Life is Feudal Official Forum

[Lukepop]

If a western European country joines up with a viking country and a desert country and they then form an empire that is ruled by a council. They have a European enemy 3/4-all their size. If the European from the empire discovers a large continent nearly the size of the one they had all previously inhabited which was only Inhabited by a small amount of stone age natives (the place where the game takes place). If they found a city and thus establish their claim to this land how would new factions form?

(the above paragraph is pretty much all in the lore section

I believe that they would create 6 fiefs (or realms in terms of the game's established lingo). 5 of them would be created at the beginning of the game and would be Developer/Developer Loyal. 3 of them would be immediately surrounding the 6th fief. The 6th fief would contain the NPC city. The 6th fief would either be a bay or, preferably, a penisula sticking out from the surrounding shoreline. The other two would be on the outer rim.

The players would be able to found up to ten realms and then, (when voted by the majority of realms) would declare war on the loyalist realms. The blue 2 ones would be takeable but not easy to take. Once they were taken the Loyalists would surrender. Leaving the player regions as sovereign realms. More could then be founded without irritating anyone beyond any special cases.

This is just my Idea.

Link for map: http://tinypic.com/m/i6mon8/2

[Saxxon]

Cool!!!

[Telakh]

New factions form like a bunch of citizens leave the capital city, go in to the wild and claim the land they like. Since there is no general authority left, it is a jungle law there. No need for NPC or Admin- established estates/factions or other crap. It is all pure player-run.

[Lukepop]

But In medieval times people wouldn't have done that.

[Telakh]

Oh really?

[Lukepop]

Probably .

[Arrakis]

Please, try to avoid spamming. Thanks.

[Azerath]

But In medieval times people wouldn't have done that.

In "Medieval Times" the land was already tied to a Lord. This is a new world we're coming to, there are no hereditary claims, and our Emperor is no position to asert his claims on the land.

So, it's pretty much squatters rights. If the Emperor ever gets out of the pickle he's currently in, he could legally claim the land and redistribute it as he sees fit, but he would probably have a few rebellions on his hands if he did that.

[Siegbert]

But In medieval times people wouldn't have done that.

In "Medieval Times" the land was already tied to a Lord. This is a new world we're coming to, there are no hereditary claims, and our Emperor is no position to asert his claims on the land.

Depends on where you are. Eastern Germany and the Baltic were at certain times free of any claims as this was the home to pagans against whom crusades were launched. After that settlers were lured into there with the promise of new opportunities they didn't have in their old homes.

[Azerath]

But In medieval times people wouldn't have done that.

In "Medieval Times" the land was already tied to a Lord. This is a new world we're coming to, there are no hereditary claims, and our Emperor is no position to asert his claims on the land.

Depends on where you are. Eastern Germany and the Baltic were at certain times free of any claims as this was the home to pagans against whom crusades were launched. After that settlers were lured into there with the promise of new opportunities they didn't have in their old homes.

Pagans still had a form of social structure with land holders at the top, and once conquered, that land was granted to Catholic Lords, Bishops, and the Teutonic Order. It's not like the land was claimed by a group of peasants and they raised someone up to be a Lord.

In this game, we're essentially going to go back to the very beginning of Feudalism.

-Peasants were granted land under Feudalism, they didn't get to claim it as theirs. In this game, we're going to do the opposite. We're going to claim land, then essentially give it to someone to make them a Lord...or not...depending on how your guild operates I guess.

[Lukepop]

Ok coolio. It was just my suggestion.

[Telakh]

You have some strange understanding of feudalism =) It was a loong age.
Anyway, first colonies in america as example. You obtain a right to claim your land and go anywhere you like to claim it. Yet you are limited in the size of a plot. Same thing here. You are capped with 250 tiles at max authority skill.

[Lukepop]

It wasn't people taking land that was the issue. It was people forming kingdoms that were recognised by the established powers.

[Siegbert]

-Peasants were granted land under Feudalism, they didn't get to claim it as theirs. In this game, we're going to do the opposite.

Originally it was theirs in the time before feudalism. Feudal social structures arose when it became apparent that peasants couldn't protect their land anymore on their own.

