• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
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40. How do I cast a ballot, and can I change it once I cast it?

Ballots are cast by sending a pm to the GM Admin (in his capacity as CRO). Once cast, a ballot cannot be changed. Ballots must be cast by the deadline specified by the CRO; all dates and times in election announcements are based on Greenwich Meridian Time.
 

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41. How do I join or found a party, movement or other organization?

To found a new party or organization, first discuss the idea in the Townhall to see if anybody would be interested in joining it. Once some players have shown an interest in joining, post an application at the CRO office. If the GM feel there is sufficient interest, and provided the party/ organization is sufficiently different from ones that already exist, they will allow you to formally set up the party or organization in question. GM permission is required chiefly to cut down on the number of one-member, ego-booster parties and organizations that typically have the life span of a lemming headed for the nearest cliff.

The first post in a party/ organization headquarter thread must contain
- a party platform or description of the organization’s objectives
- a CURRENT membership list; UPDATE THIS REGULARLY, and clearly indicate the date of the last update
- a list of party or organization officers (party leader, deputy leader and such)

Once that is done, you're good to go.

To join a party or organization, simply post a membership application in their headquarter; that application *must* contain a link to your post in the citizen registry in order to confirm your citizenship status. If the party or organization officers cannot confirm that you are a citizen, they cannot let you join.
 
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42. What do I need to do so my party can run in the elections, and what is meant by certification?

In order to run in an election, your party must apply for certification at the office of the Chief Registration Officer (CRO). Only certified parties will be placed on the ballot. Certifications are not permanent, so this needs to be done every time there is an election.

In order to be certifiable (;)), parties must submit a minimum of three candidates for the GA, or the GA and Presidency combined (candidates for the General Assembly must be ranked in a clear order). All candidates must be citizens and party members.

When applying for certification, parties must also provide a link to the first post in their party headquarter, which must contain the following information:
- a comprehensive party platform
- the names of the party officers (party leader and deputy leader)
- a CURRENT AND UP-TO-DATE (!) list of party members

Finally, parties must include a copy of each candidate’s acceptance of their nomination with the certification application (indicate the location and date of the acceptance).

Applications for certification must be submitted by the party leader or deputy leader, and within the deadlines specified by the Chief Registration Officer (all dates and times in elections announcements are based on Greenwich Meridian Time).
 
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43. How can my party replace someone it sent to the General Assembly?

All that is required is that the party leader or deputy leader contact the Speaker at the Speaker’s Office and notify him/her that they are replacing their MGA (Member of the General Assembly) Mr. X with Ms. Y. The replacement takes effect instantaneously.
 

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44. How does the Eutopian budget work, and what does it do?

Each Term, the Eutopian government must operate within a budget; this is intended to add an element of realism to the game (i.e., political decisions come with a real cost, and sometimes it may be necessary to choose between various excellent policy programmes because not all of them may be affordable).

The budget process is intended to give players something to work with; it is not intended as a highly detailed breakdown of revenues and expenditures that would hold up to close scrutiny. Likewise, the budget process, while important, is not intended to be so complicated that players (and GM) have to spend massive amounts of time crunching numbers. Consequently, the budget operates in a very simplified fashion: it deals in very broad categories rather than specific programmes (e.g., funding will be decided for “welfare” wholesale rather than for any of the dozens of programmes that may constitute the “welfare” category), and it uses very approximate, large numbers (e.g., “foreign affairs” may be pegged at an expenditure of 1 billion ducats rather than, say, 1,234,567,890 ducats).

The way the budget process works in-game is essentially as follows: at the beginning of a Term, the Eutopian Central Bank provides the government with an estimate of federal government revenue and expenditure (based on taxation levels and programmes in place at the time). This serves as the fiscal framework for the Term. Revenue and expenditure are then affected by individual pieces of legislation passed by Parliament during the Term. In other words, there is no single, comprehensive budget law as such (unless Parliament actually decides to pass one); instead, taxation and spending provisions carry over from the previous Term, and are altered by any legislation passed during the present Term.

