Ok, so I play on a few medieval roleplay servers and I have one big recommendation. Kingdom wars may sound like an awesome idea, but it's really not. We tried it a few times on the server and it always ended up in disaster. If you want to try, that is my warning. Otherwise, good luck in starting one and have fun. Here are my tips.
1 - Have an RP Pvp system, don't use minecraft mechanics. First off, this allows for situations where you have this veteran who has been around for ages, being taken down by a new player because he wasn't paying attention. Rp pvp allows you time to react, rewards players for training to become a better (insert class here). I suggest a rolling system of sorts.
2 - Have the server based on roleplaying and not MMO games. The objective of roleplay is not to slaughter everyone in sight, but to create stories and background, depth in people's characters. This allows for quests that have an impact on the lore and background of the in-game world.
3 - Whitelist it. Trust me, it's worth it. All of the good RP servers i've played on have you write a backstory for your character, explain what Powergaming and Metagaming are, and give your background of roleplay. It really helps when trying to find people that are good at roleplaying, or ones that want to learn.
4 - Last but not least, if you're starting a roleplay server, create a website for it. It's alot easier to use then trying to feed through posts on MC Forums or PMC. Enjin is a fairly nice site to use, and most RP servers i've played on use it. It allows you to have different categories, example: Have a section for whitelists, races, noticeboard and anything else you might want.
Hope you take this into consideration,
~Captain-Shoxio~
