Yes, it would. I'm starting to wonder if not having that date might be spurring activity... It can be very frustrating for someone that's shopping for something I'm sure... and a waste of time as well.
I've come to accept it, and am now entertained fortunately... but it started as a frustration no doubt. At least I'm not the only one that sees it that way.

There seems to be more activity since there's no dates to go by. I know I clicked on a few dozen or more threads that were quite old. One thread hadn't had activity for 15yrs... then one recent post brought it back. .... Many threads are coming back just for that reason... What I find funny though, is in many cases, the recent posts to old threads are actually referring to out of date and obsolete information... and the seemingly oblivious poster probably doesn't have a clue. It's entertainment at this point. When I need a laugh. When I want to study current RC though I have other sites.

I'm sure they could bring those dates back. I mean look at how nice this site is, it really does have some great features these days... but that one factor just makes it funny and less effective.