That's you though, part of what makes Ryuki interesting for me was that I couldn't really blame some of the other Riders who participated in the game. I was like "okay, so how the hell would Shinji convince this guys?".
This. The best way I can describe Ryuki to people is to explain the 'prize' offered and explaining the characters as a study on the types of people who might be considered most likely to take such a deal: the naive, the desperate, and the crazy. None are particularly villains or heroes, but the series was damn good. To me it was grey done right. Not worshipped, just handled like any other thing you use to make a story.