mith, didn't Verbose 2 have a vetted player list though? I didn't think it was classified as an Invitational, and it didn't precisely follow the "first-come-first-lynched" strategy you outlined above. Also, I know some mods have a minimum time-on-site requirement, and there are a few players that have been refused from regular games.
I agree with Stoofer that public nominations probably didn't suit and I'm glad to see they won't be recurring, but some sort of input/feedback/nomination from people other than the mod(s) would still be good, I say.
a) You may want to clarify if Newbie Games count (or count as half, or whatever) for the 5-game requirement. The setup is given to the mod and the timeframe is a lot shorter, so it may require some tweaking to actually tally the full range of experience you want. I've got 22 games under my belt for example, but 18 of them are Newbies.
1-2) Yes, continue them at some level. I think the biggest complaint about the last one had been worked out. They should be rare and special though, not a way to bypass the queues. If anything, I'd increase the requirements, per my comment above. Not sure how yet; Scummies for Mods?
3) Largely irrelevant in my view. If we trust the mod to run an Invitational, they can design it to their preference, right? Maybe put some size caps in place for "normal" Invitationals (20 or less players?) to keep them from overrunning the site, but... on the other hand, Theme Park already has no queue. Any "theme" or flavor should be broad enough in appeal to be attractive to the span of players you want to invite, of course. An Invitational isn't the place for Naruto Mafia. I'd rather see Normals and Mafia Mutations than "Theme" games in the sense of source material.
4) I like JEEP's idea of having
certain
Scummies qualify players for a Best of MafiaScum Minvitational. Obviously Most Likely to Die Night One
isn't a good example...