I agree, it's strange that this complaint is so prevalent. Forums almost always have a subscribe feature that allows you to subscribe to individual subforums or

I agree, it's strange that this complaint is so prevalent. Forums almost always have a subscribe feature that allows you to subscribe to individual subforums or even individual threads/topics, and they email you directly (even in digest form so you aren't spammed by tons of emails) when there's new content. People often complain that forums are archaic, but they've been around so long they've solved so many problems in really usable ways. I often feel the fetishization of the new blinds people to existing, older solutions that work perfectly well.