Well, want it or not, you will be part of a kingdom at the start of the game, because all the starting land will be own by a kingdom. What you do after that is up to you. But, depending on how you intend to play, it might help to join one and find a community, down to a settlement, to be part of. It can help you in the beginning at least.
Respect and trust!
Each Kingdom is like a massive community made up of hundreds of smaller ones. people pick their kingdoms to play with friends in the same kingdom, to live in specific biomes owned by that kingdom or to play tribes found in that kingdom. All land that we know of is owned by a kingdom.
Christian and Matt get to the meat of the matter.
Nothing requires you to join a kingdom, however depending on your goals in game it might be beneficial for you to do so. Maybe you want some affluent count to help you set up your shop in game since you cannot afford to spend the EP, maybe you just want to make sure you are playing in a group of like minded individuals.
As was said previously though, no matter what you will be in one of the Kingdoms since the entire starting continent falls under this umbrella for launch. If you don't want to participate in anything out of game, or anything of that high scale though, certainly nothing is forcing you :D
It's easy to get lost in land ,and not play a very patriotic role for your kingdom. However you may have to support your local mayor or count.
If Freedom is something you seek look for the zones the boundaries dont cover. (They Cover 99% of the map though)
The phrase "joining a kingdom" requires a bit of specification. All characters will be a citizen of a Kingdom, duchy, and county. Just like in real life, you become a citizen of your country and any sub-divisions it may posses. This is a product of birth/character creation. You also inherit a race, culture, language and other attributes.
You may also choose to be a part of a Kingdom outside of the game context. That is to say, you can join their discord or forums and participate. This form of "joining a kingdom" is optional. You don't have to join a Kingdom, Dutchy, or County discord just because you made your character in their lands. But joining their discord will likely incur benefits such as connecting with peers, social opportunities for advancement, and some people may be willing to help you get established.
While you are free to do whatever you want in CoE, you are also subject to consequences. This has been true of every game, but for CoE there will be a lot more consequences, and those consequences will be more complex. CoE is not going to be easy for solo players who are looking to be the heroes of the world as with most traditional MMO experiences in the last 15 years. I like to think of CoE as a grand social experiment, but I am a psychologist so I am biased.
If who you play with or under whose authority you fall matters to you (it does to many), then that's one reason you might choose a kingdom before spawning into the world. It's a bit of taking control of your destiny and not relying upon a bunch of randoms you've never met before to shape your experiences.
The higher up you go in the social hierarchy, the more of an impact this will have on you, but even the lowliest player will still be subject to laws written by other players and still have to interact with them to succeed/survive.
Do you want to leave it all up to chance or take a peek at the various neighborhoods first?
How you answer that question is how you answer the one that you asked. :)
At actual game launch the majority will not be married to a kingdom. You can do what you want. Right now a kingdom or community is high profile as the game is not here.
Not neccessarilly. However if you want to meet communities ,and more people doing the same goals you can join a kingdoms discord to get a feel of what there about ,and there people as well.
99% of land is owned by kingdoms. If you spawn in you will be in a kingdom somewhere it's guaranteed. So find a Race/Biome that you want to live in ,and think about kingdom stuff second if your not planning on being overly patriotic.
Mechanically speaking, I think Kingdom and Community will just narrow your search range as you pick a family to be born into. Most will not start with property other than a backpack which means they will blow like the wind.
