New & Returning Player's Guide

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Brown
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New & Returning Player's Guide

Post by Brown »

Welcome to PolUK! We are a community of various political nerds who enjoy simulating the Parliament and politics of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (well--unless you're in Government and somehow manage to lose Northern Ireland. That's on you.)

So you've found us--welcome! You're probably wondering how in the world you get started--or maybe it's been awhile and you need a refresher. No worries, we've got you covered.

The first thing you should do is determine which political party you wish to join. Generally, only the Conservative and Labour parties are open for players. Occasionally, minor parties will be opened, but these require admin approval. If you don't know or care which party you want to join, ask the a-team! Sometimes, one party needs people more than others.

Once you determine which party you're joining, you can request masking on our Discord server in the party-request area: https://discord.gg/3gBRE2TN4j

Next you'll want to claim your constituency. A list of constituencies should be listed in the Sign In forum. Remember, you can only select a constituency that your party holds, and isn't currently claimed by another character.

Now we get to the fun part, it's time to create your character! You can be as detailed or as generic in your biography as you'd like. It's completely up to you how you create your character. The a-team will only step in if you are very unrealistic in your character, or sign in a character who can't actually sit in Parliament (ie, a 12 year old). Check out the Character Creation Sheet in the sign-in forum for more information on how to create a character. Using this template, simply create a new topic in the sign in forum, and an admin will review it and assign you XP.

So what is this XP we're talking about? You're an influential person in Parliament! How influential? Well, that depends. XP determines how many backbenchers look at your lead and tend to follow it. It isn't always automatic, if you vote to annex the United Kingdom into the Russian Federation, you might just be on your own in that one--but for standard votes, your vote will have sway with the rest of the party. You can earn XP through a detailed bio, a bio that shows your character has previous Parliamentary experience, through holding a Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet office, or through XP awarded by the a-team at their discretion for hard work in Parliament, activity, a good showing in a TV interview, particularly good press, winning a contest, etc. XP can be lost too! XP also comes into play in leadership elections, giving you more votes to elect the candidate of your choice.

While we're talking about XP, there's another way to gain XP, Scandals. Scandals add flavour to your character--and also award you anywhere from 1-5 XP. This reward comes at a risk, however. Once every couple of weeks, the a-team will roll a die and if your number comes up, your scandal could be leaked to your party whip--or worse, the press, and you can expect fallout proportional to the degree of your scandal (and how many XP points you got for it). Scandals can be submitted by Google Form: https://www.politicsuk.net/blenheim/vie ... 109&t=1014

So now you're all signed in! Lovely, welcome to Parliament. Stay on Mr. Speaker's good side--and more importantly, the Clerks'. What can you do now? Well, that depends on where you end up.

If you're a backbencher (that is, someone who does not have a Ministerial or Cabinet assignment) you may not have as much responsibility as your Frontbench peers, but you do have a lot more freedom. You can ask any Minister (even the Prime Minister!) questions in Parliamentary question time threads. Note that you can only have 3 outstanding questions across all ministers (not per minister, but all) at one time. Ministers must answer your questions within 72 hours. If they miss the deadline, you can remind them or ask Mr. Speaker to yell at them through a Point of Order. Once one of your questions is answered, you can ask another. Asking questions is a great way to raise your profile on the backbenches and help out your party (or give them a headache!)

If you're on the frontbench, you can only ask questions to your opposite number if you are on the Shadow Cabinet, and if you are a Minister, well, you can't ask questions at all and are just answering questions. The same rule of 3 outstanding questions and 72 hours applies to Shadow Cabinet questions to their Minister. If you're in Government, you'll be working with the Cabinet and PM to put forward legislation, ministerial statements, press, and all that jazz to help your party increase in the polls and increase your popularity.

No matter where you are, you can always help (or disrupt) your party through press, speeches, tweets, and even, if you're feeling bold, through leaks to the press (simply DM an admin if you want to do that).

Of course, there's much more to the game, but hopefully this guide will help you get started. If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask members of your party or the a-team, we're a mostly friendly bunch.

Welcome again to PolUK! We look forward to seeing your political star rise and/or spectacularly fall!
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