1. There is a floor that the weights (and the man) are standing on.
2. Weight C is dropping whether he pulls the rope or not.
I think that the diagram is meant to show all the weights resting on a floor, and all the confusion is due to misunderstanding of that. In the other case, the diagram neglects to mention something to the effect of "supports have just been removed".
Depending on your level with maths/physics you'll probably give different answers and make different assumptions.
Velocity would matter -- it seems to me -- if there is friction and probably a few other factors included like elasticity. No?
Personally, I always considered physicists to be applied mathematicians (not the other way around although I've seen physics problems thrown in university level math classes). That's why I put that there, so assuming a high level of math skills, you'd probably change your way of thinking quite a bit.
Anyway, it's implausible that the elasticity of the rope or the friction of the pulleys are going to matter. Unless you have really rusty pulleys, or something.