Vandy

General Game Rules

Please take note that this thread lays out the general rules for playing the the Virtual Government Simulation (VGS), which is the main game hosted on this website. The Terms of Service regulate general activity on this website; this thread solely contains the rules of the governmental simulation itself.

1. WINNING AND LOSING.

The administrators seek through VGS to provide a compelling, realistic simulation of United States politics. Just as there is no set definition of winning in politics, there is no set definition of winning in VGS. You can define victory for yourself -- perhaps in being elected president, being the most well-known journalist, or just getting a certain policy enacted. Just as there is no way to win, there is no way to definitively lose. Indeed, many in politics will seemingly return from the dead, so truly, the only way to lose is to give up.

2. A ROLE-PLAYING GAME.
 

The Virtual Government Simulation is ultimately a role playing game, where you players sign in characters that compete with others for power, fame, and fortune. Due to the inherently competitive nature of politics, other characters may betray, backstab, attack, and otherwise horribly treat your character. Yet it is important to remember that you are not your character, and that such nefarious conduct is expected by characters in politics. You should not blame another player for having a brutal, conniving, terrible character; such persons exist in politics, and you should instead thank that player for creating such a great antagonist for your character to fight. 

You are strictly prohibited from lobbying the administrators of this game to enact policy solely because those policies will favor your character. As a player, you are expected to promote a robust, healthy community that plays an excellent simulation. You should not sacrifice that merely because your character might be more successful.

3. CHARACTER RULES.

A player may create one of each of the following types of characters:
 

1. A United States Senate character. Please note that a player with a character that is President of the United States cannot also have a Congressional character. The Vice President of the United States can have a Senate multi, however.

2. A journalist or the operator of a media outlet. Please see the Player Media Rules.

3. The President of the United States of America, the Vice President of the United States of America, or a cabinet-level official. Please note that your character must be elected or appointed to this position through game mechanics; you cannot simply sign-in as an executive branch member. There may be at maximum five player-characters in the executive branch at any time. Please note that the President may not have a multi in the Senate. This rule does not apply to other Executive Advisers.
    

To create a character, post a thread in the character creation forum containing the biography of the character. Every character must abide by the biography guidelines, and must be approved by the Administrative Board. Every character that a player creates must be a member of the same political party as every other character that said player has created. Every character that a player creates must be related to, or closely associated with, every other character that said player has created. The accepted major parties are the Democrats and Republicans; any independent Senator must affiliate with a major party. (If they refuse, they will be affiliated with the minority coalition).

A player may stop playing a character at any time, but it is at the sole discretion of the Administrative Board to explain the sudden absence of that character. You as a player cannot decide that your character is retiring for health reasons, for instance. A player may elect to stop playing an old character, and instead play a new character of the same type, only once per game. So if you create a Congressional character, then announce you are done playing that character, then create another senator character, that is the last senator character you can create until the game resets. Please note that this limitation on the creation of new characters does not apply where a player goes inactive for an extended period then returns to the game.

You may simulate the actions of your character, and to a limited extent, your character's staff. Yet you cannot simulate the actions of anyone other than your character and your character's staff including other characters, random persons, crowds, and so on (except crowd reactions). What's more, your simulation of the actions of your character's staff should be limited to the very reasonable things that they would do in the ordinary course of their work, such as sending a letter on your character's behalf or introducing your character at a town hall. The sole exception to this rule is that at a press conference or town hall meeting, any player may post a question as a random reporter or townsperson, but only if such post is realistic and reasonable.

4. IN-CHARACTER FORUMS.

Each forum located in the Public Affairs, Capitol Hill, White House, and Elections categories is an in-character forum (except for party headquarters and war rooms). Posts in these forums are generally considered to be in character statements by one of your characters, including when the post takes the form of a press release, tweet, bill submission, or other clearly different in-character act. If you have multiple characters, and it is unclear from context which character is speaking or acting, you should specify. The Administrative Board will otherwise in the case of a dispute determine which of your characters was speaking or acting based upon an analysis of the totality of the circumstances.

