I'd like to mention something on the subject of plots while this thread is still kicking.
Personally, I think part of the reason so many plots have stagnated recently is because they're simply too big in scope or function for a smaller player base to handle- which isn't to say they're not good, but with the amount of players on the server maybe the plots should be scaled down to reflect what we have to work with and organically grow larger?
Let a misinformed decision from a player spark a war, or set an eldritch creature loose, etc.