I think you'll see that many find this post offensive.
Ok..
Telling people "you are not doing enough" when many have been doing more than some in the top 20 for quite a while is absolutely ridiculous
I tried to make it clear in my post, that "doing more than the current top 20" is not enough to make it into the top. Anyone who wants to run a witness and use the current top 20 as their "bar" to overcome is welcome to do so, but in my view that is not going to be enough to get in.
you know there are factors at play that you have left out of this post
In terms of other factors, I honestly don't know what you are talking about. I tried to list everything I could think of in the "Some key things that I often see witnesses doing wrong are" section, and in my view - those are the top reasons why certain backups are not making it in.
It's people like you who vote for those currently sitting in the top 20 who are actively doing harm to this chain.
I use different criteria for voting than you do. You are welcome to vote for whoever you want, just as I am. I do actually pay attention to the backup witnesses, and frequently vote for ones that I think are doing a good job.
There are quite a few that I am already voting for (examples @ats-david and @holger80) that I think have what it takes to get in, but they are going to have to work on other elements of their campaign.
Quite a few who I have been voting for (such as @steempress and @netuoso) have finally managed to overcome the hurdles and make it in.