17th Countries Game

The **17th Countries Game** (also called the **17th Playing**, the **17th Official Playing of the Countries Game**, or simply, **the 17th**) is the seventeenth official playing of the game, as recognized by the Federation for the Countries Game. It officially began on the 4th of September, 2021, and is ongoing as of November 19th. The playing is moderated by Senior Moderator Shea Dixon, Moderator Trey Hall, and Assistant Moderators R. Mason Andrus and Derek Smith. It is being played under Version 4.3 of the rules, notable as being the first edition of the rule book to be edited and authorized by the Federation of the Countries Game, under the Charter of the Federation.

## Gameplay

### Background

#### Early Planning

Early planning for a 17th playing began in November of 2020, shortly after the ending of the 16th Playing. Alternative solutions for various communication issues were addressed and brought forward. Discord came forward as the top option and a rudimentary planning committee was formed.

#### Federation and 1st Gulf Breeze

While little progress was made on starting a 17th official playing, Derek Smith and J.B. Hewette separately began to plan to start their own playing of the Countries Game. This playing would use a house rules version of rule book version 4.1 and would utilize Discord as a communication system.

Amidst the worry of having multiple versions of rules and multiple simultaneous games, Shea Dixon wrote the Charter of the Federation and established the governing body of the Countries Game. Of which, the 1st Gulf Breeze Playing became a reported club playing, with the house rules being officially redubbed "Gulf Breeze V5.0".

While all the mechanics of the game, including new rules and communications, worked brilliantly, Hewette found he did not have the time to continue moderating. As a result, the game had to be wound down and eventually abandoned. Many players, including Derek Smith, were offered spots to join the 17th and were set up as players.

The newly formed Executive Committee of the Federations settled rule disputes and clarifications in rapid preparation for the upcoming game. Version 4.3, the rules version used for the playing, was the first to be determined by the Executive Committee.

On 29 July 2021, the 1st Executive Committee officially authorized the 17th Official Playing of the Countries Game. Moderators Shea Dixon, Trey Hall, and Mason Andrus were formally appointed to their roles.

On 4 September 2021, after months of planning, the 17th playing officially started with 17 players.

### Countries and Players

17 countries (only one less than the record 18) are included in the 17th Playing:

* Atlantan Republic (AR) - Shea Dixon
* Lasento (LA) - Trey Hall
* Republic of the Philippines (JP) - R. Mason Andrus
* Empire of Chairpires (CP) - Joshua Khan
* Igniterram (IG) - Derek Smith
* Komunistický štát Slovensko (KS) - Joshua
* Empire of Destructive Peoples (DP) - Nicholas Khan
* Draconyc Kingdom (DK) - Evan Boudreaux
* Elagabalus (EL) - Ethan
* Great Lakota Nation (LK) - Andrew Nettles
* Yugslavak (YG) - Sal Interrante
* Pacific Republic (PR) - Kelsey Daughtery
* Greatness Innit (GI) - Chase Dixon
* Republic of Texas (TX) - Tyler Daughtery
* Persia (PE) - Reza
* Guinea Republic (GR) - Sam
* Equestria (EQ) - A moderator ran country except on turn 9, when it was ran by J.B. Hewette and turns 14 - 25, when it was run by Kyle Johnson

### Game Interface

The 17th is the first playing whose player-player, moderator-moderator, and player-moderator communications are completely on Discord. The server is active and available for observers at: https://discord.gg/KXWFnUv7av.

The 17th's stats sheet, game map, and all other game documents are stored on an open Google Drive, accessible to all players and observers. That Google Drive being located at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17RrlZ8U9R7N5Bda7MM3IHtIp1Dh1aeM0?usp=sharing.

## Moderator Team

The 17th Playing saw the introduction of multiple moderators for the first time in an official playing. Though this had been discussed by game planners previously, it had been truly pioneered in the forward looking, but ultimately failed 1st Gulf Breeze Playing.
The 17th also saw the introduction of in-game moderator ranks, correlating to responsibilities distributed to said individuals. The rankings were: Moderator, Assistant Moderator, and Moderators' Assistant. Under the newly enacted Federation Charter, of which the 17th was the first playing in which it applied, the Senior Moderator was automatically assigned as the lead Moderator for the 17th. The moderation team, including moderators' assistants, for the 17th are:

* Senior Moderator Shea Dixon
* Moderator Trey Hall
* Assistant Moderator R. Mason Andrus (originally assigned as a Moderator, but was reassigned as such on Turn 10)
* Assistant Moderator Derek Smith
* Moderators' Assistant Joshua Khan