I'm a bit late and several others have echoed my feelings on the matter already, but Im going to wade in anyway.
Im opposed to the proposal.
I acknowledge there's a problem and that the feelings of unfairness some members may be feelings are valid. I don't believe this proposal will adequately resolve the issue though, in fact I believe it will lead to a good deal of division and harm.
I'm going to skip the reasoning that OG barons earned their rank already; others have made that point more eloquently than I could. Instead I'd like us all to consider the very real possibility that this could potentially see some members leave.
I don't disagree that there are some members here who are not actively participating. They would most likely not even notice they've been made non-participating, but there are several members, myself included, who might be caught up in this who definitely do contribute and may decide that the community which allows them to put in work outside of game, but doesn't value the contribution enough to allow them to vote isn't a place they want to remain part of. I won't shy away from saying that if passed, I would need to reconsider my level of involvement here.
I might not have put my time and efforts into churning out 40+ cookie cutter houses, but I have been an integral part of this and past communities, doing essential admin and ministerial work, quite frequently giving up my own personal time at home or at work to be there for you all.
Theres a very real risk here that people who should not be penalised would be. A lot of the additional contributions that certain people make are hard to quantify, but it should count for something.
Unfortunately I don't have an alternative solution to offer. I just know that this proposal will likely cause significant bad feelings and ultimately not resolve any of the issues raised