Driving the most traffic to TMS is not irrelevant; it is the model TMS operates with. Muds with the most traffic get the 'premium' positions.
Casual observers and those new to the site reasonably think top means 'best' in terms of popularity, quality, fun, etc.
It takes time and experience in the form of delving into the forums to read players' views about particular muds, get exposed to the long debates and flames over how some muds may be 'cheating' the system to improve their positioning, and actually logging into some of the 'top' muds to find out that TMS isn't really a listing of mud sites in any order that fits with those initially perceived values.
It is, rather, just as you have stated, the muds best "able to drive most traffic to TMS." While this is meaningful from a business standpoint for the individual muds and TMS, you have to admit it is much less so to prospective players.
Note that I did not say that the rankings were totally useless from a prospective player's standpoint, just much less so than the advertisement/promotion angle.
Though your mud was the primary target of most of the accusations of 'cheating' for rank, I was not referencing it specifically above... I meant that it takes exposure to those arguments, hearing both pro and con, to understand that the 'rankings' are not what you may be inclined to think they are at first glance.
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