Previous version of the Game Rules

[jamescfm]

Below is a previous version of the Game Rules that does not appear to be available on the forum any longer. I am posting these for reference purposes.

Game Rules

The Game Rules are a guide for players and Moderators to follow. Moderation reserves the discretion to make exceptions in special circumstances, and also to make amendments to the rules as deemed appropriate.

1. Respect
2. Multi-accounting
3. Language
4. Spamming
5. Real-life variables
6. Culture
7. Other inappropriate variables
8. Inactivation
9. Reactivation
10. Early elections
11. Renamings
12. Party Organisations
13. Bills
14. Treaties
15. Cultural Eras and affirming Cultural Protocols
16. Updating existing Cultural Protocols
17. Creating new Cultural Protocols in Culturally Open nations
18. Nationmasters
19. Global Role-Play Team
20. Voluntary Military & Economic Role-Play Guide
21. Role-play principles
22. Role-play laws
23. Role-play events
24. Character control
25. Nation raiding
26. Former colonial territories

Player Conduct

1. Respect.

All players and Moderators must be treated with respect and courtesy at all times.

1.1 Players have a responsibility to differentiate between OOC (out-of-character) and IC (in-character) behaviour, and to make clear when they are communicating in OOC or IC terms. Since Particracy is a role-playing game, IC excesses are generally fine, but OOC attacks are not. However, players must not presume this convention permits them to harass a player with IC remarks that have a clear OOC context.

1.2 Serious incidents of misconduct should be reported to Moderation immediately.

1.3 Players are generally welcome to disagree with a Moderation decision and express their reasons for that disagreement. However, they must be cautious when it comes to accusing another player of acting illegally in a situation where Moderation has already ruled no illegal activity took place. For example, stating "I believe this action was against the rules because..." or "I believe the rules should be different because..." is probably acceptable. But asserting the player is cheating is not and may be interpreted as a personal attack.

1.4 Free and vigorous discussion has always been a part of the Particracy community and we welcome it. However, Moderation reserves the right to move against statements deemed inappropriate that call for or explicitly endorse extreme activities that are hateful, violent or illegal. Players are required to comply with Moderation requests in this regard.

1.5 The privacy of our players must be respected.

1.5.1 "Doxxing", or the publishing of personally identifiable information about another player without permission, is forbidden.

1.5.2. Private messages may not be shared publicly unless permission was given by the sender, although where appropriate players may privately approach a Moderator to bring the contents of a private message to our attention.

1.6 Players have a responsibility to make a reasonable effort to be accurate when communicating the rules to other players. Any player who manipulatively misleads another player about the rules will be subject to sanction.

1.7 It is forbidden to impersonate a player or Moderator.

2. Multi-accounting.

Multi-accounting, also known as "multiing", involves players running more than one active account in the game at the same time. It is forbidden.

2.1 Moderation has a responsibility to prevent multiing, which means:

2.1.1 Players who log in to an active account with the same IP address as that used to access another active account are liable to have their accounts inactivated on suspicion of multiing.

2.1.1.1 Misunderstandings occur when players use the same device or network to access Particracy. If you cannot avoid the possibility you will log in from the same IP address as another player then it is your responsibility to inform Moderation of this.

2.1.1.2 Similarly, misunderstandings occur as result of players logging in with devices which share IP addresses amongst users. These devices have been known to include Android, Kindle and Kindle Fire. Players are requested to try to avoid or least limit their use of devices which do this when playing Particracy.

2.1.2 The use of proxy servers makes it impossible to detect multiing and is therefore forbidden. Players who access Particracy through a proxy will have their accounts inactivated. The use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) is discouraged for the same reason, and players who access Particracy through them may also find their accounts inactivated.

2.1.3 Players are expected to play the game independently and should not share their passwords or allow others to access their accounts.

2.1.3.1 Never use the same password as a friend. If two or more active accounts use the same password, they will be inactivated.

2.1.3.2 Players must never be asked for their Particracy password. This includes Moderation; a genuine Moderator will never ask for your password.

2.1.3.3 Each user account may only be used by the player who set it up. Handing over an account to another player is not allowed.

2.1.4 Players must ensure their user account is registered with a legitimate, independent email address which they check reasonably regularly. Particracy will not share this email address, but messages might be sent there in some cases.

3. Language.

Appropriate English should be used for communication in the game.

3.1 Whilst the use of non-English languages can be appropriate for nation names, party names, constitutional titles and other variables, English is the official language of communication in the game. All descriptive texts and public communications should be in English or at least appear alongside a full English translation.

