COMMUNITY - FORUMS - LUNA DOMAINS
Evelyn Hart for Monarch of the Free Kingdom

Introduction

Greetings! This is my first time engaging the community of this awesome game, so let me introduce myself. My name is Evelyn Hart, aka mmogurl, I have a channel on Youtube where I cover games like Black Desert Online and Final Fantasy 14. If you check it out, you can easily see the sort of things I’m interested in. I've also got an introductory video that I'm working on which I'll post shortly.

I have a long history of being interested in games on many platforms that focus on animal husbandry and farming as well. I also enjoy crafting and unique activities in MMOs (think the diplomacy system in Vanguard if anyone remembers). It's hard to find these things in a game and so you can imagine when I first heard about COE’s features, I was instantly snagged by the prospects of: Aging and dying. Owning land that you can build whatever you want on. Not to mention making your own quests (contracts).

It really sounds outstanding, but there is more to it than just that. We'll have duties and responsibilities to keep this world running properly. Imagine the most beautiful version of Elyria, and then imagine the complete opposite from bad management. Bandits running rampant, constant war, starvation, and misery. All of these things can stem from poor leadership.

While I can see the merit of several of the other proposed campaigns I'd like to offer a more structured approach in line with the environment we'll be playing in. I'm for limited and fair government where everyone has a voice. I'd like to keep taxes to a very reasonable level because when the people of the kingdom thrive, we all thrive. Here is my charter for the governmental structure of the kingdom.

CHARTER

Structure of Government

The Monarchy is absolute. The crown is the final say and will arbitrate disagreements amongst the nobles. The crown is a firm believer in Noblesse Oblige and takes its role with the utmost in sincerity.

House of Nobles: Dukes and Duchesses

House of Lords: Counts/Barons

House of Commons: Elected Representatives voted in by the people. One for each County.

In order to pass a bill into law it requires 2/3 majority of all houses. So if it passes in 2 houses, but fails in the third it will still be passed on to the crown. The crown signs it into law and therefore holds veto power.

Example: Let's say the Nobles and the Lords come up with a scheme to pass a law that will raise taxes by 30%. The commoners are outraged, but since it has 2/3 majority the bill passes this check and goes to the Queen. At this point the Queen can either write the law, or veto it. She chooses to veto and the plan is scrapped. The lords and nobles then come up with a more fair compromise that all can agree upon, which passes into law.

If the House of Commons has an issue and it is voted for at least by 80%, then the issue will be raised directly to the Queen, who must respond. This allows for a direct petition of significant grievances by the common folk. It allows an audience and voice for those who would otherwise not be permitted.

Government should hold meetings regularly twice a month, on the 1st and 15th of the month. Bills cannot be passed outside of these days of business. All meetings will be held to rules of procedure so as to ensure order during those times.

If you are not there for a vote, it will be counted as an abstention.

Royal Edicts are immediately passed into law: however they can be vetoed if all 3 houses have a simple majority that contradicts the edict.

A Royal Pardon is an edict which expressly forgives the criminal behavior of someone who has violated the laws and ordinances set forth. They may not be overturned in any circumstance.

All contents of this bill are inviolate and may not be modified by bills or edicts for the life of the kingdom.

Nobility Requirements:

Ducal Requirements:

  • 5% of yearly harvest to the crown. 3% of the earnings made by the Duchies will be given monthly to the crown for use as the crown sees fit. This will include the cost of maintaining the capital.*
  • All Duchies must maintain an armed force equivalent to one well-armed soldier for at least every 50 citizens. Of these armed soldiers, 50% must be Cavalry which will require active husbandry of mounts. These soldiers are the dukes to use, however are expected to be released to the Crown in times of need.*
  • Non-compliant Dukes will find themselves stripped of land and title. Stripped Duchies will receive a new Duke via royal appointment.
  • All citizens of fighting age between 16 and 35 are a part of the national militia and will be subject to conscription in times of great need. Dukes will be required to give regular biannual training to ensure the militia is always prepared to meet their duties.

All taxes imposed by nobles will be kingdom wide and agreed upon by government; they will be passed in the same way a bill would be. This element may be subject to change and re-visited at a later date. The idea is to keep any one nobility from taxing the heavens out of their citizens without much policing.*

RELIGION

All religions are free to practice as they see fit. They must follow the laws and ordinances of their respective jurisdictions.

FOREIGN POLICY:

Summary

We will be non-aggressive, but defensively oriented. Primarily focused on trade, husbandry, crafting, and farming.

