So, the core rules say:
Breath weapons and spells cannot pass through a wall of force in either direction, although dimension door, teleport, and similar effects can bypass the barrier. It blocks ethereal creatures as well as material ones (though ethereal creatures can usually circumvent the wall by going around it, through material floors and ceilings). Gaze attacks can operate through a wall of force.
This makes it seem as though a very specific subcategory of effects can pass through a wall of force--namely, those effects which do not produce a tangible manifestation which must pass through the intervening space between the origin point and the intended target.
Obviously, it is clearly stated that gaze attacks can do so, and you may teleport "through" or around a wall of force, despite the fact that "spells cannot pass through." Since these effects produce a result that does not rely on actually traveling physically through the plane created by the wall, they work normally. A breath weapon must actually reach its target; a gaze attack only needs to be seen.
All that to say: Even though it seems at first glance to be pretty black-and-white on spells in general, would it be fair to rule that spells that produce an effect without requiring a line of effect, that do not produce an area in which the target need be caught (such as a lightning bolt), or that otherwise do not need to physically travel in some tangible fashion to the target or target point to produce an effect (fireball) can work across/"through" a wall of force?
To clarify: Let's say, for the sake of example, you wish to cast dominate person on a target located on the other side of a wall of force from you. The spell has a range of "close" and a target of "one humanoid creature," but its effects are described as functioning through a "telepathic link that you establish with the subject's mind." Assuming it can be agreed that telepathy works normally through the wall, just as shouting presumably would, would it be legitimate to agree that dominate person can then also work normally through the wall, since nowhere in its description does it specify that it must shoot out, envelop, explode, or otherwise move from point A to point B in order to function normally? Likewise for spells such as crushing despair, black tentacles, or even summon monster?
Wall of Force blocks line of effect, but not line of sight so it still blocks the dominate spell from working since it is a "target" based spell. The telepathic link is not what makes the spell work. It is what happens after the spell has taken effect.
Easiest way to look at it.-->If a brick wall would block the effect, even if you could see through it then it should also block the spell.
That's fair enough in combination with the assumption that such a spell needs line of effect. But, does it? Does dominate or charm person actually need to pass through the space between caster and target in order to affect the target? The core rules for aiming spells simply says (about targets and spells with an area of "target") "You must be able to see or touch the target, and you must specifically choose that target."
Now, granted, it seems the magic rules say:
A line of effect is a straight, unblocked path that indicates what a spell can affect. A line of effect is canceled by a solid barrier. [...] You must have a clear line of effect to any target that you cast a spell on or to any space in which you wish to create an effect. You must have a clear line of effect to the point of origin of any spell you cast.
Ought that be interpreted as every spell that can potentially be cast, since gaze attacks work through it? What about burning gaze, which, on one hand, is described as functioning like a gaze attack, but which specifically says it does not actually grant a gaze attack? Definitely you can cast it (the target is "you"), but do its effects pass through a wall of force, or are they blocked, essentially making creatures within 30 feet of you on the other side of the wall immune to the spell?
Is there a loophole here for spells that create effects without producing a ray or similar (like charm person), or am I taking too much creative license with something that everyone else agrees is very cut-and-dried?
Gaze attacks are not spells, and even if they were that fact that they are called out as working would make them a rules exception.
Burning Gaze works like a gaze attack because it is described as functioning like gaze. Spells with a target of "you" can only be cast on the caster. If those spells create an aura then anyone on the other side of the wall of force is not affected.
There is no way to bypass the "line of effect" rule. It is pretty much cut and dry.
The only spells that can get around walls or solid objects that block line of effect are spreads to my knowledge.
Spread: Some effects, notably clouds and fogs, spread out from a point of origin, which must be a grid intersection. The effect can extend around corners and into areas that you can't see. Figure distance by actual distance traveled, taking into account turns the spell effect takes. When determining distance for spread effects, count around walls, not through them. As with movement, do not trace diagonals across corners. You must designate the point of origin for such an effect, but you need not have line of effect (see below) to all portions of the effect.