Lots of ads and pop-ups with blinking lights, bells and whistles.
That is what I like about FR, it doesn't have those things to distract from the content.
I find those more cumbersome and difficult to maneuver and got a mega error message from one of them!
Gotta go clear my cache and cookies.
I know what you mean and I in no way support adding blinking flash ads or a cornucopia of colors. Those sites are ad supported because of their popularity and no fund drives to keep afloat. The fact they are that successful even with ads says something.
A cohesive website where all your main actions are found in the same area on every page is what I want.
Usage of a common style sheet and maybe a hint of ajax to make posting to the forum a little more simplistic for the user. I know that could add to bandwidth (if done wrong) but with the right usage of compression and caching technology, these new techniques would actually lessen the bandwidth on FR and lower overall operating costs as whole page loads wouldn't need to occur.
Just some current standards to push FR into the 20th century (maybe we can talk 21st century in 10 yrs)