Could please anyone explain me what is going on here?

[Sonic]

Yup, I am not citizen but anyway, what is going on here? I read the constitution thread and still did not understood. Is the country (Apolytonia) just imagined or does it really exists on some on-line game everybody gets access to when joins? Or is it existing on civ 3 (what the name of board suggests)? If so, does that means president plays game and he must do a turn per some time and consult with people? If so, then I still don't understand much. How much each turn takes and what if president changes - you can't change leader's name in civ 3. Also what if game ends, is new game being started? And I could go on and on, like what level is played on a game, what world is chosen, how much of other empires, what are requirements if you want to join, etc.

[Spiffor]

A tutorial I wrote yesterday :

What is a Democracy game ? This question is perfectly legitimate, and I needed some time to figure it out.

In the Democracy Game (DG), the whole community plays the same game, and the same Civ. Many people decide commonly what we should do next. Nobody has the same absolute power as a player has when playing Civ3 alone.
This is called "Democracy" game because we all participate, and we all give input on how we want the game to be played. For example, nobody has the power to declare war to America, it needs a vote. If a majority of citizens want war with America, than war is declared.

Technically, this is a single player game. Only one player gets to play the game physically : the President (elected every month). Everyone can access his save. Nobody can "play ahead" on this save, meaning acting before the president actually does it on his own computer.
But the President has to obey the ministers (also elected every month) who give precise orders each turn. Each minister is specialized in a specific field : war, science, economy, workers, city planning, diplomacy.
The ministers often consult the people via polls on what policy they should promote. When they poll the people, ministers have to follow the poll, or risk losing all credibility.
The people can also express their views whenever they want. We are currently following a strategy thouroughly reflected by a normal citizen.

A DG is a game, and thus it has rules. These rules are called the "constitution". The constitution can be mdified by a 2/3 vote whenever an amendment is felt needed. To enforce these rules and punish cheaters, we are making up a judicial system (currently voted on)

In a Democracy,you can't hinder people who think the same to unite. That's why we have parties : the Democratic Industrialists of Apolyton (DIA) and the United Front Coalition (UFC). DIA is more oriented towards builder strategies, and UFC is more oriented towards warmongering, but both parties are pretty moderate. We have no longlasting third party.

If you want to participate, just vote in polls and express your views in the forum whenever you think it's good. Also, you can officially join the DG by saying "I want to join" here : http://apolyton.net/forums/showthre...&threadid=52372

I've PMed it to Markos. Hopefully he'll edit his first post in the Welcome thread.

[Spiffor]

To answer some things I didn't adressed in the tutorial :

- the President can change everey month, and must change every 2 months. the name of our leader in the game is "Banana", which is timeless

- we'll probably start a new game once this one is started. However, we've just begun (a month ago), so don't expect the end of this game anytime soon

- turns don't last very long, but they are played in "turnchats" : every 3 days or so, people gather in a chatroom and follow the Prez playing. We play 3-10 turns each turnchat.

[Epistax]

We are all residence of the South Californian Mental Prison. We come out twice a year. In our mean time, we do this.

[Moral Hazard]

Epistax you lucky bastard. They determined that I'm never going to be allowed out. Well actually I might be given leave if I stop biting the orderlies, but I refuse to have my rights supressed.

[Kuciwalker]

I applaud Moral Hazard's fight for freedom.

[Sheik]

Anyone who is wondering what this game is please read the other threads before posting this question. This has been answered alot lately. (I have no idea why I am posting this because obviously anyone who is asking the question hasn't seen this thread)

Sonic I am glad you are curious about the game and hope that people who are interested sign up and start participating. It is a lot of fun.