Even though I was the one yelping for the ignore feature, I'm fine without it. Getting rid of TelluriumCopperMultipleSchlerosis...eh was a big help.
It's pretty sad when when you need a software crutch to help you maintain a polite demeanor...
In RL, it's easy to leave a room, or hang up the phone, or change the channel. In a forum context, though, it's a lot harder. Users constantly spewing the same tripe over and over make it difficult to share any real discourse. If the user gets put on an ignore list, then everyone else isn't constantly tempted to tilt at windmills or get in a YouTube-Comment-like squabble over insignificant BS (take your pick of metaphor).
Besides, everyone, everywhere, at some point, wished they had the power to mute others at will.