by jamescfm » Thu Jul 16, 2020 1:08 pm
Culturally open does not mean English, it means that players are not expected to follow any particular rules about character and country naming, other than those related to real-life variables. At the moment we have only six culturally open countries and among them are Endralon and Kanjor, both of which are consistently role-played as respectively Hungarian and French. Players wanting to play Solentia as an Arab country would be absolutely allowed to do so.
In terms of having plenty of English countries, we currently have Luthori, Mordusia and Rutania that are specifically "English" as well as Baltusia, Hutori, Kalistan and Likatonia that are English-speaking (based on the United States or Canada). All of these countries attract a disproportionately high number of players, with an average of 6.29 players per country right now, which is significantly higher than the overall average across the game (2.21 per country). In comparison, we have three Arab countries (Badara, Kafuristan and Solentia) that have two players between them (an average 0.67, well below the game average of 2.21).
Player numbers are not the only factor that should influence the decision but without a compelling argument in favour of keeping the cultural protocol, they do appear to suggest that making Solentia culturally open would drive player engagement.