Another random idea...
I believe there are 15-20 levels of roles in CK from Visitor to King. One thing being considered is automated movement both up and down these levels based on performance in the economic consumption/production game. At higher levels, naturally there will be fewer positions open (perhaps scaling with the total number of active players).
However, there will be only one house at a time that can ascend the auspicious steps in the central plaza towards the glistening golden palace...
Their entire royal retinue will be needed to cast open the gargantuan doors etched (also in solid gold) with great moments in Crypto Kingdom history...
They regally step through the corridor, their very footsteps echoing seemingly for hours as the noise carries throughout the leviathan stronghold...
As they traverse open darkness, torches conjured by the Great Wizard Zenon himself before his ascension brilliantly bloom in the twilight...
The very belly of the keep glows: magnified, reflected, and refracted by the gold and gemstones adorning the walls...
An oculus in the central dome shines pure sunlight onto the true seat of power in the kingdom...
Zechariah's Troll ThroneWas all the secret plotting and intrigue worth this? The arranged marriages and foreign alliances? Killing your page (poor lad could always make a mean mutton!) when he overheard something he shouldn't have?
OF COURSE! Since as king, you get a share of all pool payouts direct to your pocket! You get a cut of it all! All the money that flows in taxes and wages! All the food and drink that makes its way across the city!
You can go as high as 5% of it all, but of course those in power can't always stay in power, and all that money moving in other hands on the way to yours may very well be financing your successor! 40% of tax revenues go into a "regicide pool," and the pot becomes bigger and bigger the longer you stay in power! And that foppish duke you insulted at the last banquet? Maybe he will even secretly funnel some funds to that pool in exchange for favors from his favored successor!
As the crown weighs you down and you find yourself seeking comfort in wine, women, and song, the schemers scheme at garden parties and gallant tourneys, and before you know it...