Introducing and Developing the Interesting Times Concept.

[das]

NES REVIEW

ITNES I - Interesting Times

Well, here it is.

DO NOT POST UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN!

Setting

This is an - as far as I know - unique experiment. Well, you probably already know what it is. Yes, its my "fresh start with a twist". But I DO have a story! Remember how a farmer in Mesopotamia always is killed in 3000 BC? Well, I think that's too minor, I mean, the chances of ONE farmer's death changing history as much as tends to happen in your average NES... well, basically, that's just ain't gonna happen. Probably. But I have a better - yet similar! - idea...

In 3000 BC, all over the world, polar bears in tiny faster-then-light helicopters hunted down a million of randomly-picked farmers. As soon as they found a farmer, they deployed a puny nuke on his back, and then, after they marked a million farmers, they all groupped in the atmosphere and pressed the Activation Button. A million farmers and lots of innocent and not-so-innocent bystanders died! And, well, I doubt something like THAT can't change history a real lot.

For your usage, each nation has a national background.

Introduction

Alright. This is a grand experiment. I already have been told that it is a great an idea, and that it will never work. We'll see.

Oh, and, READ THE RULES DAMNIT. Unlike the last time.

Civilized Zones:

At the beginning of the NES, and then at the beginning and the end of each IT, I will post a Civilized Zones map. As you could see on a CZ map, there are red zones, green zones and white "zones". Red is Primary CZ. Green is Secondary CZ. White is no CZ at all. You could start in either of the first two; in red, however, you will start out more developed and built-up and usually less threatened by barbarians... and more surrounded by NPCs. However, nations in these regions will all have to face major existing problems from the start - like corruption, overpopulation and stagnation. In green, you will be less developed, maybe even more backwards, and menaced by barbarians. HOWEVER - people in "green" countries are more ferocious, more warlike. It is easier to lead them to conquer and plunder the richer, but more stagnant, more lazy red countries then vice versa. Also, you COULD start in a white area if you could give a very good explanation as to why do you think you could do that.

Interesting Times (IT)

This is, basically, the same as what happens in most NESes. You know, the usual thing with updates, orders, etc. The main difference from your average fresh start is that turns will take more like 20-15 turns, or eventually even less. Oh, and it only goes on for a certain amount of turns - either until the loss of interest, either until the end of all major wars if the IT was on for over five turns.

Boring Times (BT)

In between of the ITs, there are the BTs. While ITs are the shorter, yet more interesting and exciting periods of history, the BTs are the (probably) longer periods of quiet growth and expansion, slow progress and (mostly) minor wars. Unlike with IT, you don't have any direct control over what happens to your country during that time. HOWEVER, a) its development will be based to some degree on what happened in the last IT and b) you could leave something of a development plan, parts of which might be followed, at least in the beginning. Oh, and some nasty things could happen to some of your countries during the BT - know that it will only happen if I think there are good reasons for it. But if after a BT you decide that you are completely disillusioned with your nation/the way it developped, you probably should try and find another nation for yourself.

So:

You should at first create a nation. To do that... no, don't fill out any templates, but simply write down a description of your nation (you know - the ruler, the government, the centralization, the capital, oh, and starting location) and its culture. And maybe some sort of a development plan for the first BT.

Expansion

*sigh* Its pretty much a given that you will try to expand your empire. Yes, you still could send your legions to conquer the nearby unclaimed lands, and, if that works, you could try to make your people go there. But you will probably have to drag them there unless they want to go there all by themselves, and for that they need to have a really good reason to do it. Military occupation does not yet mean settlement. Meanwhile, if your city is overpopulated and there is an almost-free valley just across the border which you for whichever reason didn't take it, then the settlers will go there, kill or enslave the natives, and settle there all by themselves. Mere occupation without settlement will be "outside" of your borders, but settlement will bring lands within them. Lands without your settlements... you could control them, as protectorates or as mere occupied territories, but these will be much harder to control. Ofcourse, if you don't try to control your "automatic" expansion (or, rather, don't garrison what is gained and don't make a true effort at paying attention to it), you might slowly lose control over your new territories to those settlers...

