I believe part of the problem lay in the division of responsibilities.
The community needs to be involved in where the server is going. Call this plot work. Rules will evolve out of that, but they will be rules for situations, much like the GMG example.
At the risk of starting flameage, everyone needs to be able to make input on that, not just the "official" factions. The officials may have more weight (although from what I perceive, they are a minority of the numerical player base), but the input of the indies should not be ignored just because they are not part of the "official" crowd.
The development and admin teams are responsible for the story line and for maintaining the overall environment. Similar to a pen and paper gaming environment, the players get to decide what they want to do, and the game masters determine if and how they can do it.
