perhapse ANet was trying to help out the fansites... by not having an official forum, gamers have to go the the fansite forums, which helps keep the fansites alive.

I credit the fact that there are no official forums for me being part of The Crusaders. If there was an official forum, I probably wouldn't have checked the fansite list and found my way here :)

Aside from this, as stated before, it eliminates the need for a forum staff.