It sounds to me like you're wanting something that will set user-specific 'sticky topics' that people can configure themselves based on the the threads they'd like to view. I agree that this sounds like something worthwhile. It would probably take some sort of modification of the funcions having to do with normal sticky topics.
Bill Parrott Senior Web Programmer, University of Kansas Co-Owner and Code Monkey, Eternal Second Designs (www.eternalsecond.com) Personal Website (www.chimericdream.com)