Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

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Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Aquinas » Wed Aug 26, 2015 12:04 pm

As some of you are aware, the Moderation Team is in the process of drawing up a new edition of the rules, which will be known as the 'Game Rules'. The time to release that has not yet arrived, but we are now ready to roll out a significant tranche of reforms. You will notice that the 'Rules of the Game' has been updated, and is now the Rules of the Game (interim version). Most of the changes are in section 6, which deals with culture. Some of you may have also noticed that messages have already been sent out to nations which will be especially affected by the changes taking place.

The issues in the game surrounding culture and cultural enforcement have been a bugbear in our community for a long time. It may well be that there is no perfect solution to these issues, but we want you to know we care about your concerns and are determined to tackle them as effectively and fairly as possible. We also want you to know we have carefully reviewed all of the arguments and ideas which have been put forward on the forum about the culture rules and their enforcement.

All nations to be "Culturally Protected" or "Culturally Open"

Since the Cultural Protocols system was introduced in October 2011, there have been 4 possible cultural statuses for the nations: Culturally Void, Culturally Dormant, Culturally Active and Culturally Protected. Due to the confusion and ambiguity surrounding what exactly Culturally Dormant and Culturally Active mean in terms of cultural enforcement, we have resolved to implement a simpler system, with only 2 categories.

There will continue to be Culturally Protected nations which have formal Cultural Protocols which are enforced by Moderation. There will also be Culturally Open nations which will have no culture enforced by Moderation.

It is important that at least some nations should be Culturally Open, because some players prefer the flexibility which comes from playing in a nation not bound by Cultural Protocols. We have therefore decided that Davostan, Kundrati and Lodamun are Culturally Open and will remain permanently Culturally Open. Any Cultural Protocol requests submitted for those nations will be rejected.

The remaining Culturally Active nations, namely Badara, Jakania, Kazulia and Talmoria, have until 1st October to adopt appropriate Cultural Protocols. If they do not meet that deadline, Moderation will assume responsibility for doing this.

Cultural Protocols to be clearer and more specific

The currently-enforced Cultural Protocols have been drawn up at different times and by different players over the last 4 years. Some provide percentage breakdowns for culture, religion and language, whereas others rely on general descriptions. We make no criticism of players who have introduced general descriptions instead of percentage breakdowns, but at this point in the game's history, we believe the time has come to insist all Cultural Protocols should provide percentage breakdowns for at least the cultural and religious demographics.

Therefore, Gaduridos, Kafuristan, Kalistan, Kirlawa, New Endralon/Kizenia, Sekowo and Valruzia have until 1st October to adopt Cultural Protocols which provide a percentage breakdown for cultural and religious demographics. If they do not meet that deadline, Moderation will assume responsibility for doing this.

Additionally, all future Cultural Protocols must provide descriptions of the cultures, languages and religions which would be easy for a new player to understand (eg. "Dundorfian = German"). Players also have a responsibility to ensure an "OOC: Cultural Protocols" reference bill is kept in the nation's debate section and that this includes a link to the approved Cultural Protocols bill, the Cultural Protocols Index and the Rules. There is a responsibility, too, to ensure the reference bill includes advice on character naming and translations (which might, for example, mean providing links to Google Translate and Behind the Name's Random Name Generator). Finally, to prevent confusion, players have a responsibility to ensure any unofficial or outdated Cultural Protocols bills are removed from their nation's debate section.

Nation names and the Nation Renaming Guide

For Culturally Protected nations, nation names must now conform to a language authorised for the nation in the Nation Renaming Guide. Names from outside of these languages will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented. This system is primarily designed to prevent the use of English names for non-English nations. At the time of writing, the following nations do not have a nation name that conforms with the requirements of the Nation Renaming Guide:

Aldegar
Aloria
Barmenia
Beiteynu
Darnussia
Deltaria
Endralon
Hobrazia
Ibutho
Kalopia
Kazulia
Likatonia
Pontesi
Telamon
Trigunia

These nations have until 1st October to adopt an appropriate nation names. If they do not meet that deadline, Moderation will assume responsibility for doing this.

The Nation Renaming Guide is not set in stone and is likely to evolve over time. Players are encouraged to suggest changes they feel are appropriate on the Nation Renaming Guide: feedback thread.

Naming the hard-to-name nations

Some of the nations have authorised languages which are not so easy to translate. As a special allowance, if the posting of a translation request on the Language assistance requests thread is not fulfilled after 7 days, then the names for Barmenia, Jelbania, Pontesi and Vorona/Deltaria Nova may be given in English, and the name for Cildania may be given in Hebrew.

