Yeah well, some times I feel that everything is far too restricted, and new players have no idea what are they walking into when they first log in the server.
The problem however is not in the restriction of features that encourage RP indirectly, the problem is that there are not enough features that encourage RP directly. The player infocards are one clear example of the later, and that was a fantastic addon, but sadly I can't see many people using it.
Its understandable though, the game is old, its engine is old and has its limits.