Try to not think that way. “Moderator” may be derived from an older language’s phrase for “smartest retard,” but we’re aware that post-count/join-date has precisely ZERO to do with an individual member’s ability to contribute positively.
If somebody with a higher post-count, older join-date, or similar “silverback” indicator is dicking the dog, they’re likely to get hammered harder on those occasions that they’re out-of-bounds, because they’ve been around long enough to not have an excuse as to why they don’t know better. It’s a error to see post-counts aboard M4C as a substantive indicator of an individual member’s worth, as the M4C Tribal Elders do NOT.
Ergo, it’s an error to consider that making GD posts not count…because they only count in the minds of individual members, most likely as a result of having associated aboard forums and the like where it IS considered somethig worthwhile; that’s complete and utter BS. The M4C staff, quite frankly, would have to be paid a considerable sum to care LESS about post-counts…and that’s not gonna happen.
Unless you guys are offerring to pool your $$$…? We MIGHT be open to getting paid to care less about post-counts… 
Kidding
That’s why the 200-post minimum was the staff’s King-Solomon-cutting-the-baby-in-half for those that want a GD and those that do not. If you get to 200 posts in the technical subforums, which are the center-of-gravity of this site’s existence in the first place, you should know how you may or may not conduct yourself in GD. Don’t think it’s any surprise to note that that’s a nice hypethesis, but doesn’t seem to bear up well, huh?
If one joins M4C for the express purpose of participating in GD, when there’s uncountable venues elsewhere on the internet where one can fart around talking about current events, the most recent political outrages, soup recipes, dogs…again, that’s an offshoot of the attitudes surrounding “social media.” It’s presumed to be primarily “social.” M4C’s stance is that any “social” aspect is a 2nd-order effect, at best, and hopefully derived from like-minded folks getting together out in the fresh air to let freedom ring…on steel targetry.
As for the “more work for the mods” aspect…Report Post (the little exclamation-point button on the top-right side of any post) is severely under-utilized. You’re NEVER gonna get any grief from us for pitching a heads-up to us regarding anything you see as questionable in any thread or subforum, and regardless of the post-count of the person that’s mucking about. I stated in another thread that I was gonna keep humping this leg, and I am…
the effects of action taken based upon a reported post isn’t always visible. This isn’t advertised, folks; we don’t have a public rap-sheet with mug shots and whatnot, so don’t be startled to find out that not every disciplinary action is heralded by me or IG or any other staffer publicly breathing :internetfire: and a bunch of other text-based stuff that will never, ever impact your credit rating or give you excema or have any other real-world impact.
Sometimes, I have a nice home-made marinara sauce reducing on the stove, and it needs to be seen to…
…but high post-count members go bye-bye all the time. EDIT: …and for cause.
As for a “by request” system…Yeah, Ask the SME policy strictly states that members MUST submit their new topic for approval, period, end of story. This policy is one of only TWO stickied threads at the top of each SME section…pretty damned visible…yet a forum full of grown-ass adults that purport to be everyday practitioners of [hushed, reverent tone]Situational Awareness[/hushed, reverent tone] consistently fail to notice that little petty detail on a dialy basis, and have the nerve to get irritated when the obvious is pointed out to them in PMs.
Situational Awareness, my bleeding piles…
Same system for GD…? Sorry, and please don’t take this the wrong way…not only “No,” but “HELL NO.” That wouldn’t work; the juice wouldn’t be worth the squeeze, like it is with Ask the SME, where the feedback is worthwhile. GD produces exactly nothing of similar value to be worth that level of labor.
Also EDIT: Sorry if that reads like a lecture. It’s meant to be more of a “Why” background, not a wag of the finger.