You may make an out-of-character comment in an in-character forum only where a compelling justification for that out-of-character comment exists. Please mark the comment in some fashion as clearly OOC, as for example, as follows: ((OOC: Comment.)). Please note that you must include in such out-of-character comment the compelling justification for its posting. If you fail to appropriately justify an out-of-character comment in an in-character forum, your comment may simply be deemed an incomprehensible rambling by your character. Generally, neither a politician's constituents or a journalist's audience find it reassuring when that politician or journalist rambles incoherently, so beware.

Generally, you may edit a post you make in an-character forum for only five minutes after making that post.

5. IN-CHARACTER COMMUNICATIONS.

Players may engage in in-character communications outside the in-character forums via any medium including personal message, Telegram, and posts in the party headquarters. Communications on Telegram is considered out of character unless otherwise specified; as is communication via private message. However, the Administrative Board reserves the right to (in rare cases) to revoke this assumption and make communications in character, if the Administrative Board deems a compelling interest for these communications to be considered in character for the game.

The Administrative Board treats in-character communications differently depending on the medium. In-character communications via personal messenger are treated as formal, written communications between characters if both parties agree to the communication being in character. Generally, you may edit a personal message for only five minutes after making that message. In-character communications via other mediums including telegram and the party headquarters are treated as informal, verbal, unrecorded conversations between characters. Your character can say whatever s/he wishes about such a conversation, but cannot provide any verification that either the confirmation occurred or that certain words were spoken during the conversation. Your character cannot post a transcript of the conversation. The media and public may or may not believe your character's claims that a conversation occurred or that certain things were said in that conversation; ultimately, it will be a matter of spin.

To communicate with the public, you can consult this handy list of communication rules.

6. PARTIES.

There are two major parties in the United States; the Democratic and Republican Parties. To play a member of Congress or the Executive Branch, one must be affiliated with one of the two major parties, either directly or as an independent aligned with one of the two.

Parties expressly have the right, for any reason, to deny membership or ban any player from their parties and war rooms and telegram groups; in addition, parties may refuse any independent from joining their coalition. Party bans last a reset and should be renewed, if the party deems it fit. Should a player be banned from both parties or coalitions, they cannot play in Congress and must resort to playing in the media. 

Parties should elect a Leader and a Chair, at minimum. They may add or subtract other elected officials as they deem fit and they must have a Charter.

7. ACTIVITY REQUIREMENTS.
 

You must participate regularly in game play in order for your character to remain in the game. The Administrative Board will automatically sign-out your Congressional or media character after two weeks, and your Executive character after a week, if during that period you take no substantive actions as that character if not on a legitimate leave of absence. You may return to the game at any time after going inactive and reclaim a Congressional or media character, but you can rejoin the Executive Branch only through election or appointment.

You may post a leave of absence if you are expecting to be unable to play the game for a brief period for out-of-game reasons. During a posted leave of absence, days of absence will not be counted towards the activity requirements above, and your characters will not be penalized in-game for any inaction on any subject. There is generally a one-week limit on leaves of absence, meaning the longest you will receive the benefits of this protection is for seven days. Furthermore, if you take an unreasonable number of leaves of absence during a round, your executive character may be signed out to ensure the game continues operating during your times away.

8. MECHANICS IN GENERAL.
 

You principally play the game by having your character seek to influence the world around him/her in order to pursue the goals that you have set for him/her. A character can do this through public activity (see section 8), legislative activity if a member of Congress (see section 9), executive activity if a member of the executive branch (see section 10), and media activity if a media character (see Player Media Rules). To facilitate this work, a non-media character can engage in fundraising, via fundraisers (see fundraising and transfer rules). A player will finally be able to influence elections, though election mechanics are still being developed at this time.

The Administrative Board will simulate the response to player activities through in-game news articles, the provision of information to player media outlets so they can write in-game news articles, the publishing of the approval ratings of Congressional and Executive branch characters, and the President and Vice President, and the posting of direct non-player-character responses. We'll do our best to provide a truly immersive simulation, where you have an understanding of what is happening in the world in which your character lives. Yet we may miss some things; if you ever wonder if a real-life event occurred in-game, please feel free to ask about it here. Please be mindful that except as otherwise indicated (including in player biographies), all historical events occurring before the in-game start date occurred in real life. The in-game start date this round is April 1, 2003.

