The forum is definitely dead these days, but the marketplace is still "somewhat" active, and there are a few skype groups with active daily participation. It seems like no forum has really risen to take its place. More like the SEO guys went one way (BHW, Skype groups), the PPC guys another (private forums, other skype groups).
A lot of the big players are still active and still making money. If you want an invite to a Skype group shoot me an email.
The thread wasn't full of people mocking him (wf wasn't like that back then) but people were telling him it's generally not a good idea and he should go niche instead. I've completely lost touch with all of my contacts from back then and I can't find the thread unfortunately, so you have to take it on my word, I guess.