I'm sorry I keep having thoughts but will try to keep them to one thread to make it easier for both of us, that's not a problem at all!
Commitment is a big issue, which is sad, and me too, though I never played on those boards but we all have memories of places where there was a ton of writing and playing.
Burnout really is also an issue - and so many places opening then closing fast (if they get to opening at all, which is another rant in itself).
Also, while event pushes from the mods are great - sometimes the mods don't have a lot of ideas, or 'we did a neighbourhood barbeque last month, what can we do that's different?' also happens a lot. Which is where it could open to player suggestions but even that can be hard to get people to talk about.
Something along those lines might help, yes. Tailored to the style of game, of course, but yes, I can see something like that being useful.