Yeap fair points, I still disagree that the current system cannot be altered, but thats okay.

I like that idea that only dead players are booted (longest player in), and if none are dead it moves onto live players with longest time. I dont see any major exploits to this. Sure, if you die alot you will be kicked more often, but thats all the more incentive not to die

I usually stop playing when Im kicked, and I know others will do the same. Also, I've seen many times where a tank battle is decided based on supporting members, if your up against supporting members and your squad has alot of non SM's, all it takes is 1 guy to get booted in middle of combat and your down a gun, usally happening at worse moments :P

/rant on

Also what really gets me the most on SM kick script, is the guys who got the server running: seeding it, squad leading, playing when its not that fun but knowing that by being there they will attract more players, helping the new players, introducing them to the mod, explaining stuff, being generally friendly and inviting and showing how the TG community is mean to be... these are the guys you kick first since they have been in the longest. So really, I used to do this all the time, but now I never go into TG unless its near full, because I know if I try to seed the server I will just be punished for doing it once it finally fills up. It's happen 1 too many time that I join the server when its near empty, get a nice solid group of players and even some new guys and having a great time, then what you know, it passes that peak amount of players needed, and we got all these SM's joining that didnt want to join when it was 10/62 but now that its near full, sure they will come in and take someones spot. Now that your kicked, and the server gameplay (which you helped to establish) is going great, its difficult or impossible to get back in, so you feel like whats the point of seeding this server if they just gonna punish me for it.
I know other non-SM are aware of this fate too, and probably a contributing reason why the server seems so empty alot of times during non-peak hours... if theres no SM around to seed, then no other good non-SM leaders will want to join the server and get it going only to get punished. If more and more SM's are getting their memberships simply to get a slot on the server rather than actually contribute to the community, than we see less seeders since these guys are unlikely to seed because they are the very impatient ones that bought SM so they could always have a spot, and just want to play and dont want to take time to build up the server pop. I'm sure its only a minority of supporting members that are impatient types that don't contribute, but there is no system in place to keep these players in check, and in fact the current system encourages these types. Well, they are financially supporting your community, certainly, but when the gameplay turns to crap on the server, they will be the first ones moving on to greener pastures, instead of helping new guys out etc and building the community back up. Sorry just my rant on this system, why I think the system is flawed and why I respectfully refuse to pay for a supporting membership until a change is made. I know I'm just one voice, and by all means TG has been hugely succesful in PR and other games, so obviously this system does work.. but still I just see this fundamental flaw in it that I wanted to speak about. Its nothing personal, just getting off my chest, and an explanation as to why after all these years of playing here you dont see me in an IHS or as a SM. Also being a PR developer means a large majority of my time dedicated to this mod is creating and testing it, rather than playing, so isolating myself to only playing at TG for me is not an ideal way to interact with the mod community as whole.

/rant off

And of course the classic instance of helicopter pilots getting kicked and crashing horribly.

This kind of indiscriminate kicking DOES effect the outcome of the round, losing precious tickets as well as key figures in a teams lineup. So instead of rounds being decided based on skill, tactics and teamwork, its decided on which team has more paying members and which side lost more tickets cause they had non SM's kicked / abandoning assets /etc :/

If this is felt to be the only option to maintain the integrity and financial security of the server, then so be it, but I see other servers without this setup and they seem to be able to maintain a steady population, maybe not as good quality play, but I dont think the quality of play on TG is because of the SM kick, like dbzao said I think the SM kick does more harm than good to quality of play.

Anyways I dont want to cause drama in this thread, I said my thing, db offered a suggestion, if admins feel the current system is ideal and none of the offered suggestions are better than current, than I guess that brings conclusion to the discussion.