Well, what's essential, really? Some realms have never even been to war, despite being around for years. Some realms have gone about with 1-3 nobles for a long time, too.
The game always had support classes. It just had a lot more characters take them, back then, and people didn't mind taking them, because it allowed them to get more involved in their realms, without multiplying the message load.
I mean, allowing two nobles with basically the same restrictions might work, though I'm not sure how much less coding it would be. I do prefer the concept of a separate somewhat lesser group that doesn't clutter the main caste, though.
So again if all we are doing is providing a new method for the old "clones" to reappear, what worth is there in the sub systems? If a realm must have people dedicate a 2nd character to be practical, would not the solution be to revise the systems that make it necessary and examine if they bring worth to the game? There were some people that did a good job RPing with 2 characters, that was the exception rather then the rule though. The most common outcome was a 2nd character that never spoke and had no purpose beyond propping up the realm against certain sub class mechanics.
