It seems like this discussion went from being about the popular list to a freemium vs. free vs. premium debate.

I think if we look at things from the perspective of the user, it all becomes a little more clear.

Currently, WordPress.org makes the user work really hard to find the highly reviewed themes with good support. I think we can all agree that's what people want?

If I'm looking to buy a bike, and I have 1000 choices - what do I do? I sort by reviews. I want a 5 star bike.

If I want the best Thai food and the city I'm in has 100 Thai restaurants - what do I do? I sort by reviews. I want the best Thai food.

We have this amazing measuring device provided by the users that actually use our directory and themes, yet we don't use it.

Instead, we serve themes to these users based on an algorithm that uses flawed data.

No wonder users are frustrated.

When we can serve themes to users based on their reviews and their resolved rate in the forum, users will benefit and the frustration will disappear. The quality of themes and support throughout the directory will also go up.