Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: On any issue, what is the opinion of the [world/international organizations/humanity/treaties/United Nations/International Law/alliances, etc.]? What are the consequences of making/breaking deals, treaties, etc.?

A1: Nations were chosen to be available as player nations because taken together they dominate anything important. If you want to know what the opinion is on any supra-national issue then take the initiative to poll the other players. It is up to the players, not the Referee, to negotiate and enforce any deals, treaties, alliances, embargoes, etc.

Q2: I can show a personal dispute was the other player’s fault. Why am I being punished too?

A2: It is of no importance to the Referee who is the first, or the worst, problem. If a personal dispute has become serious enough that the Referee has to become involved then likely none of you deserves special consideration.

Q3: I can provide extensive evidence to show that my simple technical or legislative idea is certain to provide amazing benefits very cheaply. Why is the Referee expecting it to cost anything? Why is the Referee not letting my obviously brilliant plan work perfectly?

A3: The actions in your orders are not judged against your people standing around breathing, they are judged against what the Referee thinks any competent, loyal, and professional staff would do, ... is your idea really better than what they would do? Everything has costs, consequences, and complications, *everything*. Your idea might work as a one-off kind of action, but permanently and on a widespread basis is a different matter. Perhaps your people already are doing it this new way, but this new way also has its own challenges, costs and complications too so the net effect is about the same and we just could not be bothered to mention the difference in the descriptions.

Q4: I can cite in history or see in current, real world, news that something is happening or is planned to happen with a nation. How does this affect the game?

A4: It does not. After the game start date the real-world and the game universe are two separate timelines. An argument based on ‘they would have had this by now’ is unacceptable because in the game if someone did not order an action and allocate resources to it then it did not happen. An argument based on how things are in the current, real-world is of dubious merit for a game universe that could be many years in the future down an alternate timeline and many light years away.

Q5: There seems to be a lot of trust put into the players to do the right thing, is not it too easy to cheat in this game?

A5: The Referee has too much to do to also guard against those whose life is so lacking they need to feed their tiny ego by cheating at a game which has no winners or anything to win. Anyone found cheating will be advised to leave the game, go play the card game ‘Solitaire’ in their mother’s basement, and to cheat at it too. It would be about as meaningful and be a lot less work for everyone.

Q6: What do my diplomats and spies (read: the Referee) think another player nation is going to do?

A6: The Referee has no better idea of what is going to happen with another player nation than you do until that other player submits his orders and the orders submission deadline has passed.

Q7: What do my advisors (read: the Referee) think is the best course of action? What are my chances of success if I give a particular set of orders? What is the real procedure, not mentioned in the rules, for getting something done?

A7: It is not much of a game if the best way to play is to have the Referee play for you. There are no secret game mechanics or secret reservoirs of knowledge which would help you if only you asked. The Referee will not be tied down to a position by discussing hypothetical scenarios with you even if he did have the time. Everything that happens in this game is a consequence of what is either in the rules, in the spreadsheets, on the website, or in the forums and it is your responsibility to be familiar with all the sources of information, to figure out by yourself what are your chances, and what is the best course of action. You are your own ‘experts’.

Q8: What about low tech units types or facilities? What about new, hybrid, or fractional unit types or facilities? What is the effect on the game of a certain technology under development today?

A8: This is not a game starting from the dawn of civilization; the scope of the game is between Traveller tech level 5 -12, what happened outside that is irrelevant. New, hybrid or fractional units or facilities, e.g. paying for only ½ of a unit and expecting it to fight, or merging of two or more different units/facilities types to form a new type, will almost certainly result in extreme complications to the running of this game and hence are not allowed. The scale of this game is far bigger than the effect of almost any one technology and the setting of the 2300AD game by GDW may have laser rifles and FTL drives but has 19th century-like geopolitics and in all other respects daily life is very 1980s-like.

Q9: I find these rules and events to be ridiculous. Can I propose something different?

