[Gio~Logist]

The reasons (as far as I've experienced) that people use vB over most forum softwares is because of the resources available to it. The mods and what not available for the vB3 and vB4 versions are pretty much uncontested. As is is the ease of access with the template system and plugin system.

Yes, vB5 (assuming you're not on the cloud) can be customized fairly extensively. I've done mods myself for clients. It's quite stiff and not as simple though, it's a much more tedious task. However, it is possible.

All in all I still prefer vB4 over vB5. I don't really touch vB5 much unless a client needs me to. I'm hoping for better things in the future. I remember being on the vB4 Beta team and how hands on (to an extent) they were with developers. I'm sure I and other devs wouldn't mind helping them on a new version. What's missing most here is an attention to detail. They're trying to do so much with vB5 (now vB5 connect, vB5 cloud, etc) that they're forgetting what they were at their core, which was a software company that did one thing really well (forums). I get it, a CMS can and should go hand in hand. I just don't think these different versions of vB5 and different price models should have been looked at prior to perfecting their existing CMS and different functionalities.

A good attention to detail and perfecting what is being done now before proceeding further will go along way. That includes but is not limited to: CMS, design, functionality and last but certainly not least: a more flexible means for 3rd party development.

No one gets wordpress, yet alone any software, to use it in its raw format.