[m1thr0s]

Very few sites run with moderated users turned on...

I don't really know that this is true but there could be all kinds of reasons for this. What the majority do today doesn't say anything about what they will be doing a little down the road. The whole point of this way of registering new members is that it is one of the ONLY effective defenses that exists against the increasing onslaught of spammers, trolls, hackers and just general unwanted riff-raff. Most admins would not want to use the moderate users system as it stands since you cannot train moderators to moderate users with it - something that should be a regular part of their jobs. In any case, the option should be made accessible to Admins to make that call. It's a question of proper form here...not so-called popularity. Build the thing correctly and it will become more popular, since it just so happens to address a problem that little else is addressing. As it stands, only Admins with a very high commitment to quality over quantity are prepared to take the hit....a hit they shouldn't even have to be taking from their own management software.

I really don't think this has anything to do with popularity. My best guess is that it's a little complicated to give moderators some access to the admin control panel but limit it everywhere else. Clearly this particular function was not understood for what it really has to offer from the outset and it will probably take some serious redesigning to make it possible now. But this is a security issue we are addressing here. IP Bans don't work...the whole auto-registration system is a bust since any monkey with a few tools can climb back on any time they want to. Manual registration is still not perfect but it's WAY more successful than the next best solution in line. To begin with, it robs potential attackers of the thrill of impulse-attack, a major deterrent in itself. vBulletin has a vested interest in streamlining that system as much as possible, complicated or not. As its competitors come along and start attending to the matter properly, it will begin to lose marketshare over an issue it could have corrected years ago.