3.2 Playing Particracy generally requires players to be able to communicate in English to a reasonable standard of ability. Players must never be abused for having poor English, but Moderation should be alerted when a communication issue has become disruptive to the playing of the game.

3.3 Swearing and bad language is permissible in either an IC (in-character) or OOC (out-of-character) context, so long as another player is not being insulted and it is not excessively extreme. Players should be cautious about swearing directly at each other, as this may be interpreted as a personal attack.

4. Spamming.

"Spamming", or the indiscriminate posting of unsolicited messages, is not allowed.

4.1 Within the game, players should be careful about sending the same or similar message to numerous players and/or nation message-boards. Targeting specific parties and nations for a specific and plausible in-game purpose is acceptable. For example, there is no problem with inviting socialist parties to join a socialist Party Organisation, or inviting nations in a particular region to ratify a treaty which is relevant to that particular region. However, if there is no reasonable rationale behind any mass messaging then it will be interpreted as spamming and treated as a rule violation.

4.2 It will be considered spamming if a player creates bills or messages which duplicate each other or are irrelevant.

4.3 Spamming is not acceptable on the forum either.


Variables

5. Real-life variables.

Particracy is set in the fictional world of Terra, which mirrors the real world of today and yet is not quite like it. Role-play must reflect this, and as examples, the names of the following should not be used:

5.1 Prominent real-life persons. This includes references to philosophies featuring the name of a real-life person (eg. "Marxism", "Thatcherism", "Keynesianism").

5.1.1 Real-life quotations may be used, but the real-life speaker or author should always be referenced in an OOC (out-of-character) note alongside the quotation.

5.2 Real-life organisations, unless they are simple and generic (eg. "National Organisation for Women" is allowed).

5.3 Real life-life nationalities, cultures or ethnicities (eg. "German").

5.4 Real-life religious references. Terra has its own religions, many of which mirror real-life ones. For more information, see here.

5.5 Real-life places.

5.6 Official national flags of real-life nations or flags which are very prominent and recognisable (eg. the flags of the European Union, the United Nations, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union or the Confederate States of America).

5.7 Real-life brand names (eg. Coca Cola, McDonalds, Microsoft).

5.7.1 In the case of military equipment brand names it is permitted to use simple number-letter combinations (eg. T-90 and F-22) borrowed from real life, and also simple generic names, like those of animals (eg. Leopard and Jaguar).

5.8 Real-life fictional references (eg. Gandalf, Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker).

5.9 References that seem to belong to the world of fantasy, science fiction and futuristic speculation.

6. Culture.

Some nations in Particracy have Cultural Protocols, meaning they are "Culturally Protected" and bound by this section of the rules, whilst others are "Culturally Open" and are not. The Cultural Protocols Index should be consulted for more information about the cultural situation of each nation.

6.1 All role-play must respect the established cultural background in Culturally Protected nations.

6.1.1 The players in a nation have an individual and collective responsibility to be mindful of the nation's cultural complexion and take it into account in their role-play decisions. For example, it would usually be unreasonable for a party to present itself primarily as the representative of a minuscule ethnic or religious minority, since realistically such a party would be unlikely to win significant electoral support. Similarly, for example, in a nation split between 2 ethnic communities and with 4 players, it would be reasonable to have 2 cross-ethnic parties and an ethnic-based party for each ethnic group, but it would usually be unreasonable for all 4 parties to be ethnic-based parties representing the same ethnic group. In cases where too many parties belong to one cultural or religious group and Moderation is brought in to arbitrate, the onus will generally be on the more recently-established party to amend its identity.

6.1.2 Special care must be taken to ensure realism is maintained when role-playing a government controlled by an ethnic and/or religious minority. If it is to be supposed that this government is supported by a majority of the population, then this should be plausibly and sufficiently role-played. The burden of proof is on the player or players role-playing such a regime to demonstrate that it is being done realistically.

6.2 The constitutional variables listed below must be in either English or a language authorised for the nation in the Nation Renaming Guide:

- Constitutional variables introduced not through the game mechanics, but through constitutional role-play laws (see section 19).

- National motto.

- Head of State title.

- Head of Government title.

- Legislative assembly title

- National sport.

- National animal.

- National anthem.

- Title of subnational entities.

Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.

When one of these constitutional variables appears in English 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. This reality must be respected by players in role-play. Similarly, when a bill proposes to translate one of these constitutional variables directly from the native language to English, the bill should be treated as an OOC matter about the aesthetic appearance of the nation page, to be determined through game mechanics.

