I used to call up people who complained about my work on HN. I wasn't mad at them. I really wanted to get feedback, and I knew there were smart people on this site.
I got my guests from here too. Somewhere in the comment archive, you'll see Derek Sivers agreeing to do an interview because I responded to his HN comment about offering to help people in this community.
When I moved to Argentina and didn't know anyone, I organized a Hacker News meetup. I made more than startup/work friends. I met people like Chad DePue, whose family became close with me and my wife.
I know we talk about improving the comments on HN, and I'm always for improvement, but there's a huge amount of value here right now. And there has been for years.
I know this could sound sappy, but thank you Hacker News.