In my opinion the guild needs to be harder to get into. Majority hand in pillow and or gradient shaded hats. Since majority are new to it the feedback you get for a 5 minutes pillow shaded hat is 'OMG amazing' etc.
The guild can be joined by anyone and if you don't get in, practice. Join pixel art communities they are the best help
Another thing I hate is how people use 50+ colors to shade a hat. I saw a piece submitted by Chisel on pixeljoint which used 80+ colors. The reason these pieces have so many colors is that they use tools not made for pixel art such as filters, effects and the paintbrush with AA on
The initiative is pretty boring since all you do is make hats, statues and paintings. Trust me it gets repetitive.
I agree with the above post about public competitions, that could give people who no longer or don't play the game a chance.
Just my 2 cents.