Requested feature overview description.
The ability for a user to remove a comment they made, rather than just hide it from themselves. Staff can see comments after they've been deleted from public view, and can delete it from the database if they feel the comment wasn't deleted simply to get out of trouble.

Why would it be useful?
It would prevent people who made a mistake in their original comment from looking silly because they're unable to fix or edit it if the comment has been up longer than the time-frame given to be allowed to edit it.

Plus, in the scenario where a troublemaker abuses someone and then deletes their comment to push it underneath the rug and cover their ass from admin actions, staff can still see what the comment was before it was deleted.

What part(s) of the site page(s) are affected?
Comments on Posts

I'm pretty sure the staff already can delete comments. They simply choose not to.

Hidden comments are as good as gone as far as everyone else is concerned.

BlueDingo said:
I'm pretty sure the staff already can delete comments. They simply choose not to.

Hidden comments are as good as gone as far as everyone else is concerned.

wait, really?
I thought they were only hidden to yourself

Untamed said:
wait, really?
I thought they were only hidden to yourself

It's the exact opposite. It's only hidden to others, you can still see it.

Comments will not show up in your comment search, nor for anyone but the staff members, but you can still see your comment if you access the post it was on.

But it does count as bumping the post for recent commments, and forums still track who posted last even if you hide your comment.

it used to be possible for regular users to delete their comments but the feature was removed at some point

Comments can be hidden, this hides it from everyone but the user who commented and the admins.
Users are not allowed to destroy their comments because it allows admins to evaluate a situation, and to prevent users from destroying their comments after someone reports it so a admin cannot see it.
Usually if you hide a comment that probably wasn't wise and no one has reported it, admins don't care.

The only time comments are destroyed are when it contains illegal content such as links to child pornography. These are only destroyed after the authorities have been contacted and they evaluate the situation.
Otherwise all the shitposts remain in the system forever. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