[bardd]

I like the spotlights for the same reasons that were repeatedly mentioned here, but I see why you would want to scrap them.

Suggestion:
Many people stated they found some very interesting threads, as a result of looking through the spotlights, that they wouldn't have found otherwise. If spotlights do get scrapped, you could have a "suggested threads" section, which'll be a collection of links to threads that were noted by X users (I think 5 is a good number) as worth reading. You could also link a random one on top of the page where the quotes are now displayed. That way the spotlight functionality of introducing people to interesting threads won't disappear.