Lest all forget, at the start of the very first Pond you were not allowed to change your bid after it was submitted. Typos or people running out of membership after you had bid were things you just couldn't do anything about. I know I lost a few points at the beginning because of this. Editing one's points really helps on occasion.
Look at how it goes now.

As for people making nonsensical bids, or ones that most people would deem as a good way to lose the game, there's not much that can be done about it. Just play accordingly. Conspiracies are a problem that has no way of being fixed. Stupid people can be dealt with or used to one's advantage. A conspiracy when found out is something to run from as fast as one can and hope you're not amongst the victims when the dust settles. It is because of this flaw that I am not going to play Ponds any more. The grief caused to me because of it outweighs the fun of the game given to me from playing it.

Fellowships and Ponds-- Dark Ponds especially. So why can't we have a pool of acceptable players to be allowed to join? Or just invitees? Let the creator list the people or fellowship or both. For Dark Ponds, the list would stay nonviewable until the game was over. From what I've seen of the one game of Dark Ponds that I've played so far, it doesn't change my strategy at all. I do like the fact that it makes conspirators work harder to do their work, but it doesn't eliminate them from doing it all the same. A truly Dark version wouldn't even show the points remaining except for yourself and the swimmers! Now that'd be a dark version.