Please be mindful that the approval ratings noted above are incredibly important in terms of game play. The Administrative Board produces approval ratings by analyzing the activities of your character with an emphasis on public activity. You'll need to have your Congressional or Presidential character regularly engage in public activities in order to achieve and maintain a high approval rating; some acclaim can be gained solely through legislative or executive activity, but most voters will know what your character is doing only if your character tells them. There are of course some extraneous factors beyond your character's direct control that will impact your character's approval rating -- the public's view on your character's party, the public's view on the state of the nation, and much more. But your character can hugely impact it, and you should -- because public opinion is amongst the most important things for an elected official to track.

9. PUBLIC ACTIVITY MECHANICS.

There are a number of ways that your character can influence the public. You should create a press office thread for your Congressional character in the press offices forum, and post press releases on that thread in order to sway the mass media. You should create a public activities thread for your Congressional character in the character activities forum, and post events that your character attends and hosts in that thread, along with any speeches given (you may post talking points in place of a speech). You can create new threads for your character to hold town hall meetings and press conferences in the character activities forum, seeking to sway the public and the media in an interactive environment. Finally, as a member of the Executive branch, subject to the president's approval, you can post press releases and hold press conferences in the White House Press Briefing Room. Take advantage of these resources to make sure as a politician that the American people share your values and views.

If we are playing in an era after 2006, you should create a twitter thread for each of your characters in the twitter forum, and post tweets on that thread in order to sway the masses

10. LEGISLATIVE MECHANICS.

Each member of the Senate can become one by signing in. When you participate in the game, you engage in the IVS system - Individual Voting System. This gives "coalition votes" (members of the NPC members) in the game. Say, for example, you have 10 Republican Senators and the nominal number in the Senate is 53 Republicans. Under this example, one senator could - through a combination of leadership and passing bills - "control" a bloc of 10 (for example) Republican senators that vote with him. This creates an incentive to be in leadership and to pass bills. More information is found here.

Each Senator can move for cloture, amend, filibuster, and participate in debates. The Senate will have Committees that will pass and fail bills. And the Majority Leader will have the right - as do Committee Chairs - to docket bills. The Minority Leader and Ranking Member do not have power within the Senate to docket bills. Each bill must have 60 senators to pass cloture.

The Senate is allowed to create and pass its own rules and have a Majority Leader, Minority Leader, President Pro Tempore, Committee Chairs, Ranking Members, and all other appropriate officials.

The House of Representatives will be simulated by the Administrative Board. The rules for it can be found here.

11. EXECUTIVE MECHANICS.
 

The President of the United States of America holds immense political power, and Virtual Government Simulation extensively simulates this influence, generally providing the president the same powers as the president possesses in real life. The president is allotted an entire category for his or her work including the Oval Office forum (where executive orders are issued, bills are submitted, and other formal actions are taken), the Roosevelt Room forum (a password-protected forum for use in holding bipartisan negotiations), the West Wing forum (containing several sub-forums in which the president discusses issues with advisers and makes key decisions), and the Press Briefing Room. The vice president also automatically receives access to each of these forums including an office in the West Wing in which the vice president can engage in his or her own activities. In the case that the president resigns, goes inactive, or is removed from office, the vice president will assume the office of the presidency as in real life.
 

The president possesses the power of appointment as in real life, though the exercise of this authority is truncated to an extent to facilitate game play. The president appoints cabinet-level officials, Supreme Court justices, the Federal Reserve Chair, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and these appointments take the form of nominations subject to Senate approval. Yet all nominations are assumed confirmed unless the Senate Leader of the opposing party of the president indicates a desire to contest a nomination, in which case the nomination requires confirmation via a Senate vote. There is no simulation of the appointment of sub cabinet officials, judges of federal courts inferior to the supreme court, military officers, or diplomatic officers. The Administrative Board will where necessary select a non-player character to fill such a role, basing the selection on the president's simulated appointments. A player president may fill up to three cabinet-level offices with player characters not including the White House Chief of Staff; the president cannot appoint a player character to any other position. There is no simulation of recess appointments in the game.
 

