BuddyPress.org

bbPress as a component of BP is weaksauce, I would agree. But it is a non-trivial project to write a fully-featured forums app/component. I would support native forums functionality in BP, definitely, especially if it let us do more with it, but I suspect given the lack of focus on that functionality here and in BP itself, that we’re not very likely to see it anytime soon, if at all.

I’d love to be proved wrong. BP with a robust forums component, native to the app, with an admin interface and plugin support — I shiver with pleasure at the very thought.