6.3 Party names must be in either English or a language appropriate for the cultural background of the nation. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented. When an English party name appears in a non-English nation, the name should be interpreted as an English translation of the actual party name, which should be presumed to be in an appropriate language. This reality must be recognised by players in role-play.

6.4 Character names and especially Head of State, Head of Government and Cabinet minister names must be appropriate for the cultural background of the nation.

Please remember it is the responsibility of players to ensure the candidate boxes on their Party Overview screens are filled in with appropriate names. If a player is allotted seats in a Cabinet bill and has not filled in names for the relevant candidate position, then the program will automatically fill in the positions with names which might not necessarily be appropriate for the Cultural Protocol.

Whilst a few character names may be permitted to come from small cultural minorities, the broad spread of a party's character names should be plausibly realistic. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.

6.4.1 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 a party's Cabinet ministers or list of candidates. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.

6.5 As per section 11, in Culturally Protected nations, nation, region and city renaming requests which do not reflect the culture of the nation will not be implemented. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.

7. Other inappropriate variables.

7.1 Variables which are openly offensive will not be allowed.

7.2 Variables which are openly ridiculous will not be allowed.

7.2.1 Character names must appear plausible and should consist of at least a first name and a surname. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.


Procedures

8. Inactivation.

Players will be inactivated in the following circumstances:

8.1 They have not logged into their account for 4 days.

8.1.1 They have not logged into their account for at least 3 days (72 hours) and another player from the same nation has requested their early inactivation. The player requesting the inactivation should cite this rule when doing so.

8.1.2 ALL of the following apply: they have not named their party (usually meaning one separate from their username), filled in their party description, voted on any bills or logged in within the last 48 hours.

8.2 They appear to be "party sitting". Players who, over a prolonged period (usually meaning a minimum of 3 IG years/6 RL days) are just logging in but not voting on bills or contributing to debates, will be judged to be essentially not playing the game. The player requesting the inactivation should cite this rule when doing so.

8.2.1 In circumstances where a player with above-minimum Visibility levels has just reactivated but then not logged in for 48 hours, and the next election is due within the next 24 hours (6 in-game months), Moderation will inactivate the player's account if this is requested by another player in the nation. The player requesting the inactivation should cite this rule when doing so.

8.3 They are in breach of the rules but have not made the necessary corrections within 4 day of being requested to do so by Moderation.

8.4 They have fallen foul of the procedures against multi-accounting, as described in section 2.

8.5 They have committed an offence against the rules serious enough to warrant the inactivation of their party.

8.6 After judging it to be in the best interests of gameplay, the Nationmaster has requested the inactivation of a party after a minimum of 2 days (48 hours) of inactivity. When making the communication, the Nationmaster should make clear they are making a Nationmaster request. Moderation reserves the discretion to query or decline the request if there appears to be a strong reason for doing so.

8.6.1 After judging it to be in the best interests of gameplay, the Nationmaster has requested the inactivation of a party, as a matter of last resort, when the player has not been contributing to the role-play of the nation to the extent that is expected by the majority of players in the nation. Respectful dialogue should always be attempted before this point is reached, and Moderation should be consulted during this process.

These situations should be dealt with discreetly and sensitively. For example, there should never be an open vote over whether a player should be asked to leave.

9. Reactivation.

The reactivation of an inactive party may be requested by posting a link to the party's page on the Reactivation Requests thread. It is necessary for parties to be in full compliance with the rules as a condition for being reactivated. Players should also log in with the account just prior to requesting reactivation, or else there is a risk the account will be inactivated soon after reactivation for having not been logged into for 4 days/96 hours.

9.1 A small minority of accounts experience the "log-in bug", which means their last date of activity is not recorded. Regrettably, these accounts will not be reactivated, since they are problematic in terms of the administering of the game.

10. Early elections.

10.1 It is not allowed to call more than 5 elections in 5 game years in a nation. The default sanction for a player persisting in the early election tactic will be a seat reset.

10.2 In nations where no parties have seats, a player in the nation may request an early election on the Early Election Requests thread.

10.2.1 Requests for early elections will be denied if granting them would be likely to give advantage to a player in breach of the rules.

10.2.2 After judging it to be in the best interests of gameplay, the Nationmaster may request an early election in a nation where there is at least one party with seats. When making the communication, the Nationmaster should make clear they are making a Nationmaster request. Moderation reserves the discretion to query or decline the request if there appears to be a strong reason for doing so.

11. Renamings.

In order to rename a nation, region, city or national newspaper thread it is necessary to pass a name changing bill clearly describing the change to be made. This bill needs to be passed by a 2/3rds majority vote of the legislature. Once it has passed, a request should then be posted on the Nation/Region/City/Newspaper Renaming Requests thread.

