Seems that way, since Esano/Akyaevin doesn't show up on HELP MAGNAGORA, since the help files now show Vernal Ascendants as well.

Another option would be to change the rules so that winning a seal in that particular challenge excludes said person from winning a seal again in that same challenge across years, though they may compete in the other challenges for an additional seal. If they do so wish to participate in the same challenge, they would first have to trade in their current seal before the beginning of said challenge to take part.

That way there is some risk involved if they wish to take part in the same thing again.

If Xenthos ascends, I'll miss his name too.

Xynthos Xyinthos is close enough for me.

That's... not a whole lot of risk, since it trades in for the credits to buy a Cubix & Medallion.

There's no real reason to stop someone from competing in the same event again; like I said, if you don't want them to keep winning it, Ascend them. Don't try to put restrictions on it to take people out of the running.

It takes some of the sting of ascendants being the only ones who can become ascendants, if they at least leave an empty slot behind so there's still another chance for someone else to become a Super Special Snowflake. Hopefully someone from Magnagora can fill the rest of us in on how this has worked? (Though we must consider that the code might not really account for it the way Estarra wants it to because they may not have realized that VA->TA wasn't just possible but almost inevitable.)

Could just make it simple and prevent previous seal bearers from participating in competitions they have won in before then.

Or can just make it even simpler and not code any changes at all:

That's an entirely different issue from, and wouldn't help at all with, VAs becoming TAs, and thereby preventing anyone new from getting into that part of the game.

When VAs become TAs, they open up a new slot in their org for someone else to be ascended, so there's that, at least.

That's what I was hoping would be confirmed, in terms of the power cost to raise them, and the scaling of those costs.

Given that they no longer show up on their org's help file as Vernals, I believe that the game doesn't count them as VAs any longer-- and, indeed, there seems no logical reason for it to be otherwise.