[Azerath]

-Peasants were granted land under Feudalism, they didn't get to claim it as theirs. In this game, we're going to do the opposite.

Originally it was theirs in the time before feudalism. Feudal social structures arose when it became apparent that peasants couldn't protect their land anymore on their own.

Right, which is why I said we're going back to the beginning.

This new world was discovered by the Emperor. In essence, it belongs to the Acaelian Empire, of which we are refugees. The Emperor still lives, though he's in no position to grant land and title to anybody.

In Feudalism, Lords allow serfs to work the land for them, but it still belongs to the Lord. The 13 American colonies were granted charters from the Crown, so they still required permission from the Monarch.

Unless I'm mistaken, at game launch we'll be allowed to put down stakes wherever we want without having to seek the permission of the Emperor, or any other Lord. That makes it more like the American Frontier where you worked the land and owned it. Theoretically, if the Emperor wanted to, he could declare all of our claims illegal and take the land for himself, or grant it to another.

[Siegbert]

Is the age of colonization still considered feudalism?

[Azerath]

Is the age of colonization still considered feudalism?

No, by then the importance of land had decreased, and was replaced by currency as the source of power.

Even so, Monarchies were still going strong and you couldn't just declare ownership of a piece of land, but at that point you might have been able to buy it.

[Lukepop]

Excuse me but no-one answered what I said about recognised kingdoms.

[Azerath]

I'm not sure the point you were trying to make.

You said, "it wasn't people taking land that was the issue," land/resources are what the vast majority of wars have been fought over since there has been recorded history. So I think maybe you're trying to say something else here.

If a government pops up that the rest of the worlds sees as illegitimate, it's going to have a rough time of it, no matter what era you're in.

[Strategos]

This looks suspiciously like the "coalition" you recently declined to join...
Having second thoughts?

[Strategos]

Also, there will be recognized kingdoms when one guild vassalizes another or creates another guild to settle another city (so they can expand) and vassalizes them...

[Lukepop]

Dude., The thread was dead already.

[Strategos]

Your partly right... Should've reigned in the debate a wee bit...
But (and I know you won't respond to this) if someone joined it would reincarnate things a wee bit...

[Indi]

There are a lot of young men pulling "facts" from their asses about history in this thread.

[Daniloy]

There are a lot of young men pulling "facts" from their asses about history in this thread.

Welcome to the Internet.

[Firewaterfriday]

One thing that I haven't heard of so far, is whether there can be land disputes in a guild. Like in-fighting,civil war, desertion, etc. I want to be a merc/guard not attached to one guild how do I do that without the option to leave/desert? Time contracts consented to by both parties with promise of reward in specific amount?

[Engellus]

One thing that I haven't heard of so far, is whether there can be land disputes in a guild. Like in-fighting,civil war, desertion, etc. I want to be a merc/guard not attached to one guild how do I do that without the option to leave/desert? Time contracts consented to by both parties with promise of reward in specific amount?

I don't see why there won't be. People act stupidly and piss each other off, so the large guilds may fracture and have in fighting. Who knows, maybe someone will hire assassins? Or perhaps a guild will hire bandits to attack another instead of openly declaring war. Just as a means to weaken their competition without risking their own necks.

[Apep]

Imo, people claiming land on their own in medieval times has an example too. Mainly early medieval era, though, think about the migration period. Also it was quite common in East Europe aswell, especially in slavic regions. After the Saxons were conquered by the Franks, they simply moved on to the east and claimed land on their own instead of asking the Emperor about it.

[Siegbert]

Imo, people claiming land on their own in medieval times has an example too. Mainly early medieval era, though, think about the migration period. Also it was quite common in East Europe aswell, especially in slavic regions. After the Saxons were conquered by the Franks, they simply moved on to the east and claimed land on their own instead of asking the Emperor about it.

That's true, also for later periods of the Middle Ages. I'm thinking of Henry the Lion claiming Slavic regions for himself. But still he ultimatively was subject to his king and the regions where considered property of the kingdom/empire.
It was common practice for the kings to grant those regions to the local lords as fief. In the case of Henry the Lion who was accused of acting too much in his own interest when it came to imperial politics he was stripped of his lands which were newly distributed to smaller lords more closely allied with emperor Barbarossa.