Yes, there are some players that may be power/title hungry.
Yet there are others that hold council positions because no one else will step up to take on the responsibilities involved with some of those positions.
I have seen Banker and General positions sit vacant through two or more consecutive elections because no one was willing to step up to fill the positions.
I have seen people beg for others to fill these positions.
I have been Banker in Nivemus for (RL) years now. Is this a position that I covet and would fight to my dying breath for?
No. It is a position that I took on long ago because no one else stepped up for it and it needed to be done.
There are regular elections (quarterly, I believe) for the position and I don't remember the last time that anyone put forth a candidacy against my character for the banker position.
My character took Nivemus from often seeing hungry/starving regions to being a well fed realm. It took a lot of hard work.
My character has proven herself over time and has earned the respect of her fellow nobles. They have come to respect her ability to be fair and keep the realm fed (her "job").
Sirion is a Republic and Nothoi a Democracy (I currently play in neither realm). Leaders of these realms are voted in on a regular basis.
Prime Minister Foxglove and Diadochi Kinsey have held leadership of their respective realms for quite some time now.
I ask you, "why is that?"
There is no reason that someone else could not run for either of these leadership positions and oust either of these leaders, is there?
I suspect, that like my character in Nivemus, they have put the work in and earned the trust and respect of their fellow nobles.
Both of these realms are good sized realms, so you would have to convince many nobles of your worthiness to rule before you could usurp power in either realm.
Do you need a good family name to be considered to be a ruler?
No, all you need to do is prove to your fellow nobles that you are worthy of being followed as a ruler.
If you truly are interested in a leadership position, I suggest that obtaining one would not be too difficult IF you are prepared to put the work into obtaining and holding one.
There are MANY realms with between 10 and 15 nobles.
This means you could formulate a plan to be the ruler of your own realm by convincing as few as 5-8 nobles of your worthiness to lead them. I will not get into details or specifics, but if you can convince half (or even less with the right plan) of the nobles in a realm, a ruler position could be yours.
Quit bellyaching about what others have earned for themselves and get a plan together to earn it for yourself.
