SEO is a good thing, but using mod_rewrite to implement some uber-complex querystring rewriting (though the querystring is still the same stupid page=somestatictext) isn't necessarily the proper thing to do. If you're rewriting the URLs of an application like a blog, a forum or a CMS, then it's all right (getting rid of Joomla's index.php?com_option=blahblahblah&id=6 and transforming it into something more logical) but when you have complete control over how your URLs are going to look, for me it's just a hassle - purposefully damaging your own URLs, and then attempting to "fix" them with a 79-line .htaccess involving regular expressions a mile long.
And generally, not looking from the point of view of the visitor, using one script to serve all content (index/default) isn't a good idea since it gets messy. I don't know what's so good about it.
I don't even use .htaccess, I wrote an email to my server administrators and they tweaked the server configuration globally in a way so that it doesn't matter whether you put the file extension into the URL or not. This way everyone got the same benefit and I didn't have to write any .htaccess files. All my files are still .php, but if I ever wanted to change the technology used (to Perl, Python or anything else) I could do so, and no one would notice.
Some of you people sound like you work for Microsoft: first let's release a badly planned version - it doesn't matter if it makes future maintenance difficult - and then we can issue patches later.
You don't need a 79 line .htaccess file to rewrite all URLs. This shows how much you know. And if you're good for writing PHP code which uses some regex, then you're going to do great with mod_rewrite. Did you look at my topic anyway about mod_rewrite before you jump to any conclusions about it?
I was smoking crack with Joe Crack. Promoting a sense of community is alright, though that's why the sites main content is mainly there for. The forum was mainly created for discussions and strategy for people who need help from "the experts'.*EDIT* :
Whaa...? What are you smoking, Faltzer? Probably because the Smogon Forums aren't the site's main attraction? It's not like chaos has got 3 useless things on his site and a font-size 40px link to the forums, he's just trying to promote a sense of community by encouraging visitors to register and get more personalized info on the matter from "the experts". Seriously, before the move to the new server (when the site became pretty chaotic) I used to visit Smogon pretty frequently whenever I was looking for a good NetBattle moveset for an obscure pokemon, and I have never been a member of the forums.
... Jesus H. Christ. Now I know why chaos doesn't post in this thread any more. Being a webmaster isn't rocket science, but still some people don't see such obvious things.