A9: Certainly, and we do encourage player input, but keep in mind that this is first and foremost a game, not a simulation. While realism and adherence to 2300AD canon materials are important, they are distinctly secondary goals compared to being a playable and fun game. If what you are proposing is judged to make things more complex for the players, or more laborious for the Referee, or disruptive to the rest of the game, then expect to have your idea rejected for just those reasons alone. No one that does not also provide a detailed engineering diagram of a functional Stutterwarp drive really gets to complain about how 'unrealistic' some aspect of the game is.

Q10: Why do the rules forbid any kind of large-scale obfuscation about what my nation is doing?

A10: Remember the scale of the game, no matter how hard you try to be secretive, no nation can expect to completely hide from reporters or a national intelligence agency, over a period of many years, absolutely any hint of something that affects millions of lives and the expenditure of many billions of dollars. More importantly, the Referee has far too much to do to ever monitor additional sets of ‘secretly real’ versus ‘public but fake’ versus ‘what they believe they know’ books for each nation and NPC. This is not to say that all secrets and lies are forbidden, indeed they are encouraged, but any action by a player which distorts the official, published maps, databases, and spreadsheets will not be allowed.

Q11: What is the current state of a Settlement or NPC outside of what is mentioned in the official websites e.g. Democratic? Dictatorship? Religious? Sufficient supplies for a war? What are the relations and activities between NPCs? Do Settlements within the same hex have a common border?

A11: There are no secret game mechanics or secret reservoirs of knowledge which would help you if only you asked. This is a game, not a simulation, and that means in general this game will not concern itself with minutiae like the internal affairs, relationships, and exact borders of a Settlement or NPC. If a point of information about a Settlement or NPC is not mentioned somewhere in the website then it likely does not exist, the Referee has no intention of creating it, and it has no bearing on the conduct of the game. Exceptions will occur when the Referee explicitly tells players that there is an exception.

Q12: I gave orders for an action, or made a request, or put forward an argument, but I have not heard back from the Referee. Was it successful?

A12: In an average Turn there are at least tens, usually hundreds, of individual orders, requests and arguments, per player nation. The Referee does not have the time to comment on every one of them. Subject to the arbitrary whims of the omnipotent Referee or interference from other players:

-Unless the Referee explicitly tells you there is a problem then the default assumption is that as long as an ACTION conforms to the game rules then the action will complete successfully.

-Without an explicit and direct response from the Referee, the default assumption is that your REQUEST was denied, or that your ARGUMENT was found to be unpersuasive.

Q13: What are the big differences between this game and the original 'The Game'?

A13: We are not starting from the Twilight 2000 world, this game started from Real Life 2010. Only the nations currently on the 'Cast-Player Characters' page may be taken by players. The original 'The Game' rules had a number of severe limitations and gaps, so the actual mechanics of our rules are based more on several fan-made works along with significant Traveller influences.

Q14: I found a loophole in the rules that I can exploit. Why is the Referee not letting me?

A14: This is a complex game, there is likely something somewhere which prevents doing what you are trying to do. To cover as much of reality as possible the rules and definition of everything in the game was deliberately written to be very broad, but ONLY the Referee has the power to interpret their meaning. The Referee is omnipotent, so the Referee has the right to modify the game in any way, without explanation or notice or appeal, to prevent an exploit from being used. The Referee encourages players to try to be clever in their plans with other players, the Referee discourages players from trying to be clever with manipulating the rules.

Q15: What level of science fiction do we have? Hard or soft?

A15: This is a game, not a simulation. We are playing to the canon universe of the 2300AD game by GDW, so fairly hard but with FTL drives and laser rifles. HOWEVER: This is a game, a game that deals with nations and centuries, so the details of almost any one technology are largely irrelevant. We all want to jump in on the cool sci-fi techno-babble but we just cannot run the mechanics of a game that way so we have to treat technology in a very abstract, non-technical, manner. HOWEVER: There is nothing in the game mechanics that says you cannot role-play to the cool sci-fi techno-babble, indeed you are strongly encouraged to do so and will be rewarded by the Referee if you do. Just keep in mind that when writing your orders the Referee can only deal with rule mechanics, and yes, that includes having convincing e.g. cool sci-fi techno-babble arguments for why your action deserves a bonus to succeed.

Q16: The previous player for my nation did actions which I disagree with, what can I do to disown these actions?

