Hopefully it will fix email notifications so they actually work for everyone, for all parts of the site. I can't be certain about any particular person, but statements by some, like this one
Accelerometer experiment prep: I'm still reading about the sensor, and how poeple have already used it, their code, etc., and collecting links and code and info (largely collected here in this post) so I haven't actually powered the breadboard up and loaded anything yet. :oops: I'm still...
endless-sphere.com
imply they aren't being notified of threads, just PMs.
(I've had emails turned off except for PMs, so I just turned them all on to test if they work for me).
While I'm thinking about it, this section of user preferences
Receive a notification when someone…
only allows alerts; has no option for emails.
The only way to get emails is to select the appropriate options here
Email options
Receive news and update emails
Receive activity summary email We will keep you updated about new content when you haven't visited for a while.
Receive email when a new conversation message is received
Content options
Automatically watch content you create…
and receive email notifications
Automatically watch content you interact with…
and receive email notifications
Also, I don't think this one
Automatically watch content you create…
is active by default. I know that I had to turn it on. If so it means that people won't get notified of replies to threads they start, and could easily be why at least some people never come back to their help-wanted/etc threads.