All of that didn't really matter because there wasn't an official poll. You could easily ignore the one or two word support posts, especially since it was only really up the BD's. They would make the decision based on what reliable people had to say and how they said it, not by some number that can only be given by someone who pays monthly to do so.
Both systems make it possible to present some form of useless or a bribe support, but asking a friend to support you isn't as bad as asking a stranger to. Your friends know you the most and if you have enough of them supporting you from this community, then the community would approve of you being an admin. The BD's would not necessarily use that solely as a basis for their decision, but it would help them feel comfortable knowing the admin was well respected and known in the community.
In the current system, the BD's no longer really take a personal approach to it anymore unless it is a special case. If it is still solely upon their discretion (or whatever officer does it now), then I'd recommend a non-BS approach that doesn't pretend to use a vote tally to decide who gets admin.
All in all, if you are worried about BS, you can spot it a mile away unless it is hidden by a number.
Hiding it behind a number doesn't make it better. It does prevent some new people from voting, but you also have new people spending money to vote anyways. What about the opinions of those who have actually been admins or have stayed on the forums/servers for a long ass time? Do we have to buy our vote or opinion as well?
You are forcing people to go under the assumption that the more money you spend at SG, the more likely it is that you will be accepted as an admin. This is a childish fantasy upheld by many of the supporters who think they can handle the duties of an admin and believe they deserve so because they have already donated X amount of dollars over Y amount of months.
Benefit two isn't entirely true if the admin depends upon a parents account to get the money to you.
By the way, where is your THIRD benefit?
Yes, let's believe in the magic of the new system because understanding that there really was no correlation between the bad admins and the old system is just so completely ridiculous. It obviously wasn't the fact that SG/ZM was desperate for admins, so the BD's or Haggard didn't really take into consideration outlandish circumstances that eventually played out.
The only thing you can say was that those admins were present when SG/ZM was still relatively young or just starting to really grow. There is no real connection between the process and how much of a douche one could be. Keep in mind, we also have a lot of great admins and officers from back then too. If the old system was that bad, we wouldn't have any of our officers.
Great, taking money from kids who cannot read rules. If that's how we have to stay afloat, then isn't this a fun place run by a bunch of cheeky bastards?
If the higher ups say no, they still get the final say. They can override a vote or change the requirements for a successful application.
The new system is more like an aristocracy, except some of those who should vote are left out and replaced by those who shouldn't be anywhere near a keyboard. You still have some admins with some good reasoning, but you also have some wackjobs. The same can be said for HGs, supporters, and regulars. It would be more like a democracy if EVERYONE could vote, not just those who decide to pay for their vote.
The only valid point you made was that we get more money. While this is true, you would still get money by people just buying supporter packages instead of admin packages. You would get rid of those who think it is necessary to donate before being accepted as an admin, but that is just a subtle form of bribery where that person buys your attention.
We have a lot of admins who don't do anything and are just there because they think they look better in green or they lack some form of authority in their life. Whatever the case, they could still provide for SG by donating or being supporters, but if they do not feel the urge to just support SG out of their good will, then SG isn't really worth it if they are only doing it for some powers.
Eventually, we are going to be doing so much shit here we are going to need a community where the majority are supporter/admins. Someone better hand me a damn towel when we get done converting to an internet country club. We'll surely have some mundane officer rank for that position by that point.
How many actually did?
