Has VBulletin lost its edge?

[PrincessFiona]

Vbulletin just can't compete with FB anymore. I'm probably stating the obvious, but it's true. Despite all of the plugins/add-ons, etc, the functionality of the core product just isn't there and the actual updates are rolling out too slowly.

The usability of the visitor messages area is pretty much zero even though it had the potential to integrate as a FB wall type functionality to add to the forum experience. Imagine if the user had their own FB-like wall right there in the forum that people could respond to and if there was a way to see that in some sort of a side-widget as well. Useless really.

The groups functionality was never addressed properly. Yes, it's possible to make groups. They have very limited features and functionality. It takes a lot to set things up and get them going. On FB someone can create a page or a group quickly and they can be made private so that no other member can see them or only a few people can see them. On our forums, it's impossible to do any activity to help out a member in need without them knowing about it unless we try to figure out how to PM large groups of people or .... create a FB page.

Our forums seem to be moving in the direction of people connecting at FB because FB simply makes it easy. This is sad for me as a website developer who has invested so many years and so much time and money into my site. VBulletin isn't a free product either....

How can Vbulletin catch up a little in its core functionality?

Kris