And why not EXPLAIN what ROLES are FOR?  REally.. I do not honestly see any POINT but to make fancy titles for people..    The options are all across the board.. they dont allow for areas on multiple levels to be created.

NOBODY even knows what I'm talking about... has anyone here ever BEEN to a REAL forum? or RUN one that has ACTUAL SECURITY LEVELS THAT DIFFER?

I have been in a situation that has varying levels of security.  Forums are different from social sites to a degree.

I understand what you are talking about.  A forum is different to Oxwall.  That is a social platform.  Privacy would be more important than roles.  Roles are defined to allow certain people to do certain things on the site.  Linked with the paid membership I think you can set to charge for certain privliges.
The forums on Oxwall are basic and I would love to see a phpbb integration.
(Wordpress social script buddypress has a script that will either link your site to a phpbb  install or place a stand alone phpbb forum within your site.  Pretty cool)

Other than that Oxwall is ticking all the boxes for a social experience.

Also bear in mind it is still a very young project and there are lots to develop with it.  Dev team can't do everything at once.  They have a uservoice forum which allows people to post suggestions and others vote on it which helps with the team to decide on what to attempt next...