TheFlax makes a good point about how players might still 'rush the map'. YLC response is sound as well, I think it all depends on how the players as a whole decide to act. With that in mind, I like Tincow's idea of having the Council block the King. I think it might be better if the Council could override the King's decision AND give it to someone else in particular, but I don't feel to strongly about it either way. I like the fact that Tincow's idea lets the King retain more power.

As to RGBs: I think they should just be limited, something of a middle ground between LOTR and the beginning/middle of KOTR. Here's a thought though, that may or may not be true: Is it possible that by forcing people to wait for avatars, the ones most likely to stick around were also most likely to be active and participate? The guys who played KOTR from beginning to end would know more about this, but to me it seems like the least active avatars appeared more around KOTR's end than it's beginning.