Is it possible to have an online status icon of members so I know when there online or offline? I find it very handy.

No. That feature is disabled.

It's either because of the creepiness or the bandwidth, or both.

bandwidth/load it puts on the servers, and it's not an essential option to have turned on.

I really do not find it important. I am not in the computer all day, but the computer is on, and very likely with a window on forums.dvdtalk.com
I am assuming it would be the same with many otters.

it is especially more irrelevant since private messages are turned off