I do understand the sentiment of it being toxic taking away netting from the 10 or 15 players that actually place on servers on occasion, but those that are lazily netting are not anymore of a commodity than those that are lazily warring.

I think gerdler, for example, is a commodity because he spends a good amount of time investing into the game and its community. I'd say the same about anyone who spends time teaching, or learning best strats, or bringing people together for war. For better or worse, war brings in as many players as it runs off and the players who invest something into the community are the ones who deserve a pat on the ass. The server had a ton of non regular players during the laf vs elders campaign. Lots of recruiting happened then and that's a VERY good thing.

No one is a commodity just because they are a warm body who runs turns.