Wasn't something like this added to the social contract already?
Perhaps we should make a rule like "no more than 4 people who know each other IRL should play in the same realm."
Weaknesses? Would they simply form a bunch of tiny federated realms?
This is a commendable effort. That kind of a rule might be a good one to have. Even if they formed tiny realms, they would have very hard time securing the support of the majority of these tiny realms, as there would be other players there as well. Or, they could do so, but then they would need to include the players as well and do it well enough to discourage a switching of the government.
They could still form a secret society and try to manage things from behind the scenes, but that already is a whole lot more difficult aspect.
And - of course - there would be difficulties in enforcing the rule. But it might at the very least make it harder to get away with it. I don't have the slightest idea on how it could be enforced or even detected, but if it is viable, I am sure some others have ideas.
