Yes, it does... but let's consider this: which do we prefer? A source for greater access to info that is available to all, regardless of activity, that they can read up on their own time whenever they want, and that can be monitored and moderated, or a place that holds no logs, that has no moderation, and that basically forces you to be on at all times and to read through a bunch of crap before being able to find the interesting stuff. In both cases, really active players will be able to fetch all the information they need, and seed all of the misinformation they desire. In one case, though, less active players will not have the time to get as much "scoop" as the more active player, and will not have anyone to protect him from hostile behavior. Which would you prefer?
In case you haven't guessed, I'm comparing the forums to IRC, here. It used to be that IRC was the place to be in the scoop. It was a much more elitist medium than the forum could ever be. Here, at least, all of the posts are organized into boards and subjects, and the most blatant crap is filtered out. This "in-group" you mention is a LOT broader with the forums than it was with IRC.
I think Chenier has pinpointed here exactly why the local areas of the forum are good, and why for me at least they have improved my BM experience.
I never had the time or the will to venture too much into the IRC- like any instant messaging system is requires a lot more attention to actually gain any fun out of and it can be very intimidating for newcomers. So before the introduction of the forum I had no OOC interaction with other BM players aside from the occasional OOC message in game, and certainly I didn't feel like I was part of any kind of "BM community".
However with the advent of the forums, and the local forums in particular, a more casual player like myself was finally able to get some OOC interaction; to discuss things with other players from other realms and to essentially become part of the Battlemaster community. It certainly made me more motivated to do stuff IC, and lessened the feeling of being a lone player in a wilderness that is unfortunately common in BM with the lessening player density.
Now of course you could say (as I think Tom is trying to) that all this is very bad: we shouldn't have to be using an OOC mechanism like the forums to feel truly part of the community and discussing stuff anything IC related OOC is detrimental to the game. And in a sense this is true. However the problem is that you cannot get around that. Before the forums there was no golden age where IC remained IC and OOC was only used for fun chats unrelated to Battlemaster; rather there was an even smaller group of elite players spending inordinate hours of time talking to eachother about IC issues with absolutely no kind of oversight or accountability, while the vast majority of players, even those such as myself who had the desire to interact with other BM players on an OOC level, were simply unable to join in or at the very least observe what was going on. Goodness knows what impact this had on the game itself: here on the forums I've seen the phrase "we discussed/thought this up on the IRC" thrown about several times, so the argument it somehow had no IG impact simply is not true. At the very least here on the forums it can be moderated and everyone can see what is going on, giving far more people a chance to participate.
I also think its no coincidence that many of those most hostile to the forums, including (if I am not mistaken) the guy who made the initial comment of "forummaster destroying battlemaster" are older players who probably already knew other players OOC before the forums existed. For such players I can imagine why the forums might be seen as irritating, as yet another unnecessary OOC channel. But for those of us not privileged enough to have already developed OOC relationships with other players for years old family interaction or the IRC, the local forums were a fantastic way to finally feel part of a BM community and interact with players from different realms and continents. Not only that, but blatant propaganda aside the local forums were a great way to select which realms to play in when creating a new character, rather than getting repeatedly disappointed by inaccurate realm descriptions or outdated wiki pages as has often been my experience (both before and after the forums).
Overall I think the complete loss of the local forums does not, as some here seem to think, send the message: "Do not discuss IC matters OOC, keep stuff like this in game". Instead it sends the message "Do not discuss IC matters OOC where it can be moderated and seen by all, keep these discussions between friends in private groups". If the former is truly the objective then a lot more drastic measures need to be considered, rather than simply removing the local forums and cutting off many from what was a fun part of BM.
