[SmG Stinger]

I can see the positives and negatives of doing something like this.

Hiding the welcome threads wouldnt let you guys see new members joining, which would result in them not being welcomed.
Thats not something we want. As we want to be welcoming to each and every member

As for hiding the application section, Ill talk to Cloud about whether its possible. But the application section is only posted on once or twice, whereas the welcome section is constantly being posted on. So its not as big of a problem.