Re: Will BP work with other themes and plugins?
@Chaotic_Cannon, I believe @hnla meant that you could continue the thread here instead of the wp forum as @mercime frequents this forum as well as the wp forum, and this is a more suitable place to talk about your questions related to buddypress. It would be easier for mercime and all involved in this thread to follow the conversation. 
No reason to get defensive.
When you say you like the other forum plugins better, is that because buddypress forums are tied to groups? If so, you may want to check out this plugin which makes the forums standalone ala vbulletin (“normal forums”) etc:
http://buddydev.com/buddypress/introducing-global-sitewide-forums-plugin-for-buddypress/ For a demo, check out the sites forum.
Other then that it is possible to integrate the max theme with bp template pack. You could have your friend check that out.
Buddypress is more advanced than e.g. wp-symposium, but it is not really an out-of-the-box solution. Most likely you need help from a coder friend or you´d need to hire some to help with your customizations.
