That's a fair comment Martin and absolutely no offence is taken. I know that back in the day, we all thought the old forum would last forever. It may well be that this one only has a limited lifespan too, nobody can see the future.
I've often thought about being a Wikipedia contributor myself, I've just never taken it beyond that. To be honest, one of the reasons I set the Forum up was because I found the technical challenge exciting. It gave me a chance to use some programming skills I haven't used in a long time.
In my researches, I've found Wikipedia to be useful, but it's far from the only source I use, particularly with the 'Nelson Navy' stuff. On some things, not all the sources agree, for example, Brian Lavery's 'The Ship of the Line Vol 1' has HMS Prince/HMS Royal William built in Woolwich, whereas Rif Winfield's 'British Warships in the Age of Sail' has the ship built at Chatham. Winfield uses the original Progress Books in the National Archive as his source, so is more reliable in that particular case. One of the reasons I enjoy writing those stories so much is that when you get a discrepancy like that, it presents a puzzle which needs more digging to solve.
The other reason I use the Forum for my stuff is that I can exert a modicum of control over it. I found a user on an online game to do with the Nelson Navy era had openly lifted some of my material from the old forum and claimed the work as his own. It was only when I joined that site and threatened them with a DCMA Takedown Notice that the articles were properly credited. If the material he had copied been on Wikipedia, I wouldn't have been able to do that.
I know of at least two members of the Forum who are published authors. One in particular has published books I've seen on sale in WH Smiths. I've been consulted by another author of books related to the Oak Island Mystery regarding material she had found on the old forum and she got in touch via that (before it closed). So, amongst other things, I think this kind of forum can also be a useful networking tool. I'm not sure how that kind of thing would work on Wikipedia.