encountering prequel criticisms online.

Here’s a hot take that might upset a subset of the forum: Fans haven’t “started to come around and start showing the prequels the appreciation that they should have gotten in the first place”. It’s almost exclusively the fans who always loved the prequels unironically continuing to love the prequels unironically, be they the gushers from the days of yore or the kiddies who’ve grown up on them now adding their voice to the echo chamber.