The signature and avatar restrictions are in place primarily for two reasons:
Aesthetics
Forums with lax signature restrictions are often overrun with multiple images, often huge in size, and in the worst cases, flashing crazy epilepsy-inducing colours. By restricting signatures to smaller dimensions and limiting their behaviour, we are able to put the emphasis back on member discussion. The OWF are about discussions, rather than showing off your decked-out signature, afterall. This is also the reason avatars are restricted.
File Size
I have no qualms with signatures being hosted on the server, it adds next to no over-head (as a comparison, the OWF have nearly eclipsed 1GB of attachments
alone, all of which are hosted on the server), and after it is downloaded once, most browsers will cache the image anyway. The problem is with those members on dial-up, as images and content will download only as fast as their connection permits.
And I'd really like to see you get a hold of Chuck Norris, last time I saw him he was doing
our bidding over in Off-Topic
Alcar...