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The roleplaying - rather than 4 small roleplaying sets going on, we have one large one - people with agenda's (environmental, science, workers rights, etc.) adding flavour and elaboration to our choices, people having cabinet positions, elections, the balance of power, really getting into what the game is about by having a personality that isn't just down to gameplay.
The gameplay - we have an amalgumation of 20 or 30 peoples styles. We get to see how it's played by all sorts of people, and have elections/debates/discussions to decide what we actually do. We can try and do silly things - win while keeping the Planet unpolluted, transcend, etc. because as well as facing a tough AI opponent.
The practicalities - we had turnchats last time - every week we played 7 turns with the whole cabinet (and anyone else who wanted to) in an IRC chatroom. The turn's played by the leader, who polls for thigns that happen, etc. Everyone gave orders for the 7 years to be played. It makes it much faster, we can discuss for longer and poll science and ideas more, and yet the game flows much better with stopping and starting every year.
All in all, it was a *lot* more fun, for me at least. I've played in an SPDG, led a team in a team DG and (albeit not done much) been moderator for a team DG. The first was easily the most fun. Sure, it was less exact about the gameplay, because there was both gameplay and roleplay that was considered in making decisions - gameplay came into the roleplay with the actual effects it would have, and roleplay affected the gameplay by adding a dimension of how we want to win and our principles. Moreover, it was an actual *democracy* game. No team now elects their leader, and as well as the fun and side part that brought, we had a real feeling of working as a team. We were one team with many differing aims, and that was the fun part, the inerplay but with a communal team.
A lil more than 6 sentances (sorry), but skimming it will give you the idea of what I mean
The gameplay - we have an amalgumation of 20 or 30 peoples styles. We get to see how it's played by all sorts of people, and have elections/debates/discussions to decide what we actually do. We can try and do silly things - win while keeping the Planet unpolluted, transcend, etc. because as well as facing a tough AI opponent.
The practicalities - we had turnchats last time - every week we played 7 turns with the whole cabinet (and anyone else who wanted to) in an IRC chatroom. The turn's played by the leader, who polls for thigns that happen, etc. Everyone gave orders for the 7 years to be played. It makes it much faster, we can discuss for longer and poll science and ideas more, and yet the game flows much better with stopping and starting every year.
All in all, it was a *lot* more fun, for me at least. I've played in an SPDG, led a team in a team DG and (albeit not done much) been moderator for a team DG. The first was easily the most fun. Sure, it was less exact about the gameplay, because there was both gameplay and roleplay that was considered in making decisions - gameplay came into the roleplay with the actual effects it would have, and roleplay affected the gameplay by adding a dimension of how we want to win and our principles. Moreover, it was an actual *democracy* game. No team now elects their leader, and as well as the fun and side part that brought, we had a real feeling of working as a team. We were one team with many differing aims, and that was the fun part, the inerplay but with a communal team.
A lil more than 6 sentances (sorry), but skimming it will give you the idea of what I mean
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