I agree on the division thing, less so on the pace.
Personally I think its not as easy to deliberate in the diet when your character isn't stationed in Rome or very nearby. That means that you talk through proxy and I would believe talking through proxy is usually kept to a minimum by each player because it does not truly add to immersion in most cases. The other thing of course is that by slowing expansion and playing economical building, a lot less is happening and what is happening is more due to the result of individual stories.
Moving our capital somewhere more central wouldn't help the problem either as then the ones at the outer brim are far away. I do think some more stories connecting the two kingdoms are needed though, unless we want to end up as ERE/WRE. Maybe some combined attack against Russians so our west/east front can coordinate with our eastern north/south front? Problem is that this would require massive expansions in that direction, which may not be too popular among several players. Its quite a dilemma really.
To have a lot of deliberations in the diet either requires losing territory, non natural character deaths, large events or an ongoing war everyone has something to say about. Maybe even a renegade character's actions.
Now as to pace, I felt econ's chancellorship was well paced and only a bit too fast on the first day. Sunday was nicely paced.
Let's face it. If the game isn't continuing in the background, there is little you can deliberate in the diet about unless there is a major threat or issue everyone wants to chuck something in about. If there isn't all that much happening in game, you'd rather want the turns to pass until something actually does happen.
Bookmarks