My point about appearing active is that it should produce the same result with either system.
In the current system: if someone appears active, they should receive the hat. (Only case where it shouldn't be true is if 24 other people appeared more active)
In the hour system: if someone appears active, they won't be kicked and will earn the hours that count towards them receiving hat.
The similarity between the systems is that you still have to determine whether or not someone is actually active, but the difference is that the first one is entirely opinion based. Who helped more than who?

When I said leader, I meant the owner of the guild has complete discretion of the list. Technically, after reaching 1k, the owner could kick everyone and just give the hat to 24 people who did not participate in the guild whatsoever, and the fact that is actually a possibility is just wrong. And it could be taken away and fixed with this hour system. Instead of using the guild roster for distribution, just give the owner and the top 24 contributors hat.

Overall, my problem with the current tower reward system is that it is completely subjective. This suggested hour system is one way of making it more objective which is why I support it. I have hope that the new guild system will be more objective in awarding players.