Beserker,
I owe you a public apology for my comments in this thread.
You asked questions and made observations about TFL that we have fielded many times over the years, but that is no excuse for my aggressive and overly hostile reaction.
I hope you will accept my apology.
Regarding your questions/observations...
You are correct, we have made the decision to go without things like the quote button and avatars because staff as a whole feels that they do more to distract from TFL's purpose than to enhance it.
Specifically regarding quotes, when there was a quote button that allowed easy quoting, multiple users would often chain lengthy discussions into a series of repetitive quotes simply to add a very brief and often innocuous response, something like "right!" or even "+1."
I know that for a fact because I was guilty of it in my early days here.
By making posters work a little harder to create a quote, it makes them think harder about what they're quoting, why they're quoting it, and it virtually eliminates endless chain quoting.
As for avatars, I THINK (but am not certain) that they were allowed in the earliest days of TFL, but they became distractions when people began using less than... appropriate... avatars. It was felt that the potential existed for the avatars to do more harm to the image of firearms owners as a whole than good.
Regarding The High Road, it began as a spinoff from TFL when TFL closed down for several years over a decade ago. I can't remember exactly when it was, but it was sometime after the 2000 election and the 2001 attacks. That's why you see many of the same staff members here and there.
When TFL reopened, THR was well established and continued as a companion board, sister board, whatever you want to call it, as it was owned and operated by other individuals.
Hopefully this provides you with some insight as to what TFL is and why we do some things the way we do.
And, once again, I offer you my most sincere apologies for my actions and comments, which were not in keeping with the fraternal nature that all firearms owners should share amongst ourselves.