Mods, once they are done their work go into /v... if people still knew they were there they would ask for them in /ch g - and if the mod didn't respond (Which he shouldn't have to) he / she would look bad
It's probably because you're a GA. For me it always does, I've seen Andrew or Phys before on /glist, and not on /list.
/v is not worthless - the idea behind it is that you cannot be visually seen in game and that is still the case. You also still can't be pm'ed in game. Spoiler - there are other ways available tell if someone is online as well, and have been since the beginning of Minecraft as far as I know. This is nothing new.