User:Jemiller226/Qpawn
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Qpawn is geopolitical simulator where people or "players" can join up as the leader of a nation of their choice and perform the foreign, economic, military, and political policies that they wish.
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[edit] History of Qpawn
Qpawn has been in existence in various forms since the winter of 1998. With only very basic html knowledge and the tools provided by Angelfire , high school students from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania got together and created this irreverent political simulator.
Originally, the game was to be called "CPAWN", which stood for Commoners Posing as World Nations. Unfortunately "CPAWN" was taken. Many people believe the name is derived from Queen to Pawn, but it was revealed that Qpawn was simply the coolest sounding alternative.
The basic concept was simple; people signed up to play as world leaders. They were to send all actions to their regional avatars (moderators), broken up into North and South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and Europe. The avatars acted as Gods over their respective regions, causing reactions to their player’s actions. If the actions were private in nature, the Avatar would generally email the reaction. If the action was deemed newsworthy, the avatar would post it on his regional news site. All major actions, generally involving war and cross-continental disputes were written about by the Arch-Avatar, or Qpawn God. All disputes, questions, and logistics were handled by him.
In 1998, Qpawn had roughly 40 players from two high schools in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The rivalry was intense, but do to inactivity from the Avatars, it quickly fell apart. The next incarnation was done entirely through the high school kids from Pittsburgh, managing to have a continuous game from 1999 all the way through 2002. What started as a game for just local kids, quickly expanded into a global game with hundreds of players trying to sign up every week, spanning 4 continents.
[edit] Early Qpawn Staples
Qpawn had several aesthetic and game play nuances that remained constant during this period. Qpawn was utterly basic, relying only on text and Microsoft Paint enhanced maps. The only other graphic was very rudimentary spinning globe, nestled atop each page. The color of the Qpawn main site was a very abrasive yellow. Most new visitors found this layout hideous, but generally after a while admitted there was a certain amount of charm.
In keeping with its irreverent mantra, news stories were often tongue and cheek. Using the guiding principal of realistic reactions for unrealistic actions, often news stories would revel in the stupidity of world leaders. On one such occasion, a prepubescent leader sent his avatar the following action: “bomb Russia”. But because he did not provide any details, the avatar had the bombers target Russian cow pastures, even providing a chart displaying the cost of the bombings vs. the cost of the dead cattle.
There was also a message board where speeches could be made, but because the Avatars were instructed to disregard the posts, the speeches board became a bastion for all things creative. Everything from politics to petty name calling went on in this forum. Qpawn was so committed to free speech on the internet, that swearing and personal insults were all but encouraged.
The American Press became a new fixture in 2001, writing scathing parodies on world leaders. Generally degrading the leader into a despicable caricature, they were known for biting humor and instantly became a favorite of all those not targeted.
[edit] Changing of the guard
In the late summer of 2002, longtime Arch-Avatar Ian Brinksman formally gave the game to Stephen J. O’Keeffe, on the condition it be returned if ever asked. O’Keeffe has run the game ever since, with a few years break in which the game was controlled by Worldswar. The game has experienced many radical changes to compete with similar games as well as by demand of the players themselves. The game has an economic system, where diplomacy is prioritised.
[edit] Modern Qpawn
Around the year 2003, Qpawn experienced problems between the old players and many new players. The game was split into two—Qpawn and "Qpawn-World Power". The original Qpawn failed quite quickly due to lack of administration efforts, even though other players volunteered to administrate Qpawn. The "World Power" spin-off was moved to the Avidgamers game forum system, and still exists, though with a reduced amount of players.
In September 2005, Qpawn was re-launched off of Avidgamers. An old administrator, Stephen James O'Keeffe, was asked to run it. It started with many new players, but with some old moderators. The Qpawn system has been changed to make it easier and hopefully more fun for players. For example, the QPawn "Daily News" was created, and a new system of moderators was introduced. The game is played through a forum.
At present, with several different versions—both active and inactive—on the web, Qpawn has become more of a catch-all name for several different games than the name of a single game. The web geography of Qpawn spin-offs is confusing and convoluted, with different games holding the same name, and claiming the Qpawn legacy to be their own. However it is generally considered that the angelfire site, where Qpawn started is the original game.
[edit] How Qpawn Is Played
Each player takes the role of the leader of a nation, or in some cases the leader of an organization.
Players submit actions to one or more referees or game leaders, who are called Moderators or Avatars. Such an action is generally a detailed plan for something the player wants to happen. Actions can be anything a player can imagine (such as an order to start a war, or raise the income tax). Actions are sent to the moderators through the "private message" or "in-game message" system of the forum. Players also need to prepare budgets in which they decide how they will spend their national revenue.
The moderators determine the results of actions based entirely on their own experience and knowledge; players usually have no say in the moderators' decisions. As news is released, the players react by making statements and sending in additional actions. Roleplaying is important, as players must act as if they were actually the leader of the nation they play.
In a forum-based geopolitical simulator, players have access to common boards and usually to a few private boards for organizations (such as OPEC, the UN, the EU, or NATO). The common boards usually include a forum in which players discuss world events, an "Out of Character" (OOC) forum, and a news forum in which the moderators post the news.
