Wouldn't it be preferable to simply give time to the eleven people who expressed their interest to work on decent characters, then pick the ones best suited, rather than simply making this a race as to whom can write a character sheet the fastest? Seems like it would be better for everyone, since it allows to make a more detailed and fleshed out application, better reflecting what sort of person they will be playing... Not to mention the fact that some people might be prevented from joining by sheer virtue of their time zone.

Also, isn't it a bit of an overstatement to say that this is the [i]only[/i] way to go about it?