Another question: back then were regions so much hurt by looting? Because as the game is now, after a very heavy war is fought on a certain area it's pretty hard for the remaining realms to be strong enough to fight again shortly.
Regional population used to be static. Variable population didn't come into play until...I think it was late 2005? I could look it up, but I'm feeling lazy
That makes an enormous difference in the effects of looting.