On phone. Excuse typos, just figured some quick responses.

#1: An empire =\= a role play. There was one Roman Empire. (Then two if you count west Rome and Byzantine). There are several dozen/hundred role plays. Also, anyone can be the emperor simply by saying so. And by making a thread.

#2: the site operates on the idea that the person who makes the thread owns it. Especially Rp threads. So if the GM makes a rule, you don't obey it, and you become obstructive, the GM is allowed to jettison you. In fact, the GM can do so without a single reason, even... And I don't see any riots here. Usually the response to being booted is someone is angry for a couple days, then joins a new Rp, or makes their own.

Kind of hard to argue that the system can be punitive and abusive when its more like a job market. The GM is the person hiring you. The character sheet is your resume. Etc. If corporate doesn't like you, one way or another, you're gone. Except IRL we have laws dealing with this because the repercussions of employers firing you without warning or reason is a major life devastating event for most people. Being kicked from an Rp, or being forced to quit because the GM is terrible, is, at worst, an inconvenience on your way to the next Rp.

#3: that being said, most good GM's do have a checks and balance system. I employ co-GM's and ask for opinions from my players sometimes. It's a dictatorship but I do listen to "the people" because I know I need them to run my [s]body slaughterhouses[/s] stories.