Players, stories, orders, NPCs, barbarians, updates, map, countries.

Players - 15 players maximum (I might raise this). Please only join if you trully have the time to PARTICIPATE, and that doesn't simply mean telling me to "grow economy" at every turn.

Stories - not necessary, but very encouraged. For good (and FULL-LENGTH, i.e. two-three lines will not be considered one) stories, I will give out story bonuses. I also really need your stories to form a better view of your nation's culture.

Orders - orders in a list. Please, not only stat-based and military orders - I encourage innovative solutions of various problems, like introducing special propaganda-filled education to grow both education and confidence for the price of one stat-growth. There will also be projects - the local analog of wonders, but more about that later.

NPCs - lol, considering they’re NPC, I will play them, kinda. Same as the NPCs in all other NESes of late.

Barbarians - well, this is a fresh start NES of sorts, so the barbarians will be there. Not innovatively, they will be light gray and have no stats. They will have their names written on them, unless I forget to do that. And many of them are likely to attack you and try to eat you; others only want to be left alone, and when somebody tries to change that they will... well, they'll try to eat whoever tries that too. The barbarians are NOT to be underestimated, some of them could bring out a horde of ferocious warriors five times larger then your army.

Updates - Updates come on WedNESdays, yet the orders have to be sent in for Tuesday. Where I live the deadline for orders is 0:00, GMT it should be 19:00, apparently, and I don't know nor want to know what time it should be on the western coast of North America (which is where I know for sure there are at least three NESers of note). Updates will consist of “military events”, “other events” (mostly domestic, but also foreign), “random events” (random events - people who write good stories get good random events, often related to what they’re writing about. And there is also always a “bad” random event for a random nation), “spotlight” (a more detailed description of something that happened) and “ooc” (OOC comments and death threats).

(boldened to make sure you people actually notice it this time)

Map - I will use what I call the Jason-North King-das World Map. I will put in cities (black circles), fortifications (line of black squares) and rebellion areas (dark gray area within nations). A capital is a city with white borders; a cultural center is a city with red borders (a capital cultural center will have a combination of the two).

Countries - pick a NPC, create your own (tell me where and tell me some details - ruler, brief history, culture - and I will give you the stats) or start a rebellion or demand for independence. Also, please read your nation background, and don’t act uncharacteristically. Right now, you could only create your own; you should do it within a Civilized Zone (more on that later), and you should either make it historic for the period, either make an althistoric nation, hopefully an original one; in the latter case especially, you should write down the basics of your culture and generally of what makes your people unique. Note that while there are no alliances in the beginning, some nations are much more likely to ally then the others, dependant on past history (that’s why you probably should read the nation backgrounds and the history thread if I get around to creating one (otherwise, read ye the thread... in fact, do that anyway)), culture, and the presence/absence of a common threat.

NATIONAL TEMPLATE
Nation Name
Capital:
Ruler:
Government:
Centralization:
Tech. Level:
Religion:
Army (Training):
Navy (Training):
Economy:
Infrastructure:
Education:
Patriotism:
Confidence:
Projects:
Technologies:
Nation Background:

 

[das]

Government

Government - is your form of government. Now note that I DON’T want the “Sheep2’s [insert nation ever played by Sheep2 in a non-Fresh Start NES here]” syndrome in this NES. You are free to change your government, and explain it how ever do you want, but that can piss off followers of the previous governments, and might lead to nation-wide riots. Or a civil war, depending on what mood I am in. Also, please, please, keep it historical. Um, that is, you could invent your own government, but it must make sense for YOUR nation of THAT time. You could consult me about that.

Nations with democratic forms of government (Parliamentary Monarchy, Democracy, Republic, maybe some more later) are quite unique in that the player orders are reviewed by the parliament (me) and the parliament then states its objections, if any. If there are no objections, then I don’t send any such review PM. If no changes were made to the orders after objections, they will not be carried out at all. OFCOURSE, the ruler might send the parliament’s opinion… somewhere else, and go on with the plan, but will the army follow him? And besides, such an action will probably either result in a parliament-led coup or in a civil war.