In order to make this work, members of Parliament are required to submit a brief fiscal impact estimate along with any bill they propose (i.e., a few lines specifying what sort of revenue and expenditure the bill is expected to generate). Fiscal impact estimates should be reasonable and plausible; numbers that appear outlandish will cause the Eutopian Central Bank to publish a correction. HOWEVER: neither players nor GM expected to conduct any major research for this - after all, the game is supposed to be fun and playable, and getting lost in fiscal arcana probably doesn't fit most people's idea of either fun or playability. ;) While *some* research will likely be necessary in a lot of cases, the idea is not to bog players and GM down with tons of fiscal research, but to strengthen realism when it comes to considering the impact of parliamentary bills.
 

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45. What are the rules of conduct?

In addition to the specific rules laid out in other parts of this README, there are a number of general rules of conduct which players are expected to follow.

First and most importantly, the fact that Eutopia is an RPG does not mean normal forum rules do not apply. In fact, NORMAL FORUM RULES APPLY AT ALL TIMES! Eutopia is part of the Paradox community and subject to the same rules that guides user behaviour in other Paradox fora.

Secondly, any behaviour that disrupts the RPG is to be avoided. Eutopia is supposed to provide a fun gaming environment for all its players; please act accordingly, and avoid behaviour that will make the game “un-fun” for others.

Thirdly, always remember that this is an RPG, so don’t take things too seriously - just enjoy the game. Eutopia should provide a friendly gaming environment for everyone. Stay civil. Never post in anger. Do not direct personal insults at other players.

Fourthly, anything that goes on in Eutopia is to be kept separate from what's going on in other fora (specifically, don’t import discussions from the OOC-forum). Similarly, don’t judge posters on their in-game character or vice versa - especially since the two may be completely different (e.g., nothing stops someone who is an ardent anti-Monarchist in real life to play an equally
ardent pro-Monarchist character in the game).

Finally, when you are planning something in-game but are in doubt whether it is within the rules, pm a GM. For example, you can always ask the GM Admin about that nifty but borderline photograph you found on the web and would like to use in your next IC-propaganda piece.
 
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46. What sort of rules apply to making posts in Eutopia?

All posts in the main forum should be in character; if you need to make an OOC-comment in the main forum, clearly mark it as such at the top of the post. All posts in the Eutopiary are OOC.

Please keep your posts in threads of groups you don't belong to to a minimum, and don't post there if you’re asked not to.

Do not submit multiple posts that are identical or virtually identical. If you have general announcements, identical questions or comments for several different groups or player characters, or hold an open press conference, post them in the Townhall or use pm.

Avoid clutter. Players are free to start new threads, but please check first whether your post may fit into an already existing thread.
 
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47. Why do Party A and Organization B have several threads each? Isn’t that considered spam?

Parties and organizations may set up two threads: one headquarter thread which is PRIVATE, and one communications thread which is PUBLIC. Additional threads may be allowed for special reasons if the players obtain *prior* approval from the GM Admin (requests should be submitted by pm). For example, parties may wish to open a campaign thread during election time.
 

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48. Can I play a fascist/ Stalinist/ totalitarian character?

In principle, you can. However, Eutopia is subject to normal forum rules, and this imposes certain restrictions on what your character can or cannot do or say. In the past, players who chose to use a character of this kind have often found the rules restricted them from playing the way they initially envisioned; others had to be removed from the game for disregarding the rules.
 
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49. Can I play a racist, homophobe or sexist?

No. Normal forum rules apply in Eutopia, so denigrating or discriminating against identifiable social groups is out of the question - as is advocating any ideology that calls for such denigration or discrimination.
 
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50. Can I use insults, foul language or swearwords?

You can, but within limits. Normal forum rules apply. Moreover, Eutopia is part of the Paradox community, and thus attracts players of different ages and diverse backgrounds (who may have different conceptions about what is “offensive” terminology and what isn’t). As a general guideline, anything posted in Eutopia should be “family-friendly.”
 
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51. Can I post risque, graphic, gory, or otherwise questionable material, or provide links to such material?

No. The Paradox fora are frequented by people of different ages and from very different backgrounds, and material of this kind simply isn’t suitable.
 

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52. Can I use material that is recognizably linked to real life organizations?

Eutopia is a socio-political RPG, not a free advertisement site for real life groups and individuals. In-game activities must not spill over into real life political advocacy. Consequently, players may not use real life symbols, pictures, photographs, texts and documents which are recognizably linked with an actually existing individual, movement or organization, unless they get prior approval from the GM Admin (pm the GM Admin with the material, its intended use, and any relevant context).
 

