Uhhhh...Wow.
I'm gone for a week, and...wow.
Rather than re-hash any of the vitriol, let me simply state my suggestions regarding the alliance forums:
1. I don't think it's a big deal that RB is hosting the alliance forum - let's just be upfront about it. It has to go somewhere, and someone from one of the member guilds has to administer it, after all.
2. My one concern, which would be a concern regardless of where the forum was hosted, is making sure that all of the alliance members know where it is and have access to it. I have absolutely NO idea how forum software is set up, so I don't know whether this would work or not, but would it be possible for each "other" member guild to make an obvious link on their forums to the alliance forum - not buried somewhere in a thread, but rather a link that would look like a sub-forum on their boards? And clicking on that link would take them here, to the alliance forum. Is that possible? If not, is there some other way that the member guilds could ensure that most of their members can find their way here, and don't have to add in a new bookmark to their browsers?
3. Regarding whether it would be a good idea to have a separate Allliance site, with its own domain: that would depend on what the alliance is really "for" - is it mostly an enlarged circle of folks to game with, or do we want it to have its own unique identity? Having a separate alliance site would only make sense if the latter is true, and, honestly, I don't get the feeling that's what most people are after. Sorry that's not directly related to alliance forums, but I'm lazy...
4. Probably a good idea to have a members-only forum whose
only purpose would be to discuss alliance applications.
My $0.02.