Just a thought, not sure if it is even feasible considering there is probably standard code to make the site work. But...
It would be cool if the original poster, or the poster of a response to a thread, has the opportunity to mark a box in their response (like "OT") specifying that their post is either off topic, or just a praise. And doing so, would cascade their response with basic info. (Maybe if the reader chooses to view in "OT" cascade format.)
This way, for example, you can open up my paint thread without having to read through 8 pages to see what I did. But like gmail, you have the option to click the cascaded responses and read what all the bs talk is about.
Get on it forum gods!