I don't think the approach to “selling” this proposed rule will take off unless you change your approach. If I wanted to sell an idea or cause a change in behavior I would want to make it appeal to the masses. In short you want to make this idea contagious.
If you take the players in AvA and try to categorize them in a diffusion model, which is what some academics use to plot the movement of an idea through a community. First and foremost your idea must have merit or a clearly recognizable (tangible/valuable) benefit. Getting your idea to infect the whole community is going to be tricky.
I have listed the groups commonly used to set up a diffusion model.
In AvA, as in any community, you will probably have:
1) The Innovators - in this case that is you or the person/people who originate ideas or propose a change in behavior. Visionary group.
2) The Early Adopters - A slightly larger group, the opinion leaders of the AvA. These are usually those players who are respected by the majority of the AvA community. Visionary group.
3) The Early Majority - the deliberate mass.
4) The Late majority (the skeptical mass who won’t try anything until the Early adopters start doing it)
5) The Laggards (who see no urgent reason to change).
Groups 1 and 2 are the visionaries. An example of this type of person is someone who always buys the latest new electronic gadget before it becomes a trend, been proven, or the price comes down. They are often risk takers.
Group 3 is the group worried with how this behavioral change will affect their game. They will make incremental progress towards adopting this behavior.
Group 4 are the people who will consider this a risk and will only attempt it with a safety net in place. They are going to manage this behavior change very closely.
Group 5 only falls into line once the other groups have adopted the behavior.
The “no HO rule” will not transition easily from group 1 to group 2 and the attitude of the first 2 groups is fundamentally incompatible to the other 3. So while your idea makes perfect sense to group 2, there is a chasm between group 2 and 3,4,5. The people you need to make this happen are those players who can take the idea and translate it into a behavior that the other groups can understand and adopt. Until you identify and bring onboard those people in the AvA community who can connect with groups 3,4, and 5 your idea will fail to take off. I'd say your proposal is still bouncing off group 2.