Trade

Foreign Trade will be mostly open, however certain products will fall under royal scrutiny. A royal trade ministry will be established by yearly royal appointment as is the privilege of the monarchy. The trade ministry will handle regulation of qualified exports.

Exports

Exports of animals will be strictly regulated with foreign powers. Bypassing this is subject to fines and penalties up to and including death. All transactions must be approved by the trade ministry.

Declarations of War

A declaration of war is required to be passed by two out of the three houses. The crown will, as always, maintain veto power.

Declaration of Armistice

A declaration of armistice is required to be passed by two out of the three houses, the crown will maintain veto power.

Peace Treaty

In times of war, a war tribunal will be formed which will consist of one member of each house voted in by simple majority by their fellow members. They may advise their opinions to the crown, but the crown has the ultimate voice in deciding terms of treaties.

Foreign Relations

A diplomatic ministry will be formed by royal appointment*. This diplomatic ministry will meet with foreign ambassadors and discuss diplomatic matters as representatives of the crown. They are not entitled to make law. They are expected to act on behalf of their respective ruler and as such if they are found conspiring with a foreign power they also may face extreme fines and penalties at the Crown’s behest.

Ministry of Defense

The Ministry of Defense will be by royal appointment*. It will serve as the head of the royal guard, which will be in charge of both defense of the realm and of the crown itself. It may consist of fine men and women from any station who will be expected to follow the additional duties as specified and set forth by the Captain of the Guard. The Ministry Of Defense and its agents are answerable only to the Crown.

*These laws may be subject to change based upon in game mechanics and costs.

Back Up Plan

Let us all face it. There is one spot for monarch and lot of qualified candidates. If not elected to monarch, I would do my best as either a Duchess or Countess to work with the kingdom to make it the best it can be. There will still be a huge focus on farming and animal husbandry. There is always room for other occupations as any county/duchy needs many different jobs to succeed. And rest assured, I'll be working tirelessly to make the best thoroughbreds possible as well as make sure we're never short of food and trade.

In Closing..

Thank you for your time and support. I will truly do my level best to ensure the highest quality of life and a quality roleplaying experience for those who choose to elect me into rulership.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask below or send me a message. I'll be setting up a discord as well for Q&A as well as an opportunity for people to get to know me. I will update the thread as soon as it's ready to go and I have a date/time in mind.


11/2/2017 2:08:23 PM #1

How do you plan on dealing with banditry?


11/2/2017 6:52:17 PM #2

Thanks for the question, Gevurah! Each Duchy will have it's own Guard which can be used for policing bandits. Bandits attacking on or near the Capitol will be dealt with by the Royal Guard. In any case that a Duchy is having trouble that their army cannot defend, the local militia can be called upon as well as other Ducal armies including the Royal Guard depending on proximity (ie the closest should aid first), Hope that answers your question - let me know if you have any more! ;)


11/3/2017 4:22:46 PM #3

Thanks for answering; it seems like you've got a fairly detailed and structured plan as a whole, hence my interest. I think that given the fact that the other 3 kingdoms are extremely stable and set in stone it will make this kingdom less of a wild card and more of a target. That's why I believe having a very stable base is extremely important in context of leadership. While I realize you don't have a lot of following on here and I can see others either copying or imitating - I believe honestly you've got the most directly actionable plan I've read so far.

Some of these other ones are just... head scratchers or too pie in the sky for my tastes.

What would you say with respect to dealing with an upstart duke? Say one who vied for the crown?


11/4/2017 5:55:36 PM #4

I apologize for the late response as it was a busy Friday! Thank you for your kind words in regards to my charter. I put a lot of time and effort into coming up with something I felt was solid.

As to the upstart duke, I guess it would really depend on the extent of the altercation. I wrote into my charter: "Non-compliant Dukes will find themselves stripped of land and title. Stripped Duchies will receive a new Duke via royal appointment." So that would be the result.

If it were possible to bring the duke into custody without major bloodshed, that would be the priority. If he set his army up as defense, then the Crown Guard as well as the loyal Duke's forces would be called into action to deal with the upstart Duke's men.


11/6/2017 6:49:23 PM #5

First things first, I'd like to point out that your campaign can be considered one of the most prominent from what I've seen so far. However, a few questions have arised.

