My question is, was it REALLY forcibly required to give consent to use the new forum engine
The request for consent is legit. It wasn't there with these new forums at first and only happened somewhat recently with changes in European laws. Nothing to worry about.
You can't create forums - neither can I, and I'm a moderator. Post your request here and the sysadmin may create it. Note that "Local forums" is for non-English forums - if that'a not what you want then suggest a more appropriate placement.
@coffeelover Setting aside all the "snarki-ness" and BB71's excellent decompiling of this thread...the fact remains that often NAVIGATION w/in Opera can be challenging. Anchoring the sidebar and exploring links in separate tabs is a basic good practice not mentioned often enough.
Opera works just fine, users not taking a few moments to review (customize) default settings - in ANY browser are apt to "lose" things.