I don't like short shorts, either. I think chafing is a lot of why people do like them, that and some people just don't like anything touching their legs when they run. I go the other direction to prevent chafing, to longer short-tight style shorts.

You've got a good point about thorns and branches on the trails snagging your shorts, and that's especially true with the short tights that I prefer, so my preferences aren't going to be much help (besides my favorites are discontinued anyway ).

I do like compression for longer distances (3+ hours), but the research is equivocal and AFAIK all limited to shorter efforts (unlike the research on post-exercise compression, which is fairly strong). A lot of distance runners swear by them, and I'm one, but I personally wouldn't spend the money unless/until you start running quite a bit longer than you are now.

I guess the thing to do would be just think about what you like and dislike about the shorts you have now. This or that feature works for you, this one you can't live without, but that other one drives you crazy. Narrow it down and get an idea in your head of what YOUR ideal running shorts would be like, then start shopping to see what fits?