Well, not that I'm anti 2k2 (far from it), but I enjoy variety every once in a while. I must admit, 2k1 has some characteristics that 2k2 does not, and vice versa. So therefore, because I have heard rumors lately that role-playing on 2k1 will be respawned, I thought I might bring this idea to your attention again (first post only)
http://forums.graal2001.com/forums/s...threadid=33755
It's a simple system to implement. You make yourself 8 or so towns that are the size of what Birdbird made, maybe make walls, place some baddies outside the walls (so you have to fight two different enemies, other city states and the baddies) and let the fun begin.
No huge ssj powerful kingdoms like Dustari, no single handed takeovers, just 8 Karakaze sized kingdoms duking it out through a combination of stragety and alliances. You can worry about things like special weapons per towns and such later on.