Post by generalvikus on Jan 25, 2018 21:28:45 GMT -6
I always thought that Rule the Waves would lend itself very well to a play-by-council game. A play-by-council is a game which is played by a single player, but paused at regular intervals to allow all major strategic decisions to be made by the forum group. It differs from an interactive AAR in degree, not in kind; play-by-council places a much stronger emphasis on group decision making. I got the idea from the old Galactic Civilisations forums; I’m not sure if it’s ever been tried here, but I’d very much like to give it a go.
While I’m a relatively new player, I see this as an advantage. It means that, firstly, that players will have to put real effort into providing me with directions (as one cannot just assume that I would naturally do the right thing) and secondly that I can learn a lot from the experience.
All members together will play the role of the Admiralty, giving me strategic directions on a regular basis. Major decisions will be made by a majority vote of all players.
In ordinary peacetime conditions, I will play the game for a period of time (say, six months or a year) before providing a report on all questions of interest – the state of the fleet, international events and tensions, ship construction, technology priorities, and so on. In wartime, the period would be slowed down to, say, 1 – 3 months. If an important event such as a tension spike that may lead to war occurs, the period will be immediately cut short so that a decision can be made.
At every interval, a period of time will be allocated to general discussion, after which players may make proposals regarding any outstanding issue. All proposals will be collated together into a single ballot paper, the players will vote, and then the game will resume. At less regular intervals – say, every three years – a major ‘white paper’ will be drawn up to determine long term, overarching strategy. A report will be provided for every battle, with detailed reports including screen shots and in-depth narration being reserved for the more important ones.
The aim will be for the players to have control over all major strategic decisions – ship construction, fleet readiness and deployment, budget / tension / prestige priorities, war and peace, and so on. I will fight battles as normal, but the players will set standing orders and doctrine which I will follow as closely as possible, mimicking the actual methods of command and control in the pre-radio era.
Whenever it is decided that a new ship design is needed, general requirements will be agreed upon as part of the regular ballot, whereupon a design competition will be held. Design submissions – made in the game save file, which anyone will be able to download and edit for the sole purpose of designing ships – will then be debated, and the winner will be decided upon by a majority vote.
While the intention is for most decisions to be arrived at co-operatively, I also think it might be fun and practical for certain players to take on specialised roles. For example, one player might be a Theatre Commander, who in wartime will set standing orders for me to follow in that theatre. While fleet deployments will be decided upon by a vote, Theatre commanders might present reports to the Admiralty Board urging extra ships to be assigned to them, or requesting a new specialised ship class to be constructed for their needs, and so on. Other players might form a ‘design board’ and concern themselves with drawing up design specifications for players to meet in competitions. Of course, the possibilities for specialisation are very great, but it all really depends on how many players we can get on board.
My strong recommendation is that we play as either Britain, Germany, or the USA, on at least large fleet size. While these nations might be less challenging than the others, the large size of their budgets and their technological capabilities will allow for the greatest possible variety of strategic dilemmas; that means more ship classes, more battles to fight, and generally more material to fuel the game. I’ve created a poll for those who are interested to choose the country we play as, which you can access here: www.strawpoll.me/14929226
The other important question is whether we want this to be a roleplaying game or an out-of-character one. Either way has its own merits; an out of character game may allow for more in-depth strategic discussion (since we don’t have to emulate the ignorance of the times) but roleplaying can be a lot of fun. I don’t mind either way, so here’s another poll: www.strawpoll.me/14929240
Finally, if you’re interested in joining up, please let me know below so I can get an idea of numbers! I’m happy to start as soon as the polls have been decided and we have a sufficient player base. If you have any ideas, please go ahead and discuss them right away so we can get things moving.
EDIT 2: Polls now closed.
