I suppose it depends on how visible we are from the wiki and if we can be worked in to the wiki entries and general fallout history. The other thing we need to ask is what a loss of identity actually means; being part of a larger Fallout related entity may rejuvenate some of the original character of the unwashed village, whether a step back is entirely positive is something we can debate.
The other thing we need to ask is what kind of identity we will lose, we've not been able to invest the time in creating an identity since moving to this board and I feel that we're slipping into an apathetic decline, so is that really a great loss?
The identity of the village is largely tied up in the people who inhabit it and the relationship between them. Bonds have been formed and broken so often and people have drifted apart in a number of ways so perhaps the incidental new villagers we'll gain in the vault will serve to establish new bonds and create a buzz that'll draw some of our members back to us.
How much hassle would it be to weave our history into the vault? Perhaps even as a first step, does anybody have a collection of member created stories we could submit? Turjan seems to have gone AWOL and he had a large collection of these as far as I remember.
I'm afraid I must admit that the Vault is an encyclopaedia, and as such the admin team wouldn't even consider letting you add stories nor to weave stories into the main space, but there is nothing stopping you adding them to your own userspaces and linking from the message boards to there. Alternatively, we could add an 'advert' for the UV somewhere on each page I'm sure. Of course, it is possible for you to, as previously suggested, set up a wiki and that would solve the issue of stories and their visibility.
As for the rest of it, I agree with your hints. No matter the discussion about losing identity, the majority of it is being lost already, and those who come in search of the UV thanks to FO2 are finding a husk of what it once was, with the people here seeking days they can't ever get back, hence a steady decline. I believe you are right and that an injection of fresh blood would lively up the place. Of course, it is possible for you to, as previously suggested, set up a wiki and that would solve the issue of stories and their visibility.