While the execution might not be what we all hoped and dreamed (at this point its more like a pyramid scheme) I am a huge fan of the concept and really want to see it be successful.
Story time. So way back in the day (2007/8-ish?) I had a character in Caligus (EC) who was promoted to Baron of Scio, a small mountain region next to the capital with 800 pop, just enough food to feed itself, and a gold output of ~150. Now, 1 knight was far more than adequate to maintain order and most people probably would have stopped there and gotten fat off the income. But my character was in this for the glory and prestige that comes with becoming a lord, which he decided (for a number of reasons) to show by having a lot of knights serving him. Long story short: regular merciful courts and about 40 estate points in authority let him/me crank up the tax rate over 20% and keep 6+1 knights with respectable weekly incomes without losing any control or production in the region.
In short: Inherit very poor barony, add lots of estates, rival marches in both income and vassals, flaunt what ya got
