I don't think they want the circle jerk to be that local.
Also why would they have it on forums? Everyone on the forums presumably already plays or has played the game. It's for advertising. The staff aren't sitting there saying "Wow. I wish I knew who our best player was. I really want to give back to the community!".
Edit: Having said that, I think the staff really took a misstep here. It's pretty obvious how autistic the PokeMMO community is. Friends tend to be a prerequisite for Facebook.