Forum communities build themselves without anyone mentally committing themselves to do it, honestly. They are built every time someone starts a new and interesting thread, every time someone gets into a spirited yet great debate about a controversial issue, and when some random poster does something completely and utterly memorable that makes people look back and say "remember the time on the forums when..."?
Every day that people choose to patronize the community on The Escapist, is another day that the community is built. The key is, as someone said, maintaining the quality of posting and discussion going forward. I have come to start posting regularly on these forums because I appreciate the level of maturity and good discussion I am seeing here. it's a comfortable size and certain topics can be talked about without things descending into unproductive flamefests. As a war-weary moderator from other websites I find this one refreshing, so I do hope that everyone realizes that we are building a community without even realizing it, and that if things keep rolling along, it'll be one with its own unique stamp.