11.1 Moderation will not implement nation renaming requests where the proposed name does not comply with the requirements set out in the Nation Renaming Guide.

11.2 As per section 6.5, In Culturally Protected nations, region and city renaming requests which do not reflect the culture of the nation will not be implemented. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.

11.3 National newspaper thread titles should be in either English or a language designated for the nation in the Nation Renaming Guide. Exceptions to this will only be granted at Moderation's discretion and where a very strong case has been presented.

12. Party Organisations.

12.1 A Party Organisation will be eligible for deletion if it is more than 30 IG (in-game) years old and does not have a minimum of 1 active member ("active member" meaning an active member who has leadership or full member status) who is listed with no more than 20 organisations.

Organisations may be reported for deletion on the Organisations for deletion thread.

12.2 A leaderless organisation is an organisation with no active leaders. When an organisation is leaderless, a party with full member status may receive leadership status by posting a link to both their party and the organisation on the Organisation leadership requests thread. In exceptional circumstances, Moderation reserves the discretion to deny leadership requests.

12.3 If a player uses an inactive account within an organisation to raise or demote a party from leadership, then Moderation reserves the discretion to reverse the changes if this action is challenged by another player.

13. Bills.

13.1 Players using inactive accounts and/or accounts from outside nations may only propose bills and/or contribute to discussions, whether IC (in-character) or OOC (out-of-character) with the general consent of the players in the nation.

13.2 In line with section 3, bill descriptions must be in English, or at least include a full English translation. Bill titles may appear in a language that is appropriate to the nation and are not required to be translated into English.

13.3 As stated in 4.2, "It will be considered spamming if a player creates bills or messages which duplicate each other or are irrelevant". This practice is not allowed.

13.4 Once a law changing a national flag has been passed, it is forbidden to attempt to cheat the system by changing the image stored at the linked url address.

13.5 The term "Protocols" must not be used to describe any OOC (out-of-character) bill other than the Cultural Protocols.

13.6 The players in a nation have a collective responsibility to ensure their "Bills under debate" section is kept in good order. Bills which are irrelevant or have become irrelevant should be cleared out ("cleared out" meaning put to the vote or deleted). Clearouts can be requested for bills proposed by inactive parties on the Bill Clearout Requests thread.

13.6 The players in a nation have a collective responsibility to ensure their "Bills under debate" section is kept in good order. Bills which are irrelevant or have become irrelevant should be cleared out ("cleared out" meaning put to the vote or deleted).

13.6.1 Clearouts can be requested for bills proposed by inactive parties on the Bill Clearout Requests thread.

13.6.1.1 Bills proposed by active parties are similarly eligible for clearout if they are 10 or more game years old. Players should cite this rule when making the request.

13.6.2 After judging it to be in the best interests of gameplay, a Nationmaster may request clearouts for bills which are more than 5 game years old, regardless of whether the party which created them is still active. When making the communication, the Nationmaster should make clear they are making a Nationmaster request. Moderation reserves the discretion to query or decline the request if there appears to be a strong reason for doing so.

13.7 It is forbidden to impose a "Cabinet-lock" by introducing a situation where the Head of State is unelected and yet only the Head of State is permitted to propose a Cabinet. Amongst other possible sanctions, Moderation reserves the discretion to subject parties to a seat reset if this is necessary to reverse a Cabinet-lock situation.

14. Treaties.

14.1 Treaties which have become inactive, meaning they are over 50 IG (in-game) years old and have no ratifications or are over 200 IG years old and have fewer than 2 ratifications, will be deleted. Treaties identified as inactive may be reported for deletion on the Dead Treaties thread.

14.2 "Treaty-locking", or ratifiying treaties that completely or nearly completely forbid any proposals to change laws, is not allowed. Amongst other possible sanctions, Moderation reserves the discretion to delete treaties and/or subject parties to a seat reset if this is necessary in order to reverse a treaty-lock situation.
Aquinas

Posts: 8280
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 1:28 am
Location: UK
Top
Re: Game Rules
Postby Aquinas » Fri Jan 06, 2017 4:12 pm

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 Protocol of a nation must be affirmed by the players of that nation in order to guarantee it carries over into the next Cultural Era. Otherwise, the nation will become a candidate for Culturally Open status. It is not possible for an affirmation to be made within 1 month of the nation's previous affirmation.

15.1.1 The simplest way to affirm a Cultural Protocol is to pass an OOC (out-of-character) "Motion of Cultural Protocol Affirmation" bill. To qualify as an affirmation, the bill must 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. 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. A link to the bill should then be posted on the Cultural Protocol Approvals thread.

