Eh, it's a feature, not a bug, that the emperor title will remain out of grasp for most. That we had a brief window where conditions allowed some to farm the title was an aberration, as others have said. (And I actually rarely see the former emp title these days compared to before, so ironically I imagine some of these players moved on to game the system somewhere else, heh, even if some of the title scarcity is due to people who now would rather to show off their palatine rank or whatnot or want to avoid the implied stigma of the former title). For my part, I view farming per se as the explicit cheeseball factor involving cross-faction collusion of leaving inner keep walls unrepaired to flip them back and forth as rapidly as possible; other practices we've seen like a current board leader stepping aside after being crowned to allow whoever worked to get to the second spot behind them get the throne the next time a successful inner keep push is made seem legit to me, especially considering that a sitting emperor can rack up huge amounts of AP that other contenders can't match.

I do vaguely feel the twinge of regret of not having been crowned emp myself, especially since it was fun to do the throne push for guildies on a less populated monochrome color map server when that was still the fad (see above: re what I consider actual farming, as opposed to opportunism, heh), so if I had gone for it I could've probably joined their number. But mostly it's because I'm a completionist who would like to see that one thing checked off the achievement list, and also as much as the former emps like to pretend the passives don't matter (mainly to avoid having them altered or removed, I imagine, which I don't support having done, myself), anything that reduces ultimate costs at all has to be a plus.

Would I like to see a way to reach the top that doesn't involve sinking an enormous amount of playtime to keep pace with similarly obsessive rivals? Probably, but I can't think of one. This is why I somewhat wish shorter duration campaigns like Bow of Shadows had stuck around, because it's more feasible for someone who has some leisure time open up in RL to spend a few days getting to the top and staying there on a 5-day swing. I've enjoyed the times where I was able to hit the ground running after a campaign reset to rack up AP for the thrill of seeing your toon in the Top 10 (at least until you have to eventually log out, heh). But still, it's a shiny toy that not everyone can get by design, and I am sure there are more than a few who put in quality as well as quantity to get it, so it seems like a waste of energy to begrudge them their bragging point. I don't foresee myself completing the new trial or even the vet mode of arena anytime soon either, to give current pve examples of scarce achievements, but that's just how it is. I am content to remain a casual at heart. :P

TL;DR hate the game, not the playas, or some such cliche, haha.