New: Politics UK (free, open-ended, www, human, modern, economic, rpg, abstract) From: lindahl@pbm.com (Greg Lindahl) Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 20:15:11 +0000 Name: Politics UK Costs: free URL: http://www.avidgamers.com/poluk/index.php Frequency: One a week at least, as often as possible Email: steve@fdf.dk Type: roleplaying, politics, historical, Last-Update: 2003Jan11 Keywords: free, open-ended, www, human, modern, economic, rpg, abstract Description: Welcome to Politics UK Congratulations! You have just been voted in as a MP in Westminister. The UK had one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. Since WW2, the empire has become smaller- but British influence throughout the world cannot be mistaken or misunderstood. The UK is still a superpower both culturly and military. Politics UK tries to resemble British politics as close as possible. This is very important when playing the game. The game currently has 30 odd players, most of them are quite regular. The GM and the avatars are very involved. The Labour government is currently in power but has suffered recent setbacks largely due to its Home Secretary being involved in orgainising race riots. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats form the main opposition.There are also a number of smaller parties UKIP ( extreme right wing traditionalists), Freedom Party (the more right wing of the Tories who have broken away) and The WASP ( communist anarchist in ideology). There are also regional parties such as the Sinn Feing Who Should Join Anyone who is interested in politics and more importantly in good roleplaying. How to Play Here are some examples where it is important to be realistic: Budgets are very important. An easy rule is that ANY tax increase could be unpopular and ANY spending cuts could be unpopular. Laws: Do not make stupid laws that are unpopular in the British eyes. An example could be married children at the age of 5. Your party will suffer greatly because of this. It is important that you respect each other. There are civilised ways of giving critisisism and there are polite ways of insulting! At the same time, Politics UK has made some small changes in realism in order that the game will be better and more fun for the players! There are no committees in Politics UK There are usually minority govenments Votes of no confidence are allowed (see rules) There is no house of the Lords at the moment. This role is taken by the avatars. Below is some information on politics UK and how the game works. I hope that you enjoy the game. Steve O'Keeffe, administrator New Players How do I start? A Good way to start is to look at Politics UK history book. This is a short summary of what has been happening lately. Then look quickly through the boards. There are some forums that you are not allowed to enter though. The write a message in your parties forum. Give an introduction of who you are, what spokesperson/minister you wish to be, your strong sides and whatever you think is important. It might be a good thing to read the Parties manefesto and the other links on politics Then start by supporting your party by debating!!! How can I be active Being active means being an asset to your party: look at the speech board as often as you can. Respond to the speeches. Debate the topics debate within the party on how the party can improve new laws and suggestions- have you got any? (some parties demands that new bills are to be discussed within the party) Remember to vote for new bills Can I be eliminated / Kicked out of the game? The answer is yes. If you are inactive. Players that have not logged in within 3 weeks are automatically kicked out without notice This includes if you have not logged on after two weeks after be getting the Password. If you are eliminated- you can re-apply. Politics UK has never said no to a new player. Basically, how the game works The Time Politics UK works on 1 week (real life) is 3 months The Calender One of the links is a Calender. This shows the important events in the year. Parliament Votes Every Sunday- 15 new law suggestions are put up to vote. The Player has until Friday Night (4 pm GMT) to vote. The votes are then worked out in this way. If there are 10 players that has 100 seats, and 3 votes yes and 2 votes no, while 5 does not vote - the vote will say that 60 voted yes and 40 Voted no. In other words, the 5 that did not vote will not be included- although the party will miss points on inactive voters. It should also be noted that it is the ministers responsibility to put new laws in practice. Party Congress Once in a while the Party will be allowed a party congress. This is a chance to discuss the parties manefsto- how the party is doing and a vote for the party leader. Conventions Every 2 weeks, there will be a convention. This is a topic that the avatars choose. A documentary that gives a side to this problem can be seen on the link BBC documentary. It i up to all parties to The Press Board A very important part of politics is to be seen and heard. The press board gives the MP an opportunity to give his oppinions and suggestions, while sometimes hinting that his party is the best party Westminister This is the parliament. The MP can ask questions to ministers or other parties. These questions have to be answered by the minister or if the question is to a party, a party member. The budget The budget has to be introduced once a month before the date specified in the calender. If the budget is released at a later date, then the government falls!!! The budget has to be passes with a 40% vote ( 396 MPs have to vote against the budget). If the Budget fails, it is up to the Prime minister if there will be elections- though this is adviced, as the party will most likely dive in the polls. Another thing is that the government should be carefull with the budget. The avatars calculate the tax burden (total income devided by the population), if the tax burden raises to much, it might mean strikes! As well, if the budget has many cuts- it might provoke anger! Avatars Politics UK is run by 3 avatars: The administrator: It is the administrators job to accept new players, figure the election results and the general economy statistics as well the polls. The national avatar: It is the National avatars job to figure out the National news, the national statistics (other than the general summary), and send the administrator his party poll sugestion every Thursday. The International avatar: International news, as well as defence stats, as well as sending the administrator his suggestions for the party polls. Here are some important rules concerning the avatar The avatars are neutral. We do not really care who is in government. We do judge their performance. Players are advised not to ask the avatars about polls, as this should be discussed within the parties. Avatars decisions are final! News News is released at least once a week. National news reactions and party news should be sent to the national avatar, likewise International stuff should be sent to the International avatar. So check out the game [ This is a new entry for the PBM List. You can find the list itself, and instructions for adding games or comments, at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pbm_list/ -- greg ] Up