Does the attractiveness of your forum...

Does the attractiveness of your forum bring more users on, or deters them away?

Personally, I have always joined websites that have looked some what attractive. Sites that were easy to read, the font wasn't too small, the colors didn't hurt the eyes, etc.

The look of your website definitely helps attract users. If the site is easy to navigate through and you can find everything you are looking for, then within a few minutes you should be hitting the register button at the top and joining.

Do you feel that the attractiveness of a forum help gain a good user base?

I think it helps. Absolutely. A forum should always have a neat and clean appearance while also having some kind of order to it. Otherwise, it makes it too hard to find things and that may throw people off from joining.

I've always said that if your appearance is not appealing or hurts the eyes, it will most definitely affect users coming to your forum. Additionally, current users may become angry and leave.

The appearance of your forum is one of the most critical aspects of a forum. If your forum looks a bit under-done or sloppy, I wouldn't think anyone would join. If your theme looks like you put some real hard work into it, I'd say you wouldn't have much of a problem gaining members.

I agree with you, Sagest. The design is very important.

Aaaand that's why I'm head reviewer.