FAQ Thread

NESing may seem intimidating, with lots of rules and established traditions, but once you get started, it's as easy as a game of...oh, I don't know, Civilization? This thread is here to help introduce NESing to all newcomers, because we're pretty convinced that it's the best game out there.

Over time, I'll categorize good questions, and link the answers on the front page. If you think you have a question that the NESing Guide doesn't answer, come here and we'll do the best we can to help. (This thread is JUST for questions, and is geared towards new players. Please take all other discussions, suggestions, and death threats elsewhere.)

No question is too easy, so ask away!

Current Moderators: Thlayli and Israelite9191

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Helpful Threads

NESing Guide - This is your basic introduction to NESing. Most of your general questions can be answered here.

The Notice Board - This is a useful index of important threads in the forum, and a big timesaver. (It sometimes gets out of date, but we keep it updated fairly often.) It's a Helpful Thread of Helpful Threads, basically.

The Alternate History Thread - What if Alexander the Great had never lived? What if Louis XV had never made that fatal crossdressing decision? Many NESes are based upon alternate histories, making changes from Our Timeline, or OTL, and some players create timelines that later grow into full fledged NESes. It's usually a good idea to do some research before jumping in, but historical "what if" questions are always welcome.

While We Wait: The Next Generation - The newly revised forum for off-topic and out of character NES-related discussion. Forum rules still apply, and spam will not be tolerated by the moderators.

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Other Resources

The NES Wiki - Yes, we have our very own Wiki, created thanks to the initiative of Symphony D. There's also a development thread, here.

Wikipedia - Need to learn about 13th century Anatolia in less than 5 minutes? This is your handy information source for almost anything.

I have been wondering, is NESing sort of like Role Playing? I've done role plays on other forums on other sites before. If this is similar, then I have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing. Otherwise, I'm out of it.

You probably could say that it's a form of role playing, though usually somewhat different from the more character-oriented RP. Then again, there are some NESes that are closer to the usual RP formula; I would recommend FusNES01 and Sekai (Fantasy NES), but anyway, you should probably just take a look around for yourself.

It's roleplaying a nation as opposed to roleplaying an individual.

If you want to roleplay a character, head over to forum games.

You can click on links in my sig if you can't find us.

Play Sekai. You can play as one of the following: kingdom, city-state, guild, group of characters, or a single character.

You can choose your race out of several fantasy races listed, and you can make up a background and history for whatever you choose to play as. You have a lot of freedom in coming up with a mentality and personality for what you play as.

One quick question:

Are there any other NES-forums or sites to enjoy the great experience of Nessing?

Several, but non with the carrying capacity this place has.. 'Poly had some NESing.. and there are others...

Lord Aiken said:

Several, but non with the carrying capacity this place has.. 'Poly had some NESing.. and there are others...

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Seven posts eh? A little lower than your usual rate.

Yeah, Apolyton has some NESing, or had (don't know if it still exists anymore), Strategic Command Center had/had something similar, and apparently the Frontier has stuff going on as well, though Shadowbound or Fulton would be better to talk about that.

There are many sites out there, but we don't call them NESes. Dachspmg already mentioned Apolyton and the Frontier. Alturas also has some, and there are even joint games including Alturas and Frontier (grenzlander) players. Aside from that, there is a good deal of one-off forums built to support a single game out there if you know how to look.

Each has a different type of community and level of support. The frontier, for example, has fewer games, but each game gets a forum of it's own. Anyone interested in more information PM me.

Actually, it might not be a bad idea to create a site or page that lists these sorts of games so players from different communities and share ideas and attract players.

Fulton said:

Actually, it might not be a bad idea to create a site or page that lists these sorts of games so players from different communities and share ideas and attract players.

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Sounds like a job for the NES Wiki!

Fulton said:

Actually, it might not be a bad idea to create a site or page that lists these sorts of games so players from different communities and share ideas and attract players.

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That is a good idea! Would be helpfull and fun to search for new stuff.

Is this a MUD?

No, it's a play-by-post roleplaying game where we roleplay things from leaders to the guiding hand of Fate behind states.

flyingchicken said:

No, it's a play-by-post roleplaying game where we roleplay things from leaders to the guiding hand of Fate behind states.

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That doesn't really help but thanks anyway I read the guide and I sort of get it. It's basically a Civilization game only done with text and maps right?

Basically (though some NESes aren't "traditional" NESes in that the players play single characters), but don't generalize all NESes!

Some moderators (or game-masters) do it wacky-like with things like bear cavalry and turtle-men, some (at least those with good grasps of history) do it hyper realistically, some do it with lots of stats and mechanical work, while others still do it with no stats and mechanical work at all.

Basically a NES is a game in which Players take over people in the game which is a universe supported by the mod with decisions by the Players.

A Nations Nes, such as the wide spread "Fresh Start" is when Players take controll of new nations. The Mod decides what their policies do and the out come of war and such. There are many more kind. But remember! STORY is an important part: have fun!

Abaddon said:

Several, but non with the carrying capacity this place has.. 'Poly had some NESing.. and there are others...

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Yes, I believe Apolyton also has a section.

I would also say an important part is speech and spelling. Never forget that, Charles.

On a different note, flying chicken, I don't think it's possible for a successful NES to exist without stats and/or mechanical work.

sp1023: The original NESes had no stats whatsoever. It was simply writing stories.

Here's the very first, an example of what NESes were like.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=20312

sp1023 said:

On a different note, flying chicken, I don't think it's possible for a successful NES to exist without stats and/or mechanical work.

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On the contrary, look at the early history of NESing.