AMW: An Introduction
A Modern World (AMW) is a NationStates roleplaying community, founded long ago in the mists of time before any of us had suffered through Jolt. It was created when a number of players (led by the venerable Dra-pol), dissatisfied with the billion-person populations and fluid geography that characterized a lot of NS roleplay, came together to try something different: a more realistic world, where political maneuvers and trade negotiations were more common than total wars, where players could look at a map and know where a country’s mountains and resources were located, where the cultures of states and relationships between them could be developed over the long term.
A Modern World was the result.
Rules to Live By
In addition to the usual NS guidelines, there are a few rules which make AMW what it is:
Geography: The geography of A Modern World is the geography of the real world. Each claim occupies a section of the world (sometimes corresponding to a real country, but often not), and adopts the geographic features, natural resources, and climate of that area.
Population: Rather than the populations listed for our NS nations, in AMW we use the populations of the real-life territories that our states occupy. Where such territories occupy the borders of a real state, we use numbers from the CIA World Factbook. As many AMW states do not follow existing borders (an approach we encourage!), other sources must often be found, preferably census data, to determine specific population numbers for a territory.
Economy: The economy of a state in AMW is dictated neither by its NS nation page nor by that of the real-life territories it occupies. Instead, it is determined in a rather free-form manner, based on economic systems, foreign trade relations, resources, and market demands. A $47,000 per-capita GDP stands as the highest in our world (aside from a few micro-states), and even it is a rather unique presence, with most economies existing on the mid-to-low end of the scale.
Technology: A Modern World is (as one might guess) a world of modern technology. Essentially, the rule is that if a technology is not in-service at the present time, it does not exist in AMW. Thus an air-to-air missile designed along the lines of the AIM-120 (in service) could exist in AMW, while one along the lines of the MBDA Meteor (in development) or the photon torpedo (imagined-future) would not.
History/Culture: An AMW claim is not tied to the history, culture, language, etc of the territory claimed. Some of our players have chosen to play states which could be thought of as alternate histories for countries that exist in reality, while others go an entirely different route (such as an ancient Celtic state in Eastern Europe, or a unique Drapoel culture on the Korean peninsula). AMW players look back and seek to mesh their respective histories together, creating centuries of background rather than a sudden appearance in the world, and the sum total is a rich experience (and one quite different from ‘real’ history).
Non-Player Countries (NPCs): While we're always trying to ensure our world's map is full, there will likely exist areas where no player has claimed a state in A Modern World. To avoid questions, conflicts, and disputes, such NPC areas exist as blank spaces, marked on the map with 'Here be Dragons'. This means that existing players may not involve such countries in their histories or RPs, ensuring that a new claimant to the states will not be bound by pre-existing events and activities.
Joining AMW:
AMW is always looking for new members interested in the sort of world we’re trying to build. If you’re not sure just what our world is like, we suggest giving the first few posts in this thread a read, and perhaps looking around the forums for some of our RPs (usually marked with an [AMW] tag).
To make a claim, we ask you to post in this thread, telling us which territories your claim would cover, along with a brief overview of what your country would be like in terms of culture, politics, and economy. If you’ve picked up some AMW history, indicating where you think your state would fit into it would be helpful, though if not existing players can help out with suggestions. We also ask for a few samples of your roleplay, so we can get an impression of what sort of player you are. If you’re new to RP, or if you feel your previous work isn’t characteristic of what you’d want to bring to AMW, we suggest writing up a small sample RP post based on your claim... your head-of-government discussing the domestic situation with his cabinet, two friends chatting over a dinner of the local cuisine at the end of their work day, a border guard dealing with the monotony-punctuated-by-panic of his daily patrols, etc.
Once we receive that initial claim, the process begins. The pipeline from claim-to-member is a loose and winding thing... various AMW players will comment on the claim, pointing out problems or possibilities, and you may be asked to make changes or to expand upon certain aspects. Once your claim has been accepted by the players in the territories immediately surrounding it, and by a few of our veteran members, we’ll ask you to post a more detailed reference factbook, either here on the NS forums or on our off-site reference forum, where we can discuss the details of the claim and make sure everything is in order. Unless there are major objections, after that you’re in!
Don’t get discouraged if it seems to be taking some time to have your claim approved... typically you can expect to wait a week or two before getting the go-ahead. Think of the slow pace as a test of your long-term commitment to AMW ^_^.
It ought be noted that A Modern World is not a pick-up-and-play group... AMW threads are closed to non-members.
Useful Links
AMW Big Discussion Thread: A hefty thread here on the NS forums, which can be used for general questions, comments, and out-of-character discussion.
A Modern World (region): An NS region for AMW nations, for easier communication and to compare (irrelevant-to-AMW) World Census rankings. Joining is not mandatory for membership... a number of members aren’t present in the region, and a few non-members reside there as well.
AMW Off-Site Forum: A non-NS forum which we use to post factbooks, discuss possible RPs, engage in out-of-character banter and witty repartee, etc. As with the region, membership in the forum is useful but not mandatory... you could carry out all needed discussions on NS via regular posts and telegrams without much trouble.
IRC: For those craving instant gratification, AMW maintains an IRC channel (#amw on Esper.net) for chat and discussion. Information on connecting to it can be found here.
Old AMW Applications Thread: A long and cluttered read, in case anyone needs to reference previous applications.
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