As a casual player this is why I stay away from empowerment.

The system has been improved, and having a viable character without empowerment is a boon. But let's face it, the communer/empowerment system was designed with an assumption of 100+ players online, providing for many more RP/PK opportunities. An explicit goal of empowerment was to enforce/encourage roleplaying. Given what the game was before empowerment existed, and the RP atmosphere now, I am 100% certain that this justification for manual empowerment is no longer valid.

The times are always changing, and CF has trouble keeping up. Almost every idea takes imm consensus and a coder. I don't look for miracles here.