Coups

Lets face it - your actions might often be... unpopular. If you piss off your people (or just your nobles) too much, there will one day be no satisfying them... and at that point you will be couped, overthrown. I have been struggling with that problem for some time, and I decided that these coups are in... however, those overthrown will get a last-moment PM notification, already as I update. The coup is already on; they could try to make a last stand with their personal guard, to try and flee into the countryside to lie down or gather support, to commit suicide and start as a new nation, or continue playing as nation.

By default (i.e. if the PM is not replied to), the ruler will be torn into pieces by the coupers and the new government will take over.

Centralization

This is one of the most important issues of politics historically and today. A very centralized state would be harder to run, and thus more prone to corruption... but in a very decentralized state it is harder to impose one policy, how ever reasonable, on all regions, and also such states could, if not well-run, with time devaluate and decentralize automatically, to the point of breaking up. However, it is easier to damage a centralized state by a well-placed blow aimed against its capital then a decentralized state! And the compromise versions don't tend to work neither...

You COULD change your centralization "slider" once per turn, and ofcourse only move forward or backward a level. However, do know that changes are unlikely to be welcomed by those who like the way things are AND ofcourse those who want to move in the opposite direction...

League - Loose Confederation - Confederation - Loose Federation - Federation - Tight Federation - Unitary with Exceptions - Unitary - Uberunitary - More Unitary - Overcentralized

Technology Level

Will use the age system. It is the same as in other NESes of other people, ofcourse the ages are not identical. They will advance at their own pace, though nations with higher education are likelier to advance to the next age. This (probably) begins in the Early Iron Age.

Late Bronze Age: The "Golden Age" of chariots, but also the time of growth in importance of slingers, archers, spearmen and axemen. The war galleys are what every self-respecting fleet consists of, though the dhows and the biremes are also beginning to appear. This is a time of rich harvests, quiet prosperity and comparative peace, but how long will that peace last?
Early Iron Age: Despite the title, bronze weapons are still used rather often, though iron ones are also emerging. Chariots still rule the battlefield, other notable troop types are slingers, archers, spearmen and even swordsmen. War galleys, Cretan-style "long ships", and the newer biremes rule the waves. Barbarians are once more on the move throughout the world, but for the civilized nations, perhaps a much bigger threat is those amongst their own ranks who have been enabled, by iron weapons and large population, to raise great armies... armies of conquest.
Middle Iron Age: The chariots are still present, but horsemen are beginning to supplant them in several parts of the world. Swordsmen are rising in importance, but so are the spearmen, while slingers are as good as obsolete for the most part. Meanwhile, in the sea, the triremes are THE ultimate ships, and the quinqueremes are yet to appear. Barbarians are still moving, but by now they have to face powerful, rising empires, and those empires themselves too begin to fight each other and the smaller nations.
What does the future hold?

Religion

Religion matters greatly in this NES, at least in the beginning. You can declare holy wars on people of different religions. Religious minorities might assist their brethren, and often attract hostility of the majority of your people. Relations are more strained between people of different religions. Religious leaders (such as the Pope) can often be very annoying, especially if they have any real power. You CAN theoretically switch religion, but if its not the one of religious majority, well, your people won’t like it. New religions can appear from time to time, or can even be created - if they gain significant following, then its good. Different religions COULD offer different bonuses. Major religions will be listed somewhere.

Military

That will, as of now, consist of army and navy (later to be joined by air force). These will be number-based as it gives more versatility. These will be represented in hundreds and ships (divisions/battalions and task forces are too modern age, and were not too realistic to begin with due to their sizes).

What will you have in it? Anything that is allowed by your tech. level (see Technology Level)! Each “stat-growth” will increase any part of military by 5. But know that if you have too large an army, your economy will probably suffer, as will perhaps, depending on your culture's stance on war, your confidence; ofcourse, both could be restored by succesful military campaigns.

Using advanced tactics and strategy is advised. If you just order “attack enemy on the border with 10 divisions”, I will think that you order me to launch a mere charge at the enemy. That might work, but rarely. Also, pay attention to supplies and logistics; while not in the stats, you have to understand that sometimes, a smaller but well-equipped force is much more effective then a huge horde that has nothing to eat and is surrounded by barren, hostile terrain; also, that your fleets need good ports to operate at their best.

