Or people could try to share power with fellow players, particularly newer ones, instead of playing margrave/duke/kings. Might help keep some newer players around to get them involved.
My ruler position is an elected one, not permanent (and part of the deal for me to become Duke/Margrave was that I won't campaign in the next election). More than that, we don't want to give away the capital duchy to just anyone, we already suffered enough as it is because of the previous guy. Plus, we held a vote for Bowie to become Duke. Everything is a green light for this to go down except for the game mechanic. I don't understand why a Ruler can't do this...
The way it is right now isn't exactly the way it was intended. The lack of ability for a Ruler to make himself a Duke was an oversight, and we're still working on what the best way is to get it implemented.
But I'm afraid it isn't currently a top priority.
Oh...well, great.
