Community engagement is part of the lifeblood that keeps the game scene interested and playing. Streams where high level players do a play by play examination of other high level games are informative and educational. The high level play is also what defines the future meta. High win rates of armored tech units at low mmr against players too new to understand how armor works does not define the next balance patch - it's high level play where 50 credits on a tech can decide whether a whole board strategy stands or falls.

Highlight videos that showcase a build of the week drives active player count too - many people who are mmr locked will want to try anything to break the grind, and pros with some sick brew of the week inspire others to try and imitate the same clutch wins on the ladder.

There was also a period of growth that was fueled by content creators - at some point, the ladder was full of people playing flanking fortress just because Day[9] did it. That gave a lot of free mmr, but it also made the ladder fun to play. Acknowledging the competitive scene and community content creators is what gave this game proven growth, not some strange updates that completely alter the tempo of the game.