15.1.2 Alternatively, a nation's Cultural Protocol can be affirmed by the passing of a Cultural Protocol update (see section 16). The update need not make significant changes. 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 bear a recognisable resemblance to the existing Cultural Protocol. For example, it would not count as an affirmation if, in a Pakistani-themed nation, players passed a Cultural Protocols update proposing to completely replace the Pakistani theme with an Australian one.

- 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.

- 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 Protocol bills may contain information about a nation and suggestions about how to play in it, the parts of the Cultural Protocol which are officially binding are specifically:

- cultural demographics (eg. Luthori/English)

- linguistic demographics (eg. Luthori-speaking/English-speaking)

- religious demographics (e.g. Hosian/Christian)

16.3.1 The Cultural Protocol bill should be presented in such a way that a new player could glance at it and very quickly be able to identify the key demographic data. Cultural Protocol bills should be short and simple. They should not include an excessive amount of text and extraneous information.

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 over 10%, then players should always expect to need to provide strong role-play justification for the changes. Changes of over 15% will never be accepted unless the grounds for justification are exceptional.

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 Protocol 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.

17. Creating new Cultural Protocols in Culturally Open nations

It is possible for players in a Culturally Open nation to establish a Cultural Protocol if doing so would not reduce the overall number of Culturally Open nations below 10.

17.1 In order to do this, they must meet the same conditions as for updating a Cultural Protocol, as described in section 16, but with the following additional qualifications:

17.1.1 At least 2 players with seats must support the bill, both of whom must have been currently continuously active in the nation (ie. no inactivations) for at least 1 month.

17.1.2 Players are not necessarily required to provide a plausible backstory for how the nation's cultural background developed. However, the provision of a plausible backstory may be a factor in whether Moderation approves the Cultural Protocol if players in surrounding nations question its appropriateness for their region of the game map.

17.1.3 The Cultural Protocol will not be accepted by Moderation within the first 4 days (96 hours) of it being posted on the forum.

17.2 Newly-founded Cultural Protocols cannot be affirmed during the Cultural Era in which they were founded. At the close of that Cultural Era, they will automatically be candidates for Culturally Open status.

18. Nationmasters.

Nationmasters have a special role in consulting with and helping players in the nations they serve.

18.1 Their roles within the nation(s) they are attached to are:

- to be an active presence in the nation.

- to promote awareness of and adherence to the Game Rules.

- to help to resolve player disputes within the nation, liaising with Moderation where appropriate.

- where appropriate, to liaise with the Global Role-Play Team on role-play issues. Team members should generally defer to Nationmasters on issues directly affecting a nation the Nationmaster is attached to.

- where they judge it to be appropriate, to assist in the initiation, development and co-ordination of role-play.

- where they judge it to be appropriate, to role-play the Speaker or chairperson in legislature debates. As a default position, the Nationmaster may be presumed to control the Speaker, although the legislature may vote to appoint a character controlled by another player to this position.

- where they judge it to be appropriate, to make recommendations to Moderation with regards to the nation's entry in the Nation Renaming Guide.

- where they judge it to be appropriate, to make recommendations to Moderation with regards to the nation's description in the Cultural Protocols Index.

18.2 In addition, Nationmasters have the authority to make special requests to Moderation for early inactivations, early elections and early bill clearouts. It is advised, although not required, that Nationmasters should establish an "OOC: Nationmaster guidance" bill to provide information about how, if at all, they intend to exercise these privileges.

In contentious circumstances, this may have a bearing on whether Moderation accedes to a special request. For example, if a Nationmaster requests a party's inactivation after 2 days of inactivity and it can be clearly seen the Nationmaster has stated a 2 day policy and consistently enforced one, then Moderation will probably always comply with the request. However, if it is noticed the Nationmaster has issued no policy guidance to players and is requesting early inactivations in a clearly imbalanced or self-serving way, then those requests will be denied.

Similarly, if a Nationmaster sets a policy of calling early elections if more than 20% of the legislature is empty and enforces that policy consistently, then Moderation will probably always comply with the requests. However, if it is noticed the Nationmaster is requesting early elections in a clearly imbalanced or self-serving way, then those requests will be denied.
When communicating special requests to Moderation, the Nationmaster should make clear they are making a Nationmaster request. Moderation reserves the discretion to query or decline the request if there appears to be a strong reason for doing so.

The special privileges of Nationmasters are:

18.2.1 To request the inactivation of parties after a minimum of 2 days (48 hours) of inactivity when they judge this to be in the best interests of gameplay.

