I've been prowling itch.io for the past year and a half since I'm not ready to make content yet, and I've noticed something... the community here is so nice, pleasant and creative!

I can browse pages and pages on itch.io and find so many good indie games, there is so much good content here and I love seeing all the game jams! I can find more inspirational content on the front page of a tag here than I'd accrue in hours of browsing Steam - I've tried. Idk why all the good stuff just happens to be here, probably because big game studios don't publish here (and I dont like em or their fandoms- indie games are best!)

Steam and other game communities have grown hostile and intimidating to talk in, while the community here feels very supportive and welcoming! It feels like there's a larger group of diverse content creators here, e.g. I've found a lot of wonderful LGBT games! It's so relieving to have a space like this where I don't feel like I'm gonna get get called a triggered r**ard for saying the wrong thing. I hope the community will be able to stay this way.

I guess I'm just baffled at what magical formula made this place the way it is! However they did it, I can tell the team behind itch.io really wants to make the tools and a space for indie creators to make the best content that we can. This is my love letter and thanks!

What are everyone else's thoughts?

I think they have great leadership and a great philosophy! And certain design decisions (like giving creators more control over how their content is displayed, being very indie-friendly, etc.) have helped a lot.

I really hope Itch keeps growing, it's my favorite game distribution platform.

Definitely my favorite platform as well. The community is very warm and welcoming and the staff! The staff fellas are perhaps the best pillars of the community I've seen. 

My only honest negative thing about itch is how sometimes the "fetish games" slip past the nsfw filter, but they do disappear after awhile so I believe that's moderation taking action. 

I'd have to go with the simplicity. A lot of toolsets I've used feel very... backend-ish. Not that itch doesn't have this, but imagine if itch's butler tool was the only way to manage your games up here. That's what a lot of sites do. itch on the other hand is user-friendly for both developers and gamers! The latest additions to the page designer are also great, like being able to set the alpha level for the second background color, or choose any Google Font.

There are two things itch needs, and they're both related to financially supporting developers:

1. A cart. Needing to purchase one game at a time may be too tedious for some gamers, especially come sales time, when they can just, say, go around Steam and click "Add to Cart" on a dozen different games before purchasing.
2. Some new ways to support developers. Something like a microtransaction system comes to mind, where you can buy 100 points for $20 and spend them all around the site. I think gamers on the site would be a lot more willing to buy some games (or even comics and such) up here if they could get them from a lump sum. Plus there could be ways to earn points, such as rating games, being good community members, etc.

But overall itch.io is easily my favorite site for posting games due to its simplicity, fun, and design-focus.

Exactly what LantanaGames said, except for that point pay system. I like clearly seeing how much stuff costs.

As itch has developed they've been incredibly receptive to user feedback, to the point where every once in a while even a single suggestion can turn into a whole new site-wide feature. 

Itch prioritizes people and their creativity, not abstract ideas like "industry" or "business sense" (not to say they lack sensibility in those regards. People-mindedness has proven to be quite sensible here!)