I'm don't like links hidden in dropdown menus either - as you remember earlier
phpBB versions also had the "log out" link in sight. I guess it's a vogue thing, as other websites do the same thing.
In general I expect every user to have a minimum level of understanding/knowledge about what he deals with, and neither the "I have to grasp everything within 5 seconds", nor the "I dunno LOL" attitude. For me it's frustrating to be treated as if I forgot everything again with each visit, similar to "cookie notices" - I wonder if in the future websites/BBSs will offer two different "views": one regular and a detailled/advanced one, as that should fit most without forcing one group to behave the same as the other.
And I have no clue why people don't simply bookmark their favorite spots of a website - are bookmarks a feature that has become forgotten by everyone? The "your posts" URI is what I bookmark for
phpBBoards (and for
XenForo I tend to bookmark
http://example.void/account/alerts).