Discussion/Suggestions regarding pinup voting (Patreon)

So there's two problems (I think; feel free to tell me that there isn't a problem at all with how things are!) that may result from the way the pinup works, as the Patreon grows. One is that the waitlist is very long. Two is that the votes get really high.

Problem One:

The problem with the waitlist is that if someone suggested something, it would currently be over a year for them to even show up on the roster, let alone win. Several characters on there are already a year, or even two, trailing along in votes. This is an issue because the pinup is supposed to be something that appeals to most of the Patrons, and if one isn't winning, it just means that the Patreon isn't interested, and only a small, select few would genuinely feel rewarded or interested in them when won.

Of course, I don't mean that to say "only the most popular characters should win", I still like doing HQ pinups of lesser-known ones, but I do think I have to be more restrictive in what I accept for the waitlist. I think some would be fine to request for the sketch streams, but month-long pinups I need to sift through and really think about if they fit that position and effort required.

So how do we fix it? Well, one method is that I sort through the waitlist and remove ones I think don't "fit" for a huge pinup effort. To try and make up for removing them, I could do a smaller, mini-pinup? or small set of sketches? If either of those sound like good ideas to compensate, and just be more restrictive and thoughtful of which characters I let on the roster list.

Another option would be to remove the waitlist entirely, and each month when I announce the winner, simply ask for fill-ins on the slot, and take the most-voted for at that point.

Problem Two:

With so many Patrons now, the vote count gets really high really quickly, compounding Problem #1 in that the lesser-known or lesser-wanted take up space on the roster for ages. I have a few fixes in mind: Either be tougher with the strike system, such as increasing requirements, or have a time limit, like if the character's been low for a year, to remove them, and to compensate do a picture with effort/time relative to the amount of votes they had at time of removal.

Ultimately, I want it to be a bit more even, and a bit less predictable or stacked. otherwise I worry it diminishes participation, and devalues the votes. It probably wouldn't be that bad if I could do two pinups per month, but I'm usually spend that 'extra pinup time' doing side images or projects like Vikna's Xmas pic or the ARA daki, for examples. I know a few months in the past that I did two, and I'd like to more often, but I don't feel it's something I can promise to have time for.

So I'd like to hear some ideas from you all, maybe something I haven't thought of, before making a poll out of a few ideas to see what everyone thinks.