All About Influence

April 2006

Introduction

As of version 1.9, all nations have "Regional Influence," which is a measure of how important a nation is considered in its current region. Influence is determined by two factors: how much time the nation has spent in this region, and how many WA endorsements it has had over that time.

Effect on Gameplay

Although being boast-worthy in its own right, Influence serves an important gameplay purpose. The ability of WA Delegates to eject and ban nations from their region, and to password-protect it, is limited by their Influence. That is, the longer a Delegate has been a resident of the region, and the more endorsements he has held over that time, the more able he is to eject, ban, and password-protect.

Delegates consume some of their Influence to exercise their power, so the more often he ejects, bans, and password-protects, the more difficult it is for him to wield those powers in the future.

In relation to ejecting and banning, the exact amount of Influence consumed depends on the target's Influence. A newcomer to a region may be ejected for very little cost, while ejecting a well-supported, long-time resident is very expensive.

Invasion Rules

With the introduction of Regional Influence, our rules governing "Invasion Griefing" are abolished.

That means we no longer have complicated rules dictating, for example, how many residents a Delegate can eject before the moderators consider it illegal "griefing." Delegates need not worry about whether they are allowed to eject, ban, or password-protect—instead, if the game lets you do them, they're legal.

This removes a major source of angst and uncertainty for players and moderators alike. In the past, some players didn't even know there were rules about ejecting nations until after they'd broken them. Even experienced players (and moderators!) sometimes found it difficult to separate genuine invasions from region griefing. We're very glad to be able to put this situation behind us.

Examples

Other Changes

Obsoleted Rules

As mentioned above, "Invasion Griefing" rules have been abolished. The forum rules sticky has been updated to reflect this, with the following old rules removed:

These rules no longer apply.

Notes