I think the "value" in rear facing dropouts is that you can't get too silly about your axle location. I've seen many road bikes with horizontal dropouts (some converted to fixed) where the axle was placed at the very edge of the dropout opening to shorten the effective wheelbase. On the fixed bikes, they were placed that way probably to accommodate a larger chainring than chain was set up for. In other words, forward facing horizontal dropouts allow idiots to act like idiots.
Kevin Ko
Eugene, OR