Register here: nws-online.proboards.com/thread/1318/play-council-registration
AN EXAMPLE BALLOT PAPER
June 1910
Regarding Construction
Proposal One:
1 Conquest Class Cruiser, to be laid down immediately
1 Centurion Class Battleship, to be laid down immediately
5 Vulcan Class Destroyer, to be laid down on the completion of current production run
//
Proposal Two:
2 new cruisers, as per specification 57 of the design board
(design TBD)
Regarding Research
Proposal One:
Raise priority of ship design to high
//
Regarding Design
Proposal One:
Adoption of Leander Class for specification 57
//
Proposal Two:
Adoption of Arethusa Class for specification 57
//
While I’m a relatively new player, I see this as an advantage. It means that, firstly, that players will have to put real effort into providing me with directions (as one cannot just assume that I would naturally do the right thing) and secondly that I can learn a lot from the experience.
All members together will play the role of the Admiralty, giving me strategic directions on a regular basis. Major decisions will be made by a majority vote of all players.
In ordinary peacetime conditions, I will play the game for a period of time (say, six months or a year) before providing a report on all questions of interest – the state of the fleet, international events and tensions, ship construction, technology priorities, and so on. In wartime, the period would be slowed down to, say, 1 – 3 months. If an important event such as a tension spike that may lead to war occurs, the period will be immediately cut short so that a decision can be made.
At every interval, a period of time will be allocated to general discussion, after which players may make proposals regarding any outstanding issue. All proposals will be collated together into a single ballot paper, the players will vote, and then the game will resume. At less regular intervals – say, every three years – a major ‘white paper’ will be drawn up to determine long term, overarching strategy. A report will be provided for every battle, with detailed reports including screen shots and in-depth narration being reserved for the more important ones.
The aim will be for the players to have control over all major strategic decisions – ship construction, fleet readiness and deployment, budget / tension / prestige priorities, war and peace, and so on. I will fight battles as normal, but the players will set standing orders and doctrine which I will follow as closely as possible, mimicking the actual methods of command and control in the pre-radio era.
Whenever it is decided that a new ship design is needed, general requirements will be agreed upon as part of the regular ballot, whereupon a design competition will be held. Design submissions – made in the game save file, which anyone will be able to download and edit for the sole purpose of designing ships – will then be debated, and the winner will be decided upon by a majority vote.
While the intention is for most decisions to be arrived at co-operatively, I also think it might be fun and practical for certain players to take on specialised roles. For example, one player might be a Theatre Commander, who in wartime will set standing orders for me to follow in that theatre. While fleet deployments will be decided upon by a vote, Theatre commanders might present reports to the Admiralty Board urging extra ships to be assigned to them, or requesting a new specialised ship class to be constructed for their needs, and so on. Other players might form a ‘design board’ and concern themselves with drawing up design specifications for players to meet in competitions. Of course, the possibilities for specialisation are very great, but it all really depends on how many players we can get on board.
My strong recommendation is that we play as either Britain, Germany, or the USA, on at least large fleet size. While these nations might be less challenging than the others, the large size of their budgets and their technological capabilities will allow for the greatest possible variety of strategic dilemmas; that means more ship classes, more battles to fight, and generally more material to fuel the game. I’ve created a poll for those who are interested to choose the country we play as, which you can access here: www.strawpoll.me/14929226
The other important question is whether we want this to be a roleplaying game or an out-of-character one. Either way has its own merits; an out of character game may allow for more in-depth strategic discussion (since we don’t have to emulate the ignorance of the times) but roleplaying can be a lot of fun. I don’t mind either way, so here’s another poll: www.strawpoll.me/14929240
Finally, if you’re interested in joining up, please let me know below so I can get an idea of numbers! I’m happy to start as soon as the polls have been decided and we have a sufficient player base. If you have any ideas, please go ahead and discuss them right away so we can get things moving.
EDIT 2: Polls now closed.
Register here: nws-online.proboards.com/thread/1318/play-council-registration
AN EXAMPLE BALLOT PAPER
June 1910
Regarding Construction
Proposal One:
1 Conquest Class Cruiser, to be laid down immediately
1 Centurion Class Battleship, to be laid down immediately
5 Vulcan Class Destroyer, to be laid down on the completion of current production run
//
Proposal Two:
2 new cruisers, as per specification 57 of the design board
(design TBD)
Regarding Research
Proposal One:
Raise priority of ship design to high
//
Regarding Design
Proposal One:
Adoption of Leander Class for specification 57
//
Proposal Two:
Adoption of Arethusa Class for specification 57
//