The president also possesses the power of the veto as in real life. When the Congress passes a bill in-game, the Speaker or the President Pro Tempore will present the bill to the president, who can then either sign or veto it. The president only has five real-life days to either sign or veto the legislation; failure to act will result in the bill's automatic enactment. All bills that are not signed within five days of a Congressional session is considered pocket vetoed.
 

The President is also required to post an inaugural address upon taking office, and the State of the Union address. The opposition party must in each year in which a State of the Union address is delivered select a player-character to provide a formal response to the State of the Union address.

12. FEDERAL BUDGET

Each Presidential Administration (player) will pass a federal budget that covers all four years and raise (or not!) the federal debt ceiling as they see fit. The Administrative Board will unveil a sheet that will be distributed to the White House and the opposing party leadership. After a month or whatever Administrative Board - imposed deadline, a budget must be passed by the Congress and signed by the President (or a continuing resolution).

13. ADMINISTRATOR RESIGNATIONS AND JOINING THE GAME

Administrators may elect to join the game at large after resigning from the Administrative Board. However, there are certain restrictions that apply to their membership in the game. They cannot become party, committee, congressional leadership, or part of the Executive Branch until 5 days have elapsed between their sign in and the assumption of the new office. Additionally, no Administrator can join a party until ten days after an election result is announced. Lastly, if an Administrator participated in or graded a Presidential election, they cannot join the winning Administration until a full month after the election results are announced. The Chief Administrator is not allowed to - upon resignation - to join the game for a full fifteen days.

14. GENERAL CONDUCT

As is stipulated in the Terms of Service, every member of the game is expected to behave cordially to each other and the Administrative Board reserves the right to sanction behavior that they believe is harassing, unwanted, and unwelcome, within both private and public Telegram chats and the boards at large. Each member should strive to play through the game at large rather than participating on an OOC basis. The Administrative Board will not allow harassment, ganging up on members, and other unwelcome behavior.

15. ELECTION RULES.

In this reset, the Senate and House will be elected. Senators seeking re-election will either retain their seats or be defeated. If they are defeated, they will be allowed to sign in a new Senate character while the party gaining the Senate seat will reap some political rewards in the form of more representation in the Senate and other appropriate political rewards. In the House, the majority will be contested by both parties and won by a stipulated set of election rules or by using the general electoral mood.

The main forms of campaigning will be a stump speech, talking points, brief surrogate talking points, advertisements, and campaign offices. The Administrative Board will furnish costs for Advertisements and campaign offices.

17. MULTI RULES

Multis are acceptable if one chooses a Congressional and media character. They are not acceptable if one is the President and chooses to pick a Congressional Character. A Vice President may join Congress as a member of the Senate or House, as is appropriate.

18. VIOLATIONS.

Players are expected to play the game in good faith. Violating this rule -- or any rule contained in this thread or any other game rule thread -- may result in a player being prohibited from continuing to play the game. Violations of rules may alternatively result in violation-related scandals for a player's primary character. Please note that these rules are separate from the Terms of Service, which regulate conduct on this website in general, and which supersede these rules.

On September 6th 2017, my predecessor announced the opening of VGS in the long forgotten year of 1998. In his short speech, he noted that VGS was 'a new era full of new opportunities'. In the last 6 in game years of this reset we've seen triumph and tragedy. The election of a player President and the dawning of a new millennium. It wasn't everything that we hoped for but it was fun. But, all good things must come to and end and today I am announcing that Reset 0 (1998-2002) has come to an end.

We will be conducting a hard reset which will hopefully last no more than 5 days which will allow us to make some slight staffing changes, rules changes and gameplay tweaks that we've been holding off on. Based on the poll that we posted, we will be switching back to a Senate only game. More information on exactly what that will entail will be announced during the downtime. 

Pleased to announce we've hired John White as our new Elections and Fundraising/K-Street Administrator. While White doesn't have much in the way of Administrative experience, he is a long time experienced player and former President. I look forward to seeing what he brings to the table, Congrats White!

Just a reminder, we are still looking for at least one more Administrator. If anyone is interested, please contact Brink or myself.

