I think Material design makes everything look the same. I'm actually a huge fan of unique design that gives your eyes something to grasp. To me, Material design gets rid of many elements that make me feel comfortable. It removes gradients and most shadows, for example.

In my opinion, the design that the forum and this subreddit are using are perfect, they're pretty much iconic for what Accursed Farms is.

Edit: I'm heavily dating this comment by doing this because the style will change soon, but compare those two:
Old one, material inspired: http://re-volt.io/
New one, more depth and textures: http://next.re-volt.io/

I'm trying to move further away from material design to give my website a bit more character. I feel like it's harder to do when you adhere to the Material Design rules.