[zapphnath]

The way some sites do it is to have beginner to advanced categories. To use Worth1000 as an example, if someone does well in a set amount of beginner comps, he/she is no longer allowed to enter - must move on to intermediate beyond that.

This, actually, led to me leaving Worth1000. When I brought up the subject, I was attacked by people saying how wrong I was and using things that I had already said as a way of proving me wrong.
For example:
Me: "People should, of course, be allowed to enter whatever contest they want to, but..."
Typical response: "You're wrong. People should be allowed to enter any contest they want to."
The point I was trying to make, at the time, was that people should be encouraged to enter the beginner comps, at first. I found far too many examples of people entering the advanced comp on their first try, doing poorly, and never returning to the site. To me, this doesn't convey "community", it only forces discouragement.
The whole point of the "community" aspect of a site like this is to help our fellow artists. Help them learn. Help them become better. While contructive criticism is a good thing, anything that makes anyone feel bad about themselves or want to give up is not so good. (I remember one comment I had read on someone's work at Worth1000 - "If this is the best you can do, you might as well quit", or something to that effect). (On a more personal note, one of the site's moderators posted, in an Introductions-style thread, "Welcome. If you want to see a mediocre Worthian, go here - LINK", and the link led to my homepage. I wouldn't say I was mediocre - I ended up in second place in the second comp I'd entered. Sure, I was still a noob, at the time, but I consider myself to be far from mediocre. Suffice it to say that he, as well as the site's owner, recieved a nasty message from me, right after I deleted every post I'd ever made in the forums and right before I quit. You know what they say: "With friends like that, who needs enemies?).