Pinch me ...
Although it's probably true that a majority of modellers would not be affected by the lack of "cohesive competition rules", it's surprising how quickly that can change.
I was a typical dyed-in-the-wool burn, holes in the sky sport flyer until I saw my first pattern contest. Aside from the fact that the aircraft were very unappealing to me, something about the skill required, and the camaraderie I saw in competition did appeal to me. Years later and I now find little pleasure (relatively speaking) in simply flitting about performing loops, snap rolls and low passes wherever the nose may point. I find immense pleasure in the discipline of attempting to recreate a realistic performance and tuning that performance. Sooner or later that competition bug does bite, and it bites hard. It's not about competing against others or showing off, it's about pushing yourself to improve and sharing that drive (and techniques) with other like minded people.[8D]
Ok, enough of the soapbox. I draw an analogy with most sports. For example, most golfers don't aspire to the pro circuit, but many look to it for inspiration and ideas....