Mercenaries - if you pay an economy level, you will get 10 hundreds of well-trained fighting men. They will be separated from your own hundreds in the stats, and will leave after two turns, unless you pay them another economy level. Yes, they are expensive, but they are quite worth the price. Btw, you can also hire “mercenary” ships that can also act as privateers.

UUs - one per nation, but can be changed at any point (though the newly-“demoted” UU units will not be happy). I will keep a list of them, somewhere. Could be land, sea, or air at a later point. They will be separated from other battalions/ships in the stats. They are grown as normal units. Remember to keep them REALISTIC.

Conscripts - in the early ages, these are the feudal/town levies, raised by your feudals and/or your cities. Their amount is determined by me, and I will determine it according to a whole lot of factors. Note that these - especially the town ones - only would want to fight against immediate danger to their homes, or, at best, other parts of your nation. The feudals COULD be persuaded - but it will not be all that easy most of the time! - to participate in a campaign against other lands. Also, keeping your conscripts in action for a long time, ESPECIALLY if there is no obvious threat nearby, is NOT a good an idea. In the later ages... you'll see.

Training - it is done in levels. There are separate training stats for army, navy and fleet, and it is grown with eco. points. UU is assumed to be one level higher then the average training level for its branch, but the conscript training, before the "Age of Nationalism" equivalent with the Levy en Masse and the like, will depend on several issues, such as your decentralization level and the general amount of military action and the like (i.e. if your feudals often have to fight bandits, rebels, invaders, etc their conscript armies will probably be as well-trained, if not more, as your own). If your army grows too quickly, there will be a chance of training level lowering.

None - Rabble - Semi-Rabble - Tolerable - Normal - Good - Very Good - Professional - Elite

Economy

I think that NES2 I economic system was, in a way, much better and easier for me then the one I had in NES2 III and NES2 IV. So, I will return to it.

Unlike in the other NESes, you don’t have to pay economy levels to do anything (my reasoning is that no matter what some people say, national economy is not as unstable and absurd as to rise and drop in turns as the years go). You will have two spend points for every turn, to be spent on increasing any stat save for economy. Otherwise, you could use both spend points to grow economy.

If you want to hurry up a project by two turns, you can sacrifice an economy level, please note that you can do it only once during a project. Otherwise you can sacrifice an economy level (one per turn only, although compatible with the project being hurried up) to receive six extra spending points for a turn.

Economy can, just like any other stat, grow or decrease due to random events. However it is even more influenced by random events then other stats as this is the crucial one.

Depression-Bankrupt-Recession-Very Poor-Poor-Normal-Good Enough-Rich-Very Rich-Richest- Economic Powerhouse-Monopoly (after Monopoly, you get Monopoly+x, where x is the amount of economy levels beyond Monopoly)

Education

This is just how your people are... educated, I guess. Obvious enough. With a good education, you have better chances of receiving a “miraculous invention”. You could design better walls and siege engines, and ships for that matter, with higher education. It also affects just how advanced are your weapons, and thus the success of your army in a battlefield.

Once someone reaches Enlightenment education, he becomes much more likely to reach the next age as soon as it becomes possible at all. When he does, he loses two education levels.

None-Dumb-Illiterate-Tolerable-Literate-Educated-Well Educated-Academic-Enlightenment

Patriotism

This is how culturally strong, patriotic and unified your nation is. A nation with strong patriotism is less likely to fall into a civil war, and it’s people would resist most invaders and otherwise help their government. This also influences army morale. A nation with weak patriotism is unlikely to be as resistant to outside threats, there will often be rebellions and defections.

None-Divided-Untrusting-Average-Strongly Cultured-Patriotic-Hyperpatriotic-Jingoist-Uberpatriotic

Confidence

People can be fiercely unified and patriotic, but they will not necessarily like their ruler - in fact, a strongly cultured nation with little confidence in its leaders can, in its cultural unity, lynch the rulers and fire their remains from cannons. Into the huge pot filled with boiled sharks. Not that the rulers will care by then... You can grow confidence by economy (propaganda), but wouldn’t it be easier to write a speech or persuade the people that you are the leader they need?