Folks,

The last 24 hours have been a truly humbling experience for not only myself but for the Administration of VGS. While a lot of issues were brought up at last night's community meeting, one of the most discussed was the lack of IG response to players actions. I would like to say that this is wrong, that we've been actively engaged on the player side. But we haven't. We have focused too much on the OOC side of the game and lost our way. To that, I can do nothing more than apologize and offer my reassurance that things will be better.

This evening, I have as Chief Administrator accepted the resignations of both Christabella Ripley, our Congressional Administrator and Lloth, our Fundraising/K-Street Administrator with immediate effect.

In light of the resignations I have accepted, have begun to reorganize the AB Table of Responsibilities to streamline who the players can contact for issues they may face in game and to better handle in game issues going forward. I have also begun to reach out to players who have sent applications to join the AB, to infuse new blood and to help us gain back some of what we've lost.

Hopefully over time we will regain your trust and your faith in us and to that end we will work our hardest every day until we do, today is just the first step and its a big one for all of us but one that needed to be made.

Just a reminder that we will be holding our first Community Meeting tomorrow night at 7pm EST. A link will be provided here on the boards at that time. I am looking forward to seeing you all there.

We've received a few questions about this, for now its under review. 

Three quick announcements,

First, we will be hosting a community meeting between the you, the players of VGS and the Administrative Board. This meeting is being done in an effort to clear the air, reduce the miscommunication and toxicity that is plaguing the game. This meeting is scheduled for this Friday, January 19th at 7pm EST. A special room will be created for this and a link will be provided on the site along with the ground rules. I hope to see everyone there.

Second, Luke has been dismissed from the AB due to a lack of activity, he is thanked for his service. In his place, Brink will take over as FoPo Administrator in addition to his role as DCA.

Third, we are opening up applications for Elections Administrator. Yes, its that time again. Any interested applicants please send applications to me via PM here on the boards.

LOA until Wednesday evening for personal reasons. Brink is in charge.

This evening I received an official, formal complaint by a player regarding the ruling by Deputy Chief Administrator Brink on the issue of House Rules. I will explain what I believe to be the facts of the complaint before I issue my judgement.

Earlier today the Administrative Board received a request from a player for the House Rules, we provided a link to rules which have now become known to us as the 'Baudin Rules'. The Baudin Rules are the rules of the House for the 105th Congress which were passed on September 9th. At some point during the day, a debate erupted on the House Floor over whether to add what is known as a 'Motion to Dispatch' which is not present in the aforementioned Baudin rules by the Speaker, Damien. After the Speaker began being attacked in game by the GOP, we received a number of complaints by players that the rules that were linked by us and utilized by the Speaker were outdated rules, superseded by what is now known to us as the 'Wilder Rules' which were adopted on October 22nd. 

Before I go any further, I want to be clear that neither I nor the Administrative Board knew that the Wilder rules existed until we received a formal complaint. This issue alone stuck with me throughout this investigation.

Deputy Chief Administrator Brink issued a ruling at around 4pm, Eastern Time which offered the Speaker two choices. Either he could change his initial rules by amendment and suffer some blow back or if he maintains the status quo (The Wilder Rules) face none.

Out of this ruling, the formal complaint was received.

The formal complaint by the player is based off of Rule 6 of the VGS General Rules which state: " At VGS, we expect players to be honest and fair. In return, the Administrative Board will work to be the same. Cheating, nefarious activities, or clear violations of ethical standards are not tolerated. While this is a political game, ultimately, we expect everyone to play the game fairly and with no illegal advantages."

The contention made is that while Speaker, the player known as John White purposely hid the 106th Congress's rules aka the Wilder Rules and thus has violated Rule 6. The Administrative Board and I searched through moderator logs and spoke with John White regarding this issue. White maintains steadfastly that he did not purposely hide or otherwise keep the rules from the players. The moderator logs agree to an extent. The rules which sit in the Speakers office now were moved there by Lloth during clean up of the boards for the new session. Where the rules have been since 10/25 remains a mystery as we don't have that ability to see where they were moved from. One thing that we did discover is that a lot of legislation that was moved by White as Speaker was affected by the banned player now known as DNA which needed to be reverted by the Administrative Board. While the rules were not affected, to say that there was a lot of confusion at the time is an understatement.