We invite interested players to use the new Naming the hard-to-name nations thread to supply us with lists of potential nation names in Brmek (for Barmenia), Jelbic (for Jelbania), Pntek (for Pontesi), old English/Anglo-Saxon (for Vorona/ Deltaria Nova) and Phoenician (for Cildania). If the lists become extensive enough and provide options for a a wide range of political systems (eg. monarchy, theocracy, republic, socialist state...) then we will consider removing the special allowances detailed in the previous paragraph.

Constitutional variables can be in English

The other constitutional variables can be in either English or a language appropriate to the culture of the nation. These variables include:

- Constitutional variables introduced not through the game mechanics, but through constitutional role-play laws (see section 10).
- National motto.
- Head of State title.
- Head of Government title.
- Legislative assembly title
- National sport.
- National animal.
- National anthem.
- Title of subnational entities.

When an English constitutional variable appears in a non-English nation, it should be interpreted as an English translation of the actual official variable. The actual official variable should be presumed to be in the language most appropriate to the culture of the nation. Similarly, when a bill proposes to translate a constitutional variable directly from the native language to English, the bill should be treated as an OOC matter about the aesthetic appearance of the nation page.

There are two main reasons for our tolerance of English constitutional variables in non-English nations. Firstly, we recognise the reality that many players and would-be players find non-English terms discomforting, and if we are serious about maintaining and expanding Particracy's player numbers, we need to take some account of this. Secondly, it is not technically possible for Moderators to manually change these constitutional variables. We can delete the bills before they pass, but we can only do this if they are drawn to our attention in time. Usually, they will not be.

Cultural enforcement is therefore being focussed more strictly instead on nation names and character names.

We understand that some players will be disappointed that native names for constitutional variables are not going to be enforced. Our plea to players is to try to make a perceptive realignment by regarding these English titles as mere translations rather than as an obstacle to immersion in the role-play of a nation's culture.

Stricter rules on English character names

We have noted concerns that in some nations, where English is a minority, all of the Cabinet Minsters and other characters have been given English names. In order to address this and enhance role-play realism, the following is now required:

Character names and especially Head of State, Head of Government and Cabinet minister names must be appropriate for the cultural background of the nation. Whilst a small number of character names may be permitted to come from minorities, the broad spread of character names should be realistic. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.

In nations where English is present as an in-game culture, but not the majority, English character names must not be too disproportionately prevalent. For example, if 10% of the population are English, English characters should not make up half of the Cabinet or half of a party's list of candidates. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.

Firmer enforcement

We appreciate it can be frustrating for players when a player in their nation is not complying with the rules. We also recognise that when a player is not complying with the rules, this can seem to function as an advertisement for saying the rules do not need to be followed. As Moderators, we can enforce the rules, but we have to give the player concerned a reasonable opportunity to respond before we sanction them. This whole process sometimes goes on for a while, especially if the player concerned is not logging in regularly.

In order to improve the efficiency of the rules enforcement process, the following measures are being introduced:

- Reactivation requests will be denied for parties which are in breach of the rules.

- Early election requests will be denied where granting them would be likely to give advantage to a player who is in breach of the rules.

- Players in breach of the rules will be inactivated if it is noticed they have not logged in for 4 days or if they fail to respond to a Moderation message within 4 days.

Encouraging respect for in-game cultures

It is our general experience that the best way to encourage new players to follow a nation's cultural guidelines is for there to already be experienced players adhering to the culture when they arrives, being helpful in explaining the game's rules and conventions, and involving them in the game in a friendly way. In particular, it is advisable to inform new players about the character naming rules before they have the opportunity to nominate candidates for office. When all of this happens right at the beginning, players usually adapt very quickly and there is no need for the heavy hand of Moderation to become involved.

We repeat: by far the best way to ensure the successful development of a nation is for experienced players to go there, stay there and nurture it. So if there is a nation you are passionate about, go there and look after it! If there is a nation a group of you are passionate about, see if you can arrange amongst yourselves to make sure at least one of you is there at any one time. Never forget that when new players arrive, the welcome of a veteran player who really knows and loves the nation is more inspiring than a bossy Moderator wading in to lecture about the rules.

Where a player in your nation is not following the rules, your first step - if you feel confident enough about doing so - should be to communicate with the player yourself. If that does not produce the desired result, your next step should be to contact Moderation. To underline the importance we attach to cultural enforcement, we have created a new thread for precisely this purpose: the Cultural Protocol Violation Reports thread. You are all strongly encouraged to use this thread. If you would prefer to report Cultural Protocol violations to us privately, you are also very welcome to communicate with us privately either on the forum or through our in-game Moderation account.

