Tutorial and Lexicon to the Democracy Game

[Spiffor]

Here is a tutorial and a lexicon of the Democracy game, for new players to understand something
I intend to write it in the directory forum (yes, I want to answer in the directory forum, to be able to edit this tutorial without PMing Unortho for every minor change).

I post it in a new thread for you to kindly tell me what important thing I forgot, what I wrote unclearly etc. If you know of a shortcoming in this ttorial / lexicon, please write it here.

But I won't add too many details : this tutorial must remain short and clear, if we want new players to read it.

"TUTORIAL TO THE DEMOCRACY GAME

What is the Democracy Game all about ? The answer isn't obvious at first glance. In fact, the DemoGame is simply a game where several people play with the same Civ in the same game. Imagine you're with a friend in front of the same computer, and you rule your Civ together, you discuss what would be better for a Civ. Now, imagine you're discussing the same way with 100+ people : it is the Apolyton Civ3 DemoGame.

More precisely, the DemoGame is a single-player game where every participant can give some input, can influence the game. All important -and some unimportant- matters are debated in this forum. The one who physically plays the game (the President) has to follow decision met by other people.
The game is played like this : our ministers give orders for the 5 next turns to the President in a specific thread of this forum (a turnthread). The president plays the game at home, following these orders. He can stop playing before the 5 turns are done, if a major surprise happens.
Ministers and President are elected by the people, in monthly elections (being held 12-17th of each month). The people can give a very important input to the game, by giving ideas, setting up polls and so on. Everybody can run for a minister / president post.
Everybody can be a member of the DemoGame, it's never too late to join !

Managing a permanent debate among 100+ people require some organization, some rules. These rules are called "Consitution" or "CoL" (Code of Laws). It's been written by ourselves to precisely know : - who's in charge of what
- which polls are officials, which aren't
- how to judge if the Law has been followed or not (we've set up a judicial system)
The Constitution is pretty lengthy, so I suggest you don't go see it if you're new to this. Because of several problems, a new constitution is now in the works.

The game itself :
This game is at emperor level. The map looks like this
We are playing Apolytonia, a religious/insutrious Civ. We started in a huge jungle, surrounded by the French, Americans, Greeks, Germans and Persians. We expanded our empire through war, by taking most American cities. Also, we waged war with France for territorial expansion.
We are now in the early middle ages.

Hope it helps !"

[Spiffor]

"LEXICON TO THE CIV3 DEMOCRACY GAME

Abananaba : the continent we live on.

Apolyton : The forum we all belong to. Out of respect for this place, our empire is called Apolytonia, and our capital is caled Apolyton.

Banana : A permanent joke which is being used extensively on this forum. The Great Banana is also our highest deity.

CoL (Code of Laws), Constitution : the document where all our rules are written.

DIA : Democratic Industrialists of Apolyton. One of the 2 major parties of our DemoGame. It favors builder policies.

$mini-game : an optional game within the DemoGame. Its members are landlords who try to sell the products of their domains, and get more Lytons from it. Taking part in the $mini-game or not doesn't change your status at all in the regular DemoGame.

El Nido : The northeastern province of our empire, which encompasses Ubergorsk, Napoleton, Geofront, Seeberg, Munich and Loveshack.

Lyton : The name of our currency. Its subdivisions are the Apo (1/1000 Lyton), and the Dankos (1/100 Lyton). A Lyton is a gold coin.

Markos, MarkG : the owner of this forum. He is also referred as gOd here.

Mingapulco : The birth province of our empire. It encompasses Apolyton, Termina, Tassagrad, Banana HQ, Chartres, Orleans and Rheims.

UFC : United Front Coalition. One of the 2 major parties of the DemoGame. It favors military expansion."


OK, I added the DIA and UFC in the lexicon. I don't know if it's right, but I feel the newbies can wonder what these are about. Please don't suggest silly descriptions for the parties (don't write "you should describe the DIA as panzies tree-huggers"). I really don't want this thread to become a political spamfest, I want it to be helpful for newbies.

[notyoueither]

Don't forget the mysterious counterpart of MarkG, DanQ. Rumoured to be the dark lord, since it is night much of the time where he resides.

Collectively, they are the gOdz.

They employ a messenger named Ming. Ming is also rumoured to be the Angel of Death, since his attentions sometimes carry away a citizen or two who break the commandments of the gOdz.

[Aro]

Don't forget The Jungle Gazette, our free press! It's part of our culture.

[UnOrthOdOx]

I am adding a big, fat link to this at the top of the directory. Great thread, most needed.

[Kuciwalker]

One thing - Apolyton is our Capitol, not Capital.

[GePap]

What about Geographic lexicon?

Abananaba Minor: the subcontinent, the lands to the south.

The Minor Plains: Fatlands west of our homeland, home of the Greeks.

The Minor Basin: The rugged lands east of our empire, home of the Persians and English

The Major Plains: Flatlands north of our homeland, home to Germans and Aztecs.

The Grand, Great, Major Basin: the large, mountain surrounded region that is our homeland.

Notylopa (spelling?) Jungle: the Huge Jungle Spiff spoke off.

Ubers Isle: A mythical Island yet to be explored.

Greeks Island: a large island to the west with a greek city on it.

We have yet to name the continent[s] on which the four missing civs (China, India, Japan, Zululand) are located.

[Arnelos]

Originally posted by skywalker
One thing - Apolyton is our Capitol, not Capital.

Incorrect, it's the other way around. The "capitol" is the physical building in which the government officials do their business, the "capital" is the city in which that building resides.

[Skanky Burns]

One suggestion: Add the acronyms for all the departments / minister positions, as they are used quite often and people new to the game might not understand them.

[Nimitz]

Pres: President, The leader of Apolyton, the guy who plays the game
V.P.: Vice President, The guy who plays the game if the President can't, the guy who takes over the possion of the Pres if he has to resign
FAM: Foriegn Affairs Minister, the guy who handle our dealings with other nations
SMC: Supreme Military Commander, the guy who handles how we fight wars
MoE: Minister of Economy, the guy who handles how we spend our money and how much we spend
CP: City Planner, handles which cities build what
PW: Public Works, Handles the development of the country side
IE: Imperial Expantion, handles where to build cities or move them to

Hope this helps.