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Thanks for your comment. it is very honest.

I know Mark make many code to manage Subscribe, but you know, if build more code, it will use more resources, previously because i want to save resources, i don’t make the way of email.

not only for save resources, but also for wordpress database, because of lack of wordpress import & export, if i do this, i must add a new field or table in wordpress, but wp’s export not to support it, so if someone rebuild blog, it will lose all replies and email’s way!

for two reason, i don’t do this all along. i have contradiction for this always!

here is my post for this contradiction. it is chinese, you can read it by google translation.
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btw: i am sorry for my poor english. i want to study english, who can give me some advice?

Thanks for writing such a great Plugin. Many are benefiting from its usage. I still believe that having a way to opt-out makes this an even better Plugin.

Even Mark Jaquith, the author of Subscribe to Comments, realized that having it enabled by default was forcing people to opt-in – not a kind and gentle, inviting process. It ticked off a lot of people.

Yes, your Plugin means less email as they would only receive email from replies to their comment, but it means there is no way to turn it off when interest in the subject wanes.

Thanks again for creating such a great Plugin and allowing us to give you feedback to help make it better.

@GoingLikeSixty: What would be the point of gaming the comment chicklet? Feedburner, I can see: those stats drive rankings. I’ve not yet heard of rankings by comments. (Of course, if someone enjoys cheating at solitaire and thinks that makes her a better person, then she might inflate her comment count.)

The failure to opt-out of the WordPress Thread Comment Plugin is a serious flaw. It would be good to recommend to the author to have that feature. Since I was sitting on your blog refreshing, looking for comments and replies, then to have emails sitting in my inbox among the hundreds I get every day, it’s just one more nuisance for those who don’t like Subscribe to Comments options. I get ENOUGH email, I want to be very choosy about which post comments I really want to track through my email. Other than that, it’s a great Plugin.

If you haven’t had a single spam comment go live, you are seriously lucky. The spammers get smarter and smarter and it takes a while for people to catch on and submit them to Akismet so it can learn to block the new threats. The “This is an interesting post” spams were really annoying as they looked like good trackbacks and comments and they weren’t. If you aren’t paying attention, they can slip by you. Even slip by me and I’m always on my guard. :D

I’m so thrilled that people are finding the value in comments and not totally turning away from them where there are so many reasons to do so nowadays. I think they are invaluable and anything that encourages them is welcome. Luckily, we have a variety of options to choose from for our different blog styles and types.

As to the commenter you reference in your post who said it would increase competition, I say he/she is missing the point. Competition is what we’re in for when you want to have your blog noticed. What is important is the value of those comments. The judges for assigning that value are the blog owner and the reader.

If I saw a huge number of comments in the counter I would respond in the same positive way I do when I look at Feedburner’s chicklet. It tells me that the blog in front of me just might have something of value here.

Will people try to game the system? Well, of course! But that doesn’t mean we should just throw a good idea away. The value of these comments will come to light eventually, so any gaming of the system will be found out in time.

I find it interesting that Marina of Hot Words loves the e-mail reply feature of WordPress Thread Comment–the same feature you found aggravating on my blog (because there’s no way to opt out). I think I finally have a reason to implement a poll on my blog.

Regarding comment spam, I’ve used Akismet from day 1, and I’ve been coupling that with Bad Behavior for the past few months. To the best of my knowledge, in the year my blog’s been around, I don’t believe a single spam comment has gone live.

Clearly I’ve been lucky, and my blog is a small blog in a small niche; by the same token, I think being conscientious about keeping my spam blockers active and updated, is a plus.

“…I’m eager to see the conversation come back to the blog. Anything that enhances the conversation helps.” AMEN!