I was looking at the ratings feature to see if I might want to use it.

It's a good idea, but I was surprised to see that ratings are only supported at the post-level and not at the topic-level. 

I was thinking that topic-level ratings would be a good way to find the best threads.  If a bunch of people rate a thread, then it is worth taking a look at.  The rating could be displayed in the topic list, so that you can see the rating before you actually navigate to the thread.