We promise you, we will enforce the rules and foster respect for Particracy's cultures, but we need your co-operation in order to make this work. Together, we can build an even better framework for role-play realism and ensure Particracy continues to be the best political simulation game on the web.
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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Polites » Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:36 am

This is a really good improvement on the game rules and I fully support this. I am however a bit skeptical about the idea of permanently Culturally Open nations, and I would instead support those nations adopting an English-based culture, as well as a link to Anglophone nations being provided by Moderation (maybe in the Cultural Protocols Index). From my experience, players that dislike Cultural Protocols usually do so because they prefer to use English, not because they'd rather their nation had some other culture than that defined in the CP; I haven't seen many players trying to have Barmenia use Tamil, for instance, but I have seen many players wanting it to use English. From the point of view of new players or players that wish to play within a familiar context, there would ultimately be little difference between a Culturally Open nation like Lodamun and an Anglophone nation like Mordusia. From what I understand, a Culturally Open nation means that any language can be used at any time, and as much as I respect the fact that many would appreciate the flexibility this allows, such a system would ultimately throw continuity and consistency out the window. So what I am saying is that instead of allowing for eternal sandbox nations, a list of English-speaking nations should be clearly provided to all players.
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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Aquinas » Thu Aug 27, 2015 10:59 pm

I think there is a case for having at least a small number of "Culturally Open" nations, because there is a certain group of players who would find even English-based Cultural Protocols too restrictive, and their enforcement too harassing. There is a lot of flexibility in Culturally Open nations. You can do things in them that would be much more difficult to do (in terms of the rules) than in Culturally Protected nations.

Like you, I wish we had a way of easily communicating to visitors where the English-themed nations are. In an ideal world, perhaps the Creating a new user page would give descriptions of each nation as it was selected from the drop-down menu. Or failing that, it would be good if we could have a link to the Rules and the Cultural Protocols Index on the main page. Maybe with the Cultural Protocols Index link showing up on the "Creating a new user" page too. These are not things Amazeroth & I can change directly, though, and I can make absolutely no promises in terms of what will be possible or not. What I will say is that we're determined to improve the presentation of the game, and after we have sorted out the new Rules, this is the area we are going to focus most on next. Things like the FAQ, the Tutorial (linked to at the top of the game screen) and the little Random Facts (which appear at the bottom of the game screen) are things we can directly work with and change.

I like the idea of using the Cultural Protocols Index to highlight the English-speaking nations, and have implemented that.
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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Polites » Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:58 am

Aquinas wrote:I think there is a case for having at least a small number of "Culturally Open" nations, because there is a certain group of players who would find even English-based Cultural Protocols too restrictive, and their enforcement too harassing. There is a lot of flexibility in Culturally Open nations. You can do things in them that would be much more difficult to do (in terms of the rules) than in Culturally Protected nations.


I dunno, has there ever been a player to complain about the enforcement of Cultural Protocols in Rutania, Mordusia, or Hutori (which should also be added as an Anglophone nation on the Index)? The CP is supposed to prevent a nation drastically changing cultures overnight, for good reason, as that would ruin immersion and threaten the work of previous players. An English-speaking nation achieves the same goals as a Culturally Open nation, i.e. allowing English-centred players a familiar background that doesn't force them into researching alien cultures, languages, or religions.
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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Aquinas » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:26 am

Thanks for reminding me about Hutori; I've added that in.

As you say, complaints about Cultural Protocol breaches are hardly ever made about the English-speaking nations.

Polites wrote:The CP is supposed to prevent a nation drastically changing cultures overnight, for good reason, as that would ruin immersion and threaten the work of previous players.


There will always be a few players who rather like to do their own thing, even if it means turning previous role-play upside down. At least this way, they have a very small number of nations where they can do that, in the way that was done before the era of Cultural Protocols. This is only 3 nations we are talking about. The rest of Terra is going to be locked into the Cultural Protocol system, and the rules for that Cultural Protocol system are stricter overall than they were before.

Of course, if, over time, a strong consensus develops that it would be better for the Culturally Open nations to become English (or for something else to be done with them, for that matter) then we could review the whole situation. So feel free to make your case. Just bear in mind we're unlikely to change anything immediately, since we've just imposed a major change already.
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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Amazeroth » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:31 am

Polites wrote:
Aquinas wrote:I think there is a case for having at least a small number of "Culturally Open" nations, because there is a certain group of players who would find even English-based Cultural Protocols too restrictive, and their enforcement too harassing. There is a lot of flexibility in Culturally Open nations. You can do things in them that would be much more difficult to do (in terms of the rules) than in Culturally Protected nations.


