[Discuss] unit responsibility

[Jamie Cheyfetz]

On 10/18/06, Tom Vogt <tom at lemuria.org> wrote:
>
> Why do you think of the Sun King when we talk middle ages? Throughout
> most of the middle ages, the kings were weak and the nobles held lots of
> power. Often, kings had to _beg_ the nobles to even _appear_ for a
> battle, much less tell them what to do. Throughout many centuries, if a
> king had dared to tell a noble where to put his men and how to fight,
> said noble would've simply walked away with his men in protest.

I think what we need to determine here is *why* the nobles had this
kind of power.  If we could then simulate those reasons in BM, we
might be able to better simulate the power-to-the-noblemen that you
espouse.

One thing I thought that might be one of causes for this power is
independent wealth.  The nobles did not get gold from the realm, they
had their own and through investments and businesses and vassals made
their own.

Another is that vassals were not a commodity that was easily
transferred.  You could not always go out and recruit another 50
cavalry if Joe Noble said he wasn't coming.  I don't know how this
would be incorporated into the game, though, since not being able to
recruit would hurt Joe Noble's fun, too.

Another, again one I don't know how to incorporate, is that if a
battle were to happen, it is completely plausible that their messenger
bird did not get through to let that knight know to send his troops.
Or perhaps travel times were so delayed that they could not make it.
Or perhaps that Noble's daughter was being wed.  Or perhaps that
Noble's lands were being attacked by brigands or being raided, etc,
etc.  In short, there were "RL" issues that came up.

Another is that you need that Noble's lands for the food it gives you.
 The solution to this might be to give everyone a small piece of land.

There are also so many other intricate dealings with (in RP terms)
NPCs that could cause problems.  These people lived with each other
for years and had their interaction for years.  We don't have the
constant small interactions that cause issues and small slights of
honour or small honours that carried heavy weight.  Our characters
don't have to worry about angering our cousin's wife by missing their
anniversary party.  Our characters don't have to worry about angering
a prosperous family which would cause it hard to find a wife.  Or to
make it hard to find a good business partner.  Or to eat at a
favourite restaurant.


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