Yup... Lists, `inline`, and ```code``` would be fantastic. It's so annoying for n.yc to be literally the only place on the internet where you can type into a textbox but that textbox isn't some variation of markdown. (even facebook messages [on web] supports triple-ticks for code!)
I work at Vanilla Forums (we power some of the largest communities online).
I’ve worked a lot on our editors and content formatting pipelines. We support plaintext, markdown, HTML, BBCode, and a WYSIWYG editor with markdown shortcuts.
In reality is estimate the distribution is mostly the WYSIWYG editor nowadays for newer sites and BBCode for the older ones (some users on older entrenched communities really like their BBCode I guess).
True, but it's such a mismatch in expectations where the entire tech industry has embraced markdown, but n.yc (tech mecca / water cooler) is most decidedly (and surprisingly) uses NotMarkdown(tm).