I'm going to throw out a radical idea.
A realm cannot have a General position unless it is in a state of war with another realm.
Let me be clear about a a few things:
YES - you can have armies
YES - you can have Marshals
NO - you cannot force a noble to be in an army (but his Lord can)
WHY?
I see too much of the "Martial Law" attitude in this game, where the automatic feeling is that the General always needs to be ordering people about - even when there's nothing to give order about.
The General has become the guy who tells you to go do civil work in Lord So-and-so's region. The General is the guy who wants to know what you're up to if you ever go outside your realm.
The General has nothing to do, but he feels he SHOULD be doing something, so he exerts needless control.
Don't believe me?
Let me pick a player & character who I greatly enjoy playing with, and so he should NOT take this as a personal attack (please!).
Miskel is in Talerium. The last time Talerium swung a sword in anger, it was against Falasan. Yes, Falasan. There are realms where the words "peace" and "Talerium" are interchangeable. Priests end their benedictions with "May Talerium be with you". Furthermore, we are allied with Cagilan to our south, and are at peace with every realm except Lyonesse. Yes, we went out on a limb a bit. Lyonesse with 2 nobles and 0 regions. Don't like them.
Ok? So, Miskel, now that we've killed off all the Glacier spawn, plans to lead an "Expeditionary Force" along the top of Atamara, fight some monsters, practice duel in Rielston & Minas. IE - role play a bit.
The General sends him a letter, not forbidding, but saying, "planning unapproved expeditions outside the realm is not the best course of action. Have you considered applying for a marshal position?"
Why? WTF do I need "approval" for?
I think it's because too many players feel that all nobles are supposed to be in an army, sometimes under a Marshal but often under direct control of the General, and that regardless of the situation in the realm, a military dictatorship is the natural state of the game.
(Let me be clear - I don't expect any in-game issues. This just prompted some thinking on my part. Possible he even meant something different than what I understood)
The fact is, there were very few standing armies at that time, and the idea of a standing army goes against the idea the game should have that the Lord rules his knights. Furthermore, it means that every player always has someone ordering him about for no reason.
There is no reason you need a General for cooperation. There is no reason you need a General to fight monsters. There is no reason players can't manage themselves into units to fight a monster horde that pops up somewhere.
Make it a temporary position. It only exists if there is war. Someone wants to be General? Push for a war. No war? Let nobles be free to do their Lord's bidding, or wander about as they please.
Don't misunderstand - many players like to log in and see the red orders bar so they know what is happening. That's fine - that's the Marshal leading them. That should be optional.
STOP!
Take your hands off the keyboard. Don't reply with what you were going to say before you even finished reading this. Sit back and consider - if YOUR realm didn't have a General, would it make a difference?
Or would it just lead to more role playing?