Announcement

**Maniac** · October 1, 2003, 16:11

I agree with Corellion.

Impaler, I tend to disagree with you when you say we have become elitist. Take people such as Kody or HongHu. They did not participate in the first ACDG and IIRC started as complete newbies on the second ACDG. Now they are fully integrated forum regulars, and among the most active ACDG members. A more recent example is Phenix. He joined the Consciousness when this game was already busy for some 30 years or so. Yet now he already knows perfectly how things are run, is a respected cyborg and actively participates in the discussions.

So my advise would simply be: pick a faction of your choice and just start posting your opinion or ask concrete questions. You will quickly learn how things are dealt with and will quickly be accepted by the rest of the group.

**jtsisyoda** · October 1, 2003, 16:43

I agree with Corellion, too, that the teams work as their factions might. Foreman Buster of the Drones, for example, is all business and does a boatload of real work posting info on the turn and suggesting strategy, like a true Drone. Our work plan allows us to finish the turn and pass it on as fast as anyone. And he's not one for spam i mean propaganda like the Hivesters.

I joined late, and picked my faction based on wanting to learn more about a faction I don't play much. Plus I didn't want to pick a big team because I wanted to have more influence.

**Kody** · October 1, 2003, 18:39

So the hive is the only team that plays a bit differently from what the faction is about? Also don't you guys do more than just what is directly related to the game?

**Kody** · October 1, 2003, 19:26

Well I suppose I could give a run down of what I think the different teams are like.

Drones:
Down to earth, they mainly concentrate on playing the game and do not appear to get much involved in the roleplay ascept of things. Of all the teams they have the most experience in playing this game with many notable members from the veterans of the SMAC/SMAX community.

Pirates:
The power graph shows that this team is being run extremely well with good decisions. The fact that many people rate pirates as a fairly weak and hard to play faction in the early game says something about this team's management.

From the extremely long times they take making decisions it would seem that all their team members are actively involved in discussing matters. They claim they often communicate via email. This has lead me to believe they're actually the most democractic faction.

They appear to roleplay to some degree, but the extent is not quite clear as they are very careful with their secrets. The pirates have managed to get themselves a nice stranglehold on the tech trading for the early years.

Cycon:
These guys appear to be strong roleplayers, but take a more laid back approach to it than the pirates do. They're very active on their private forum and in the public forum. One of the time team members described them as the beuaracrats of the first ACDG. Anaylsis of their comments has lead me to believe that they run a democracy, but your opinion is weighted by how much you contribute.

University:
The team seems to be carried by GeneralTacticus and Archaic. I'm not sure what government system they're running, but the hints point to some monarchy. So I'm guessing there's some advisers who help GeneralTacticus and Archaic, but ultimately those two have the final decision. They're fairly good players so shouldn't be underestimated, but I don't think they have the same kind of multiplayer experience as the Pirates and Drones do.

From what I can see the university makes attempts to roleplay. However, these efforts aren't long term and the roleplay keeps dying off. This faction seems to get many of it's members simply because the university bonuses are powerful. Hence there are many players that play that faction have joined the university simply because they like playing the university.

Hive:
Fairly strong roleplayers, and

*have to go pick someone from the airport, finish this later*

**Vev** · October 1, 2003, 20:37

I welcome others to fill in the blanks.

**Kody** · October 1, 2003, 21:25

Yeah well since I was writing about factions I wasn't in I suppose someone else can do it for the Hive.

**AdamTG02** · October 1, 2003, 21:59

University thoughts

Well, Archaic and GeneralTacticus are the ones who play the actual turn, and thus have the final authrority. The team is small enough (5 active members as of last count) that voting isn't really necessary; instead we discuss our potential decisions and settle on a consensus. Certain members of the faction have specific responsibilities to develop plans for the faction. As of now, Archaic draws up the colonization and terraforming plans, GT the military plans, Minute Mirage the production plans, and I the research plans. However, just about everything is debated before any decision is reached.

It's not been constitutionally specified whether Dean Archaic, the Department Chair in charge of a specific issue, or the faculty as a whole has the final say on matters. I view it as a plus that the issue has never come up.

As for "monarchy," it is true that when discussion on the forum fell to almost zero, Archaic and GT were forced to play the turns without real input. However, that phase of the University's history is over. For the moment, we have a functioning, if small, deliberative base, which can only be improved through new members.

It's true that the University doesn't do much role-playing. I'm hoping that will change as we get some more members; however, that is the situation at the moment.

Is this somewhat enlightening as far as what we in Planet University of Technology actually do?

**Octavian X** · October 1, 2003, 22:43

Actually, from a Hiverian prespective, if you want your voice heard, you just post somewhere. Technically speaking, now a days Kody runs, more or less, the entire show, with little or not imput from others.

We'd like to call ourselves democratic. Like I said, your voice, no matter who you are, will be factored into how the game is played. Unfortunately, few people (myself not included) actually voice serious opiniosn. A good 3/4 the forum is pure spam.

**Kody** · October 1, 2003, 22:54

There's alot of available jobs at the Hive. Both in roleplay and in game planning.

