[quote]Why would an unlocked topic have the same tags as a locked topic? I think you've gotten confused. All I'm suggesting is adding a little "[locked]" tag alongside any topic which is locked. For pinned and locked topics it would mean that any topic within the pinned topics section (portion of the page above the rest of the topics on page 1) which is locked stays there but also has a "[locked]" tag appended to it.[/quote]Okay, that makes more sense. I still don't see the relationship between locked threads and employee posts but I understand the overall concept. I still like the idea of having a locked icon, but maybe as an overlay on top of what the thread used to be. A locked hot-topic, a locked employee-posted thread, a locked pinned topic, etc. etc. [quote]Intro to answering questions, feel free to skip.[/quote]Identities are important because without them we'd just be 4chan minus the images. I'm well aware that you're not suggesting the removal of usernames in favor of an anon# system, but the point is that we're a community. We're not just another fan-forum. I know that sounds a little elitist or exaggerated, but it's not in my opinion. The FIFA 13 online forums may just be a forum to discuss FIFA 13 with an off-topic section. The Call of Duty online forums may just be a forum to discuss Call of Duty with an off-topic section. The fan-generated Civlization forums may just be a place where people go to argue about which sort of tile with which sort of resource is best to settle your first city on if you're Rome and the difficulty is set to Deity (with an off-topic section). But Bungie.net is not like that, especially not now. It's a community discussing things that are mainly not related to Halo and mainly not related to video games (excluding Destiny). We're no longer a sea of faceless names that you don't recognize as long as you've been here more than 2 or 3 months. And the avatars and titles are an extension of that community atmosphere. And yes, we could go around posting and just objectively respond to a post made by someone in a thread as if it were a prompt presented before you in English class. But why would I do that when I could respond to YOU. dazarobbo. A person. I don't want to respond to a sea of faceless names that I can't easily and readily relate to an identity. As mentioned above, we're a community, not just a place to come ask questions about a game. And how well do communities function (outside 4chan and other anonymous image boards) without any sort of identity or way to tell "erlmixer" from "gamejunkiejoseph"? Now that that's out of the way I'll more specifically answer your questions individually. [quote]Why do people need such an overbearing and prominent "identity" in the forums?[/quote]The system you're proposing has in it next to no identity at all, so to call the current system one where a given user has "an overbearing and prominent 'identity'", is a little silly. Coup is more of an example of an overbearing and prominent identity. But, for argument's sake, let's say that that is what I'm lobbying for: an overbearing and prominent identity. I would argue that this is necessary for a community of this nature. Community's function because of the relationships developed therein. Imagine if, in your high school (or secondary school or whatever you Aussies call it), everyone walked around with a mask on. The same mask. The Guy Fawkes mask, for example. And, the only time you saw someone's face was when they were talking directly to you (you would move your mask up so you could see one another). How disconcerting would that be? On top of that, everyone, boy and girl, wore the same, boring, gray t-shirt and the same, boring, gray pants, accentuated by a mandated pair of of the same, boring, gray shoes. Within the community that is your [whatever] school, you would never be able to tell anybody from anybody else apart from a "Hello, my name is ______" sticker on their shirt. How incredibly difficult would it be to develop relationships with people or identify one another? [quote]Is it perhaps because they want to be recognised?[/quote]Yes, but not in a "Look at me! Look at me!" sort of way, but more of a "Hello, I'm a person and not just a post." sort of way. Recognizing people on here is a way to identify more with the community at large, and to attempt to belittle the idea of community by depersonalizing everyone as a whole and making identification and recognition more and more difficult undermines the very reason lots of people are here: for the community (whether that be that of the Flood or the Septagon). [quote] So others can see they belong to some kind of group/clique?[/quote]If this is an attempt to associate the displaying of title bars with the idea of "I'm a ______ member so I'm cool" or something like that, then that's not what I'm getting at at all. If it's more of a sincere question of whether or not people want to appear as if they belong to a group, even if that group is as vaguely defined as "People who regular Bungie.net", then yes. I think that definitely is something people want. And the more identified and the more they stand out from the two users above and below them, the more they can identify as a person within a community rather than a user within a website. [quote]Secondly, why isn't the contents of my signature displayed at the bottom of each of my posts? Should it?[/quote]Signatures, while an even further extension of the identification and differentiation between User A and User B, are easily abused and often not utilized the way they're meant to. They're a signature, a way to sign your post. Not a place to post your favorite quote or advertise your off-site Forge Forum or YouTube channel, and they're too commonly misused to warrant their utilization. If you want to sign your post, sign it. Manually. With whatever moniker you wish to give yourself. People like yorkie, Delta, TGP, and (from what I gather) BB have proven that if you do this manually it helps loads more with creating an identity than does a signature full of your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Myspace, Tumblr, Flickr, Blogger, Digg, and YouTube information. [Edited on 10.28.2012 10:01 AM PDT]