Honestly, I never payed attention to this thread. The games that I check out are ones that I see traction on the message boards. It would be a great place to have an organized list of ROM hacks. This currently tells me nothing. I think there are a lot of great hacks that are buried in the list.
This is how I would break it up. It is a spin on what @Pandan suggested actually.
Completed “Fully Custom” Hacks
Honestly, for all fully custom hacks that are completed, I would love to know a couple of strengths the hack has going for it. Good story/writing? Fun characters? Cool map objectives? Good map design? Custom music? Skills or No Skills? Cool classes? Branching paths? Anything else unique? These hacks should have a lot more attention imo. They are finished and custom, so should be front and center. It doesn’t need to be a popularity contest here.
Up and coming “Fully Custom” Hacks
Hacks that don’t have a completed story, but have made enough progress. Story and game seems about halfway completed. It would also be nice to have a couple bullets why to keep an eye on these.
Completed Re-skins
Hacks that reuse components like characters or maps, but have custom elements like story, characters, and/or gameplay.
Completed Rebalanced and Randomizer Hacks
I think rebalances, reverse recruitment, or randomizers should have their own section. I know what I am getting into when I try those more or less. It would be nice to know a couple bullets though.
Up and coming Re-skins, Rebalanced, or Randomized Hacks
Group re-skins with rebalanced, or randomized hacks as I would have a similar feeling to trying a half done one of these projects. This could be split into two sections if needed.
Early Stage Projects
Simple. Projects that are in the early stages. If it isn’t at a “halfway” complete stage, I don’t need to know much information. I would play these to check something out but not invest much time.
Canceled or On Hold Projects
Projects that are known to be canceled or are not complete and have not had any update in like 2-years should go here.