a quick $0.02 from me on this... been out of the loop for a few months but here goes anyway
re: STIRs, the writing has been on the wall for a while, both with fixings and with algos. They are still tradeable, because people are still trading them, but my hunch is that the emphasis is less on working the bid/offer and more on a directional view, albeit in a spread. which means you need to know your onions (spreads). that does require more work than turning up pre-open and sticking in a load of fanciful orders and hoping for the best, though, so maybe that is where the loudest complaints are coming from.
re: FIFO markets... yeah, the playing field is leveled somewhat. But the ****storm mkts we've been having (esp in the EZ) don't lend themselves to directional punts (wait for the next finmin to open their gob and you're f*cked) OR ZIRP's for spreading (when a TED is basically outrights schatz or bund/bobl is outright bund)
basically, especially for euro-locals, times are hard.
jmho.