No, those are absolutely valid points. Unfortunately we never specified what constitutes as a WIP. I will need to talk that over with the other mods.
Personally I don't view a series of connected fics (such as, e.g. the Paradox Series) as works in progress, since they could theoretically stand on their own. But I realize now that we really should have a definition for it.
My reasoning behind forbidding recs for WIPs back when I set the comm up was that I didn't want people to be left hanging when a recced story was never finished... I'd feel pretty bad about that.