In other words, if you are keen for your nation to continue to be Culturally Protected and you have not yet gotten your affirmation in, now is the time to start seriously thinking about doing so!
Consult the Cultural Protocols Index for information on the cultural status of each nation and a record of which Cultural Protocols have so far been affirmed (the ones with the nation names in red).
Affirmation is carried out through the passing of a Cultural Protocols update, under the terms of sections 15 and 16 of the Game Rules:
15. Cultural Eras and affirming Cultural Protocols
Moderation will set "Cultural Eras" which expire after a determined period of time. The date for the expiration of the current Cultural Era will be listed in the Cultural Protocols Index, which will also include a record of which Cultural Protocols have so far been "affirmed".
15.1 Within a Cultural Era, the Cultural Protocols of a nation must be affirmed by the players of that nation in order to guarantee those Cultural Protocols carry over into the next Cultural Era. Otherwise, the nation will become a candidate for Culturally Open status.
15.1.1 A nation's Cultural Protocols can be affirmed by the passing of a Cultural Protocol update (see section 16). The update need not make significant changes; it would be enough to change one of the categories by a fraction of a percentage point. Nor is it necessary for it to be accepted by Moderation in order for it to count as an affirmation. However, to count as an affirmation it must meet these conditions:
- It should be supported by a 2/3rds majority of all players with seats (not just those with seats who vote) and over 50% of the seats in the legislature.
- At least one of the players sponsoring the update must have been currently continuously active in the nation (ie. no inactivations) for at least 1 month.
- There should be a time gap of at least 1 month from the previous affirmation.
- It should be formally submitted to Moderation for approval on the Cultural Protocol Approvals thread.
15.2 At the close of each Cultural Era, Moderation will review the Cultural Protocols which were not affirmed and decide whether it would be in the broader interests of the game to allow them to continue into the next Cultural Era, or whether the nation should be declared Culturally Open.
16. Updating existing Cultural Protocols
16.1 In order to become official, Cultural Protocol updates must first be passed in a bill supported by a 2/3rds majority of all players with seats (not just those with seats who vote) and over 50% of the seats in the legislature. Also, at least one of the players sponsoring the update must have been currently continuously active in the nation (ie. no inactivations) for at least 1 month.
16.2 A request for approval of the update should then be posted on the Cultural Protocol Approvals thread. In order to become official, they must then be approved by Moderation, which will approve them if the changes are judged to be realistic. Where the changes are significant, adequate role-play justification must be be provided.
16.2.1 Moderation will not approve a Cultural Protocol request within the first 48 hours of it being requested. This is in order to give other players a chance to query the proposed changes, if they wish to do so. Moderation may be approached for advice on a proposed change, but any advice proffered should always be understood under the provisio that no final decision will be made until at least 48 hours after the request has been formally submitted for approval.
16.3 Whilst Cultural Protocols bills may contain information about a nation and suggestions about how to play in it, the parts of the Cultural Protocols which are officially binding are specifically:
- cultural demographics (eg. Luthori/English)
- linguistic demographics (eg. Luthori-speaking/English-speaking)
- religious demographics (e.g. Hosian/Christian)
16.4 Cultural Protocol updates must contain a percentage breakdown of the cultural and religious demographics. These percentage breakdowns must add up to exactly 100, meaning that no overlaps are allowed. A maximum of 5 percentage points may be allocated to an unspecified "Other" category. The linguistic demographics, if not directly provided, will be assumed to be based on a reasonable interpretation of the cultural demographics.
16.5 As a general convention, players should be able to provide good reasons if they want to significantly change Cultural Protocols which are less than 30 in-game years old. Where the Cultural Protocols are more than 30 in-game years old, then a change to any of the categories by 5% or less will generally be accepted without question. If the changes proposed are between 5 and 10%, then players should be prepared for the possibility of having the changes queried. If the changes proposed are 10% or more, then players should always expect to need to provide strong role-play justification for the changes.
16.5.1 Whilst significant changes should always be justified by role-play, where certain factors are present, Moderation reserves the discretion to adopt a more restrictive or a more relaxed approach to proposed changes. These factors include:
- Where it is deemed to be desirable to protect or promote cultures regarded as under-represented in the game world.
- Where it is deemed to be desirable to limit or reduce cultures regarded as over-represented in the game world.
- Where there are issues involved with a culture not being sufficiently accessible to players.
- Where players not present in the nation but with a strong connection to it are deemed to have presented a strong case. In particular, the nation's recent players, as well as players in the surrounding nations, may be deemed to have a legitimate interest.
16.6 Cultural Protocols bills must provide descriptions of the cultures, languages and religions which would be easy for an unfamiliar player to understand (eg. "Dundorfian = German"). Where appropriate, they should also provide guidance to players on where to find help with translations and character names. This might include, for example, links to Google Translate, Behind the Name's Random Name Generator and Fantasy Name Generators.
16.7 Moderation will not accept Cultural Protocol updates which introduce, on a significant scale, cultures which are likely to be insufficiently accessible to players. In particular, for all significant cultures in Particracy, it should be easy for players to access and use online resources to assist with language translation and the generation of character names. Moderation reserves the right to amend Cultural Protocols which are deemed to have introduced significant cultures that are not sufficiently accessible and which are not being actively role-played with.
16.8 Once approved, players should copy the Cultural Protocols into a bill in the debate section of their nation page, under the title of "OOC: Cultural Protocols". This bill should include links to the actual Cultural Protocols bill which was approved by Moderation, the Game Rules and the Cultural Protocols Index.
16.9 The players in a nation have a collective responsibility to prevent confusion by ensuring unofficial or outdated bills labelled as "Cultural Protocols" are removed from their nation page.
I have just finished sending out messages to nations with unaffirmed Cultural Protocols, reminding them of the process. As many of you will know, messages were also sent out to nation message-boards in early January when the new rules came into place, and the "Random Facts" at the bottom of the game page regularly remind everybody about the need to affirm Cultural Protocols in order to guarantee their continuation after May 1st.
Everybody who wants to guarantee the preservation of their nation's Cultural Protocols is being given a reasonable chance to do just that, but I will remind you all again: if you do not want your nation to become a candidate for Culturally Open status, then you need to get your affirmation in by May 1st.
