What causes Controversy to increase?

[fishhooks]

I know asking for every fief I capture is a sure way, but I haven't been doing that. As Marshal for the Nords (for the last ~100 days), I have gathered the army at various times to go on campaign for about a week at a time, capture a couple of fiefs, defend a couple, etc. Then let everyone go home for several days to recoup. Rinse and repeat. Captured ~8 castles and a couple of towns...only asked for one castle and one town (which I received for an increase in Controversy), but asked no reward on the others. Controversy has always been from 0 to a high of about 40, which I work off over the next week or two. Everything seems to have been working fine.

Then all of a sudden, my controversy starts sky-rocketing, and I can't figure out why. I end the campaign in case people are tired and want to go home...it goes up. I call for a campaign and gather the army...it goes up. I take a fief and don't ask for anything...it goes up. I fight an enemy army in the field and defeat them...it goes up. I break a siege on one of our newly-acquired fiefs...it goes up.

I'm now at 100, so I know it's only a matter of time till Ragnar boots me as Marshal (which I don't want to happen, since I like having control over which settlements we attack next). Any hints as to what might be going on would be appreciated, as well as any tips for countering this strange phenomenon.

[Stonechat]

From the wiki:

"You gain controversy by:

Losing a vassal

Leaving soldiers behind

Joining in or starting arguments with other vassals

Betraying someone

As Marshall: Any loss, such as having a village raided, caravan destroyed, peasants attacked, a lord losing a battle, a castle captured, or town captured will add to controversy in often large measures. If you face war on multiple fronts or have a large kingdom to defend, you can expect to reach near 100 controversy very quickly. The only solution is to give up being marshall in that case. "



So basically, don't be marshall. You get blamed for everything.

[RunfromChron]

welcome to management 101 - you get blamed for everything that happens on your watch

[Giga Gilgamesh]

Originally posted by Stonechat:

From the wiki:

"You gain controversy by:

Losing a vassal

Leaving soldiers behind

Joining in or starting arguments with other vassals

Betraying someone

As Marshall: Any loss, such as having a village raided, caravan destroyed, peasants attacked, a lord losing a battle, a castle captured, or town captured will add to controversy in often large measures. If you face war on multiple fronts or have a large kingdom to defend, you can expect to reach near 100 controversy very quickly. The only solution is to give up being marshall in that case. "



So basically, don't be marshall. You get blamed for everything.

On the other side of the coin, the King pays you off with a decent sum of Denars if you're a marshall for a decent amount of time.

[Morkonan]

Being a Marshall is a thankless job... Luckily, the "Controversy" will reduce over time and regular play, IIRC.

It's always a good idea to get married before you're a Marshall or only accept becoming a Marshall if you don't plan to marry for quite awhile. IIRC, your controversy level can keep you from courting certain brides. But, IIRC, if you've already received permission, you should be fine. Not sure, there.

[fishhooks]

Cool...thanks for the great info. All my questions are now anwered.

I like being Marshal because I can control my faction's campaign advances. After taking the Nords to around 55 fiefs, I stopped attacking and basically let other factions "catch up", since I didn't want the Nords to end up being too powerful (since I plan on being at war with them at some point). So I have let other factions do what they will with the Nord holdings, and THAT is what must account for the continuous increase...probably should have been able to figure that out on my own...lol.

After making a hard save, I experimented a little...found that

1) Ragnar eventually relieves me of my duties, but DOES pay me $2900 for my troubles.

2) I'm betrothed, and been waiting forever for the final feast to be held. Maybe that's why it hasn't yet. In one experimental run, I defected from the Nords, forming my own kingdom, and was notified almost immediately that the feast was ready, so I went to daddy-in-laws castle and got married from the castle walls (since I couldn't go into the castle w/o laying siege)...lol.
NOTE...Ragnar immediately sued for peace, even tho I was at -7 with him...I guess 'cuz he was already in a war with two other factions and didn't want me harrassing him from the north.

Interesting stuff...now I just gotta figure out what I want to do for reals. Maybe defecting now is the best option, even tho it's a little sooner than I wanted. At least I won't have to worry about Ragnar for a little while, and with 87 RtR, I should be able to gain recognition from some other factions.

Anyway, thanks...and Happy Holidays to everyone!