Mechanics
Mechanics: Here is a tentative list of how the project will work. Trade Should a nation wish to trade with another one, they must either post in a thread concerning diplomatic relations (see fmra's idea for subfora), post in the other nation thread, or PM the owner of the other nations. Should both nations reach a mutual agreement, they add it into their nations profile. Quotas and tariffs may be established. However, for simplicity's sake, they will be no actual numbers. A tariff will be declared as being protective, or revenue. A quota will described by how restricting. If a nation feels threatened by tariffs or quotas, they may back out of the trade agreement. If the other nation thinks that the former nation is being unreasonable, they will post in their nations diplomacy thread. Diplomacy Using the mehtod outlined above, two nations may also work out diplomacy. The first step in diplomatic relationships is having diplomats in the other nation, and having that nation have diplomats in yours. The diplomat has a very simple function: share information. Some information about other nations can only be obtained through diplomacy. War War has pretty much been set up. A nation may declare ware upon any other nation, for any reason. See the thread on war for more. Also, war may be used to gain territory (or free another nation/itself), gain resources, or to decimate the other nation. One of these must be cited! For example, Auxillayre could declare war on Nokeo just because, and to gain territory (just as an example). Factors in determinining the victor are distance, power, strategy, resources, and natural disasters. Distance: If the attacking nation is a considerable distance, or separated by a body of water, the defending nation has an advantage. It takes a lot of resources and time to move an army. Power: Power is determined by size of population and size of army. Auxillayre, for example, has a large army relative to the population, giving it an advantage in a war. However, if Auxillayre were to attack, say... Tamega, the power would be considerably reduced because of distance, and because Auxillayre can't afford to ship off large chunks of it's population to fight in a war. Strategy: Strategy is very subjective. The more educated, and the larger the ratio of soldiers to population a nation has, it can be assumed they have good strategy. However, strategy also includes technology. For example, Auxillayre is rather lacking in mineral resources (although not completely so), so we can assume it does not have the most advanced weaponry. Resources: Resources is tied to power and strategy. A nation like Auxillayre is lacking in resources. It does not have the raw material to sustain a war, nor does it trade to obtain its material (which may change in the future). Resources are important to both sides. The nation with greater resources (weapons, soldiers, food, money) will have and advantage. Natural disasters: The only way "god" things can be accomplished is in a zone with a great risk of natural disasters. These areas will be determined, but include the volcano/earthquake zones. Natural disasters must be voted upon to work. The vote requires that members support their vote. Support includes the amount of risk, and if the warring nation uses natural disasters a lot (which is cheap and bad). Both nations, if fighting in a danger zone, may use the natural disaster. _____________________________________________________________ Please, suggest things. If we can get members to agree on things, I will add them. There are also some things I would like you to consider: What is the point of having a diplomat? How is trade regulated? Are there incentives for nations to send diplomats and start trading? Is there another vital fucntion that hasn't yet been worked out? The above is just an outline.

I like the ideas on trade, but instead of a whole new subforum, trading negotiations can be carried out in the "Trading Post" thread or other channels (i.e. PM). I need to update the Materials/Manufactured/Needed and I'll be keeping that as current as possible. If you want to add new products to offer the world market please PM me from this point on (less mess to clean up). You have some very good points on warring. Other things to add to that... Distance is less a factor if speed is increased. Calvaries do better than infantry and navies can conduct wars far further and longer (because they can carry their own supplies and are faster still). Strategy is more of an off-field thing, since there isn't a real map for the battle field. International politics, alliances, surprise attacking and other tactics are a good start for strategy. Maybe this can be expanded later on... Remember, supplies are not only those your nation produces, but those it trades for. If you need iron, but don't have the mines, trade for it. Its not as good as self-produced because it can be taken away (strategy), but it'll give you the resource for the time. On resources, until something better is thought of, assume that things you trade for cannot be stockpiled. If you are trading for wood and the other nation ends the agreement, you're suddenly out of wood.... Acts-of-God will be put to a vote. I'm thinking by poll (since it can be annonymous). I like the idea of danger zones, but there really isn't a single place that is immune from some type of disaster. Since disasters are totally uncommon, there shouldn't be a need for too much talk on this. As a tool of war, its even less likely to happen in the heat of battle (though not impossible) and natural disaster really shounldn't be included in someone strategy for victory... Also, if someone should call a natural disaster, be aware that its not going to hit only the enemy... I started a dimplomat thread for two reasons. 1) it lets you know which nation has had (and is having) contact with what other nations. 2) Diplomats can be many things... hostages, spies, reason-to-initiate-war, etc. it adds to the possibilities for interaction. Trade regulations: nationally - its up to the designer of each nation mechanically - not yet designed

Does anybody else have any thoughts?' I'm thinking that for trade the amount traded can be described ony a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a lot and 1 being not very much.