The other issue is that because of the Baudin Rules, the Democrats in the 106th Congress were denied a 'Motion to Dispatch'. An investigation by the AB found that on 10/25, 3 days after the Wilder rules were adopted, then Player Wilder made a motion to dispatch a piece of legislation; The Restore Integrity in Washington Act which passed the House on 10/27 and delivered to the U.S. Senate on 10/29 where it was not brought up for debate and died. 

Therefore, after speaking to the Administrative Board, we have decided the following:

1. It is the concerted opinion of the Administrative Board that John White did not violate the letter of the law with regards to Rule 6. White's recognizing of the Motion to Dispatch shows he knew which rules were in effect post 10/25.

2. It is the concerted opinion of the Administrative Board that John White did however violate the spirit of the rule by not pinning and maintaining the 'Wilder Rules'.

3. As a result of this, the GOP will be penalized with a small scandal regarding the rules in the House.

4. I, as Chief Administrator, have sustained the ruling by the Deputy Chief Administrator that Damien will not be allowed to be attacked for 'flip flopping' over the Motion to Dispatch'.

The Administrative Board now considers this matter closed.

It is so ordered.

Two quick announcements.

First, we are continuing the TAR reunion by hiring Maia as our new Domestic Administrator. As Domestic Administrator, Maia will work with both Ironsides and Brink to better deploy Domestic themed scenarios both for the House and Senate to respond to as well as for our new President and his staff. Maia has an outstanding reputation for hard work and dedicated gameplay stretching well over a decade. I know she will be a fine addition to our ranks.

Second, as we mentioned in previous announcements we are taking steps to address and to fix communications problems that have arisen between the Administrative Board and the players over the last few months. In an effort to do this, we have decided to create the role of Community Manager. I have selected, Brink, our current Deputy Chief Administrator as our first Community Manager which he will do along side his current position. Brink is a friendly face and is able to explain or otherwise offer advice and act as a neutral and respectful go between when issues have arisen between parties and has been a tremendous asset not only to myself and the AB but to the game at large.

While this does address a key issue, we are continuing to work toward correcting these issues once and for all, so please bear with us as we continue to do so.

So you may have noticed that we have changed the calendar at the top from Quarter 1 to Comic Book Time. Comic book time or CBT is best described as a floating timeline. A floating timeline is a device used in fiction, particularly in comics and animation, to explain why characters age little or not at all over a period of time — despite real-world markers like notable events, people and technology appearing in the works and correlating with the real world.

I have been wanting to try this for awhile, I have never been a fan of the Quarterly system because I feel as if it rushes people along, there isn't a good chance to respond to things with the depth needed to such as for a terror attack or hurricane. So, we are going to try reverting to a Comic Book time for roughly  one month or in both the Quarterly and CBT scale, 1 IG year. From Today until the announced end of the year will be 2001. After '2001' in game, we will put up a poll in the general chat forum on whether or not to keep the change or to revert back to the old Quarterly system.

I will be opening a questions thread in the chat forum here immediately following this announcement, if you have any questions about our experiment please don't hesitate.

Early this morning I was notified by several administrators that a threat was leveled at then Administrator Tyler Swanson with regards to the election results. Acting in my capacity as Chief Administrator and utilizing the Terms of Service of VGS, I suspended @Ben for 24 hours and issued 2 warning points to him for threatening and abusive behavior based on the information I had at the time. This afternoon, after speaking with Ben and a majority of the Administrative Board, I believe that the perceived threat that was leveled was as a result of a miscommunication and a comment taken out of context by the Administrative Board. 

I want to be as up front and as transparent as possible when I say this, But when we mess up or when I make the wrong call, It is imperative that we take responsibility for it. At the time, based on the little evidence I had, I believe that the suspension was warranted. But as further evidence and explanations are made, it is clear that I rushed to judgement and for that and on behalf of the entire Administrative Team, I want to apologize to @Ben for how this situation was handled.

