Welcome!
Located within this article are a variety of questions that have been asked before or that are seen as important enough to list off. These questions range from certain restrictions to basic questions about real life equivalents. In case you feel that there is a question missing, feel free to put it in #helpdesk on discord or send a message through the forum's messaging system.
GAMEPLAY
I want to join! How do I do this?
Wow! That's great! In this case, follow the instruction presented at the Front Desk of our Academy.
How many nations can I have?
You can have one nation and one nation only. That's not to say that you can't have, as an example, various groups or autonomous states within your nation as a way to switch things up.
I have elves, dwarves and orks. Is that okay?
No. Eurth is a human-only non-fantasy region. Realism is the key word. Could you have an elite that gets their ears cut through plastic surgery as a way to adapt to some weird body ideal and look elf-like? Sure, so long as you keep in mind that this has disadvantages. Surgeries can go wrong, ears can get infected, not everyone will want to do it, other nations and cultures will find yours weird, etc. Similarly, dwarves... Could you have a nation with a higher than normal rate of dwarfism or a shorter population? Sure. But keep in mind that you're not going to have a nation only made up of these people. Keep in mind that dwarfism leads to a whole variety of health issues, among other issues.
How about human-only meme nations?
No. We're aiming for realism. That excludes meme-nations based on a joke. This stems from a strange interaction with Kendrickianna, a meme-nation based entirely on animated GIF's of the RL entertainer Anna Kendrick.
MAP & CARTOGRAPHY
How can I get on your map?
Candidates will have to go through the Academy first. Once you graduate, the path to map-hood is open. To help things along we've also included some nice and easy to understand instructions on applying for the map. If you feel unsure about any of these, please look around at some earlier applications to see how they were handled and answered.
Can I be on the Europa continent?
No. This is a legacy area and is locked to new players. Other continents were added to increase the possibilities. To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke: "All these continents are yours except Europa. Attempt no claim there. Use them together. Use them in peace."
HISTORY & CULTURE
Is there a [add name of messiah] equivalent on Eurth?
Eh, yes and no. Here's the thing: We try to get everyone to be as creative as possible, to move away from real life. In some ways, this has succeeded, in some ways, it hasn't. In reality, a discussion on the history of Christianity and Judaism ended in limbo and the main nations having Judaism and involving Judaism turned out to be one of the many personalities of the person that made the first question of this FAQ extremely important. Similarly, none of the Muslim nations are active and their lore hasn't really been fleshed out. It's all a bit scattered and in limbo as people claim to have their own, non-affiliated churches and religions; although the discussion on the history of Christianity and Judaism did help in that regard to get people to consolidate and associate a bit more.
Is there a Roman or Byzantine Empire?
There was a Byzantium-like area in Europa called the Aroman Empire. Similar to the RL Roman Empire, it crumbled into various nations, the most important of which are Adaptus and Tagmatium. Tagmatium is a great and active staff member and would love to explain more to you if you need specifics. Another great place to start in regards to the Aroman Empire is the iiwiki page on it.
Can I claim a global religious leader ?
Maybe, depending on the religion you wish to lead. Have a look at our IIWiki article on existing religions on Eurth first before starting this OOC discussion.
Can I claim my nation is populated by neanderthals or other variants of humans?
Listen, you can claim almost anything. You can claim the people in your nation are some special type of homo whateveris. Hell, I made a news post where phrenologists were mentioned. You're more than allowed to have pseudo-science reign your nation if you wish to do so. Realism, obviously, dictates that these claims hold no factual proof and aren't true but that could be the whole fun of it, roleplaying a nation where scientists, politicians and whomever else do their best to fudge results and more. Just think of North Korea and some of the great claims they released at times.
TECHNOLOGY
Can I have nukes?
Short answer? No. Long answer? Theoretically, it's possible for a nation to develop nukes. It'd require a lot of roleplaying, a lot of time, etc. And there are specific guidelines/rules in the works which may end up changing this answer to include more/specific instructions. But what you really want to ask yourself is: Why do I want nukes? Do you want them for historic reasons? Do you want to have them in modern times? Having nukes as a historical plot point while not having them in modern times is far more acceptable, for example, albeit still something you should discuss with the mod team; your nation getting close to developing nukes could be the last reason needed for a hostile power to start a war, invade you or otherwise seek to disrupt that progress. That, of course, also goes the other way around. However, what we often see is that people seek nukes for two reasons, either they want nukes to be the cool kid on the block that has all the nifty gadgets (the Rule of Cool comes to mind in that regard) or they seek nukes to become impregnable, a power right from the start. Please don't try to be either one of those two because you're going to have a bad time here in/on Eurth in that case.
Can I have Thorium?
Eurth has the rule that only proven technologies can be used on Eurth. This means that, while you can have thorium research centers, as that's been done, you can't have thorium energy plants, as they haven't been done. That's the general rule of thumb for everything, what's been done can be done. In doubt? Discuss it with a member of the mod team.
Can I have a space program?
Yes, provided you complete the necessary steps for developing one. Going to space is expensive. Some steps on the ladder require that you cooperate with other players. This will increase your enjoyment.
