I intend to make a lv10 character with former empress title when U33 drops. Just for the giggles, she will also be a grand overlord in title only.

Last time I was leading and about to be made emp I had to drop the campaign on that character and play another because you really need to group as Emp and I don't do that

Emperor is totally buyable.

Worse, even if a candidate doesn't purchase it, one of the big things they have to do is buy off or compromise with the person ahead of them to "step down" or stop earning AP so that the next person has a chance in hecc.

The, "once a person emps, their future AP for that campaign does not count towards the leaderboard" is a nice compromise. There are some other upsides.

o Slower AP Implosion: If an emp does not abdicate or stop playing that character (so as to not accumulate AP) after a period, then the AP requirement for the next emp grows insanely for the next person. Say, it goes from 5 mil to 8 to 23 mil and so on, instead of say, 5 mil to 6 or 7 mil, then 9 mil.

o Remaining as Emp Becomes About Staying Active while Emperor: Remaining as emp then becomes about defending the keeps and being active while you have the crown.

o Player Health: There is a third benefit: player health. Remember how cost implodes from say, 5 to 23 under the current system? To emp, people will take 3-4 days to a week off of work, go without sleep during those days, and remain in Cyro any time they are awake...and it still requires the person to step aside once they've emp'd.

Or, they buy it outright (which people do).

The health situation needs recognized. Ingame, you'll get comments about how real gamers can't use the bathroom (because a bathroom break, srsly, is all it takes to cost you that crown) or need to eat (because you've "got to earn it" and the 5 minute break it takes to microwave a frozen dinner will cost you that crown, which was the "big" break you took after 48 hours). What, experience from helping buddies? Actual situations that have happened? Yes.

o Reduces the Reliance on Boosting: The fast cost implosion from say, 6 mil to 23 is why players take off work, don't sleep, and hire boosters or make arrangements.

tl;dr Freezing AP towards the leaderboard is a nice compromise, and has an added benefit of assisting player health and reducing the boosting economy, while still maintaining the challenge of becoming emp.

I've been Emp and I don't care to be it again. However as it stands now, the only thing that defines an EMP is who can play the most and boost ahead of the other no lifers. Then they sit in number one and camp EMP for 30 days. It's okay (I guess) if it's a good player but really sucks when it's not and can competely hamper the entire faction.

I think it should be once per campaign per character. If you want to keep running through your roster, fine, but at least it gives other people with real life responsibilities to get it.