User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/Why Fandom Evolves: A Look Ahead in 2017/@comment-24510587-20170111181049/@comment-5275700-20170111182212

Discussions is evolving as well, and as that continues it will come into its own as a part of Fandom communities. Looking ahead also requires open minds ("Innovate or Die").

Comparisons to other sites and services are always inevitable with new features, since design trends and conventions are something else that evolve over time, hand in hand with user expectations. It's before your time, but many others will recall that the Forum feature received similar criticisms when it was released.