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53. Can I discuss real life politics, history, events and organizations in Eutopia?

Discussions of the real life politics and history of “other” countries as well as real life organizations are to be avoided, unless they are part of a wider discussion that *clearly* focuses on Eutopia.

For game purposes, be aware that “the rest of the world” is *not* just like the current RL world situation. We will not use real names for various world leaders, and they may be very different than their RL counterparts. For example, if you are the Eutopian president and want to talk to the US-President, do not assume the US President will be a real life individual (such as George Bush); rather, s/he will be a fictional character.
 

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54. What are the penalties for breaking the rules?

That depends on the nature of the transgression, and whether it’s a first time or repeat transgression.

In most cases, there will be a gradually escalating scheme of penalties:
- on his/ her first transgression, Player X will be reminded to familiarize themselves with the README (all of it)
- if Player X continues to break the rules, s/he will get a warning
- the next step is a temporary suspension
- players who then continue to break the rules will be banned permanently.

Depending on the nature of the transgression(s), bans and suspension may apply to Eutopia only, to several other Paradox fora, or to all Paradox fora.
 

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55. You have this really neat suggestion for an official event or storyline.

Proposals for events should be sent by pm to the GM Events. Before you do so, please do your homework: read the README and other background information. Suggesting things that are impossible (such as driving to Europe) are not looked upon favourably.

Stick to what you control: if you want to suggest something that has nothing to do with your character (such as meteor strikes, foreign nations declaring war, etc.) you are allowed to suggest them, but they are unlikely to happen. Events that relate to what your character can realistically do will be given serious consideration. Events that have no real bearing to what you can control will be less likely to be considered.

Be realistic: one person should not be able to take over an aircraft carrier, even if he is a former Navy SEAL but now a pastry chef. One should not expect to mug someone and steal one million ducats. One person should not claim to have cured cancer.

Finally, you do not control NPCs or other players’ characters: do not submit events that depend upon NPC or somebody else’s actions and then predetermine what those actions are. You can say what you *would* do if an NPC/ another character did something, but you cannot say what the NPC/ other character will do. Example: “If the guard believes my story, I will sneak in and steal Blade!’s wallet. If not, I will run like crazy” is good. “I will pay the President’s guards to kill him and then I will make myself king” is not.
 

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56. You are planning in-game actions that might be considered a major event.

If a player plans something which looks like it might be a major event, they need to get GM approval first (usually from the GM Events, maybe also from the GM Content if it involves game background and setting).

If a player posts an event which the GM Events or GM Content decide is (a) fairly major and doesn’t fit their plans, or (b) doesn’t fit the game background and setting, they will remove that post (or request its removal).
 

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57. You need more detailed information on a part of the gameworld.

You have two options.

Option 1: send a pm to the GM requesting that they provide the information you need. Keep in mind that (a) gameworld information doesn’t sit in a library ready to be used, but will have to be put together and decided on by the GM, (b) this will often require a lot of work and research, (c) the GM are already quite busy with running Eutopia, and with their jobs (did we mention we do Eutopia in our spare time? ;)), family, friends, and anything else that constitutes real life, (d) you are not the only player submitting information requests, and that (e) the GM are not your personal research assistants. Consequently, you may not obtain the information you need in a timely fashion (or at all), and it may not be exactly what you were looking for.

Option 2: (a) research the information yourself (based on available game content and relevant real life information), (b) based on your research, put together a proposal outlining what you think this part of the gameworld could look like, (c) send that proposal and any relevant information to the GM by pm. The GM will discuss your proposal and accept it as is, ask that you research some changes, make some changes of their own, or reject it. Regardless of the outcome, the process will be much faster than Option 1.
 

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58. You have some cool ideas to add to Eutopia’s gameworld.

Great, we’ll be glad to hear them. Just send a pm to the GM. :)
 

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59. Something Player X did is really bugging you.

Send a pm to the GM Admin to complain. Do *not* argue with Player X publicly, and *definitely* do not retaliate against Player X in public (arguments along the lines of “he did it, so I can as well” won’t fly).
 
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