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1A. The Regional Rules will constitute of those included in this Factbook, which will be maintained and updated by the Regional Administration (RA).

1B. The Regional Administration (RA) shall consist of the Founder and the Roleplay Coordinators.

All members of the RA shall be tasked with moderating the region and the regional Discord server. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

2A. The Roleplay (RP) Coordinators have ultimate authority on matters of RP, barring the intervention of the Founder.

2B. The Founder, acting on the best interests of the region, reserves the right to make changes and implement new rules without a regional vote.

2C. In absence of the Founder, the RA as a collective is authorized to act on his/her behalf, taking into consideration the best interests of the region.

2D. The Economics Coordinator(s) will advise the RA on economic matters including, but not limited to, national budgets, major projects, and economic consequences of conflicts, sanctions, etc. The Roleplay Coordinators should take into account the Economics Coordinators' advice when determining the integrity of a Player's RP.

The office of Economics Coordinator shall reside with the Roleplay Coordinators where there are no viable or present candidates for the office of Economics Coordinator.

3A. The following forms of expression will not be tolerated on the RMB, TG, nor in the Regional Discord:

1. Expression of a racist, xenophobic, or discriminatory character; and

2. Expression that abuses or bullies. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

Failure to comply with this rule shall be penalized by the RA in accordance with the escalating penalties contained in Rule 3A. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

Starting, maintaining, or encouraging divisive arguments will not be permitted on the RMB under any circumstances. As such, these discussions should take place either through TG or in #discussion on the Regional Discord, in a civilized and respectful manner. Non compliance of this rule shall be penalized by the RA in accordance with the escalating penalties contained in Rule 3A. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

3B. The escalating penalties are as follows for infractions on the Discord server:

1. A 1-hour mute or timeout from the Discord for the first infraction;

2. A 1-day mute or timeout from the Discord for the second;

3. A 1-week ban from the Discord for the third;

4. A 2-month ban from the Discord for the fourth;

5. An indefinite ban from the Discord for the fifth, to be overturned in accordance with rule 8B;

6. An indefinite ban from the Discord for the sixth, with no invocation of rule 8B. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)
   

The escalating penalties are as follows for infractions on NS:

1. A warning for the first infraction;

2. An ejection from the region for the second;

3. A 1-week ban from the region for the third, to be overturned in accordance with rule 8B;

4. A 2-month ban from the region for the fourth, to be overturned in accordance with rule 8B;

5. An indefinite ban from the region for the fifth, to be overturned in accordance with rule 8B;

6. An indefinite ban from the region for the sixth, with no invocation of rule 8B. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)
   

4. OOC (Out of Character) discussion on the RMB is permitted. However, this is to be kept to an absolute minimum. If a RP-participating nation requests for OOC discussion on the RMB to end, it is expected that said OOC talk will be continued via TG or another method of discussion.

5A. 20 consecutive days without RPing or posting on the RMB constitutes grounds for removal from the map. Legitimate reasons for this inactivity will be evaluated on a case by case basis, but in most cases, there must be warning given to the RA before said period of inactivity begins.

5B. If there are 3 consecutive periods of 15 days without RPing or posting on the RMB, the RP Coordinators reserve the right to remove your nation from the map. This applies even with short intermediary periods of minimal posting.

5C. If a nation does not post within five days of being accepted, they will be removed from the map.

5D. All nations that leave the map will have their territories revert back to being NPCs. Territories may not be gifted or given to another nation should a player decide to leave.

6A. All RPers are required to join the World Assembly (WA) and to endorse the current Minister of Assembly Affairs. Continued membership and endorsement is required for remaining an RP, barring exceptions listed only in 6B.

6B. Rarely exceptions may be made at the discretion of the Regional Administration regarding the requirement of WA membership, where the applicant is known and maintains a verified presence on the Discord server, and must also have their other nation(s) verified as well. This will be closely monitored by the RA and permissions regarding this can be revoked at any time.

6C. Any nation that leaves the region of their own volition will be required to re-apply for membership should it decide to return to Geopolity. This will be monitored in a case-by-case basis. (Amended 13 Nov 2023)

7A. A complaint shall be submitted and processed through one of the following mediums:

· The Regional Discord
· via TG. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

Complaints on RP matters shall be addressed solely by the RP Coordinators.
Complaints on OOC matters shall be addressed by the RP Coordinators first. The panel will be extended to the entirety of the RA if an appeal is sought. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

The player may add a witness who shall observe the proceeding[s]. The RA reserves the right to add or remove a channel for complaint based on the usage of said medium except via TG. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

7B. Upon arbitrating on any dispute or complaint, the RA must publish its decision and each member's summarized opinion in a public log to ensure transparency in substantive reasoning.
The identities of each opinion's author will be anonymized. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

8A. After being banjected from the region, no player that has been banjected may return unless removed from the banjection list by an RA vote.

8B. After being banjected from the Discord, no player that has been banned may return unless removed from the banned list by an RA vote. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

9. Only persons who have had their RP application accepted may post on the RMB. All other posts will be suppressed until said person submits and has his/her application accepted by the RA. Once accepted, the original application should be left archived and un-edited (Amended 30 Jan 2024).

