Re: Global forum link to last post instead of the front of that group forum.
Let’s not stop there! From my laundry list off the top of my head (not bothering to use a UL because I don’t know if it’ll get stripped or not):
Link in the overall forums directory view to the last post in a thread (as Modemlooper suggests above)
Thread pagination links for each forum thread in the directory view
Username of the thread starter on the directory view
Pagination to get to older threads in the forums directory
Blockquote, pre or code tags, some indication of what HTML is allowed in forum posts
Different styling of a and a:visited elements in the forum directory view
A return of the ability to favorite threads to bookmark them for later and a place to easily survey and keep up with the threads we’ve started or commented in
for starters. 
