[Letum]

Fellow MUD/MUSH/MUX/whatever-ers,

I ask the following question. Does a MUSH based totally on politics exist? Something where, I dunno, you are a senator in ancient Rome, or the players play out the U.S. Congress or Senate. I ask because I would like to play on one. If one does not exist, I am infact learning PennMUSH, which I intend to use someday.

I also ask your opinion. Do you think such a MUSH would work? I don't know the entire details, but I'm thinking something about how the players would run the U.S. government, and maybe expand it so that people can live in the U.S. as well with other professions. Maybe to keep interest I'd make it in the future, with new technologies available for legislation. All of this said, the main focus would obviously be government.

So, what do you think, is this any more crazy than my idea for the Hornblower themed MUSH? I'm pretty sure it's a new concept, but if it's not, and one does exist, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know! I've been waiting for one for a long time.

Thanks,

-Letum

[Brody]

The following was posted on Jan. 31 at my Florida Online Gaming Alliance site - http://foga.jointhesaga.com :

Originally Posted by After many months of research and design, the Glory of Rome MUSH is preparing to open. GoR isn't like many MUSH games. The theme of the game is roleplaying the upper-class rulers of the Roman Republic. The start year is 134BC, and the main players of that era are included, including the descendants of Scipio Africanus, the Gracchi brothers, Marcus Livius Drusus, the historian Publius, and of course, the Aemilians, the Julians, Claudians, Octavians. To play, you select a pregenerated character, a member a patrican family, and probably a Senator. Your goal as a character in the Glory of Rome is to assure your family's prestige and honor. You rule Rome through diplomacy and through the wealth and power of your family. There are two mechanics that are central to the design of the game. The first is Influence Points. IP represent your personal and family wealth and power. You get IP annually from your family's holdings and other sources. You are free to give, trade or loan it away to anyone in the game. IP is central to political elections, which are decided in the game, in part, by which candidates spend the most IP. Roman politicians were notorious for buying elections and so can you! The second mechanic is Actions. You buy actions using IP, and Actions represent a huge and growing variety of activities, everything from placing a statue of a family member in the Forum Romanum to sponsoring a racing team in the Circus Maximus to assassinating one of your political rivals. Actions have varying costs, and the most expensive ones, such as assassinations, will require you to pool your IP with your family and friends. All of that may sound gamey, but play in the Glory of Rome is designed to mimic life in Republican Rome. Election to the office of Censor, Consul, Praetor, Aedile, Tribune and Quaestor brings more power and influence. And every five years, in game time, the characters elected Censors will do their duty of demoting those families who have not served in political office and promoting those who have. Elections for all the other offices happen every year in game time, so you'll find yourself campaigning regularly. You can campaign for yourself or your friends, and against your enemies. You alone decide how much is enough to spend on your campaign. As a Senator, you'll be faced with a number of pressing issues. Land reform is about to be the primary issue, dividing the Optimates from the Populares. As you may know, the Optimates or 'Best Men' were staunch conservatives and defenders of the values of Rome, as well as their own interests. The Populares were politicians who appealed to the plebes, the lower-class citizens who made up the mass of Rome's population. Whether sincere about helping the poor, or cynically using them to gain political power, the Populares agenda is a divisive one. Other issues facing the Senate are more familiar: dealing with slave revolts, food crises, foreign upstarts, repairs to public works, and bringing in the tax money. Female characters, of course, cannot hold office and must be discrete, but can often wield great power. Female characters have influence points they derive from their families, and they're free to make whatever arrangements they want to spend them. The social life of Roman families is also important. Characters are encouraged to hold 'dinner parties', complete with entertainment from poets and orators. The best parties will reward in and of themselves, but can also help to increase the prestige of your family. I'm not ready to start the clock on the game, but I am ready to start taking applications for the characters available. So stop by, look around, say hello, and +request a character. Glory of Rome MUSH telnet://gloryofrome.kyndig.com:4201 http://gloryofrome.kyndig.com GloryOfRome@bellsouth.net

Sounds about like what you were looking for