I agree it shouldn't be needed, but if you're worried about being spammed or whatnot you should use a new email address just used for this forum. Adds an extra layer of security for you as well.
I already have a few email address. In that I only use 2 of them now. So I use one of that email here. If there is something important from the forum, I can see it easily. Using a email which I am not using often would be a bad idea for me. IMO, this option should be removed unless it is important but I couldn't find atleast one reason for this.
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@theymos/BadBear : Please remove it or atleast tell us why it is needed.
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Thanks!
~~MZ~~