Cindy, I think it depends on where you click... if you click on the thread subjecdt itself, it puts you on the first page by default. If you click on the little ">" by the newest poster, or the (last page link), or something, it will take you directly to the past page. I think you can also set your user profile to display threads bottom up instead of top down.
As for the points, Jenna explained it in another thread. They're called reputation. If someone find your posts helpful and they respect your opinions (hint, hint...) you can give them reputation points. You can only give the same person points after you've given 10 other people points (that is to prevent people from fraudulently awarding points to their friends and family). Most people have enough points (10) to start with good standing. People can take away your points if they find you mean, unhelpful, rude, etc. So your points can go negative if you continue to be a bad influence on this board. I think the reputation point is to help the community to self regulate.
When you have posted over 50 times and attained over 10 reputation points, you will become a Super User (something like the "Board Regular" on the old board) and will have more features (like your own custom avatar) available to you.
