how much does it matter if you refuse to do certain quests?

To Hunt in the forest it's a good idea to always make the monarch or the knight etc. prepare before going. Especially during their free time. Have them practice with their sword on the mannequin until they filled that chore, it will last several hours if done before hunting and or any duel. As long as they are medium focused they will not get mauled.

To get the edicts passed you want to pass instead of everyone else's, add some benefits to the other countries so they are more likely to vote with you instead of against you. Monitor the edict before taking a vote so you can add or take away a benefit.

Let me be the last one to say you aren't playing it right. (joke). There are ways to make the questing much easier so that you can find time to do other things in the game. One is to annex the correct worlds. One gives you much more time to fill quests, others do things that can ease any needs for much longer etc. The Watcher points unlock clothes and other articles and other things. But people may not even want to unlock things anymore if they are playing the game with the installed cheats etc. that unlocks stuff. There are benefits to filling some of those things in the overall view of the Watcher. I would suggest you read Carl's Guide to The Sims Medieval to help solve some of the grinding you feel.

I didn't get the EP for this game, because I was aware of many more bugs that got added with it. So, I missed all those quests. There are maybe a handful or less of quests' bugs in the base game (if it's patched correctly) that exists they may have to be dropped but all in all, most of the quests were set up to be finished. There is much more time to do other things to the point of boring if you know how to play this game since there we can't control kids, and or they can't grow up and no one actually ever needs anything like a regular Sim would. But Carl's Guide can help you get to the point of boring if having so much time on your hands (and it is possible) with nothing to do with the Sim. Have fun! It can help you understand how to play to where you can have much more time and less grind. And or chaos on the other side of things with a stressful time to get things done. It's all up to you. ETA: Some edicts are more important like adding guards to some territories etc. so you can stop the muggings etc. But you may want to keep them.. >:) Understanding what benefits you get (in the fine print) when filling a specific quest and or watcher points and or edicts etc. can make each kingdom very, very different.

What I'm trying to saying so badly is there is lots of time in the game (if you do particular things such as adding the correct worlds etc.) and other things but with all that time and easy peasy access you may find there isn't much to do if not questing. Because these Sims are built for questing and not much else. There is little in interaction (can't control a spouse) and or careers or children and home life. But I did have a wonderful time playing this game when it was first released being a deviant player it was a lot of fun.