Warriors are not using this platform to launch new products

I would check the WSO section seems to be going strong to me!

Yes WSOs are a great way to launch to a captive audience.

The days of just being able to post a WSO and make a lot of sales are long gone - you have to be using affiliates to some degree. It wouldn't surprise me if a lot of product creators simply decide to use their own sales page just because it allows for flexibility that you'd never be able to get in the WSO section (in terms of design). The WSO section should be looked at as a way to either increase subscribers to upsell them later on or as just an extra source of traffic - but it can't be your primary source like it used to be for a lot of people.

Am I right in thinking the forum is still the best way to go for beginners launching their first couple of products?

The downside of affiliate sites like jvzoo is that you have to pay commission. i think launching on the forums is better

Products always used to be sold on stand-alone sales pages.

It was only about the last 2 years that forum launches exploded. But vendors have become tired of having to look after a thread whilst going through a launch. Also not having complete control over who and what is posted in that thread.

But the main problem is customers now expect anything launched inside a forum to be dirt cheap. Vendors are tired of offering their products for next to nothing and dealing with customers who have this expectant attitude that the world owes them everything. Unfortunately that's quite common with forum markets.

Competition in the forum launch space drove prices down to ridiculous levels over the last two years. It was good for customers but not so good for vendors who have bills to pay, support to provide, etc. It started getting to the point where all the hassle of launch was not worth the small revenue generated.

Vendors are now trying to get the market back to where it should be and where it was a few years ago. A typical course was $67 - $97. A typical Wordpess plugin was $47. A piece of software was $97+. That is where the prices should be and things are very slowly heading back that way.

That's not to say forum launches are dead or there is nothing to be gained by doing forum launches. But during this period where vendors are trying to train the market back to expecting more realistic prices, it's much easier done outside of a forum where those low low prices are not expected.

Anyway, that's my take on things based on feedback from a number of vendors in this space.