My Ideal Governmental system in CoE will be a

Appointed Representative Democracy.

Similar to the modern American system but instead or the common people voting for a Representative directly.

Legislative Body will be

The Dukes/Duchesses in a Kingdom (12 in Kingdom) appoint Representatives of their choosing to Legislative Body 1 (Call it whatever you want). Number of Representative is up for discussion as long as that number is equal for each Duchy. Regardless if people have double Duchies or not. That simply means if a person has multiple Duchies. They get more people to appoint to be Representatives.

While the Counts in the same Kingdom (288 in a Kingdom) appoint Representatives of their choosing to Legislative Body 2 (Call it whatever you want). Number of Representative should be small as 288 is a huge number however to really get every counts concerns being heard. I believe every count should have 1 Representative. People who own multiple counties will get to appoint a representative per county they control.

For Example

Say each Duchy gets 4 Representatives. 12 Duchies x 4 Appointed Representatives = 48 Total Reps If say a Duke/Duchess has a Double duchy then that Duke/Duchess would get to appoint 8 out of the 48 total Representatives

With Counties getting 1 Representative totaling 288 Representatives. If a Count had 8 Counties. That Count/Countess would then have to appoint 8 out the 288 Representatives.

These Appointed Representatives would not be forever as their loyalty is to their Dukes or Counts. If these Representatives stop listening to the people who appointed them. Then those Dukes, Counts can replace those Representation with loyal Representation.

Now you have two Legislative Bodies. The Dukes Body consisting of 48 Representatives, and the Counts Legislative Body consisting of 288 Representatives.

These bodies like the American style would have Committees with member discussing specific areas of importance. Like budget, military, education, or whatever else the Kingdom wants to make a committee for. This way when things need to be discussed on an issue. The entire legislative body doesnt need to get into a discord or whatever voice app. But only a select few. Once an agreement has come up in that committee. They can take that legislation to their governing body and hold a vote (48 for Dukes body) (288 for Counts body)

Now I know a big concern will be what if something needs to be done right away. These are very reasonable points. I'm sure with enough discussion between everyone prior to Alpha, or Beta, or even launch everyone can discuss how to properly handle a situation that comes up right away.

You do realize you are going into a feudal hierarchy where players are significantly outnumbered?

I foresee the systematic elimination of NPC characters as nobles (to the best of people's abilities...) AND then perhaps a new government format can be established through legislation.

At best, I predict a constitutional monarchy where a parliament of some sort may be created.

EDIT: I can also see an oligarchy forming with major conglomerates having nobles in the palm of their hands should anti trust laws be nonexistent.

Waerd Anarcho-Syndicalist eldership collective republic.

I'd love to pull it off. I think republics will be able to be developed somewhere down the track.

Also. NPCs have rights too!

I want to use the family mechanics for Waerd to create a kind of local commune style system where each family includes everyone in a single settlement, then the elders of that family form a council. Then a higher level representative democracy can be built from representatives from each of the elder councils. The guilds also get a representative say however, so that non-Waerd and non-elders have participation.

So you get a large family-like structure with direct input from younger workers and the older establishment.

Also keep in mind, that depending on how "lore wise" you are wishing to play, The Waerd are technically a Theocracy based on the worship of The Two-Fold Queen.

It is Her desires that are enacted thru The Familiar to the levels below.

And She moves in most mysterious ways indeed.

Governance is all about effective decision making. Given the scales of time and space in out virtual worlds in relation to that of the players doing the decision making and their NPC counterparts, I think the classical, straighforward feudo-vassalist way of decision making mores would be quite suitable. I don't believe any kingdom or duchy will be served with lengthly discussions aimed to reach consensus and/or democratic voting / representative systems. Hierarchy and command structures should be simple for day-to-day and week-to-week decision making. For longer time scales, more participation may be useful and feedback loops using councils of representatives may be meaningful, but all in moderation. Royals and Nobles will have the most weight in any top-level decision making in any case. For long term planning and decision making, specialized offices, headed by officers who are held accountable by representative councils may be functional. But representation based on headcounts and democratic principles will likely criple such systems. For some socio-economic domains of governance, a meritocracy based system could be implemented where Royals and Nobles appoint ministers / officers in executive positions. In any case, if decision makers fail, at any level, there will be ways to hold them accountable and turn some tables. I'd recommend to prepare to get used to swallowing some good old-fashioned top-down decision making.

