I am just a random outsider who feels like she isn't a real part of this community, so all I can say are my observations about what I have experienced over the few months. Do not take them as 100% accurate. My mind sometimes overexaggerates the negative, and I'm trying to keep neutral and keep that out, but there might be some bias in there.
What I ask though is that if you disagree, to be as respectful as possible. I've noticed that people who disagree with me sometimes are not as respectful as they can be, particularly on a very touchy topic like this one. I want to be open and honest, without feeling as though someone will come down on me.
With that said, let us get to the point.
I feel this community definitely suffers from a type of elitism. It is more subtle, but that only makes it very unpleasant to me. There are a few places I have not felt it. (Such as the club and forum games sections.) But I get a sort of vibe of elitism from the roleplay section. It seems intimidating to me, and like there's this "in" group of roleplayers which I am not a part of who would reject me because I do not follow their ways.
There are also a good chunk of cliques around here. That's not so much a bad thing as I never really become a part of them anywhere, but they can feel alieniating. I do not feel quite like this place is as friendly and welcoming as intended. The heavy usage of CSS in posts also adds that tinge of elitism. That need for everything to be prettified.
Then there are all of the different types of supporters, username colors... when I first joined, my head was spinning from all of these colors. I couldn't tell who was a moderator and who was not, and I felt as though if I did not throw money at this site, I was not with the "in-crowd" due to seeing so many cliques composed of donators. It does not help for elitism either that donators get quite a few special perks, which is a practice that I have never believed in.
Basically, I find this place to be intimidating. Most of the time, people leave me alone and that's fine. I like it that way. I'd much rather be left alone then have negativity directed at me. But sometimes, there are those who seem as though they are being vaguely condescending towards me, quite pretentious because I am just some random person who is here and not a mainstay in the community.
To answer the rest of the question posed by this thread, I believe that one of the ways to reduce elitism would be the removal of heavy donation perks, only leaving a few that are more insignificant. That isn't going to happen though, and I quite understand why. You have to motivate people somehow to get your money because of the way this world works. (Which I have a problem with, but that is not for this thread.) Speaking moreso in terms of peoples' attitudes, I definitely think that perhaps things should... mellow out a bit, I suppose. Others need to take it easy, and not give off that feeling of being high and mighty. In a rank-based system, it isn't really an easy task because of human nature. It's inevitable, but I believe it can be reduced significantly with the right attitude and the right people. But I don't think it could happen in a place like this, if I'm honest. You would need everyone's involvement and help, and in an already established community, that's pretty difficult to obtain.
Once again, do not take my opinion as being 100% accurate. As a person who just kind of does her own thing without any concern, there is only so much that I can know.