>They contribute but have no rights. So if you throw them away,
>they may be disappointed.

If they're "thrown away", odds are the staff doesn't want them to come back anyway. So there's no issue there.

>Some of them may contribute for many
>years. They part this project, not just
>as random guests, but let's say, if you prefer a party
>analogy, as core guests.

Seniority doesn't confer special rights. You puke on the couch, you get thrown out of my party. I don't care whether you've been coming to my parties for years. Maybe if you've always been a good guest in the past, I let you come to the next one. But when you demonstrate on a regular basis that you can't hold your liquor and are the sort of person who's likely to ruin my furniture, I stop inviting you altogether.

>They also sometimes contribute as staff (but not gain any
>staff rights). For example, if you find a bug and describe it,
>you've contributed to the project in a way the staff should
>do.

I report bugs for my own benefit because I dislike playing a buggy game.

I run cabals (on occasion) because it's in keeping with my character's role-play, and because there are concrete in-game advantages.

>And they do that for free. Don't confuse it with the job staff
>does. While imms also do great job, they don't actually do
>that for "free". They aren't paid in money, but they are
>"paid" through different means.

Dude. What the staff does *so* doesn't compare to what a player does. Even if they're just sitting in the Gathering Room doing nothing, that means they're *not playing a mortal and doing fun stuff like killing people*. All that so they can answer people's assy prayers and empower people just to see them delete the next day.