well on VGC i only ever used the hot topics, since they were there on the same page with the stats and articles, and did like the forum buddy thing as well. However, I like the hot topics set up on this forum, and for now I don't feel a need for a buddy. I've never really used either of those on other forums as I've normally gone to smaller dedicated fan forums for various things. What might be cool here is a hot topic list on the main page of the website, guests see the recent 25 active topics, and users see the 10-15 most recent topics as well as a list that shows updates to their most recent used topics (buddy)
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too much stuff though and it could feel cluttered and overwhelming