[b]tl;dr: Mixed feelings. Efficiency and slightly improved Public relations may be needed. Maybe make an alt or "mini-announcement Forum" for better transparency in activity, while keeping Final Answers as they are now, just quicker. Still, Thank you for keeping the game running so we can have this debate to begin with.[/b]
My feeling on this is mixed. I don't know the council, never tried to worry who or how many were there, and assumed they were also in charge of "coding stuff" and "admisitrative stuff" as Chewett mentioned for forums and wikias and general logistics. They are busy, important folks!
However, I do agree that they are probably either too few in number or rather over-worked currently. I have no evidence to back this up other than the rather long period of time between any emails being answered, and the necessity of sending "reminder" messages if I don't hear back within a month.
Granted, not all my personal pet projects are worthy of more than a one-line reply, but I wonder if there's some sort of "email workorder/ticket system" to track requests? I know I've asked the same question more than once and gotten a "No, we never received this before, but thanks for asking.." (when I know because I saved the "we got it, please wait a week" form-letter replies.)
Add to this the relative Silence on the forums lately in response to Big Dramatic Events ™ and I just think they may be overworked or acting somehow like a "hung jury" behind the scenes, trying to reach consensus.
So, Efficieny may be the most important thing to work with?
Public relations may need a tweak too, and I'm not quite sure how to go about such things.
Perhaps, a simple forum, similar to "Announcements" where someone with Voice of Council could post "[i]we see this happening, and are watching current resolutions[/i]." type comments. This would not really Change the situation itself, but would at least reflect that there is Activity or Discussion happening, rather than silence. [size=2](There's some theorum about silence being frustrating because it means either no one read it or no one cared to reply, and that uncertainty is more irritating than a non-committal answer, but I can't cite that at the moment)[/size] The phrase "I Hear You" is an imporant one in therapy, after all, for soothing unbalanced emotions.
In terms of losing MagicDuel's soul, I disagree, I have seen the realm as being in the hands of us players from the first week I started playing, as long as we play by the general Framework of Mur's Outline (which seems to be, "[i]play how ya want, unless we say no[/i]"). I missed the RPC days, but heard grand stories of Items being created out of thin air for folks who made them "real" in their playing. I've heard grand stories of, well, Stories. I've heard it said that Mur would allow sneaky creative things, then make a rule to prevent it, but the original Creative Thing was[i] almost[/i] welcomed. I wonder if that sort of dynamic Manifestation of Us could be encouraged somehow? Maybe MD has changed in "soul". What made it change? us? Council? Surely not Mur taking a vacation. It's self sustaining now.
As far as the statements about one Game Maanger being a bad idea? I'm suspect of that statement as True in a general sense.
To horribly simplify things, the Roman Empire did great under one Head Guy. Hitler did some impressive things for Germany (ignoring the BIG BAD THING). Napoleon Bonaparte rocked his world too. Mur build this realm for us. Just because one Leader is bad, does not mean all are.
Perhaps ONE dedicated or thick-skinned individual could create an alt, or use Master of Ceremonies as an example, and at least Watch. This relates back to Public Relations I mentioned.
For all Land and Role and Event things, Mur always asks for one point of contact, yes? Maybe that's needed in reverse?
To conclude though, regardless of the issues, The Council is (I think) made up of players like us. Their role is most likely a labour of love, without pay. They may need a bit of restructuring or shift in keeping the Spirit of MD running smoothly, but they do a lot to physically keep the game of MD running, and for that I thank them.