All you need is a some time and motivation and you can make a big difference. I ran things too smoothy when I started and now everyone is far too happy to let me do things by myself. I'm trying my best to push the decisions back the other way, but it's an uphill battle for me.

**Jamski** · October 2, 2003, 03:24

Come on Kody, you've got me still

and the Chairman, and Vev, and HongHu and Octavian and Micha, and Tass 'n' Googlie post sometimes...

-Jam

**Kody** · October 2, 2003, 09:26

Impaler,

It's not so much they don't care about new members it's just that many of the ACDGers active in the public forum are just looking for something new and exciting. Once they get ACDG3 up and running I predict the activity will slowly die off after a month.

As for nobody else caring, I heard that the pirates had finished an
introduction that is currently being checked over by all its members.
Almost all of my roleplay work nowadays is aimed at keeping people interested, and if you do intend to join perhaps you could help run projects to keep the game interesting for whatever faction you choose to join and perhaps also for other factions.

Impaler wrote:
If none of the other Factions can even take the time to post a message here then I will be forced to join the Hive despite my contempt for their Brutal Nihilistic philosophies, I would most likly be nerve stapled into submission and sent to labor in the Recycling Tanks.

Worse, I'll give you the largest office near the chairman's and put you to work trying to convince the other Hive members to change their ways.

Basically roleplay coordinator if you'll take the job. That would allow you to insitgate a change from the "Brutal Nihilistic" ideology. If that doesn't suit you we'll see what you have aplitude in. If you're good at organising people then that would be really great as I've been doing a shoddy job of that so far.

**Impaler[WrG]** · October 3, 2003, 12:30

Thanks for the information guys, it just goes to show that if you complain enough someone will listen

I am ofcourse familiar with faction ideologies and am infact very fond of the ideological side of SMAC, but I was under the impression that people have in the past been burned by chossing factions this way as was stated in one of your introductory threads. Thus the reason I wanted more information regarding the internal workings of the factions politics and activites (I ofcorse dont expect stuff like "we have this many cities and are about to attack the Belivers" you cant reveal that kind of stuff and besides the might of the factions dose not interest me), I relize this is probly a lot of work to do for the benifit of only 1 person who is comparitivly a newbie.

Kody's offer is tempting but I dont belive I have that much time on my hands, a bit of light Role Playing and learning how others play SMAC is my main goal. I probably wont be able to make many good game play sugjestsions as I play a heavily modified single player. I was also condering some kind of diplomatic role if such a thing developes.

If the Pirates are making some Propaganda I will wait to see it before I make up my mind.

**Kody** · June 18, 2004, 13:42

It's not so much they don't care about new members it's just that many of the ACDGers active in the public forum are just looking for something new and exciting. Once they get ACDG3 up and running I predict the activity will slowly die off after a month.

Wasn't that some prophecy of mine.

Anyway time to work on the new introduction. I suppose I'm the new narrator (hopefully with honghu) so gotta get things moving.

**Kody** · June 18, 2004, 14:13

Thread Title:
For new members. The Alpha Centauri Democracy Game, an introduction

Contents
* Introduction
. . . .The computer game Alpha Centauri
. . . .Roleplaying
. . . .Government & Diplomacy
. . . .Strategy
* Teams
. . . .The Spartan Team
. . . .The Morganites Team
. . . .The Gaians Team
. . . .The Data Angels Team
* Being Involved In The ACDG
* Joining In
* Storyline

Introduction
The Alpha Centauri Democracy Game is based upon the computer game Alpha Centauri. It is often referred to by the abbreviation ACDG. This is the third ACDG, with ACDGII being completed in June 2004.

The participants of this game have formed on strong online community that is well versed in strategy and roleplay. This means a new member can choose to learn detailed strategies in the game Alpha Centauri, and having fun with roleplay that is composed of story writing, debating, and diplomatic intrigue.

How much participation, and what kind of participation you wish to have is your own choice. Some players will join up simply to talk with other members of the community. Other players may be interested in the diplomancy, strategy or roleplay aspects of the game.

There are 4 teams of humans that are playing in this game. If you are interested in this game you can talk in the public forum with members of all the teams. However, the major part of the action is hidden from public view as the teams maneuver to win the game. That means if you’re interested in seriously participating you’ll need to join a team.

The introduction for ACDGII can be found here.

The computer game Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri is a turn based strategy game that has a loyal following of gamers due to its complexity. Unfortunately the same complexity prevented it from being accepted as a mainstream game. However, most of the people here are unfazed by that.

The game Alpha Centauri is set in a futuristic world where earth is dying. In a last ditch effort to save the human race the space ship Unity was built and sent to the nearby star Alpha Centauri. A couple of decades later, the colonists arrived and began their approach to a planet they named Chiron. However, things did not go to plan as space debris hit the ship forcing the colonists to crash land. This combined with an assassination of the captain, broke the chain of command and caused the survivors to break up into 7 separate factions with different ideologies.

The game begins as you crash land on the world. You need to built up your cities, and rediscover much of the technology that was lost in the crash. You also have to contend with the other 6 factions that are somewhere else on the planet. However, that's not all, as this brave new world is also an alien world. As you progress through the game you have to learn about and understand the alien planet you have landed on.

