I thought Valve was interesting as they essentially said the accumulated community around a good game will be something that is harder to copy, and developers should make their game unique and cultivate this.

So far, so good. I talk to indie devs all of the time. I remember a husband and wife setting aside a small budget for their passion project. These are people with very limited time and money, so they do not have the resources or expertise for the business and marketing side, and they may also get overwhelmed if somebody just makes a copy and starts spreading it on reddit or elsewhere.

I think Valve is still right in essence but the answer is really "it depends". To me it comes down to relationships and trust: Getting a few early, vetted players, not necessarily going for high volume e.g. 500+ on Discord or whatever. Having people who really care, support and co-create with you. This will probably look a little bit different for every game: Some might run curated spaces, others will just embrace that copying is a thing that may happen. I saw the Xbox Labs announcement lately with even another route: Remixing being part of what they explore as the future.