An interesting perspective. Now let me tell you how the theme review process goes from the perspective of a submitter.

1. You submit the theme.
2. You receive an e-mail saying, "Your theme is FAIL because . TICKET CLOSED. Feel free to comment here or blah blah..." (Um, comment where, on the ticket you just closed in my face? Gee, thanks for the invitation to dialogue.)
3. You change that pathetic little detail and re-submit. A more merciful reviewer re-opens the ticket and asks, "was that the only issue?" The answer: "no, it's also FAIL because X, Y and Z". Which on the one hand *they could have told you from the start*, and on the other hand *your previous theme was accepted with the exact same issues*. Did the guidelines change? Are there simply too many guidelines for one reviewer to know them all? Or are they, you know, *being vengeful*?

So much for the process. But you see, the guidelines themselves are hypocritical. A simple "this theme sponsored by..." line at the end of the README means automatic rejection, while entire paragraphs advertising pro versions and various paid services are perfectly fine. As evidenced by countless themes and plugins in the official directory where the entire README is one big advertisement. Which is kind of a problem when you're trying to figure out what the damn thing *does*.

But sure, it must be a lot of work to review themes when countless naive, starry-eyed developers keep submitting to the official directory anyway. My advice? Don't. Give those people a break. They're volunteers anyway and don't owe us anything.

Too bad about the broken implicit promise.