Well, this thread is a depressing lesson in human stupidity.

Why DO they do these things?
Personally, if editing an ebook to adjust for my personal preferences, I like to follow a basic rule of
<h2>Chapter #</h2>
<p>paragraph with <b>bold</b> and <i>italic</i> words (maybe).</p>
<p class="scenebreak">* * *</p>
and a text-indent on the paragraphs, center the chapter, center and marginize the scenebreak.
As a reader, mostly of Fiction where pictures are perhaps not as common,

I find it difficult to see why any more than that could ever be needed, although I bet the experts here could find something to prove me wrong.