I disliked the situation in Riombara from a different point of view: there where the game says "this duchy tax is a punishment", the players just seemed to ignore it and felt quite comfortable with a modern day socialist system of taxation and redistribution.
That disgusted me.
Taxes were *normal*, though, as far as I know. Mind you, they were small and went directly to the superior's pockets, but still.
Also, the game says "*probably* a punishment".
