[AreaOfEffect]

That sounds correct. The forums are used to collect players and organize the games. The servers are then used to execute the games that have been organized. Each stands apart but are used in concert with each other to make gaming with strangers possible.

Art_of_War may appear open on the server, but those open positions have been reserved by players here at the forum. If you blankly submitted a pretender to that game you would be edging out a player who was promised a spot in that game. It would then only be a matter of time before the player spoke up and had you kicked from the game.