Well, one of the most interesting things about puzzlers is that a significant (but perhaps still small) proportion of them like making puzzles as well as solving them.

If this were a problem I was working on, I'd try to support that behavior. Make it easy for people to transition from solvers to makers of puzzles. Then feed and nurture the community of fans by allowing solvers to rate and discuss and find similar puzzles.

How do you get around the problem of "diluting" the main puzzle? If fewer people play with the main puzzle, that could result in a loss of traffic overall.

It's similar to the problem of subreddits diluting the main reddit.

You're getting to be almost as persistent about Numbrosia as rms was with his herbal remedy =)

2 threads in 400 days, and a comment in every thread about drugs. I thought it was reasonable. And it's technically not an herbal remedy, because kratom is not classified as anything by the FDA.

;)

Check out forumwarz... one way they do it is by having the community build more levels to play. It's an RPG, not a puzzle game, though.

A potential problem is this would dilute the main puzzle, resulting in less competition and interest in the site.

I think it will significantly increase return rates, if the game is good. See: kongregate.com