I very strongly disagree. VRC should maintain the standard and never, ever, exercise any form of censorship, no matter what.
Eh? What does censorship have to do with an official client/wallet/app having a link to a third party discussion group that is focused on another digital currency (
Bitcointalk.org). If there wasn't already a set of official forums, I'd agree that having the link going to *something* is better than nothing, but they have official forums set up, why link to a Bitcointalk *thread* within a forum rather than a full forum ?
This is not a censorship issue, this is a logic issue.
Note the wording on the button in the wallet, it says 'Forum' .. not 'Thread within a Bitcoin Forum' ... it only makes sense to have that link direct people to the Vericoin Forum
The answer is very simple: The official forum is under the full control of the devs. And, in spite of THIS forum, they have made very clear that they want to censor the forum and the IRC. Sorry but a spade is a spade.
Furthermore, for anyone wanting to know stuff, good bad and ugly, about any coin, VRC included, these forums are not just the main but first entry gate.
These forums are successful, precisely for that. Any alternatives, are just for the purpose of control/censorship, there's no other reason no matter what the excuses are. But forget about ALL of this: They simply
do not work. They are not good for the coin. A clear example? As much as I hate to mention such scammy one it is the more evident: Blackcoin.
You do NOT want to follow on their footsteps.
Look, one thing this dev team doesn't take well is criticism. They have been pretty candid and open about it too: They would eliminate the posts that they don't like. They have stated that -and done that on IRC-, right here. If they are given the opportunity, they will indeed censor the forum. And that is not good for a coin that set higher standards for honesty, transparency and integrity and that MUST keep on holding those standards at the maximum levels possible.
Furthermore, as we have very recently experienced -and continue experiencing- the posts of people like Bobsurplus, smoothie and others, especially those from the blackcoin carrion vultures fan club, etc., not only don't disturb the flow of exchange, vitality, dynamism and information that are signs of a coin which is alive and in contact with both the community and the new people coming into crypto, but actually help since their intentions/motivations are so transparent and the rest take them for what they are quite easily.
Or, the wiser ones, simply hit "ignore".