General advice: If you want to game to not die start it ASAP while people still have interest; do not expect many more people to want to play the future (and if 1 or two want to play they can join a team).
Also, in an NTT environment, unless you are doing anything higher than Monarch Cylindrical or Toroidal/Prince just go for FIN. FIN/EXP or FIN/CRE are "The best" but Mansa is fine. Don't ever pick Lizzie. Huanya is over rated but if he is the only IND leader then that's perfectly OK.
Also, in an NTT environment, unless you are doing anything higher than Monarch Cylindrical or Toroidal/Prince just go for FIN. FIN/EXP or FIN/CRE are "The best" but Mansa is fine. Don't ever pick Lizzie. Huanya is over rated but if he is the only IND leader then that's perfectly OK.