One of the final things is what the uses are of data provided by members. Right now, very little. The reason why is most of the tools for collecting data about people are all oriented towards Web pages and Web counts. Nobody provides that kind of information but that may be more important than about what's going on in your community than anything else I can think of. Keep in mind that play is a fundamental part of all communities.
Games can be a very fast way to grow any community.
It doesn't have to be a game community to have play at. Let's have some fun. Again, it is clearly that games are a mixture of content and communication. But, I find you can only get further in understanding the industry if you think about it in terms of communication. Don't send away customers.