Most of this is touched on elsewhere in the thread. One thing:

>Exactly!!! Exactly exactly exactly. So why isn't there a staff
>member path for the non-nuclear people. Hey, for the love of
>God don't let ME near the code. I can't even navigate the
>Crumbling Road without ending up in the sodden marsh, for Gods
>sake.

I think it comes down to what Adhelard was saying about the mindset that doing something to make CF better doesn't strictly equal being an imm. In my opinion, for nearly all of the jobs you need to be an imm for (area writing obviously, but also quests, running a cabal, running a religion, etc.) having been through the whole area process and understanding how all of its pieces go together is a big big help. It will help you do cooler things easier, and it will help you do more cool things without needing someone else's help.

I can go more into that on demand, but hopefully I've more clearly stated my essential point on that issue.