The problem is that they bring absolutely nothing to the table. They take up space, tend to be abnoxious and distracting, and they don't do anything useful.
I disagree. The empire signature's widely used on GC2.com enable the poster to readily show to which empire he is a member of and it also promotes that empire, as the success of any empire, clan driven system is the members you are able to have.
It's not always about the poster that you need to know about, though i'll admit that depends on the game/site. I'll grant that a banner type sig offers very little to those on JU or WC. It does however and has proven to be very effective (just ask Kryo, he made a heap himself) for promoting ones empire (in games with such a system), a notion that i'm sure will be seen very soon with the Clans on Demigod.
I could live with the extra time scrolling.
We're talking about one or two lines of text here, i doubt extra scrolling is really required.
Lok, each to their own, i for one have not said that SD needs them, i am not bothered in the least that they don't. I except that there are many folks who don't like em, fine, don't read them, or as i suggested previously use Adblock Plus, or some equivalent to block the image.
Saying they bring nothing to the table is your opinion, and i respect that. I do find them useful and don't mind the line or two extra of text needed to accommodate them.
As for the ones i don't care for...i simply don't read them...they do not obstruct my ability to read the forums in any way.