question about ping supress

What would happen, if you could supress direct pings? (aka username pings). Basically, when direct pings are supressed and a person pings you directly, then you will simply not get notified (just like if the ping wasn't even there). 
Note: This post is not a suggestion or anything like that, its only a question, how would things change when something new (in this case, direct ping supress) would get added.