| Beginner's Guide to the Game | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 8 2010, 07:41 PM (1,003 Views) | |
| Augustus | Jan 8 2010, 07:41 PM Post #1 |
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Efficient
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A Beginner's Guide to World Imperialism What follows is an introductory guide for new players or individuals thinking of joining the game. In it you will find all the basics for getting started as well as a rundown of some of the game's mechanics. Introduction World Imperialism, sometimes called World 1836, is an alternate history roleplaying game set in the Victorian age of empires. It runs from the early 19th century to the end of World War I and sees the industrialization and territorial expansion of the world's nations. Each player guides a country through contemporary politics, wars, diplomacy, and domestic development. Joining the Game If you are considering joining, you should first try to find a country that suits your interests, background, or play style, and do a little research on it. You may choose to play an entire nation or a significant individual within a nation (with the approval of the lead player). The latter includes posts such as the Minister of the Army, a famous admiral or general, and political figures like Benjamin Disraeli. It is recommended that the nation you choose be one you know a bit about historically, economically, or politically, although such knowledge is not required at the outset. It will, however, allow you to make better judgments and immerse yourself more fully in the experience. Use common sense when making your choice: If you want to avoid wars, focus on internal growth and remain isolationist, don't pick a country in the middle of Europe that has a long history of conflict. If you want to conduct international diplomacy from the start, don't pick an isolated or underdeveloped country that has contact only with its neighbors. Register at the forum using the proper name of the position or nation you want (for instance, “Spain”, "Brazil", "U.K. Foreign Minister", or "U.S. Ambassador to Japan") then post in the signup thread with your user- or nick-name, and include the details required there. Alternatively, if you want a nation that already has an account but is not currently played (see the List of Available Nations) you can simply register with your regular username and request to have the password sent to you in the sign up thread. Getting Started: Embassies Upon joining, one of the first things you should do is establish an embassy thread in your National Forum. This is basically a summary of your nation's important statistics, including its government, armed forces, history, culture, etc. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. The Order of Battle (or orbat), which lists the numbers and locations of all your land and naval forces, will probably take the longest to do, but is very important if you plan to fight many wars. Don't feel overwhelmed by the complexity of some of the experienced players' embassies - you do NOT need to specify the location or equipment of every last battalion in your army, for instance, even though some people have done this because they like detail. A good embassy takes time to develop and will grow as you learn more about your country, and you certainly don't need to have it finished before you start playing. For an example of a very basic embassy, see the Model Embassy thread. It has virtually everything a player would need to get started without being overly complex. The American, British, and Austrian embassies are excellent models for how far you can go if you want to put in a lot of effort. Managing Budgets Upon joining you will also be given a budget, which you should process once a year (about every two weeks). In this you will list various government expenditures, including any military or industrial projects you have undertaken, which will then affect your GDP growth. A budget consists of three main sections: (1) the statistics for the present year, i.e. population and GDP; (2) a list of all your income, including the tax or customs duties rate; (3) and a breakdown of your expenses by type. The 19th century was not an era of big government, so don't expect to be able to institute high tax rates unless you're at war or there are other mitigating factors. For the most part, aim for a tariff percentage around 15-25%, depending on your domestic situation. Income taxes (as a direct percentage of your GDP) can be applied in special cases but they should generally be avoided. Similarly, don’t spend lavish amounts on social welfare, infrastructure, or industrialization right off the bat - these mostly came later in the century and, in certain countries, didn't exist at all until the mid 1900s. For an example of the bare minimum needed for a budget, take a look at the Example Budget Thread. Account Profiles Your public profile is the place to tell the world about the wonders of your nation or character. You will notice that we've included several custom fields in addition to the forum defaults: Head of State, Capital, and GDP to name a few. Fill these out with the most recent data available to you and be sure to update them from time to time. They provide all your national statistics for other players at a glance. Avatars should be something representative of your role - a national flag, coat of arms, or portrait of your leader or character. For convenience, the staff have already made several custom avatars for the major nations, available here. Alternate History and Game Actions Once you have set up your embassy and budget, you can begin to get a feel for your country by taking various political or economic actions. Don’t be afraid to diverge from the historical path; we're in the business of alternate history here, and you should not feel that you must make everything happen in your nation exactly as it did historically - although you can if you prefer it that way. Whatever you do, always try to make your decisions sensible and realistic. The United States banning slavery in 1840 is something that just wouldn't happen, for a host of economic and political reasons; however, Prussia getting angry over a diplomatic incident with France and declaring an embargo is plausible, as is Russia seeking to expand its hegemony in Asia by attacking some of the kingdoms near Afghanistan. The game is meant to be a fun, open place where you can ask questions if you get stuck or need advice. If you're unsure whether a decision would be practical or realistic, feel free to start a thread in the OOC forum asking for help. We're more than happy to give advice and discuss the potential ramifications, because that's what this game is all about - exploring different possibilities. If it's something secretive that you'd rather not tell the entire game, you can always send a PM to one of the staff members, who will keep it in confidence. Battle Orders and Special Missions Eventually, you will want to fight wars or conduct special actions (perhaps espionage) against other countries. Doing this is very simple: You send a private message to one of the staff members, who will post the orders in the staff room and calculate the result of the action according to prearranged rules. They will then post the results publicly (if a battle) or send you a reply via PM detailing how the mission went and what, if any, additional effects there are. See the Example Battle Orders and Special Actions threads for further examples. Shipyards, Arms Factories, and Industry Armaments and shipyards are the only fairly complicated aspect of this game, but most of the rules are handled by the staff, not the players. This is to preserve realism while freeing you to conduct the everyday business of government policy and foreign relations. You needn't worry about these when you start playing - they only come into play if you are going to attempt a large military buildup rapidly, as a nation simply cannot build 30 large battleships in one year, especially if it has facilities to construct only three. Over nine-tenths of the game involves actions and strategy that have nothing to do with these rules, so don't let them intimidate you. Some smaller nations can probably ignore them entirely. Game Speed and Travel Time The Game Clock advances once each day, excluding Sundays. The normal speed is one game month = one real day. If this seems rather fast, consider that most of your contacts and decisions will take months to go into effect. Just sending an ambassador from France to China would normally take upwards of three months on a sailing ship, perhaps longer, so if you have to be absent for a few days, don't worry about it. There are rules governing the impact of wind on transport time for sailing ships, but these become less important as steam power replaces sail in the game, and they're really critical only for battle situations handled by the staff. We have placed them in the open so that everyone may know how they work. As with the shipyard mechanics, for normal situations you can ignore wind effects and guesstimate the travel time of sailing ocean voyages. (With one real day equaling one game month, you have plenty of leeway.) That's about all you need to know to get started. Any other minor points you can pick up from observing and interacting with different players. As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask us. Good luck! - The Staff of World Imperialism |
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8:26 AM Jul 11