[WaifuApple]

When it comes to GMs playing actual characters that appear outside of the events they're made for, that being 'organic' is countered by the fact that they're ultimately going to have to ask for people's consent to do things for there to be any manner of goodwill to someone who is just severely more powerful than everyone else in an unachievable manner because the way they got there is through GM privilege. It's not going to sit well with people and can feel like their own experiences and hard work doesn't pay off, because you're always going to be overshadowed by the overpowered level 70. There were examples - the guard commander, in particular. But any time the Guard Commander could come out all eyes were on that. On this super strong being rather than the players and their own story. It can be very detracting even if you feel you have a narrative reason because everyone's going to be staring at you in specific, inadvertently neglecting others in the scene.

Applying for mechanical power can be a slippery slope, if Meranthe is anything to go by. There will be worries and cries of favouritism no matter who gets more power, unless it's, say, just the special roles (there aren't many left) because those got wheeled in and thus can't really come down to it. Everyone is going to look at their own characters and many, many people are going to think "I deserve more power" once you open the floodgates, and it will probably overload applications without a strict criteria for what dictates eligibility. It also lends more credence to the idea that you need to be mechanically strong in the first place. Most people who dislike the PvP system are going to dislike it for the same reasons, even if they're given that special power, because those reasons are still going to remain. If you got handily beat by an engineer you'll probably still get handily beat by an engineer. Those who like it will also hate it in turn because what already wasn't perfect has now been twisted in some way behind applications. You'd walk into a fight and suddenly you're faced with a random level 70. Would you have seen it coming? Would it feel good? Depends on if you read the application forums I suppose.

As for leaders, I'd prefer they don't become a demonstration of character strength. If your leaders are all very strong they're going to go about their agendas using that strength, and that doesn't have a good track record. I prefer our leaders just like the rest of us, in a sense. They've made it to the top and it wasn't through overwhelming strength, but through their RP, usually, retaining a resounding sense of mortality in that the only thing that separates them and us is their influence. A relic that brings strength is vaguely cool but also just feels like a token way to make someone strong who doesn't need to be. A leader isn't strong because they have the power to beat everyone, they're strong because they can pick their battles in a way that makes it seem like they never lose. Strength in leadership should be perspective.