Depends on player activity, really. As someone whose online for most of the day, or at least a few hours, I wish I had *more* characters. I log in every 10-15 minutes some days, just to see if I've received a message and can do *something.* I dread running out of hours on all my advies and nobles...
I had two throw-away characters in the Cagilan Empire. Khets'aein Abheroth and Magnus Aurea. Magnus went on to become King of the Xavax in the East, and is now my most incredibly fun character, and the only reason I didn't go through with getting bored and quitting.
Fissoa is an utter bore, but it growing more fun now that we have some new nobles. Also, thanks to some Lurian priest complaining about a closed temple and trying to assassinate its looter, a fissoan Duke.
Inflamed by Magnus' zealous passion, I've decided to once again attempt to found a religion: the Spirit of the Phoenix Kin, or some such, in Xavax, and I just asked the Fissoan council to allow me to found Vox Stellarum, which some of you may remember Maximilian Aurea trying to launch on my old account a few years back, before illness forced me to quit gaming.
Khets'aein, I've decided will become an assassin, or judge, or some sort of badass bitch, once she gets to Belluaterra.
If it weren't for the islands sinking, I wouldn't have had the impulse to turn these two bland, boring "Im out of hours and have nothing better to do" characters into something far more striking and empowering, and thus fun!
I'd hate to be able to play fewer characters. I, for one, am able to keep my characters separate and don't powergame. But that's just me. Even with my two in Cagilan, they were secretly at odds, let totally different lives, and did not see eye to eye. Never even gave Khets'aein a Lordship, she was just a wandering warrior. 
Magnus, on the other hand, is all honesty and virtue and justice and all that, like I am in real life, and had a small Lordship at one point, but didn't even vaguely try to go further. I was content with Magnus, because I had no opportunities.
I've played every position except a banker. Never been a proper priest, though. Sucked as an infiltrator. Too honest. Courtier is too boring for me, but its useful for a boring character. Sometimes you just want that one boring character to serve as a steward-courtier and do their thing without big responsibility.
Beside the meta/powergamers, many of us have multiple nobles because we like being exposed to various cultures, differing RPs, faiths, and political structures. I say we keep that spirit.
I would be sorely disappointed if BM cut down further on noble counts, and it would make me consider taking my gaming elsewhere, leaving just a token noble, someone very very fun, namely Magnus of Xavax, and forgetting everything else. It just wouldn't be worth all the effort at that point.
But that's just my perspective.
Agree 100%, that's pretty much how I approach the game as well. Also you're welcome for the failed stabbing
