[Conan]

If that's the truth then forums would just put all important stuff at top and wouldn't bother with stickies. Why do you think even freevps has it like that ? More exposure means easier for users. Check Google for Heat maps

http://www.newblood.com/blog/wp-content/...-3page.gif

Darker areas show where people look first when they visit a site. Nobody look at top they look at top then sites.

That depends on the site. I have ran a small pretty popular site befire and installed a heatmap js.
Of course google would always get clicks on the middle since people only use the search engine.
Just look at google.

If you won't bother checking the navigation of a forum, I don't think you are suited to this kind of sites.
Stickying it isn't needed as the link is already there. No need to argue.