10. All officials of the Regional Administration shall be appointed by the Founder. (Amended 13 Nov 2023)

11. Time progresses at a rate of 1 day IRL = 1 week in RP. (Exceptions apply to Character RP, where time may move much more slowly).

12A. All NPC nations are believed to be their real life, or as close to real life equivalent as they can be made. This does not mean that NPC nations will have international ties, such as defensive pacts.

12B. Real life figures of major importance may not be used in RP. They may of course be mentioned in history (provided that they closely mirror their RL persona). This is evaluated on a case by case basis by the RP coordinators.

13A. Limited NPC interaction (such as trade and/or tourism) will be permitted, so long as there is accurate support for this trade or tourism. So long as what you are RPing has no dynamic effect on the NPC nations (e.g. inciting an armed insurrection in an NPC country), then said interactions will be tolerated. This will be regulated by the RP Coordinators on an as-needed basis.

13B. Automated trade with an NPC is allowed unless the player states otherwise (through RMB or Factbook). This trade shall be based on the RL trade existing between both countries. This does not apply to corporations: the player in question must ask permission from the RA before having one of his/her companies operate in an NPC, and any attempt to have corporations operate in NPCs without permission from the RA will be invalidated.

14A. Players are not permitted to RP for or within another nation without their express permission.

14B. Propaganda and the like are permitted. However, if this becomes too inflammatory, the RP Coordinators retain the right to intervene on this matter.

15A. Wars between players should be mutually agreed.

15B. Players should agree a broad outline of what will happen and how including approximate losses on each side. They can keep this agreement private if they want to and change it with mutual consent. Players may also wish to agree a posting limit i.e. the number of posts each player or side can post in a day. The default is three each.

In wars involving more than two players, a principle player from each side should be appointed to co-ordinate and reduce message spam.

15C. Players should be aware if declaring war on a player who is a member of an alliance subject to a collective security provision that unless explicitly agreed between the parties that other members of that treaty organisation could be allowed to join and players are expected to RP with these additional players.

In cases where war is provoked, for example by breaking treaty obligations or an attempt to restrict an international waterway under Rule 22 without a reasonable ground, those involved should arrange who will be involved and how as rule 15a.

15D. WMDs should be the final resort option in war, because of their devastating consequences. The RA will assess this on a case-by-case basis.

15E. Inter-alliance war should be very carefully considered and ideally viewed as a last resort before an player-against-player conflict RP begins. The Regional Administration shall be involved in planning.

16. To expand your land claim - including during a war with another member nation - an application must be submitted to, and approved by, the Regional Administration. Expansion claims which are accepted but not actively roleplayed or integrated into a wider claim, may be nullified after 3 months of inactivity.

17A. The use of biological, nuclear, and radiological weapons must be approved by a RP Coordinator. The use of chemical weapons is openly permitted, so long as your nation has the ability IRL to produce said weapons, and has developed the ability through RP, or has purchased them from nations that have this capability.

17B. Nations can develop a WMD program, but must submit an application of the program they wish to pursue to the Regional Administration for approval. Research is strongly advised to determine costs of these programs with source material for costs being provided (Wikipedia, Mainstream news sources, Educational sources).

Each application will be reviewed on a case of case basis to ensure realism for the nation applying. Costs and timeline will be different for each nation. For example, North Korea can’t achieve the same level of nuclear power as The United States due to economic burden, as such nations that do not have a strong economic output will take longer to develop a program. This application may be found here.

17C. Nations without naturally occurring sources of material must gain the material from elsewhere, and must be sourced from another Player Nation. Material from an NPC is not allowed.

17D. A nation can develop technology in-house for weapons, but without prior experience, they must do so at a slower pace. If a nation receives technological experience from a nation currently possessing such weapons, the timeline can speed up. The speed of development will be reviewed on a case by case basis by the Regional Administration. Nations wishing to develop stronger capabilities of a nuclear weapons program can do so with out re-applying, but must do so realistically. All development of nuclear capabilities will be monitored by the Regional Administration.

17E. Weapons being developed must have a real life equivalent, including delivery applications, with links being provided in the application to show what is being developed, and may cannot exceed the tonnage of the Tsar Bomba at a 50 Mt yield.

17F. Nations testing devices must roleplay out the affects of certain devices, especially of nuclear weapons, rather this is negative or not.

17G. Nations wishing to develop different chemical, biological or radiological weapons must re-apply for each different program to ensure realism.

17H. All usage of these weapons, testing or utilization in warfare, will be monitored by the Regional Administration. Usage of WMDs on another Nation(s) (non-NPC) is allowed with the consent of all involved, with approval from the regional administration.

17I. Some secrecy may be involved initially, but once testing begins, for nuclear weapons especially, nations will be able to respond to the testing. Chemical, biological and radiological weapons may eventually be found and roleplayed, and will be monitored on a case by case basis by the Regional Administration.

