Personally, I find communities quite helpful and the opportunities to learn more extensive. LSF (LemmaSoft Forums) was my first to learn the basics of game development and the Ren'Py VN engine.
I quickly learned the basics of Ren'Py through them and had a working prototype in about 2 weeks. My first completed KN "Learning To Fly ch1" is published both here and on GameJolt.
I've also joined Discord and created my own server https://discord.gg/c3vK5Y though I'm still in the process of setting it up. There are plenty of servers to join on discord, such as Renpy, itch, blender, etc.
Hope this helps...
Robi