Before I start-MB great post!!
I was going to stay out of these discussions and just sit back and see what comes of it but I have a question.
How does a new site format (v1.5) solve any of the problems with submitters auto generating and submitting spammy pieces of crap? That model can be abused just like the current model so aren't we back to square one? Maybe I'm missing something but I just don't get it.