The thing is, this place isn't a business. It's a hobby. ioi has mentioned that a lot of times. I doubt he makes any money off of it, and I assume the ad revenue all goes right back into server fees and maintaining the site.
To counter your examples, in any *company,* the position of "chairman" is a pay position, right? I mean, the guy's the chairman. But how many university student union chairmen do you think get paid? They provide their service because they believe in the cause of student support. Look at community theater. Actors don't get paid at all, and directors are generally paid only for other things they do within the organization, outside of directing. In fact, some community theaters expect actors to pay a small fee to the *theater* once they're cast. It all comes down to how much pride you have in what you do, and how willing you are to sacrifice for a goal you would like to see achieved.
For some people, that goal is as simple as re-instating wifi acess on campus.
For others, it's putting on a performance that every member of the community can have access to, young or old, rich or poor.
And for some people, the goal is creating a strong community of video game enthusiasts, built around market share statistics, where you can get hard facts, rumors and speculation, industry news, or just a group of people less obnoxious than the IGN forum members.
It all comes down to what you are passionate about, and if you need money to augment that passion, that may just mean you're not the kind of person ioi wants.
(how's that for a marketing application? :-p)
