JMO here. I don't know what a "shoutbox" is; never saw one or used one. I have seen chat rooms and I personally think it would have a negative effect on the forum.
As far as folks coming in, posting their times when they come on and saying howdy...I'm not sure what purpose that would serve. I monitor the site multiple times daily. I pretty much know who comes on about what and when. I know many can't do that. My thoughts are that with PMs and the real time posting of comments I'm not sure what a "shoutbox" accomplishes. Maybe the OP can enlighten me, or others, as to the function. Personally, I don't want anything, anything that makes the forum begin to look like a facebook site...no way. Nor do I think we want partitioned areas where folks can go to say what they want etc. without being monitored.
Anyway, I like the way the site operates and the limits it places on members. If there are enhancements that make it more enjoyable for all I'm for that but I absolutely would not want some sort of facebook type commentary running that was not applicable to the many topics the site already has. JMO-YMPWV (your mileage probably will vary!!)