Do you basically have to go back through pages and pages to find a thread that you found interesting and to see if there where more comments made. Seems odd and makes it not all that easy to follow a particular thread. Usually most forums have like a section or even new posts area/and today's posts etc?

There is a search function at the top of the board. The subject of the thread or topic words can be used to search.

according to which threads have the most recent replies. Once a thread moves past page 1, it is effectively dead. Sad but true.