It would be fairly easy to implement that, but as you pointed out, it would require a little condition to be placed in the php code, rather than a simple template change.
If you really want it, this is the code to modify:
Find in forumdisplay.php:
Code:
} else {
if ($foruminfo[allowratings]) {
replace with
Code:
} else {
$thread[replycount] = "<a href=\"javascript:who($thread[threadid])\">$thread[replycount]</a>";
if ($foruminfo[allowratings]) {
This code should be around line 390... but I can't give you an exact line number, as my forumdisplay.php doesn't really look much like the original
You will also need to remove the hyperlink from the forumdisplaybit template.