I will try to expose to you my current plan to administer my city. It is a work in progress. If you have feedbacks concerning the sustainability or desirability of this project (maybe an irl experience ?), I will be glad to read it. The 2 key points are : mandatory voting and participative budget.

First thing : the constraints

My settlement will probably be a barony. Therefore, I will have several non-negotiable responsibilities, and taxes will have to finance our garrison no matter what. These responsibilities will justify my veto in the town council for any decision that would go against our military interests.

That being said, I doubt all our money will be spent into this. Defences will be funded by the Dukes, and they will be the ones responsible of the additional armies.

So for everything that does not interfere with our military plans, I want to let people as much power as possible through participative democracy. It would be difficult with 2000 people, but I believe it can work at my scale.

Citizenship & Town council

If the mechanics allow me to do that, every person who owns a property in the settlement will be able to do a « Quest for citizenship ». It will test their motivation, and if they succeed, they will earn the citizenship. Citizenship will give them access to the town council.

Once you’re a citizen, voting is not a right, it’s a duty. Even if you can’t attend to the weekly meeting, we will give you a few days to vote important decisions. Not participating will make you lose privileges related to this citizenship (town council & maybe lowered taxes). If you want to come back to the council, do the quest again.

The main missions of this council will be to decide laws, but also to decide what will be the projects of the city and how they will be financed. For instance, if we need more stables, or if the majority agrees to support the project of a specific citizen, we will have 3 possibilities : 1. free donations, then we move to the next project. 2. increased taxes until the project is complete. 3. A mix of both of them. We decrease the taxes as soon as the project is funded

In other words, if the city thrives and there is no need for more taxes, we keep them at the minimum. If the city as a whole needs something, we turn this need into a community-based project where everybody is involved and understand where the money goes.

The ideal here, is to break the usual verticality of our governments to let people decide what they need. In this case the government, or here, the Baron and his supervisors, must help the citizens making informed decisions (influencing them) then carry out their projects. The question for me is : how much do we let people decide ? Can we believe in a liberal self-regulation of the council, or should we design more rules which let them decide but constraint their decisions ?

Main benefits of this system

A very involved community which remains motivated on the long-term. A united group where each project is designed to be a supportive part of the whole community.

Main risks

People may make wrong choices, but they will learn, and without this risk there is no point in having democracy. Brief and regular meetings should allow us to quickly fix the mistakes. In addition, the specialists of each question should be the first ones to talk during a council.

With a city over-specialized in certain fields, it may be hard to balance the projects and to create a coherent ecosystem. I believe an organization where projects are prioritized, then supported to various degrees should still allow smaller groups to grow.

As far as the kingdom laws will allow for it, my Barony will be run by me. I will have a council to provide, you guessed it, counsel. This council will be made up of any guild masters present in my barony, and some business owners that are selected to represent individual businesses. It is in the interest of a town/city/barony to always do the best thing for your people. I am invested in this barony, I want it to succeed. Whereas some troll could really throw a wrench in any town plans just to be a troll. That will be a problem for those who want the "people" to have a say. This is a game that is dependent upon everyone in a city or town working together, that is true, but as in all game there will be a factor working against you just to work against you. The only way to truly eliminate that is to keep the power to decide with yourself. If you do bad things as a mayor/baron you will not have a successful town and will not be in power long. That is the balance in this equation. Not giving random trolls a say in your city.