Usually one or two people from each faction are nominated to play the game turns. These people usually take the advice and directions of their team mates, then make the moves in the game before pass it on to the next team. Currently, the game is progresses at 1 turn every 5 days. At this rate it is expected the game will finish in a bit over a year.

Roleplaying
Roleplaying is about imagining yourself in an interesting situation or having a different persona. It's about acting out a character, and having fun while doing so.

In this case you're pretending to be someone in the futuristic world of Alpha Centauri. The type of roleplaying depends on the faction you decide to join. The different teams have come up with varying ideas on how to roleplay in their faction. So you should probably have a look at the individual descriptions of each faction.

There are many ways to roleplay in the ACDG. It is doubtful anyone will try and restrict you, but it's easier if you're with people that like to roleplay in the same ways. In the previous ACDG the favourite ways of roleplaying were in writing stories, writing newspaper articles, roleplaying your position in the government, writing diplomatic messages, and making jokes while acting out your character.

Here are some of the examples of roleplay in ACDGII.
The View from Above
The Planetary Archives
Interfaction Debating, Hive vs University & Drones - nervestapling is perfectly safe
Interfaction Debating, Cycon vs Pirates - cycon's parrots are better than pirate's parrots
Hiverian Planetary Council Motion: Call of Cease Fire
The Horror Returns....

Government & Diplomacy
The majority of factions are running a democracy for their government system. This means that many decisions are voted upon. Decisions have to be debated with arguments and reasoning before approval can be made for all major decisions. Inside each faction there is a government hierarchy, and work is distributed among the members according to their government position.

Diplomacy occurs within a team in convincing other team members of ideas and running for elections. External to the team there is inter-factional diplomacy. This involves mainly alliances and trading in the early stages of the game. Later when the global council is called it is expected that issues of global important will also be decided.

Strategy
The strategy is what attracts the majority of players to the ACDG. In ACDGII the amount of discussion on strategy and the game was staggering. The Strategy and Help forums on Alpha Centuari cannot compare to being able to sit down with other players and work on strategies in a practical situation. Many of these players have had significant experience with multiplayer and can be considered the some of the best players of Alpha Centuari around. Most of them are very happy to help out someone that is interested in learning more about how to play the game.

If you’re interested in taking a hands on approach to learning strategy, joining an ACDG team is perhaps the best way to do it. Many players in ACDGII started out knowing very little about how to play the game and have accumulated a wealth of knowledge during the course of the previous game.

Teams
The differences in the team aren't only in their roleplaying descriptions. They're also different in the way they are run, what they spend their time doing, and how they roleplay.

The teams have different governing systems and command structures. This is highlighted in the descriptions each team has provided. The priorities of each team also vary, with some giving high priority to the technical aspects of the game and others to roleplaying.

This can be divided even further. Certain teams will likely stress aggressive game play or prefer to build up their forces for the long run. In roleplay, certain factions may place high emphasis on roleplaying while making decisions. Other factions may prefer to use story writing or newspapers as the main outlet of their roleplay.

Which faction you choose should depend on what you are interested in. Once you have committed to a team you cannot change teams. This is to prevent secret information from being leaked into other factions. If you have joined a team and find you don't like it, your only opinions are to attempt and change way the team is being run or quit. Enforcing your will on all your team mates is going to be difficult so you should try and choose the team you want to join carefully.

The Spartan Team
The Morganites Team
The Gaians Team
The Data Angels Team

Being Involved In The ACDG
People are involved in this game because it allows them to interact with other people. Some of the participants are here to learn the game from the experts that are playing. Others like to write articles or stories and show them to others in their team. Roleplaying with your team members can be something fun to do every now and again. Most often people come to this place just for an excuse to talk and share jokes.

Having others to play with is a major part of the ACDG and interacting with the others is what makes it fun. This is why we are always interested in new members.

It's not necessary to devote large amounts of time to the ACDG. Some members spent less than 1 hour a week making a few comments. If you are interested in more commitments then there are always jobs available. How much you want to get involved depends on what you decide.

Joining In
If you are interested in joining, you should first be fairly sure which team you will fit into best. One mistake people make is joining a team based on which faction they have enjoyed playing in the past. The differences between the teams are more than just what their faction can do.

You can only join one faction, and once you join that faction you will be unable to change to a different faction. This is because many of the game secrets are shared among team members, and allowing someone to change between factions may result in one team’s secrets being told to another team.

It is suggested you read each faction's description before making your decision.

Once you have chosen the faction of your choice you should look at the links at the top of the page. The links highlighted in the below picture allow you to join a faction, leave a faction and after you have joined the private forum link will appear there. These links will only be visible when you are in the ACDG forums.

*****INSERT EXAMPLE PICTURE HERE*****

To join, you click on the join link associated with your chosen faction then send a private message to the leader of the faction. Do not attempt to join multiple teams at the same time, as you will get rejected by all of them. This is so that game secrets won't get leaked out by someone that has access to multiple teams.

The factions and team leaders to private message are listed below.