I Can understand you position, you have guidelines too. However in gnome-panel, the indicator applet does not pop menus when hovered either. The expected behavior is click to open a menu and rollover when you move between indicators only while a menu is open. And seeing as AWN's indicator is one applet for all the indicators the behavior could be replicated without having to make an exception to your guidelines.
I Can understand you position, you have guidelines too. However in gnome-panel, the indicator applet does not pop menus when hovered either. The expected behavior is click to open a menu and rollover when you move between indicators only while a menu is open. And seeing as AWN's indicator is one applet for all the indicators the behavior could be replicated without having to make an exception to your guidelines.