I don't know where you're coming from Hassle, but you are way out in left field on this one.
There are many loyal Pipsters who are not a member of this forum, either by choice or because they have been banned. There are small forums around where loyal members are discussing and exchanging news without commercialism or yelling matches between each other. (Not saying that that is all that happens here). There are also a great number of members who do not speak English and would not be a member here for that reason alone.
I also have my doubts about the exact number of members of ROL. I know many members who receive more than 1 e-mail from the admin, so I would assume that the number of members is the number of e-mail addresses in the system instead.
What do you base your statement on that without Marek or ROL there would be no lottery? Marek set up this forum against the express wishes of Bryan when the old Pips forum closed. Nevertheless they have built up a large membership (no matter what the numbers are, it is substantial), but, if I remmember correctly, the number of Pips members would run betwee 250.000 and 300.000 (not sure about the exact numbers, Bryan can correct me on this). There are many, many members who have never been on any forum but who are suppoters nevertheless. Forum dwellers are also not always posters. Only a very small amount of people keep all the forums going for varies reasons. Some like to vent their frustrations, other like to be cheerleaders.
Back to my questions above ... why would there not be a lotto with Marek? What contributions did this forum make to Bryan's effort, except for allowing a discussion on the size of the matrix? The intentions have always been based on making this a better world for all, not just for a happy few. Their are enough of those kind of ideas.
Cheers
Jan