The whole purpose of The Lounge is to keep it a hassle-free/worry-free/pressure-free part of the Community.
In a way (at a collective level), likes and post count wouldn't fall into the "hassle-free" category, as these are real for the rest of the Forums, and for this reason, we kept it this way more like the symbological part of it.
Regarding "What is New," it focuses on the "active and non-hassle-free" part of the Forums. The symbology here is that after you go through the latest updates, post whatever you need, and then "go for fun," which is where you will spend more time in the Forums (or the intention projected here.)
Let's imagine that this was a community about computer engineering. To unwind, they have their Lounge where they do not talk about computer engineering and have no pressure (no rates, no statistics, no nothing). So, although this is Elvenar and not computer engineering, the same principle applies for all Forum-Communities in the world, or most of them