As we transition toward a Player President, now more than ever It is clear that I and our team need to make serious corrections on how we communicate with the players and how the players expect communications to go with us, the Admins. Over the next few weeks, we will be working on a better policy to make this happen and expect to put up polls and have discussions between members of the community and myself and my staff to ensure that events like today are not ever repeated.

Eric Vanderberg,

Chief Administrator.

The player known as @Ben has been suspended 24 hours and given two permanent warning points for abusive behavior for threatening an Administrator.

I am pleased to announce that Luke will be joining the AB as the new Foreign Affairs Administrator. Luke comes to us with plenty of Admin experience and I think he was President once somewhere...Anyway.

Congrats Luke!

As a result of the poll, we will hold off on doing any more FoPo scenarios until the election of our Player President. 

Also, thank you to those who have submitted FoPo Admin applications and I'd like to remind everyone there is still time to apply. We will begin reviewing applicants and applications next week. If interested, please contact Brink or myself and we'll help you get your app in to us.

Just a reminder, we are still looking for a Foreign Policy Administrator. Anyone interested please feel free to reach out to either myself or Brink. 

Pleased to announce that Festering Disease (Really...huh ok) will be joining the AB as our new Media Administrator. FD comes to us with plenty of experience in polisims from AGS to VUSA. The first ever VGS Pulitzer Prize winner, FD's experience in Player Media will definitely help in revitalizing an area we've neglected a bit since the transition and offer new challenges and better communication with our Players who dabble in the media side. 

(Panamanian Embassy in Washington, DC. (AP))

(Washington, DC) -- Panama's Ambassador to the United States Gabriel Alfonseca announced a change in the stance of the Panamanian Government regarding the crisis at the Canal, that it is willing to wait until "a new President is elected." The decision to wait to resolve the crisis until the election is a major step backward for the Moscoso Government which had just last month pledged to maintain its control over its share of the canal and demand the U.S. abide by the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty brokered by President Carter. 

The decision to wait however may come back to haunt the Panamanian Government after polls which were released today show a majority of Americans across all parties supported the President's stance on the Canal.  In a phone poll conducted by AP/NBC, 6 in 10 Americans believe that President Clinton's decision to maintain control over the Panama Canal was the right decision. When broken down into parties, 85% of Republican voters, 55% of Democratic Voters and 40% of likely Independent voters believe that the Panama Canal issue is being handled correctly or is the right decision. Of 1500 likely voters, the Canal ranks third in a list of major election issues, all but assuring it will be a topic of debate and scrutiny as election season ramps up.

Which candidate will have the right combination of political capital and diplomatic muscle to settle this issue and maintain a closeness with Latin America, that is for the voters to decide. But one thing is certain, whomever becomes the 43rd President of the United States will have their work cut out for them.

(OOC: This ends the NPC involvement in the Panama scenario, one of our two Presidential candidates will inherit this issue. Good Luck to both candidates and I look forward to seeing what you will do)

(President Clinton with President Carter en route to his Inauguration, AP)

(Washington, DC)-- "The renegotiation of the Panama Canal Treaties are 'off the table'". That is the official word from Panama's Ambassador to the United States Gabriel Alfonseca after weeks of uncertainty from the Panamanian Government on the best way to react to the United States's refusal to hand over the crucial Gatun Locks by January 1st. In Panama, there continues to be a stand off between the United States Army and the Panamanian Police tasked with guarding the Canal over the remaining buildings which were to be handed over to Panama last month. Since 1989's invasion of Panama by the United States, Panama no longer has an army to counter the United States's deployment of 10,000 soldiers to Fort Koppe, but it seems as if help is on the way.

In solidarity with Panama, Colombia and Costa Rica today informed the United States of their refusal to grant fly over rights and declined the use of their facilities or bases if such facilities are to be used against Panama. The move was lauded by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso. "We will not renegotiate, we will not amend, we will not bow down to the United States which has stolen the Panama Canal from us. We hold a majority of the locks, the facilities and the surrounding properties. We demand the United States do the right thing, abide by the treaty and to talk the talk when it comes to diplomacy." While many in Washington continue to stand with the President, one man with considerable influence announced this week he believed that the U.S. should abide by the 1977 Treaty, President Jimmy Carter.

