I was also very hesitant at first, but I decided to give it some time before speaking up. And the more I look at it, the more I like it. This would also allow me to enable showing real names for posters who opt-in, a personal touch I’ve always been fond of on my own forum.
I very much agree with the removal of the highlighted names though. It has become an annoying attention-grabber that keeps pulling my eyes back towards the top when I’m trying to read a post.