I have 451 cards in my collection, I have never turned off any cage clips, and I haven't seen a cage in well over two weeks. In my book, anything that adds variety is good, even if it is ugly or annoying.
And in my opinion, the cage is neither. Personally, I agree with CyberVixen and share her opinion.
For the record, if a thread is 30 days old, its old. Given our activity level, it isn't dead, but well on its way. People should use the search feature, but if they don't that's not their fault. That just makes them human.