Just a few more responses, as I do read and think about what is posted.

1) Basic "Make empowerment easier and/or automatic."
-For everyone that asks for easier empowerment I can't help but ask.. have you tried it? I was always scared of this myself until I just choose an imm off the wizlist, read their helpfile, then went after it during their hours. It was surprisingly easy.
-As far as automatic empowerment, I am fully against this. If you don't play during my hours, how can I know if you represent me at all? What if you are auto empowered then go spouting made up dogma and I am never around to hear it? How can I ever give you loving/interaction/tattoo if I never see you? I will never be for this change nor do I ever see it happening.
-But Verathi, what if there is only X, Y, and Z immortal in my play times and I don't want to run any of their religions? Well, you don't HAVE to have a religion but if you really want one try making your own up. If you know an IMM that has pretty good presence in your hours, try sending them an email with a general outline for the religion and see if they have any interest. I will volunteer myself for this during my hours. Just remember, if you have an idea where you want this to go you should tell us otherwise we might lead it into left field.

2)Auto-induction into cabals.
-If you are having issues getting into the cabal you want because of hours and you have been at it for a while, send up a note to the cabal and the immortals of that cabal and see if that can get you going. We don't always know when leaders and applicants times aren't meshing. Taking it a step further, don't be afraid to play as an applicant for a while. This game does not begin at hero nor once you get into a cabal. The applicants that I see helping to defend/retrieve and are around a while generally get to talk to me if they are missing seeing a leader.
-I don't really see this changing. Each cabal is ran a little differently on purpose, they aren't cookie cutter platforms with just different powers (and would be lame/boring if they were).

3)ST is hard to get into.
-This has been said multiple times. There is no point in really discussing this as it is someones area that has control over the entrance qualifications.