Removing a royal duke

[vonGenf]

But what are the solutions? Setting an assassin on a respected and once beloved former ruler (who my character considers a friend), or finding a high level priest (which we don't have) to Auto Da Fe her? You say we shouldn't be playing this in a gamey way, but surely setting an assassin on a friend because their inactivity is affecting the war effort is about the most gamey thing I could do?

Is it the inactivity of the player that affects the war effort, or the refusal of the character to appoint a Lord?

If it's something your character would do, then do it. If it's something your character wouldn't do, then it's gamey.

[Alpha]

I still fail to see what's bad about it. From a gameplay perspective. Does this cause people to have less fun playing the game? Why?

In the situation that Velax is describing I think that is does. One person has entirely shut down a duchy, and there is almost no recourse available. That person logs in only to, as far as anyone can tell, prevent autopausing(completely inactive for more than a month). A number of previous posts have brought up the fact that the suspect Margravine could be assassinated, but that doesn't solve the problem as she is also Duchess. RTO could be used, but primary religion of those two particular regions just died. As he said, all we can do is wait for the city to go rogue, and there is essentially nothing we can do for the rural.

I think this makes a good case for intrarealm wars. If Dukes could fight each other for ducal control, then this wouldn't even a problem. It would be a free ticket to expand the duchy. That would be a big source of conflict. Though, I feel like I remember ducal wars being rejected outright, but I couldn't find it with a quick forum search.

[Foundation]

The problem is you have a royal duke who does not appoint lords in his duchy.  These regions have no steward.  You want access to the region's food.  Correct?

Why is the problem with the last part rather than solving the cause?  Can you think of any other more common circumstances that would demand a similar change?

Adding power to solve unique corner cases of intra-realm struggles is not the way to go.

[vonGenf]

...seriously? You're seriously suggesting anyone would actually do this? And that this imaginary idiot would be allowed to do so by the rest of the realm? Come on now...

Which rest of the realm? He could have banned them all. Which is the whole point of your proposal: you want a way to be able to move food without the collaboration of the rest of the realm, so you don't need them anymore.

But, no, I don't think it would happen often. Note that I described it as abuse! There are probably plenty of ways to avoid it, I just wanted to point it out. It's the first thing I thought of.

[Alpha]

Appointing lords is one of the duke's primary powers.

Food is a lord's primary resource.

You see the imbalance if we arbitrarily add power to solve a single side of the problem?

If a region remains without a Lord for more than a week, allow for a ruler to appoint a candidate. This would cost the Duke prestige as it appears he does not even have power over his duchy. Also give the Duke the power to dispute any such appointment, along with prestige loss for the Ruler. The Duke will lose prestige over time if the disputed lord remains in power, and the ruler will lose a significant amount of prestige if the appoint lord loses the region for some reason. The Duke can withdraw the dispute if compromise is reached, or the dispute ends if the Duke or the Lord lose their positions.

[Blue Star]

really gone off topic with all this about some duke in some land.... if you want to complain go complain in ur local forum not in feature requests.

[Indirik]

surely setting an assassin on a friend because their inactivity is affecting the war effort is about the most gamey thing I could do?

Is that friend's incompetence going to cost you the war? If so, would you kill a friend to win a war?

Sounds to me like an awesome opportunity for your character to do some soul-searching, and find out exactly what is most important to them: The friend or the war. Because, let's face it, your friend is hampering the war effort. Their inattention, incompetence, and negligence are seriously damaging the realm. Maybe they aren't the loyal, staunch friend you thought they were. Well, obviously they aren't, as they are neglecting their duty, and basically giving you the finger. So instead of steadfastly refusing to see what's happening, perhaps you should have your character re-evaluate the situation, and come to the realization that this "friend" isn't really what you thought they were.

[Velax]

This is true, but there's also the fact that we don't have any infiltrators.

[Indirik]

I think this makes a good case for intrarealm wars.

Intra-realm wars are, IMNSHO opinion, one of the worst ideas ever proposed, and totally inappropriate for this game.

The idea that would work for this is the forced secession we used to have that, so far as I know, was only ever used once, when Alanna forced the city of Giask to secede, then went to war with it and wiped it out.

[Indirik]

This is true, but there's also the fact that we don't have any infiltrators.

And you don't have any friends that have a way of finding some?

[Velax]

Are there even many infiltrators on FEI at all?

[vonGenf]

Are there even many infiltrators on FEI at all?

Trust me. There's at least one. 

[Indirik]

Oh, there is definitely more than one. And quite good, too.

[Velax]

I did say many, not any. And if they're in Sorraine, I don't think they'll be willing to help out Kindara, somehow.

[Alpha]

Intra-realm wars are, IMNSHO opinion, one of the worst ideas ever proposed, and totally inappropriate for this game.

The idea that would work for this is the forced secession we used to have that, so far as I know, was only ever used once, when Alanna forced the city of Giask to secede, then went to war with it and wiped it out.

I think it could be a good idea, or a terrible idea depending on how it was implemented. If a duke was to declare war on another, then the ruler would decide whether to ignore the action, or to support one of the sides. Perhaps there would be some sort of honor/prestige penalty for siding with the aggressor. So it would only be feasible if one duke was liked more by the ruler than the other. I know that the combat system is rather complex, so it may not even be possible. It may not have a place in BM, but I think it's an interesting concept.