[quote] I think you should just quote-mention. Clicking in to a quote-mention from the notifications menu clears it. Though I need to improve notification auto-clearing and allow users to delete specific notifications from the list. But altogether I think it's better to err on the extraneous side.[/quote]
Well, I just got two to this thread, and clicking on one won't make the other disappear with it... 

I guess the notifications (and how useful you find them) probably depends heavily on how avid "patroller" you are and how many threads you frequent. For me, it is mainly just this thread and the RPs I'm in ... and I have all of those open as tabs to start out with (which I typically just go over horizontally every now and then), so the alerts end up being a bit redundant and extraneous. 

I am aware the notifications disappear when you click on them, but I normally either only notice or look at them [i]after[/i] I've already visited the thread(s), or I just get several to the same thread at once.