18.2.1.2 To request the inactivation of parties, as a matter of last resort, when they are not contributing to the role-play of the nation to the extent that is expected by the majority of players in the nation. Respectful dialogue should always be attempted before this point is reached, and Moderation should be consulted during this process.

These situations should be dealt with discreetly and sensitively. For example, there should never be an open vote over whether a player should be asked to leave.

18.2.2 To request early elections when they judge this to be in the best interests of gameplay.

18.2.3 To request the clearout of bills over 5 game years old when they judge this to be in the best interests of gameplay.

18.3 The process concerning the appointment and removal of Nationmasters is as follows:

18.3.1 There is no requirement for the nominee to be a player in the nation. The nominee may be a player in another nation. It is also possible for a Nationmaster to serve as Nationmaster in more than 1 nation. However, no nation may have more than 1 Nationmaster.

18.3.2 In order to nominate a candidate, the nominee must be nominated in a bill passed by a 2/3rds majority of all players with seats (not just those with seats who vote), and at least 4 players with seats must support the motion, at least one of whom must have been currently continuously active in the nation (ie. no inactivations) for at least 1 month. Additionally, the nominee must agree to be willing to serve as Nationmaster.

18.3.3 The nomination bill must then be presented to Moderation for approval on the Nationmasters thread. Moderation reserves the discretion to decline the nomination if the nominee is judged to be unsuitable. However, if the nomination is accepted, then the nominee's details will be added to the Register of Global Role-Players & Nationmasters.

18.3.4 Nationmasters may resign from their positions by simply informing Moderation.

18.3.5 The players in a nation may remove a Nationmaster through passing an appropriate motion with a simple majority of players with seats (ie. more players with seats vote for it than against it). Moderation should then be informed, so the records can be updated.

18.3.6 Moderation reserves the discretion to remove Nationmasters from their position if they are judged to be unsuitable or their relationship with players appears to have irretrievably broken down. Nationmasters will also be removed if it is noticed they have been absent from the nation's gameplay for more than 3 months or if 3 months have passed without the nation having a minimum of 4 parties with seats.

19. Global Role-Play Team.

Moderation may appoint a small number of Global Role-Players, who will collectively comprise the Global Role-Play Team and whose identities will be listed on the Register of Global Role-Players & Nationmasters. Global Role-Players may not generally compel players or nations to role-play, to acknowledge a role-play or to role-play in a particular way, but they do enjoy a special licence to initiate role-play across the game world. They are to put the general interests of the game first and must not pursue any narrow, personal in-game agenda.

The Team takes collective responsibility for its decisions and operates under Moderation's overview. It automatically comes to the end of its term of office at the close of each Cultural Era, when appointments and/or reappointments will be made.
Where appropriate, the Team may delegate role-play and other tasks to players outside of the Team, but it retains overall responsibility.

19.1 The objectives of the Global Role-Play Team are:

- to be an active presence in the game community.

- to promote awareness of and adherence to the Game Rules.

- to liaise with Nationmasters, who they should generally defer to on issues directly affecting a nation the Nationmaster is attached to.

- to lead the role-play of the former colonial territories.

- to initiate and encourage role-play, most especially international role-play and role-play on the forum.

- to encourage discussion on the General Discussion sub-forum about role-play.

- to reach out to players who are new to the game or who have not been extensively involved in role-play before.

- to coach players on the intricacies of the game and on how to improve their role-play.
- to advise Moderation of situations that need attention.

- to advise Moderation of how the rules are working and how they could be improved.

- to recommend new candidates for the Team.

20. Moderation may maintain a Voluntary Economic & Military Role-Play Guide, which is not compulsory but is available to assist players.


Role-play

21. Role-play principles.

Role-play is most enjoyable and successful when there is good communication and friendly relations between all players involved. The following principles should guide role-play in Particracy:

21.1 "Game mechanics comes first." For example, if a currently-enforced bill sets out one law, then a player cannot claim the government has set out a contradictory law.

21.2 In general, role-play requires the consent of all players. However, a reasonable and realistic sphere is recognised within which a player may role-play without the direct consent of other players. Within the bounds of realism and reasonability, this includes:

21.2.1 The ability to role-play events primarily affecting the player's party and characters.

21.2.2 The ability, on a modest scale, to role-play events within the nation.

21.2.3 The ability to role-play a small rebellion. This is especially so in cases where the government is role-played in a way which seems to make rebellion more plausible, such as by restricting political activity and suppressing dissent.

