[Lynk Former]

But whats the point in doing it that way? To stay on the Haruhi example, in the DVD they say "future man" but in the fansub they say time traveler. Which sounds better (and don't say future man lol)?

Because time traveller and future man have two different meanings. It's not a case of which sounds better... for example "nakama" is used heavily in One Piece... it sounds better, but the English equivalent if translated in context to One Piece would be "crew mate"... like I said before, it varies too much in the different animes and their subs. So, really, simply citing One Piece or Haruhi for a blanket example isn't possible.

Thats because people should be less forgiving of something they pay for than something that is free. The fact that you pay for it means it should be better than the free counterpart.

Wait a second... I'm getting mixed messages here... are fansubs superior to official subs because they're better translated or simply because they're FREE?

The only thing I don't get here is why do they have to use that ugly yellow with black border text? XD

Standardisation.

If you'll notice, white text is used when there are signs or notes or effects while yellow is exclusively for spoken words.