Author's note: I'm warning you ahead of time, this is going to be a potential "tl;dr" post, so go into reading this knowing that. It's full of big words and themes. Algebraic.

Upon reading the prompt for this Weekly Musing, I had only one thought pop into my head about what makes a community not suck. The answer to that question is something that we're all used to seeing here on Destructoid: the cultivation and utilization of homegrown talent. Or in less fancy words, the promotion of noteworthy C-Blogs and other user-created content. Whether it's some funny video we made or the latest version of Drunkcast getting posted in the This Week in the Community feature, Destructoid utilizes the hell out of those who call it their home. Or Batcave. We're not picky.

But why is this so important to the success of gaming communities at large? The answer to that is somewhat more complex, and it actually requires me to discuss about how other gaming communities are set up. Go on and take a bathroom break, grab a snack or meal and do whatever else you need to do. You might be here a while when you get back to reading this.

In essence, most gaming sites (and their communities) can be broken up into three distinct categories, each based on a specific structure:

Group One: Those who have sites and talent, but do not use the talent

Kotaku, Joystiq, IGN. Three of the biggest gaming sites/blogs out there. All have homegrown talent amongst their commenters/forum members. Yet, none of these sites use said talent at all, outside of Kotaku appointing some comment czar at one point, but even that was more a popularity contest than anything else. Hundreds of thousands of people visit these sites each day, and thousands of those visitors comment on news stories or post in forums. Yet, each site is generally a one-way street: the news comes to you, and you digest it. Sure, they might throw a poll or a feature up like Kotaku's "Tell Us, Dammit" that allows for community members to be heard, but the skills these members have in fields like artistry and writing are never used.

This is, in itself, the way things used to be done. Remember the days when gaming magazines ruled the world? This was how business was done: we tell you what the news is, you digest it, and maybe you go on your usergroups or write us a letter to the editor and we'll post it if we like it.

Group Two: Those who have talent and use it ... but rely more on other sites to host said talent

Here's where NeoGAF, 4chan and, to an extent, SomethingAwful fall into. I know, SA has a site that they host their own stuff on, but to be honest, most of the time, what SA does gets linked to by a bunch of other sites and that's where their traffic comes from. These groups have talent and often show it off, but in the case of 4chan and NeoGAF specifically, they need other sites to work as aggregators for them because neither 4chan nor NeoGAF has a front page full of news like a Kotaku, Joystiq, Destructoid, Giant Bomb, etc. Sites that fall into this category, if you haven't guessed, tend to be large message boards where information often moves rapidly, meaning it's usually up to someone sending a link in to a major gaming blog for things to get noticed (see: NeoGAF's incredible Scribblenauts thread or just about anything of interest to gaming blogs that happens on 4chan ... if that ever happens). In a sense, these sites are like the artists of the world, and the group one sites are like the art galleries. Group two sites, however, tend to fall more into the artistic category and shy away from the writing aspects.

Group Three: Those who have talent and use it on their own sites

Here's where the new wave of sites falls in. Destructoid, Giant Bomb, Bitmob. Each has talent, and each is not afraid every once in a while to let that talent shine. Of course, Destructoid is at the forefront of the group while Giant Bomb and Bitmob are still rather young, thanks in part to Dtoid's constant interaction with the community. In a sense, these sites not only supply the artist with the art gallery for free, but they give them some of the tools they'll also need, like a rich benefactor. Do a good enough job and get noticed. Suck, and well ... you suck.

Tapping into this reserve of talent, though, allows these sites to not only find new talent for their own Web sites, but it allows them to be able to have the same impact as a larger site with thought-out editorials, unique features, and creative graphics and art, but still maintain a smaller staff that helps keep costs down. And by giving the community the incentive to be creative and see their works displayed, they want to become active with little persuasion because to them, it's fun.

So wait, why is this relevant?

I'm just getting to that. In group one sites, you often have very large communities, but they are often very disjointed and do not interact with each other on a regular basis. They do discuss and debate, but more so, they simply consume, because that's all those sites are set up for. Group two sites do foster such communication and are often close-knit, but their main problem is that they often lack the means to organize things such as get togethers or community events. That's not to say they can't, but a 4chan event is often very different in size and scope than a Destructoid NARP; they generally tend to be more mobbish and less party-like, from what I have read about and viewed.

The third groups, though, are interconnected through not only their debate and discussion, but through the creation and promotion of their works. People have a reason to visit these sites and interact on a daily basis, which builds relationships. Relationships are the key to it all because they give community members personal bonds. On top of that, when work is promoted to the front page or a new editor is plucked from the ranks of the community, those things already have relationships with the rest of the community built in, breaking down the wall a bit between staff and readers. That all contributes in the end to a feeling of comfort, which makes people want to stick around more often.

On top of all that, when your work becomes promoted, you now feel like you have a stake in the actual Web site and the community itself, motivating you to continue to stay and contribute more. I mean, if someone tells me, "Great work! You are awesome!" after reading a promoted post I wrote, am I not more likely to stay around and not feel frustrated that no one really cares? My answer would be yes.

So out of all this, the answer to better communities is promoting more community stuff?

Well, it's more than that. It's about having the right apparatus set up so that talent can be cultivated, and then actually using it. Some sites, like 1Up and more so IGN, have community blog equivalents, but I blogged at IGN for almost two years before coming here, and I never once had a post of mine promoted. All I got was some bragging rights when my blog hit #3 once on their most read list. It was satisfying, yes, but not nearly as much as it still is here on Destructoid, because IGN still doesn't have that close-knit community. I'm shocked more sites have not taken a community approach and given their readers a place to hang out and relax, a place to make connections and relationships. Here's hoping that they eventually do, so that we can stop wondering why some gaming communities really, really suck.