I've been researching this a good deal in the last year or so in trying to figure out where to go with my own site.

Dress up games, avatars and the escapism behind them is going nowhere.

The methodology that most sites since Gaia Online have employed is going to keep them from growing. Reddit killed the forum, everyone wants instant gratification with likes. People have shortening attention spans. People simply do not use sites where they aren't involved in a consistent feedback loop.

If you can do something different, I think it works. Other new sites are going that way and seem to be very successful.