Character Cap: I've played in character cap games before, and I don't mind them. Usually either they close apps, or use an app queue, so that as folks drop, they check with people who were turned away because the game was full before using new apps. This also let them prioritize getting first characters placed, reasoning that those of us invested in the game will be less anxious to start playing. (That being said, one could do a 'character switch' option on dropping: if you drop a character, you can claim your character's spot if you get an app in on the next app cycle. That might be incentive to drop rather than idle out.)

Basically, if one does an app cap per round, I'd rather it not be first come, first served. For one, it's not fair to folks in different timelines or who have work or other things that prevent submitting as soon as apps open.

Events/Native OCs: As others noted, drafting the player base to run natives might help with the modteam getting overwhelmed.

Events: I really like the personalized events because it feels like the characters are actually protagonists rather than generic characters in a MMO.