21.3 Players who consent to a particular role-play by acknowledging it in their own role-play cannot then disown it or withdraw their consent from it. For example, if player A role-plays the assassination of player B's character, and player B then acknowledges the assassination in a news post, but then backtracks and insists the assassination did not happen, then he will be required under the rules to accept the validity of the assassination role-play.

21.3.1 Players also consent to the reasonable and predictable consequences of the role-play they consent to. For example, players who role-play their characters as committing criminal offences should expect those characters to experience the predictable judicial consequences of that.

21.4 Players are expected to behave in a courteous, co-operative manner and make a reasonable effort to act with the consent of all players involved, even where the rules do not make consent strictly necessary. In particular, players have a responsibility to take reasonable care that other players are not misinformed either about the role-play or the Game Rules.

21.5 By default, the Head of Government is the ultimate figure of authority in the Cabinet/government. By convention, Heads of Government are expected to consult with and gain the approval of Cabinet colleagues (including those from other parties) for their actions, but they remain ultimately responsible for what the government does. Cabinet Ministers who disagree seriously enough with the Head of Government would usually be expected to resign, although of course their respective parties can manoeuvre to replace the Head of Government by proposing a new Cabinet bill or triggering an early election.

21.5.1 The Head of Government may dismiss a Cabinet Minister and replace them with a chosen temporary replacement. In practical terms it may not always be possible to arrange this through the game mechanics, but the dismissal and replacement will be recognised under the Game Rules if the player controlling the Head of Government simply puts forward a bill, announcing the change.

21.6 In cases where a party has no seat, the default presumption should be that the party is able to contribute to debates in the legislature due to one of its members winning a seat at a by-election. However, players may collectively improvise arrangements of their own to provide a satisfying explanation for how parties with no seats in the legislature can speak and vote there.

22. Role-play laws.

Laws outlined in bill descriptions but not specified in game mechanic proposals are known as "role-play laws" or "RP laws" and are recognised under the rules as binding.

22.1. Constitutional RP laws require a 2/3rds majority, just like game mechanic constitutional laws.

22.1.2 Any RP law granting extraordinary "emergency powers" or dictator-like powers to a government must be passed by at least a 2/3rds majority, but may always be overturned by a simple majority vote of the legislature.

22.2 Non-constitutional RP laws require a simple majority, just like non-constitutional game mechanic laws.

22.3 The following types of RP law are specifically disallowed and will be considered void:

22.3.1 RP laws which would not be reasonably easy for an inexperienced player to understand.

22.3.2 RP laws which contradict game mechanic laws.

22.3.3 RP laws which cannot be revoked or can only be revoked by a higher majority than was required to create the law in the first place. There must be a clear mechanism through which a RP law can be overthrown.

22.3.4 RP laws which would make current rule violations legal.

22.3.5 RP laws which, without convincing role-play justification, would ban specific parties or types of parties.

22.3.6 RP laws which are motivated primarily by antagonism towards another player.

22.3.7 RP laws which require early elections in specified circumstances. Players may negotiate voluntary conventions amongst themselves on when early elections are appropriate, but Moderation will not enforce these.

22.3.8 RP laws which require parties to vote in a particular way or to propose or not propose specific measures. However, a RP law may outline consequences for parties which try and then fail to pass a particular bill. For example, under a constitution which bans republican parties, a party might be banned if it tries and then fails to remove the monarchy in a bill vote. The party would then be expected to inactivate in order to simulate its removal from the legislature, although the player would be at liberty to role-play a rebellion led by an extra-parliamentary group.

22.3.9 RP laws which require players to act in a specific way OOC (out-of-character). For example, a RP law cannot compel a player to support a Cultural Protocol change or join the forum and post a news post at least twice a week.

22.4 The following types of RP law are specifically identified as laws which will be enforced by Moderation:

22.4.1 RP laws which, with substantial and convincing role-play justification, impose measures against specific parties or types of parties or characters and types of characters. This may include banning a party or arresting and punishing a character.

22.4.2 RP laws which ban parties but permit players to role-play as factions or caucuses instead. For example, it is permitted to introduce a one-party state system, where players role-play different factions of the party.

22.4.3 RP laws which require legislators to address the chamber in a specified way. For example, addressing contributions to "Mr. Speaker" or "Madam Speaker".

22.4.4 RP laws which establish regional parliaments by basing regional parliament results on region results for national elections and hand regional parliaments the responsibilities assigned to "local governments" in the laws of the nation.

22.4.5 RP laws which assign specific responsibilities to the Head of State, Head of Government and individual Cabinet ministers. This may include assigning responsibilities to an unelected Head of State who is role-played by a designated player.

