I don't think it's his playing that gets worse, but his effort gets smaller and are smaller. If you look at Bon Jovi shows from 80s and 90s, he's running arround the stage, having orgasm with his guitar with every solo, singing his heart out in any place when he's backing up Jon. But know. Having them seen twice live and very recently, I have to say, that nowadays he's ****ing lazy. When I look at each member, I see Tico smashing drums with everything he has in the tank, David being as energetic as keyboard player can possible be and Jon singing, connecting with the crowd. Even though Jon's voice isn't ideal, you can see he's working hard and plays and sings with 100%. Richie, on the other hand, is just standing with his guitar and posing with it during every solo just to get a small aplause from the crowd. And he's no longer giving his best when he sings back up vocals. When you watch a DVD or other proshot footage, you don't see that, cause the camera is mostly on Jon all the time except for specific parts. But when you're at the show, you notice that the other 3 members (I'm not counting Hugh and Bobby as their job is just to stand and play) are energetic and giving all they got, but Richie is just so ****ing lazy.