A16: The actions of a previous player are done, as the current player it is your responsibility to deal with the consequences. You can issue any number of orders to alter the course of your nation but those earlier actions still happened and are still your responsibility.

Q17: I found a mistake made by the Referee in processing my orders, can the turn be redone? I made an obvious mistake in my orders, should not my competent staff have corrected it for me before it was too late?

A17: Probably not. The Referee may decide to redo some small portion which does not affect things, but in general, to backup and redo major parts of a Turn could easily cause more problems than it solves. This is a game and your actions are your own responsibility, it is not much of a game if the Referee is expected to fix your mistakes for you.

Q18: The player for another nation has not logged into the game in a long time but I have urgent communications. Can the Referee temporarily act in that player's stead?

A18: No. A player's actions are their own responsibility, it is not much of a game if the Referee is expected to play for them. 

Q19: I cannot continue to play the game at this time, what do I do?

A19: Do not just disappear! Tell the Referee if you have to leave, it is rude and very disruptive if you just disappear. Perhaps an arrangement can be made for you to return at a later date, just do not just disappear.

Q20: I want to tell my police to focus on stopping drug trafficking, I want to tell my colonists to use 3d printers instead of prefab huts, I want to tell my military to treat an occupied people especially gently, I want to tell my technicians to clean-up the spill with this new technology that I read about, I want to tell my people to try harder, etc., etc.

A20: The actions in your orders are not judged against your people standing around breathing, they are judged against what the Referee thinks any competent, loyal, and professional staff would do. It is not necessary to state routine and obvious orders that any loyal, competent, and professional staff would have come up with by themselves. More importantly, the Referee has far too much to do to deal with a potentially limitless stream of trivial orders from players who mistakenly believe that it will gain them some small advantage. The rules of the game outline many types of actions you can undertake that are not trivial, these actions the Referee does want to know about.

Q21: Can I submit an order such as "I want to send 100 Supply Units to Australia, but only if he invades Indonesia, unless Australia uses WMDs in which case I send nothing"

A21: No. The Referee expects players to make their own choices, the Referee will not be playing for you. Conditional orders subvert the Turn structure of the game and introduce a whole extra level of complexity. Processing what happens in this game is complicated enough for the Referee without also adding in competing decision tree matrices from players each trying to outwit the other.

Q22: I would like to rename my nation or Settlement, can I do it? Will new player nations be created?

A22: With Referee permission, yes, but to do so requires the Referee change a lot of entries in a lot of files so it is not likely to happen without a very good reason.

Q23: I do not see a procedure within the rules for doing a particular action that I have in mind, is it legal and how do I do it?

A23: The default answer to doing actions outside the letter of the rules is "When you have explicit permission from the Referee", the Referee will likely impose some conditions or costs and make it a part of a Task.

Q24: The rules mention various actions that my units & facilities can do in a Turn, can they do all of these actions within the same Turn? The rules mention various actions that my units & facilities can do in a War Round, can they do all of these actions within the same War Round? 

A24: Our Turns are 5 years long each, plenty of time to get things done; it is not an oversight that there is very little in the rules limiting what can be done within a Turn due to a shortage of time alone. Our War Rounds are of an indeterminate length of time long, but are assumed to be plenty of time to get things done; it is not an oversight that there is very little in the rules limiting what can be done within a War Round due to a shortage of time alone.

Q25: The Referee is clearly making sure that everything that I do fails unfairly, why do you hate me?

A25: The Referee has likely never met you nor ever will, the Referee definitely does not care anything about you. Your troubles are because fate and dice are fickle, unforgiving, cruel, and the Referee is under no obligation to ensure that you get the kind of easy, uncritical, "fair" success that you think you deserve.

Q26: In looking through the actions in past Turn I see things that do not make sense in the published rules or procedures, what happened then to make this possible?

A26: Over time, the rules of this gave have evolved substantially and we have experimented with many different things, only to have to reverse ourself when we found it to be unworkable. Usually we make some effort to ret-con these failed experiments and dead ends into oblivion, but sometimes it is impossible and we have to let them stand. What is possible now is what is published in the current ruleset.