Nobles were really horrible to peasants, but most people in the game have their characters follow a code of chivalry and tend to look down on others who don't both IC and OOC. I have always RPed my characters as Machiavellians. The discussion in Taselak has gotten out of hand with name calling, all because I sent an OOC message outlining my OOC opinion for the use of KRB and wondering out loud why so many players are so opposed to it that they actually out number those who] would be willing to use it. As far as I know KRB was commonplace in medieval times and is well documented.
Ah name calling. Truly a noble position.
To be fair KRB is well documented today too. There are many ways which the knights of BM are not played like the knights of medieval Europe, with a large opposition to KRB being just one of them. The link to the thread in the background section is very interesting reading, but all the sources provided are typically sources by... well, knights to glorify knights from a particularly bloody part of Europe. And they continuously mentions that this rampant destruction is a bad thing. It is well documented too that medieval France produced some incredibly ill-behaved knights who went all over the Mediterranean wreaking havoc, disrespecting everyone, and killing like nightmare warlords.
We have always glorified warlords and mass murderers. There is also some hypocrisy in what people say and what their game numbers do. Doesn't mean that players in BM can't choose to have their characters not do that. Doesn't mean everyone has to subscribe to the grim dark medieval period where every soldier is a trained psychopath. Particularly in total war where people other than those who really enjoy fighting and murdering get involved (total war in reference to the War Islands). It's a choice and people's choices shape the culture in game.