I dunno, has there ever been a player to complain about the enforcement of Cultural Protocols in Rutania, Mordusia, or Hutori (which should also be added as an Anglophone nation on the Index)? The CP is supposed to prevent a nation drastically changing cultures overnight, for good reason, as that would ruin immersion and threaten the work of previous players. An English-speaking nation achieves the same goals as a Culturally Open nation, i.e. allowing English-centred players a familiar background that doesn't force them into researching alien cultures, languages, or religions.


Not about anglophone countries, but there have been players who came and changed countries to equivalent of India, Spain, Hungary, South Africa, Mexico (the first that come to my mind). Regardless if a country like that was already in existance. But I'm not debating that most of the culturally "insensitive" players just go for English.
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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Polites » Fri Aug 28, 2015 10:39 am

Aquinas wrote:Of course, if, over time, a strong consensus develops that it would be better for the Culturally Open nations to become English (or for something else to be done with them, for that matter) then we could review the whole situation. So feel free to make your case. Just bear in mind we're unlikely to change anything immediately, since we've just imposed a major change already.


Fair enough, guess we'll see how the new rules work in practice. I am not entirely sure about making Davostan Culturally Open though; I don't think IDR would be particularly happy about that.
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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Doc » Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:18 pm

The CP is supposed to prevent a nation drastically changing cultures overnight, for good reason, as that would ruin immersion and threaten the work of previous players.



As a long time Kalistan player, since IG 2593, at least (that was my first election in Kalistan)- we have NEVER RP'd any adherence to ethnicity, especially Hindustani/Indian culture.

I took a small break from Particracy over the last few months, and you can imagine my surprise when, upon returning, finding out that the Moderators had imposed a culture which is quite foreign to Kalistan's ACTUAL RP'd existence.

I would ask that Moderation reconsider this decision- I may have entirely missed the debate on the matter, but lobbying for Kalistan, the Moderators have essentially imposed an alien invasion of Kalistan which does not, in any way, reflect the history of the last 1300 IG years, with the exception, of course, of the last hundred, where all of a sudden, we have had a long dormant ethnicity which has suddenly reasserted its dominance over all aspects of national life! What the Moderators have essentially done is reset the entire game, and if this has to be the case, I would lobby for a different culture for Kalistan all together, because we have always played Kalistan as a lower than average GDP state with a penchant for exporting drugs to the world and a strongly libertarian/social democracy system for our people. So I would pick something more like Venezuela or Nicaragua for Kalistan, if I was in any way interested in conforming Kalistan's ACTUAL existence with the existence that folks outside of Kalistan thought it should have all this time, but never did.

I would invite those who made this decision for our country to talk with us about it, especially the two current players in Kalistan who have been playing in that country for more than 1000 years. Otherwise, the decision seems both entirely arbitrary and entirely alien to our existence as a country.
Primary: Institutionalist Party of Kalistan (IPoK), 5146-

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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Polites » Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:42 pm

Just to be clear, no changes in Kalistan were done by Moderation except for the enforcement of the current Cultural Protocol, which was implemented in 2012 by Pentalarc and approved by Moderation back then. The current debate in Kalistan was started before the new rules on cultural protection, but is based around the same principles, i.e. the lack of ethnic and religious percentages in Kalistan.
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Re: Explanation of the new rules (please read!)

Postby Doc » Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:57 pm

This does not reflect the reality in Kalistan. My apologies for putting it on Moderation, but even Pentalarc does/did not play in Kalistan as if any of that was a characteristic which over-rode anything we were actually doing. It has been Pentalarc's option to play with attention to naming of his operatives, and to refer to Ananti heritage, but in RP. It did not affect the things we had in our national variables, and there was no expectation that those RP elements be used (or not) by other players. That changes which were made to Kalistan have all been made in the last two months, and the RP justification for them is a stretch, at best. I assume that comes from Moderation informing players that those purely RP elements of Kalistan's CP would now be enforced on Kalistan, when in fact, we had never been required to play with them before, AND the fact that those RP elements are actually quite peculiar when Kalistan's history is viewed with a long view.

If anything, I would lobby that Kalistan be put in the group of "culturally open" countries, which conforms more to our reality in Kalistan than a strictly ethnic culturally-protected country. I don't have a problem, as a long time player, with people RPing adherence to the CP. I think my problem is with enforced adherence, when the CP is so far from how we have RPd this country for such a long time. It feels both imposed, and foreign to RP's over the last 1300 years. Even for Pentalarc's RP (I am not speaking FOR him, but ABOUT him), whose naming conventions are Central European, for example, and not Indian... If that IS his CP, he doesn't even adhere to it. His Current President is called "Roland Antonius Williams-Ananto" There is NOTHING Hindustani about that name.
Primary: Institutionalist Party of Kalistan (IPoK), 5146-

Inactive:
Socialist Party of Kalistan (SPoK), 2591-
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