I agree with constantine, became a duke and marshal within a few weeks of starting playing. And naturally both were on my most active character. I do love the new silent protest function, my first character had been stuck in a realm where one barely active player ran everything with an iron fist and 2 characters to split all the realms power between. This became so frustrating I would have quit if I wasn't enjoying my other characters so much. After coming back I think the worst parts of the game are when your suspension of disbelief is shattered, whether it's from a known bug, or ooc bickering.
Battlemaster is still a great game and after coming back I like MOST of the changes and feel like the power structures are a lot more fluid. So kudos to the dev(s). That being said I think what you've done will help new player retention but not acquisition or neccessarily old player retention. But keep up the good work we're enjoying it and we appreciate it.