zlacker

This isn't true. I'm a member of a sailing forum and this doesn't go on there. Karma is probably part of it. Hard to interpret and subjective rules are another. No value outside of to YC is another. Etc etc. This isn't a community. It's a news aggregate.

>>roflye+(OP)
How large is the sailing forum? Size is the biggest factor in my experience.

I don't know what you mean by "no value outside of to YC" but I think—in fact I know—that HN has added massive value to lots of people's lives, and not just by providing interesting reading material. I know this because people tell me how HN changed their life, and I also know that HN changed my life (long before I started as a mod).

>>dang+m4
It's pretty big, but not massive. A fraction of HN.

But I'm members of other communities that always have at least 100-200 people online at the same time. I guess that is still a fraction of HN? But They all work well.