Thanks for the thoughtful response.

Starting at lvl 16 seemed better from a commercial point of view but I could see it working for most levels except perhaps 1 to 4 but not making much money.

Yes I could attack players at my own level but I can't find any in my own kingdom and they are very hard to find when visiting other kingdoms and they are usually too afraid to fight for fear of bigger players or onslaughts.

My idea is for Jotunheim-like kingdoms so there would be a part of the kingdom where you could not shield. This would not be a competition where you draw. It would be a competition where you burn your opponent or they burn you or you avoid attacks. If there's a building at the centre, the person that holds it the longest would be the level champion. Players who come there will want to fight not just sit behind a shield forever.

Yes, you can never ensure a fair fight because any change creates new strategies.

Yes, it may be too much for the servers.