I think it would be cool if we didn't have to click through to a profile to find out the basic info on members and users, (Real Name, Location, Age etc). Can we have a tool tip so all we have to do is roll the mouse over the user name in a forum thread to see this info? At least the first name. It would save us from alot of jumping back and forth, I imagine in the long run it would save some bandwidth as well.
In a way I like having to click to someone's profile to find out what I need to know about them. I know many users more by their portfolio photos than their names, stats, etc. If something has sparked me to want to know some basics about them (name, age, etc) I think I owe it to them to check out what they've got.
Every time someone is interested enough, they click my name and I get a profile view. Makes me proud, and "forces" them to see my best work as well, or see my forum posts.
And it goes the other way too - if someone's profile would blow me away but I only moused over their name, wouldn't I miss a lot? Even if all I wanted was their name, I would get to see their face, making it a bit more personal and giving them a bit more exposure.
Ctrl+click does that efficiently, opening up a new tab.
The Tooltip is already in place. Would like to see just a bit more info in it. I doub't that this would make a noticeable difference in your profile hit count.
