I personally appreciate the intention of the forums is not primarily for direct technical support, but rather is a peer-to-peer environment. But little else remains - one of the issues is Symantec's lack of any response to technical support email! And phoning in is a last resort of the desperate, when and if I have nothing better to do than spend hours on hold only to end up talking to someone who knows less than I do and can give me no action.
Not to mention that these particular forums are only for Backup Exec - and many people are asking what happened to the Symantec stuff, ie Mail Security.
It would go a long way if Symantec would get forums alive again for all their products, not just former Veritas stuff. Personally, I find it rather annoying that I pay thousands of dollars per year for maintenance on my Enterprise AV package, but my only support option is spending hours on the horn for telephone support.
That said, it is obvious that many people expect more 'support' from the forums than forums are meant for. Perhaps it would be beneficial to all if there were some more prominent notices on the main page, title block, or somewhere obvious that stated clearly that this is a peer-to-peer environment, so people shouldn't expect direct symantec support - if they get any, it's bonus.
IMHO