22.5 It is the collective responsibility of the players in a nation to ensure all currently binding RP laws are clearly outlined in an OOC reference bill in the "Bills under debate" section of the nation page. Confusion should not be created by displaying only some of the current RP laws or displaying RP laws which are no longer current.

22.6 Players who disagree over issues surrounding which RP laws are current and how the RP laws are presented in the "Bills under debate" section should first try to resolve their differences amongst themselves and, if appropriate, with their Nationmaster. If that fails, Moderation should be approached for a ruling.

22.7 Players who deliberately attempt to present a misleading picture of the nation's current RP laws will be subject to sanction.

22.8 In cases where players have failed to clearly and accurately reference their nation's RP laws in the "Bills under debate" section, Moderation will rule them invalid if a challenge is made to their validity.

22.9 In cases where players introduce RP laws to a nation and then leave, Moderation reserves the discretion to declare the RP laws void if they appear to have fallen into disuse. In particular, please bear in mind that a player who is inexperienced with Particracy role-play and has joined a nation as the only party there should not generally be expected to abide by RP laws implemented by previous players who have been and left.

22.10 Moderation reserves the discretion to declare RP laws invalid if the players supporting them are doing so in an excessively confrontational way.

23. Role-play events.

The default rule is that role-play events can only be done with the consent of all of the players in the nation or nations concerned, and that if one of the players withdraws consent for the role-play, then the role-play becomes void. However, there are procedures available to overcome the risk of a role-play being brought down like this. These procedures cannot compel players to actively participate in a role-play, but they do oblige them not to stand in the way of them and to recognise their legitimacy under the rules. The procedures are:

23.1 Role-play events between nations, such as wars, will be officially recognised if before they are commenced, in all of the concerned nations a RP event bill outlining the event is approved 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. This bill must specify the necessary and possible consequences of the role-play event, as well as a clause that deals with the eventuality of one or more players becoming absent for more than a specified time, and how such an absence is to be interpreted in in-game terms.

An inactive nation, meaning a nation with no players with seats, clearly cannot give consent to role-play, which means players outside the nation should not attempt to role-play with it in in any major or controversial way.

23.1.1 Role-play events within a nation, such as a financial crash or a civil war, will be officially recognised if before they are commenced, a RP event bill outlining the event is approved 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. This bill must specify the necessary and possible consequences of the role-play event, as well as a clause that deals with the eventuality of one or more players becoming absent for more than a specified time, and how such an absence is to be understood in in-game terms.

23.2 It is permitted to use a RP event bill to institute a referendum. The RP event bill should specify:

- the result of the referendum or a full description of how the result will be determined. The bill could arrange for the result to be simulated by applying a simple formula to the outcome of an upcoming election. For example, the RP event bill might list what percentage of voters for each party will vote "Yes" and "No". Alternatively, as an example, the bill might delegate authority for determining the result to a designated player.

- the RP event bill should specify the in-game date at which the referendum will be held. For example, it might be held simultaneously with the election, or it might be held a year after the election.

- whether the bill is recommendative (ie. the legislature and/or government considers the referendum result and then takes a decison on what to do next) or enactive (ie. the referendum could potentially immediately enact a piece of legislation).

However, bear in mind that it is not possible for RP laws to over-ride game mechanic laws, so no referendum RP will be legal under the rules if it conflicts with this principle.

23.3 A RP event bill will be considered void if it contravenes the rules or would not be reasonably easy for an inexperienced player to understand.

24. Character control.

Characters are considered to be "owned" by the player who first mentioned or created them. In practice, players may share responsibility for role-playing a character, but ultimate authority rests with the owner.

24.1 Players should not role-play characters without the consent of the owner, and if they find they have role-played the character beyond what the owner intended, they should withdraw or amend the role-play appropriately.

24.2 Unless otherwise stated, monarchs and their royal houses will be presumed to be owned by the player who introduced the bill appointing them to their position.

24.3 It is possible for a player to transfer ownership of a character or a royal house to another player. This should be done in a public way, such as on the Character Transfers thread, so that if a dispute arises in the future, Moderation can be pointed towards evidence of the transfer.

25. Nation raiding.

"Nation raiding" is when two or more players enter a nation with an organised agenda to introduce change which the incumbent player(s) is strongly resistant to. To be legal under the rules, Moderation must be satisfied the nation raid has sufficient role-play justification and that on the balance of probabilities, no malicious intention towards a player or group of players is involved.

26. Former colonial territories.

The former colonial territories fall under the role-play control of the Global Role-Play Team. Other players can only interact with them in a manner that would not be considered godmodding if applied to interaction with a player-controlled nation.