TWF Dev Diary #6: Secrecy and Information
Today we're going to talk about secrecy and information in TWF - what you will and won't know about your nation and others, and what I can and can't tell you.
First of all, I got more than a few questions about the sample stats I posted after the last dev diary and I want to reassure you that there are more stats - actually, a LOT more stats - but they are mostly hidden or (in some cases) haven't yet been implemented. However, a lot of these stats are secret - unknowable to you or anyone else in the game other than me. After every update I will publish this big list of stats, much like the sample output I put up last time. It doesn't include everything there is to know. Most of the hidden stats are either gamey in nature or extremely hard to measure objectively. Some of you may have noticed that I blanked out Legitimacy in the sample output, as I'm still deciding whether or not it falls into this category.
1. All the legitimacy you need?
Even though the game hasn't started yet, I've been getting a lot of requests for information. I'm basically only answering rules questions in the pre-game (many people haven't signed up, others have reserved nations but lots of people are still switching factions, etc.). I gather that in the past, your GMs have given you lots of information. Until the game starts and nation choices are finalized, I won't answer any IC questions at all. When the game does start, here are my ground rules on answering questions: 1) In general, I can give you any objective information that would be available to your government. 2) I will try to avoid answering questions that have vague or wishy-washy answers, or are matters of opinion. I can, however, sometimes give you public opinion poll results. 3) I cannot tell you what might happen, or what will happen, if you submit an order, or advise you as to what order you can or should submit. I cannot answer questions of the type, "What should I do?," "How Should I do it?," or "What will happen if I do this?"
2. A lot of people, I guess
I want to elaborate on this last point a little, because I get a lot of "What should I do?" or "What will happen?" questions phrased a lot of different ways. I basically can't give you any information that might constitute advice. If you come to me and ask, "What do my generals think I should do?" or "What do the economists think I should do?" In reality, I'm sure your generals or your economists would have very strong opinions about what to do - perhaps right, perhaps wrong. But since I have to speak for you generals or your economists, this essentially amounts to asking me what I think you should do. I'm of the opinion that the guts of the game is thinking for yourself and devising your own national orders, rather than coming to me and asking me what I think you should do. So I generally won't answer questions of this nature. I'll try to limit the information I give you to objective, precise information, not advice - even if such advice would in reality be available to your national leadership.
So that pretty much covers information and secrecy OOC. What about IC information? What about information and orders?
Knowledge is power, and I expect in the course of TWF you're going to want to submit secret orders, run black operations, develop clandestine projects, etc., etc., etc. Fine - grand. False flag operations, black ops, and secret projects are all perfectly valid orders in TWF. However, use them with caution - as all secret orders have a chance of becoming known to other players (even if the order itself otherwise succeeds). In some cases, this will be a very embarassing and public failure for your faction or government, with information about your project coming out in the international media (and the general update I regularly write). In other cases, the secrecy of your order may be compromised without you knowing it at all, and another player may be informed of your actions in private. On the other hand, sometimes you will be able to completely convince everyone that a false version of events is the correct and true one.
3. Everyone suspects the janitor is a spy. But hardly anyone suspects the mop is also a spy.
Now. There's a second way to ask me for information, which is by submitting an order to ask for it. I'm talking about orders that read something like, "Convene a panel on how to modernize the national energy grid" or "Commission a study into how to increase economic growth." These orders also amount to asking me "What should I do?" but I treat them slightly differently. Getting information by order may be better than just tracking me down on IRC and badgering me because I'm more likely to give you at least some kind of answer. If you submit a policy question by order - though I only recommend doing this if you're really lost - it may take some time for your panel or commission to report back and it costs PP - you generally will get a response.
You may also be able to steal secrets - or uncover unlikely truths - by submitting orders to your own covert agents. While passive intelligence and counterintelligence exists in TWF, active orders will always be better for intelligence and counterintelligence work. You may also receive false intelligence (either as a result of another player's machinations or at random) so watch out.
4. This is what counterintelligence looks like, apparently
Note that it is generally harder and more expensive to do something in secret than it is to do it publicly.
I'm currently tinkering with a system that allows nations to conceal certain stats from the rest of the world based on how isolated and secretive they are. For example, North Korea's stats will start almost entirely hidden.
5. But nothing will ever be able to hide Kim Jong Eun's great love in life
Oh, one last note. There are things that we, as players, don't know about the real world ("known unknowns") - for example, the progress of Iran's nuclear program, or the sophistication of American secret military technology. These things are almost universally open to debate, but I will have to make some sort of assumption about them in order to run the game. Even if you think my assumption is wrong - say, if I decided that Iran has enough nuclear material to make X number of nuclear weapons but you think Y - I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to go along with it. I am going to have to make a lot of assumptions about real world secrets in order to run the game.
6. To be honest, I just wanted to use this picture
Next dev diary will be Diplomacy and International Affairs.
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