Cyber Nations
Encyclopedia
Cyber Nations is a massive multiplayer online
geo-political simulator. Players assume the role of a national leader
of a fictional nation
they create and then run.
Cyber Nations was created by Kevin Marks, modelled on a game he invented as a child involving a world map and push pins. In 2003, Marks started a website
for the game, although the domain sat idle for two years. On December 24, 2005, he began to code
the game, and Cyber Nations was finally released to the public on January 6, 2006.
In the beginning, Cyber Nations was heavily linked to the game Jennifer Government: NationStates
and a lot of its oldest members were recruited from there. Several of the oldest teams from NationStates became Alliances in Cyber Nations.
name and location on Cyber Nations's planet, known by various names including Digiterra (from digital and Terra, Earth
), Cyberverse (from cyber and universe) or Planet Bob (originated as a reference to the film Titan A. E. and often attributed to one of the in-game alliances), the income tax
percentage, and various other settings such as the structure of government, the national religion and positions on various issues, all of which may be changed, by the player, after nation creation. Nations may collect taxes and pay bills daily, or wait for an update cycle (24 hours) to gain interest. Many factors affect the happiness of a nation's citizens, which in turn directly impacts that nation's income. By buying more infrastructure
, a player can improve the economy and increase the population of their nation. Factors that affect a nation's income include the nation's technology level, infrastructure level, resources available, war readiness, position in colour team, and inter-colour team trading. In addition to these primarily economic decisions, numerous social, political and diplomatic decisions are possible. These can be modified in a special menu which displays a variety of choices regarding things like immigration
, nuclear proliferation
, and human rights; these all determine the welfare of the nation, though the effect is relatively minute.
There is also a large amount of offsite tools for calculating things such as purchases of infrastructure, or organizing trade circles.
on YouTube, using the Norwegian national anthem. The Norwegian
government and press did not check up on the story further, but were outraged over their national anthem being used in the background for a "neo-Nazi cell based in Germany" and requested YouTube
to pull the video immediately. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry contacted YouTube about the video sometime prior to December 25, 2006, but YouTube did nothing at the time. The stated reason for the removal request was the "Nazi references and symbols" present in the video.
The next day, after an official statement from Nordreich in which one of the leaders of Nordreich stated that they were not neo-Nazis and did not condone such behaviour, the incident was cleared up. The Norwegian papers which attacked Nordreich in print were also verbally reprimanded for their poor research and journalism. The video in question was later removed by YouTube on the grounds of copyright violation. The second Aftenposten article's mention of Cyber Nations made Cyber Nations more popular - causing Fark
to link Cyber Nations to their main page, as well as nearly doubling the number of people who signed up for the game daily.
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
geo-political simulator. Players assume the role of a national leader
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
of a fictional nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
they create and then run.
Cyber Nations was created by Kevin Marks, modelled on a game he invented as a child involving a world map and push pins. In 2003, Marks started a website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
for the game, although the domain sat idle for two years. On December 24, 2005, he began to code
Code
A code is a rule for converting a piece of information into another form or representation , not necessarily of the same type....
the game, and Cyber Nations was finally released to the public on January 6, 2006.
In the beginning, Cyber Nations was heavily linked to the game Jennifer Government: NationStates
Jennifer Government: NationStates
Jennifer Government: NationStates is a multiplayer nation simulation browser game. It was created by Max Barry and was publicly released on 13 November 2002, based loosely on his novel Jennifer Government. The game has hosted over 3 million nations...
and a lot of its oldest members were recruited from there. Several of the oldest teams from NationStates became Alliances in Cyber Nations.
Gameplay
When a player first creates a country, they choose a national name, a capital cityCity
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
name and location on Cyber Nations's planet, known by various names including Digiterra (from digital and Terra, Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
), Cyberverse (from cyber and universe) or Planet Bob (originated as a reference to the film Titan A. E. and often attributed to one of the in-game alliances), the income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
percentage, and various other settings such as the structure of government, the national religion and positions on various issues, all of which may be changed, by the player, after nation creation. Nations may collect taxes and pay bills daily, or wait for an update cycle (24 hours) to gain interest. Many factors affect the happiness of a nation's citizens, which in turn directly impacts that nation's income. By buying more infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
, a player can improve the economy and increase the population of their nation. Factors that affect a nation's income include the nation's technology level, infrastructure level, resources available, war readiness, position in colour team, and inter-colour team trading. In addition to these primarily economic decisions, numerous social, political and diplomatic decisions are possible. These can be modified in a special menu which displays a variety of choices regarding things like immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is a term now used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the...
, and human rights; these all determine the welfare of the nation, though the effect is relatively minute.
Other sites and tools
Much of the gameplay of CyberNations is found on its usual link, however, a large part of the game is played on various offsite forums and on IRC channels. Nations and alliances often create such offsite pages that are linked to, and play a key role in, the game. The most common offsite pages are alliance forums and IRCs, though there are other ones used too.There is also a large amount of offsite tools for calculating things such as purchases of infrastructure, or organizing trade circles.
Alliances
A large amount of game play is alliance based, and players are recruited almost immediately as they join the game. Alliances are created by players but have been coded into the game. An alliance offers many benefits, including protection from attacks, camaraderie, aid (money or technology or military) and information on basic game play and nation building. Most alliances have off site forums and charters to explain their rules and several IRC channels. Typically, alliances strive to operate with a full-fledged governmental power structure, with varying levels of democratic influence but almost always possessing heads of state and departments (often: internal affairs, foreign affairs, war, economy and communications) among other specialized positions, leading to an internal political atmosphere that is for many players the driving force of the game. In this way it is the alliances (particularly larger ones) rather than individual player's nations that are more analogous to real-world nations. Alliances of alliances in Cyber Nations are referred to as 'blocs'.Controversy
On January 2, 2007, an in-game alliance of nations known as Nordreich caused controversy when a Norwegian newspaper posted a story about a neo-Nazi group posting propagandaPropaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
on YouTube, using the Norwegian national anthem. The Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
government and press did not check up on the story further, but were outraged over their national anthem being used in the background for a "neo-Nazi cell based in Germany" and requested YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
to pull the video immediately. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry contacted YouTube about the video sometime prior to December 25, 2006, but YouTube did nothing at the time. The stated reason for the removal request was the "Nazi references and symbols" present in the video.
The next day, after an official statement from Nordreich in which one of the leaders of Nordreich stated that they were not neo-Nazis and did not condone such behaviour, the incident was cleared up. The Norwegian papers which attacked Nordreich in print were also verbally reprimanded for their poor research and journalism. The video in question was later removed by YouTube on the grounds of copyright violation. The second Aftenposten article's mention of Cyber Nations made Cyber Nations more popular - causing Fark
Fark
Fark is a community website created by Drew Curtis that allows members to comment on a daily batch of news articles and other items from various websites. As of June 2009, the site boasts approximately four million unique visitors per month, which puts it among the top 100 English language websites...
to link Cyber Nations to their main page, as well as nearly doubling the number of people who signed up for the game daily.