In reply to Justin Tadlock.

bbPress was originally supposed to be lightweight forum software with plugins that expand upon it. Maybe they’ve changed directions, but continuing to pile on new features does not fit in with the original intention.

I don't think bbPress development has deviated from this course and as long as bbPress continues on this path, the more it will be just a developers playground. More and more users will likely not even consider bbPress as an option based on the lack of features out of the box compared with other solutions. That's what I don't understand about bbPress. Developing for developers which will never result in mainstream adoption. Just look at the bbPress user survey for all the evidence you need of this already occurring.

I'd like to see a bbPress that strives for that middle ground of just enough features out of the box, plugins for everything else. But I don't know where to begin to even classify the middle ground. Discourse seems like a good start, definitely not vBulletin.