On the contrary, having a forum and active people in that forum will give weight for this ICO.  I think you know what I mean.  If not, let me tell you.  Having an active forum or creating a forum where ideas and community interaction is active means the developer is serious about this project.  Another thing to tell you that the world does not revolve only in bitcointalk.  There is far bigger world than bitcointalk itself.  And have you known about keeping the competitor out of sight of potential investors?  That is the purpose of creating your own forum. Unless the developer target audience is only here in bitcointalk.org, then that forum is useless.