The main problem is that the networks IC has belonged to (247, scout, etc) repeatedly make the mistake of believing the forums are a bonus to the content as opposed to the main draw for many. I have tried arguing to the network admins (Ben, Buck, michellle, etc see the value in the forums in my opinion,) but the people that be always view the forums as a third hand priority. it is frustrating.
We have also had less input as time wen ton. The original ezboard we could customize everything, there was even the ability to put custom javascript in the header and footer of the page so I could radically alter what the forums looked like and behaved. Then the scout days took away the javascript option, but I could still change colors and custom images, upload icons and gifs etc. Now with 247 we can't do any of that, I cannot access any administrator settings for the forums, can't trace IP addresses etc. Even trying to undelete a post is a buggy mess that usually doesn't work.