Royal Pardon - Don't you think Royal Pardon should be handed out differently for different people? Pardoning a (presumable) murderer isn't the same as pardoning a revolted Noble, for example. Other Nobles might want to take part in the Court Justice. The Noble in question might have support from some of the other Nobles or might be antagonizing some of them. Won't Queen's absolute irrevocable right to decide fate of someone of a Noble origin infuriate your Vassals?

How much liberty do have Duchies and Counties? To what extent? Can they enact some local laws, establish their own internal structures (Guilds, Courts, etc.), taxation or do they rely solely on Crown's authority? If so, don't you fear discontent among the Nobles?

And also, how the revocation of a title is handled? Is it ruler's undisputable right or is some kind of Council assembled?


11/6/2017 8:25:34 PM #6

Thanks for your interest and kind words, Aardvark!

In regards to your questions about the Royal Pardon, the pardon is effectively a way for the crown to supersede an unjust verdict. The only time this is likely to be used is when the crown feels the courts have failed. So this would come into effect after the court has already been involved. It's a last ditch effort to dole out fairness and will not be used for nepotism.

It might not be a bad idea to have 2 Dukes sign off on it as well. It's not a complete check and balance, but if nobody is willing to sign their name, it's likely a bad pardon and would also keep future kings/queens from abusing the system.

The Duchies will have all of their own laws, but they cannot bypass the crown's law as stated in this charter. The crown will impose a tax on the Duchies themselves, and I like the idea of the local taxes being decided upon by government so as to keep it in check. That might not be the best way to go about it when the time comes though. I'd also like to see what the other Duke's are planning to do. If all of the dukes and I are in agreement, an imposed local tax might not be necessary. I'm mostly concerned that someone will get crazy and tax their citizens to death and that would be the only real reason I can see to control the tax. This is part of the reason for the petition system as well so that commoners can seek redress for their grievances.

I'd expect that both Counties and Duchies would make their own internal structures. Guilds are a given. A civil court would make sense and additional guidelines might need to be made to ensure they're fair.

The process of stripping a Duke will be handled by Royal Edict and can be contested as I mentioned in that section. This will be reserved for treason as stripping title is no small measure to take. It is expected that a stripped Duke would step down voluntarily, but if they do not they will be deposed by force.

I'm hoping that when things go live the Dukes and the Crown can work together amicably, but you have to plan for the worst case scenario - and this is just that.

Thanks again for all of the questions! It was my pleasure to answer them.


11/8/2017 1:19:46 AM #7

Out of curiosity, what exactly is your history with following CoE? You said this was your first community interaction, so I feel that it's reasonable to ask if you've actually been following the game development or if you heard about this opportunity from someone, and decided to jump in. The free-kingdom is a popularity contest, specifically a meme popularity contest. No matter how good someone's plan is, we all know who is going to win. And running a kingdom is more than just having a list of principles and ideologies, it's about a community. In the early days of CoE there were massive communities of kingdoms that were made by collectives of players who banded together to be the best. Once kingdom-ship was announced to require a backer (for the beginning of story, at least), these groups disbanded for the most part. The free-kingdom is a return to that. A kingdom in this game cannot run without a solid community behind it, and to build and run a community, someone has to have a solid history within the game already. That's why this has become a meme contest, and why everyone already knows who will win. There are a few who stand a minute amount of chance against the odds, such as Mick, but that's because he is also a meme (but he does happen to have a solid community history, and there are dozens who would gladly be his people). So I guess what my question boils down to is this: How are you going to make a presence in the community and build something of substance before anyone can even win the monarchy?


I dislike melons reasonably

11/8/2017 6:29:28 AM #8

I'm confused by your post. You seem to have written me off completely and I wonder why you'd waste your time posting if that's the case.

Isn't it safe to say that I must have been following the game to even hear about the opportunity? I don't see how my history with the game even matters aside from trying to single me out as "not being there from the beginning, therefore not as good as those who have been." There are also others that have put their lot in who have not posted regularly in the past or at all which makes me wonder why you chose to ask me and not them?

And let's be realistic. This is not just a popularity contest given you can vote for yourself. So it's more of a "Let's see who pays the most money + gets others to pay the most money" contest. If someone wanted to buy $10,000 worth of tokens and send them to themselves, they'd probably have a pretty good shot at winning. If the tokens weren't involved and everyone in the community had a free vote, that would be a popularity contest.

