I'm in sirenspull, and the bi-monthly app cycle makes it kind of... odd sometimes. It's a long-ass wait between rounds, and I think sometimes people app against their better judgment because "oh god I won't get the chance for two more months !!!", and it slows down how long it takes to get new castmates, etc.

That said, I've also seen the app cap be quite successful. I think that having an app cap AND bi-monthly apps would be too restrictive, but capping the number of apps per round is quite fair, and might encourage a culture of "only app if you really mean it, bro."

Are apps only processed by the mods? An expanded app team might help lighten the load, as well. I know little to nothing about the practical internal workings of games that do this, despite being in one, but it seems to work nicely.