18. 0.4% of your population is the recommended maximum for active forces during peacetime. If your figure is higher, it will be expected that economic problems will begin to arise within your nation. In wartime, this cap is lifted and a realistic limit placed by the RP Coordinators depending on the severity of the situation. This process will be observed closely by the RP Coordinators.

19. If military equipment is not listed in your application, then it will be presumed you use equipment of your primary real life constituent (The RL country that makes up the most of your claim). This means that a country based out of North Korea could not field modern American equipment unless they had stated that in their application, or purchased/developed it through RP. Limits will be placed on what a nation can develop in RP.

Where a claim does not hold the entirety of a RL country/countries but mere subdivisions (i.e: a state or province), presumptions of military equipment will be based on military formations currently based within that RL subdivision. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

The military equipment of a claim does not include equipment associated with overseas units, i.e: American forces in the ROK and Japan. (Amended 8 Feb 2023)

20. The technology level for this region is Modern Tech.

All technology must have a real life equivalent, or at the very least expected to be completed and tested within the next five years. RP developments will be heavily monitored by the RP Coordinators, making sure that they occur at a realistic pace. This rule will be strictly applied to spacefaring technology/outer space technology (i.e: space stations, rockets, projects), which must be wholly completed IRL before they may exist in RP. (Amended 29 Mar 2023)

All military equipment must have a real life equivalent, or at the very least expected to be completed and tested within the next five years. RP developments will be heavily monitored by the RP Coordinators, making sure that they occur at a realistic pace. Some types of equipment may have this rule more strictly applied (i.e. Aircraft) than others (i.e. Naval vessels).

21. The provisions of the RL Antarctic Treaty System will apply in Roleplay.
While accepted nations are not forbidden to claim territory in the Antarctic continent, in practice said claim will not form part of their country, and will not necessarily be recognized by the rest of the players. Roleplay taking place in the Antarctic continent will be restricted to diplomatic, environmental and/or scientific aspects.

22. The provisions of the RL UN Convention on the Law of the Sea III will apply in Roleplay.
Further information can be found here:

The following places are classified as international waterways:

• Danish Straits

• Strait of Gibraltar

• Dardanelles Strait

• Bosphorus Strait

• Suez Canal

• Panama Canal

• Strait of Hormuz

• Bab-el-Mandeb Strait

• Strait of Malacca
  

Players owning these waterways partially or fully will not restrict other players from transiting said waterways, as long they have peaceful purposes. Nations seeking to transport military vessels through the aforementioned passages might have their ships' access denied by the controlling player/s.

The term "restrict" shall be defined as any intentional in-game action which directly deprives or limits access through an international waterway. This may include, subject to reasonable grounds:

• Blockades;

• Boardings and inspections;

• Denial of passage; or

• Physical attacks on maritime vessels.
  

Reasonable grounds may include, but are not limited to, counter-narcotics measures, compliance measures with international obligations, and UAN resolutions.

Restricting passage to a nation seeking to transit peacefully, and with whom the controlling player is not at war with, can be interpreted as a casus belli by the affected country, depending on the context.

This will be monitored *in extreme detail* by the RP Coordinators as to not overlap with Rule 15.

23. Members will not be allowed to repost content as an excuse to maintain activity. Members commit themselves to refrain from fully or partially reposting RP content made in Geopolity or other regions, in an account of their ownership.

The purpose of this rule is to maintain and encourage original content in our region.

If a member is found to be breaching this rule, punitive measures will be applied at the RA's discretion.

24. Natural disasters (meteorological, geological & hydrological events, etcetera) shall be canonic in RP. All members will be required to be aware of such events happening in the geographic location and/or vicinities of their claim, and to RP them as they happen in RL, adequating all pertinent details to the RP world.

25A. A GDP cap of USD/RC$ 18 trillion shall apply for all countries in RP. Having reached that number, players will be allowed to continue roleplaying economic growth and/or expansion events, but said RP will not translate to changes that will allow them to exceed that value.

25B. A discretionary limit of 3,287,956 square miles (8,515,767 sq km) shall be applied. Having reached or exceeded that number, the RA will have to officially review and consider the possibility of applying a landcap to a country. A landcap might be applied or not depending on other factors such as population and GDP numbers, and will vary on a case-by-case basis.

25C. Specific GDP per capita limits shall apply to the RP African continent.
A base limit of USD/RC$ 4,200 GDP per capita shall apply for all claims located in the continent whose RL values in that aspect are found to be below that number.
An upper limit of USD/RC$ 15,000 GDP per capita shall apply to the entirety of the continent. However, once an African country has reached that upper limit, players will be allowed to continue roleplaying economic growth and/or expansion events, but said RP will not translate to changes that will allow them to exceed that value, regardless if their nominal GDP figure hasn’t reached the $18 trillion GDP cap limit.

26. The RA may retrospectively invalidate any RP action if:

a) The RP action in question is an egregious breach of Regional Rules or realism; and
b) The RP action in question occurred during the past 6 months.

27. A player cannot void their RP if:

a) It actively involves other players or the region as a whole;
b) It is a war or other armed conflict;
c) It is found that the player habitually voids their RP.