To me being a competitor means studying the mechanics, tourney rules, and frame data carefully and applying it to matches. I consider myself a competitive player because I do all three of these but I still play the game for fun and experience.
What I appreciate about the FGC is that it gives opportunities to make new acquaintances and/or friends because of people with common interests having a regular community to attend to. Some long term friends and long term acquaintances I have made I met in the FGC community.
I greatly appreciate the way they are organized. The people there are very friendly and very fair with their rules. They are also good at making brackets run very smoothly. Keep up the good work.