This is a good example. Someone who has been inactive on the forum for three and a half years can't exactly be said to be "well recognised". As we acknowledge the difference between the "bitcoin world" and the "bitcointalk world", I think we also should acknowledge the difference between "recognised" and "important". Sirius is pretty important to bitcointalk. Does your average user know who he is? I doubt it.

Vod is very clear which metrics his list is tracking, and I think it does a pretty good job at identifying currently active and recognised users. Regarding users who are important but not recognised, to either bitcoin or bitcointalk - I think this is a reason for a separate list as OgNasty has done, rather than discarding Vod's list.