Communities need either a center or an edge, a person or set of people they gravitate towards in the center, or a border of some sort to delineate inside from outside. Without either a gradient or a membrane (and often both) they suffer. Star Wars Galaxies added a membrane today, limiting its bulletin boards to players: "You must be subscribed to the Star Wars Galaxies game and be a current Fan Club member to access the community area." There's some criticism of the SWG staff over at /. about this move, but I can't see what the issue is -- the game itself is already requires membership anbd fees, so this kind of membrane seems to make perfect sense. In retrospect, I'm surprised it was any other way -- "Hey, want to come over to our house and watch us discuss family issues?"