Hi, I run the Implementation Team, which means we work on realms/economy/activity in general.
There are two main issues that you're addressing, I think. One can be fixed, and is, and the other is more nuanced.
The first is server culture. When I returned to LoTC I was amazed that people just straight up ignored my RP a lot. People didn't want to interact with me. Why? Well RPly I was a nobody, and OOCly I didn't know them. I couldn't give them anything, so they didn't want to even waste the time roleplaying with me. You can't really enforce this, seriously. The best you can do is work to form a better server culture. It is a weak answer, but 'being the change you want to see' is not hopeless. I demand a noob-friendly household. I demand we leave OOC bias at the door, and OOC plots less about scheme and more about ambitions and dreams of 'cool RP'.
Secondly is the centralization of RP. Despite what @NotEvilAtAllhas said, and I am sorry to be so blunt, but he's actually completely wrong. Our team has the numbers. As groups are removed, by war or inactivity, the playerbases do move around. We're in a transitionary period, and there are a LOT of nations/lairs/etc, and so some nations are dead/dying, and you won't really find much RP there (unless the leadership of those groups changes). While the time of year does effect things (Thanksgiving in a week in the US, and finals!)
Your comment about 'Highly inactive councils' isn't even wrong, per-se. I've had a talk with Llir about groups which hold power on dying nations. They will, in time, be removed swiftly. We will not have dead nations with inactive leaders anymore, once we fully implement the new system. That should allow you or your friends the ability to inject new life into nations and groups, or start new ones, or take them in new directions.
I know the staff saying 'Just wait! The big changes are coming!' does suck, but we've already begun changes, and it's looking promising.