Lynching-Hateful-Resentful-Barely Tolerating-Tolerating-Respecting-Admiring-Loving-Nation Personified

Projects

Local equivalent of wonders (that name is inappropriate in most NESes, as these are often modernization programs, national revival and other PROJECTS, not just huge and magnificent buildings). You tell me what it does, I tell you how long do you build it. You don’t have to mention it is being worked on every turn. You can sacrifice an econ. level once for a project to speed it up by two turns.

Nation Background

To better fit in as the ruler of your country, you will have a brief history of each country. You probably shouldn't fill it in at first.

 

[Communisto]

EDIT:Nvrmnd

 

[alex994]

hmm... about coups das, usually when you update most people are either
1. SLeeping
2. or at school

so how do u plan to solve the problem? that means every ruler in America would get overthrown

 

[Communisto]

maybe everyone should send a 'if couped' section of their orders

 

[tossi]

hmm... about coups das, usually when you update most people are either
1. SLeeping
2. or at school

so how do u plan to solve the problem? that means every ruler in America would get overthrown

Europe isn't. But I would still prefer 23 GMT, as I'm rather busy on tuesday.

I like the rules and stuff. One minor thngy :

1. For some reason I don't like the centralisation levels. But I can't think of anything better.

 

[conehead234]

Hmm coups, most people are sleeping when you update, it may be hard to get much responses if someone is couped, so alot of rulers will be torn to pieces.

 

[North King]

das, I'd suggest you give out coup warnings immediately after the order deadline. That way, you cover all timezones before the update, and also you'll already have all orders...

 

[das]

1. For some reason I don't like the centralisation levels. But I can't think of anything better.

Same here.

alot of rulers will be torn to pieces.

That quite often is the outcome in RL, now, isn't it?

das, I'd suggest you give out coup warnings immediately after the order deadline. That way, you cover all timezones before the update, and also you'll already have all orders...

That's hardly a given. I will now be able to begin working on updates much earlier, and I won't neglect that opportunity...

Maybe this - by default, though the new government does take power, the ruler "disappears". Thus, after the update, the player might either play as the new government (or switch nations, or leave the NES) in which case the ruler WAS torn to pieces but noone (apart from the ruler himself, perhaps) noticed, either play as the leader and gather followers for countercoup/civil war, in which case the leader fled in the last moment.

 

[das]

Um, I believe you could all start joining now. As in, you should begin with reservations.

 

[Azale]

I reserve the Indus Valley civilization of Mohenjo-daro (such a cool name)

 

[North King]

I reserve Kalinga on the Central Eastern Coast of India.

 

[das]

Okay, in approximately 2 hours 20 minutes I will open the thread. There are thirteen places left for players.

 

[Sheep]

I also forgot to mention that stjnes4 was a nes that made it from fresh start to modern ages. I beleive rtor2 did also, but I could be mistaken (so many re-opens).

Yes and who won stjnes4 ultimatley? And who but me and Plexus played the same nation the whole way through from start to finish?

Anyways I like the idea das and I would love to join

 

[Sheep]

I reserve Carthrage, I will do the template as as I see the thread.

 

[Sheep]

hmm... about coups das, usually when you update most people are either
1. SLeeping
2. or at school

so how do u plan to solve the problem? that means every ruler in America would get overthrown

excellent that works in my favour!!!

 

[das]

About the template - I already said that there is no need for any templates, rather, all I need is some basic info about your nation, its culture, its government, etc. After the first BT I will post the stats.

 

[Sheep]

so do we do that now or on the thread?

 

[Dachs]

I am Rome! In Italy! Usual spot! Basic Graeco-Roman culture! Starting with King Tarquinius! Mwahahahaha!

 

[Sheep]

I am Cathrage, Usual spot, spread to Sicily, huge emphasis on naval power and spreading a far flung Med trade empire. Colonies in Spain and the like.

I predict the first IT will be the Grecian Wars and the Punic Wars period or something along those lines but hey its up to das.

Btw that doesnt necessarily mean that me and Rome will go to war.