My answers:

>Also, my log in times vary wildly. I might get 2-3 hours
>straight one day; then the next day, real life makes me log
>out after 15 minutes.

The worrisome things here are:

1. Very short logins, and
2. Very short duration between logging in with two different characters.

In both cases there is the potential for it to look like you logged on, checked the "who" list, didn't like what you saw, and either logged off for good or logged off so you can get on with an alt for whom the "who" list was more attractive.

I'd shoot for 20-30 minute sessions and at least 20-30 minutes between logging in different characters. But, as others have said, real life happens. If you log on and have to quit 5 minutes later one time it's not going to be a big deal. If you do that on a daily basis then it might be.

>Are there expectations for different types of characters?

Sort of. A character in a leader spot who is not putting in the hours *specifically because he's playing an alt* may lose his leader spot. Same could be said for characters in other "limited" positions, but it's rare for action to be taken there. The two examples I can think of off the top of my head are Elite spots in Empire and any spot in Scion. Those decisions are made at the discretion of those cabals' respective immortals.

>What sort of hours are expected for cabals where hours effect
>things, like being a Scion or being promoted in Fort, Trib,
>Empire? Do log-in times matter for all cabals? What hours
>are expected for a leader?

No idea on Scion or Trib.

With Empire it boils down to you being online at the same time as someone who can promote you. If I'm a Sect leader I will happily promote any character to the level just below Elite. I won't promote him to Elite because those spots are limited. Of course, if I never see you because we're never online at the same time (because you're hardly ever online) then it's going to be hard for you to get promoted.

With Fortress, in terms of being promoted to Maran, my perception is that it mostly revolves around your rank, your total hours, and your total EPKs, plus the general quality of your role-play. But that is solely my perception and it could be incorrect; I don't speak for Fortress imms.

>Is there an expected minimum log-in time under any
>circumstance?

If you're not in a cabal then the only minimum is the auto-delete timer.

>Does it change for empowered characters? Do some imms tattoo
>people that don't log in enough to avoid the anti-hoarding
>code?

If you only log in enough to avoid auto-deleting then the odds of our paths crossing are pretty low. There's a certain amount of required interaction and/or observation before I'm going to tattoo someone.

My recommendation is to play one character at a time. Makes all this much easier.