It's strange how some games develop notoriously toxic communities and others don't. I wonder what patterns there are in the toxicity, but I don't know anyone who has enough experience with enough different such communities to extrapolate.

Far away from DotA there's the phenomenally gregarious and queer-friendly speedrunning community. One of the oddities of that community is that it developed from a small nucleus. If even a few of the early community's leaders had been toxic in their behaviors, the community might have charted a different course.

If the comment on a very old entry puzzles you: I'm seeking out new people to follow on Dreamwidth, and since I don't post frequently, it would be amiss for me to dismiss others for also not posting frequently.