Lore Rules

## **Actual Rules**

### Don't create/roleplay explicitly genocidal or racial-supremacist regimes.

> While real-life history is used for inspiration for lore (and ethnic/racial conflict is unfortunately a recurring theme in world history), rhetoric or ideologies that explicitly promote notions of racial superiority are not allowed (this includes slavery).
> General aspects of racial discrimination and struggle, however, may be used to illustrate realistic flaws of certain societies.
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### Don't directly reference existing people or organizations.

> Taking influence is fine but refrain from exact, or near exact, copies of real-world people or organizations.
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### Don't include issues/things that do not fit the general time period of the lore

> Real world or fictional inventions/concepts that would not have realistically been utilized from the 1820s to the 1880s should not be included in the lore or in builds on the server.
> Similarly, political issues or ideologies that were not discussed during this period should not be included.
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## **Important Notes for Lore**

The following are not rules per se, but important to think about when creating lore nonetheless.

### Consider the context behind something in the real world before taking inspiration from it

> Think about whether or not this thing would realistically exist in the lore, especially with regards to your country of interest.
> Example: If you want to take inspiration from the US Constitution for your constitution, consider the unique circumstances behind each section/amendment. Consider that many parts (such as the 2nd amendment) have their roots in English Common Law and were not seen in other countries at the same time.
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### Don't steal the platforms of real-world political parties

> Real-world parties' beliefs are products of their specific environments; parties cater towards the existing attitudes and concerns of people in a country. Parties should have some basis for their beliefs, even if many members of the population would disagree with them.
> Parties shouldn't comment on issues that wouldn't realistically be discussed during the lore's time period (1820-1880).
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### Values

> Each country has certain unique sets of priorities and values. These values influence their actions, social structure, societal roles, and wider political beliefs. Values are products of people's history and are generally reflections of what actions were helpful towards their survival. Values are often heavily interlinked with religion.
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> * For Example:
> 	+ Values of individual liberty and property rights are mainly of English origin in response to various conflicts between the king and the wider population.
> 	+ Contrarily, countries like China, Korea, and Japan are heavily influenced by Confucian ideals which promote the notion of a harmonious society in which individuals each fulfill certain roles that help maintain the group's well-being.
> 	+ An Englishman during this period would likely prioritize individual freedoms over social harmony/peace while those from the latter countries may prioritize the opposite.
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### There are always multiple perspectives

> Nations/people are rarely purely good or evil in the minds of everyone. No idea, policy, or concept is objectively wrong/right, although some will certainly have more merits than others. Every movement, leader, and country will have those who support them and those who do not. Certain people will benefit from the status quo while some will not.
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### Governmental structures aren't just democracy vs authoritarian regime

> If you are creating a 'democratic' country in the lore, remember that countries don't ever just switch their entire system of governance in one day. Their systems evolve over time with gradual steps taken towards allowing common people increased participation in the government. Also note that those who had power before these reforms probably aren't going to sit back and willingly accept these changes without external pressure or a fight.
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> * How much democracy is there?
> 	+ Unfortunately during this period, universal voting rights did not really exist. Voting access was often restricted based on land-ownership, one's ability to pay taxes, one's sex, and other factors.
> * What system of democracy is it?
> 	+ Parliamentary (people elect parliament; parliament elects prime minister) or Presidential (people elect parliament; people also elect president separately).
> 		- Note that parliamentary systems almost always have some sort of figurehead head of state like a president, king, queen, emperor etc. that doesn't hold many real powers.
> * What voting system does it use?
> 	+ First-past-the-post (the most common in the real world) - whoever gets the most votes in a given district is elected
> 		- Multi Member or Single Member districts?
> 	+ Proportional representation - seats allocated based on proportion of votes won by a party
> 	+ MMP - some seats elected using first-past-the-post; others filled according to party vote percentage to make the composition of the legislature reflect the percentages of votes received by each party.
> 	+ Another form?
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> If you are creating a 'non-democratic' country in the lore, what is its governmental structure?
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> * If it's a monarchy, how powerful is the monarch? How much power is held by lower-level aristocrats or other figures? Is the monarch more of a figurehead and real power is held by another governing body?
> * If it's another type of authoritarian regime, is it controlled by warlord(s)? Has a general crowned themselves emperor? Take specific note of authoritarian regimes that existed during the 1800s as they are quite different from later iterations of authoritarian regimes associated with specific ideologies (i.e. fascism/communism). In short, please don't just make a rebrand of the Nazis bruh.
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> Note than even in non-democracies, the opinion of the public and especially the opinion of others in the ruling elite still matter. A single dictator, emperor, king etc. cannot simply do anything they want. If a ruler is seen as too weak or too reckless by other elites, they may conspire to remove him from power and replace him with a more favorable figure.
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### The 'Great Man' view of history

> While certain historical figures have certainly made huge impacts on world history, individuals alone are rarely ever able to usher in massive changes without momentum from greater society. A single person in government is not going to snap his fingers and make the country a better place.
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> Think about the tradeoffs of every policy.
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> * Waging wars and expanding the military means higher taxes. Wealthy figures will likely not support such measures unless they stand to benefit. If people in the lower-class bear the brunt of these taxes, their standard of living may decrease, possibly leading to riots, death, and economic turmoil.
> * Free trade allows people to buy foreign goods for cheaper prices, increasing the overall standard of living. Domestic producers, however, may be unable to compete and shut down, causing unemployment. Yet, importing cheaper foreign resources may also allow new domestic businesses to be created, potentially causing employment again. Would a leader favor tariffs or free trade in this situation?
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### Notions of states themselves

> Without diving too deep, notions of concrete states, borders, and national sovereignty were largely invented by the Europeans after the Peace of Westphalia in 1684. Consider the possibility that many 'countries' in the lore may potentially just be loosely united groups of people who pay tribute to a certain ruler. There may be high levels of ethnic, cultural, and political intermixing and exchange between nations and borders between certain groups may not be so concrete.
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### Be skeptical of existing norms in the real world

> The norms of the real world are products of its unique string of events and history.
> For example: Things we consider normal aspects of the world like official flags, national anthems, and coats of arms are derived from European practices and only became widespread due to European colonialism. This also goes for European clothing.
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