Can someone post the benefits of having an official tier? A lot of the sillyness from the proposal comes from the fact that UU and NU must remain "official" and RU can never be made "official" but what has being official actually done for those tiers? Because all I've observed historically from a tier being official is the existence of an ungodly amount of red tape to get anything done because of the tierlock. Unofficial tiers like ADV RU and DPP/BW/ADV PU still get support from the respective tier PLs and generation PLs, and RoA spotlights and resources and room tours still exist for unofficial tiers, so what benefits does being official actually bring when you consider the tierlock and gymnastics like in the OP about maintaining officiality-ness?
In fact, what even is the point of officiality in oldgen lower tiers? Why is there a distinction if both unofficial and official old gen lower tiers if both get roughly the same amount of support? It isn't because an "official" tier is a stamp of quality, there are terrible "official" tiers. It also doesn't mean that said tier followed the correct process, GSC UU and ADV NU weren't really created off of good usage stats, and I don't think anyone can seriously argue for the sanctity of the ADV UUBL list considering the lack of process when it was created.
To be official a tier MUST have been created when it was current gen. The whole reason why an official tier must be CG to be official is because of low ladder usage after the generation ends which necesitates a freeze, but ADV is probably the most active oldgen at the moment. Considering that ADV is the most active oldgen at this time, instead of defining officiality-ness from when the tier was created, why not cut out the middleman and define officiality-ness based on the activity of a ladder? We've had cases where "official" tiers have less active ladders than "unofficial tiers." How many players were playing ADV UU when it was CG to create the usage stats for ADV NU? Was that even a large number, larger than what a concentrated ADV UU retiering ladder might have?
As someone who plays RBY Lower Tiers, if you do active tiering, people WILL come. RBY is the second smallest oldgen in terms of OU ladder stats, but the RBY Lower Tier structure has been chugging along fine with a decent number of players. Interest in the tier shifts drives people back and brings in new players, so I seriously doubt that ADV will run into playerbase issues. If you are going to retier ADV, I also suggest that ADV UU/RU/NU/PU authority be given to a seperate ADV Low Tier or the ADV community like what happened in RBY, and more recently in GSC, else you will face bureaucracy for the rest of your lives.
In fact, what even is the point of officiality in oldgen lower tiers? Why is there a distinction if both unofficial and official old gen lower tiers if both get roughly the same amount of support? It isn't because an "official" tier is a stamp of quality, there are terrible "official" tiers. It also doesn't mean that said tier followed the correct process, GSC UU and ADV NU weren't really created off of good usage stats, and I don't think anyone can seriously argue for the sanctity of the ADV UUBL list considering the lack of process when it was created.
To be official a tier MUST have been created when it was current gen. The whole reason why an official tier must be CG to be official is because of low ladder usage after the generation ends which necesitates a freeze, but ADV is probably the most active oldgen at the moment. Considering that ADV is the most active oldgen at this time, instead of defining officiality-ness from when the tier was created, why not cut out the middleman and define officiality-ness based on the activity of a ladder? We've had cases where "official" tiers have less active ladders than "unofficial tiers." How many players were playing ADV UU when it was CG to create the usage stats for ADV NU? Was that even a large number, larger than what a concentrated ADV UU retiering ladder might have?
As someone who plays RBY Lower Tiers, if you do active tiering, people WILL come. RBY is the second smallest oldgen in terms of OU ladder stats, but the RBY Lower Tier structure has been chugging along fine with a decent number of players. Interest in the tier shifts drives people back and brings in new players, so I seriously doubt that ADV will run into playerbase issues. If you are going to retier ADV, I also suggest that ADV UU/RU/NU/PU authority be given to a seperate ADV Low Tier or the ADV community like what happened in RBY, and more recently in GSC, else you will face bureaucracy for the rest of your lives.