One can also hope that some will see the merit of my hard work and choose to band with me. I have friends that I am bringing with me as well. This game's community will continue to grow even past the launch. It doesn't seem wise to shut people out and it's certainly not good for the game itself to do so. There are also 151 spots and last I checked only 29 entries, so it's not a waste of time either way.


11/13/2017 7:40:38 PM #9

The best King's in history are ones who have shown to be able to handle conflict and solve them when the situation arises. This leads to my hypothetical question to test your problem solving skills if such problems were to occur.

Time and time again the house of commons is never able to pass any laws for themselves. The lords and nobles continually scheme together to only get laws favorable to them on your desk to be signed. The commoners begin to feel oppressed and are very slowly leaving the kingdom. Furthermore, you have two dukes holding a Casus Belli on your throne through their fame. They have never acted on it or made any suspicious actions to make you think they would rebel. Yet, you know they will be encouraged if you were to take power away from the nobles. What is your remedy for this situation?


11/14/2017 5:58:33 AM #10

You seem to have really thought this through Evelyn, and I think your charter is sensible. You have my support!


“I don’t even know what that means, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t make any sense."

11/14/2017 7:00:10 PM #11

Pretty interesting plan and it's well thought out, you should join the CoE discord to get your name out there and to interact with potential supporters (and rivals).


11/18/2017 6:59:13 PM #12

Posted By Indivation at 2:40 PM - Mon Nov 13 2017

The best King's in history are ones who have shown to be able to handle conflict and solve them when the situation arises. This leads to my hypothetical question to test your problem solving skills if such problems were to occur.

Time and time again the house of commons is never able to pass any laws for themselves. The lords and nobles continually scheme together to only get laws favorable to them on your desk to be signed. The commoners begin to feel oppressed and are very slowly leaving the kingdom. Furthermore, you have two dukes holding a Casus Belli on your throne through their fame. They have never acted on it or made any suspicious actions to make you think they would rebel. Yet, you know they will be encouraged if you were to take power away from the nobles. What is your remedy for this situation?

Hey There! Sorry for my untimely response. I just listed my house on the market and the past few days have been crunch time prep work. Now that it's finished I can dedicate myself completely.

That aside, and I don't mean this in a snarky way at all, have you ever watched Game of Thrones? Nobles will ALWAYS be scheming. In fact people in general will scheme if they have cause to. I expect this and am prepared for it. As I said initially, I would appreciate it if the other Dukes come to see eye to eye and would live harmoniously, but to be responsible, you always have to plan for and expect the worst.

I consider myself a Queen for ALL of the people and that means nobility AND commoners. You can count that if there is something that is going to hurt the commoners way of life that I will trounce it with a veto. The commoners also have a path to come directly to the Queen with any grievances.

The nobility will expect a certain status quo and so long as it doesn't impair the people, that is acceptable. It's whenever someone wants to take their situation out of balance that is going to cause a stir. It will be a constant balancing act.

I know it's difficult to put your trust in a person who has not been able to prove themselves yet. I'm sure that over time I'll be able to instill faith that I am a sincere and competent person. I have had a lot of real world experience dealing with people and also a great interest in REAL history - not the fluff they teach you in the text books.

I have plans in the works to help rally support which will be unveiled soon. And I also plan to head over to the discord to meet people - likely this weekend. This is my first day off completely in what feels like forever, so I will be diligently working on my campaign.

I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a response! The hard questions do need asked. I know this is going to be a hard job and I have talked long hours about it with those who will come to be my immediate council. We're all incredibly interested and invested in making this work.


11/18/2017 7:00:02 PM #13

Posted By LukeWindborne at 12:58 AM - Tue Nov 14 2017

You seem to have really thought this through Evelyn, and I think your charter is sensible. You have my support!

Thank you so much! I spent a lot of time coming up with a charter I felt would be fair and I'm so glad to have your support!


11/18/2017 7:01:17 PM #14

Posted By Mydiis at 2:00 PM - Tue Nov 14 2017

Pretty interesting plan and it's well thought out, you should join the CoE discord to get your name out there and to interact with potential supporters (and rivals).

Thank you very much! I'll be making a debut on discord soon. ;)


12/26/2017 9:17:32 PM #15

I'm just now reading over the candidates (I was NA-W but just went to the east and I'll be a grand count(2 counties) ) But I must say I think I'm in love so far. I feel the burocratics is a little much although it's a good means to avoid abuse of power and give a voice to the people. I'll look more into you though. Welcome to the community. Hope to see you around discord or something!


Friend code: 2D42A1