I wasn't going to post in here because I didn't see what was wrong with the system- but I had never made an attempt at voting before. I've been laddering for quite a bit now to try and get voting reqs and the system is absolutely ridiculous. I'm really angry so can I just talk about the actual process of laddering? I hate it, it's terrible. I've gotten so many +7 - 24 battles or the like and I think I'm going to scream. I've dropped about 60 points today, because I got critted and stuff- and once I got angry at that, it just went downhill in a negative feedback loop. I'm running a stall team so I actually have a much higher chance of losing to noobs than people who actually know what they're doing (I actually got swept by an Electivire that had the exact four moves it needed to sweep, two of which weren't viable in the least) because of the random shit they pull. Once I get paired up against a batch of noobs and I lose, my rating drops, I get even angrier, I face more noobs because my rating is lower, and it's awful. Now I know this tirade is kind of off topic but the rating system is simply killing me, and I wish laddering were a bit easier. I've easily had over 100 battles this round and I clearly know enough about the metagame to vote (at least in my opinion), but there is just no way I am getting into that 15 + 15 range. I am not a bad Pokemon player, only an inconsistent one.
I have a couple of ideas- firstly, I'd like to bring the bar like to 1400 like everybody is talking about. I don't get whats even wrong with people parking their accounts anyway, they clearly are qualified to vote if they can get that high. Not to mention that 15 + 15 sets the bar really really high- right now, it puts it at 1499, and it's only going to get higher. That would make this even WORSE than Round 1, when EVERYBODY complained that voting reqs were too high. 1400 WORKS. I don't care how lucky you are, you simply cannot hax your way up to 1400 without some knowledge of the metagame- and even if you did, you must've learned something in the massive amount of battles that would require.
The other thing I would like to see is MORE SUBJECTIVITY in special applications. Yeah, I know, that's exactly what we've been trying to avoid, but why? Getting high on the ladder is the most objective proof available, we really don't need any more "objectivity". I think that a high-ish ladder rank would be a great thing to include in your special application, but I don't think Iconic or Eo or somebody should have to explain why they got haxed out of voting reqs (despite the fact that that would never happen). You should just have to send a PM to reach with your experience, any evidence you can supply (like people you've beaten, ladder peaks, tournament wins or placings, etc.) and what you think of the metagame. Just impress upon reach that you know what you're talking about, and he shouldn't have to ask about your ladder peaks (although they obviously help in showing your competence, if they're high). I have faith in the fact that reach isn't a moron and that Phil wasn't a moron for putting him up top; I think I can leave it to him to decide who's worthy of voting.
In summary, we all hate hax, hax is everywhere, ratings aren't always so telling of skill, we expect higher ratings than we ought to, and I trust the people up top.