Per-category (and per-tag) ranking factors (e.g. 0.9, 1.2 etc)

Interesting. It conflicts with the very simple and relatable logic of “newest first” though, becoming more Reddit-esque instead. Most forums probably won’t need this.

How about you restrict your Off-topic forum to TL1 users and above? Then it won’t show up in Latest or Top for anon visitors.