“Official” is a vague term. In this case, as the people “in charge" of taking care of the forum (and therefore the
“leaders” of the forums) decide which topics enter in those lists, it can be called official.
And no, is not the same… first because there is no list provided which could help us to avoid the creation of unnecessary topics. Second, because there a lot of stickys which could be easily removed from there, without generating any kind of harm.
Gosh… I write sooooo formal when I use a grammar corrector -_- ….