President Carter sat down this week with Larry King Live to discuss the fallout of the U.S. decision to maintain its grip on the Canal and while not outright criticizing the President, expressed his displeasure with the decision. "We came to the table with Panama and hammered out an agreement to maintain the defense of the canal while turning it over to the rightful owners, the people of Panama. Their people voted on it, they ratified it democratically. We now must show the world that we are willing to abide by a decision reached democratically without reacting with the threat of violence or military intervention."

"For two centuries we have championed the cause of democracy, I fear this incident may be what shows us to be nothing more than hypocrites."

Players,

Prior to yesterday's announcement regarding Christopher Williams, there was significant concern between the AB and the players who were affected that Mr. Williams would use information obtained as an Administrator to assist other campaigns regardless of his suspension; and if not him then his alleged friend "David Elison".  It was decided that in order to definitively prove once and for all that the leaks were coming from Christopher Williams and justify his punishment, false information would be passed to Christopher Williams via Telegram regarding the 2000 elections.

This morning, I was notified that the fake information that was disseminated to Christopher Williams via AB Chat while he was still an Administrator and immediately prior to his removal resulted in his "friend" David contacting two players via Christopher Williams telegram account on Benjamin Thomas's campaign, threatening to leak the false information which was posted in AB chat to the game and players at large and use it against "u lot if u push it any further."

Therefore, acting as Chief Administrator I have decided to permanently ban both Christopher Williams and David Elison from VGS effective immediately with no chance of appeal.

It is so ordered.

Christopher Williams and David Elison have been suspended permanently with no chance of appeal. An announcement regarding this is forthcoming.

Conrad has been suspended 14 days for threatening and attempting to blackmail an Administrator via Telegram.

Players,

Yesterday morning  the Administrative Board was made aware by members of the DNC that a player was attacking another via Telegram with information obtained by an Administrator via the same service. Yesterday afternoon I met with the players affected by the leak and as a result of the discussion with those affected punishments were handed down against the player and the Administrator responsible. One of those punishments being that if further information was obtained that the Administrator was acting inappropriately that they would be immediately removed from their position. This afternoon I received such information.

As such, effective immediately I have removed Christopher Williams from his position as Media Administrator, for cause.

Further, for his role in neglecting to report the leak to the AB and for using that information to attack a player and further his campaign, Fisher has been issued 2 permanent warning points. The scandal which was plaguing his campaign will continue, regardless of his sign out and his sign out has been processed. As a further caution, media that Fisher produces will be under Admin Review until the end of the campaign as to negate any negative press that could come as a result of the leak.

Also, it has come to the attention of the AB that Christopher Williams and a player known as 'David' were found to be using the same IP addresses. Our TOS on this issue is very clear:

One account, per person. If more than one person is going to use the same computer, or/and the internet connection, you must contact the Owner or/and the Chief Administrator; before you register the second account. If you plan to access the VGS Services where there might be more than one player accessing it (University Campuses, for example) - make sure you contact the Owner or/and the Chief Administrator beforehand.

Neither Christopher Williams nor 'David' applied to either myself, Cyril or the AB for this exemption. As a result of this, I have no choice but to suspend both 'David' and Christopher Williams for 60 days where upon the conclusion of their suspension one or both may apply for reinstatement to VGS provided they are no longer in violation of the Terms of Service.

It is so ordered.

(1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment arrives at Howard AFB, Panama, AP)

(Panama City)-- December 31st 1999, which was to be a momentous occasion for Panama and its people has come and gone and the American flag, which was supposed to come down remained until this morning atop the flagpole at Gatun Locks; when it was ripped down by angry protesters at the locks. Standing in their way were the first arriving members of the 82nd Airborne Division, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, tasked with securing and holding the Gatun locks, one of the last remaining buildings the U.S. held before the official transfer was due to take place. Opposing them just a stones throw away are hundreds of angry protesters and the Panama Defense Forces, the only military or specialized law enforcement remaining to defend the country and its shores since the abolition of the Panamanian military after the U.S. invasion in 1989.

In the days that have followed President Clinton's announcement that the U.S. would not follow the treaties, the anti-american rhetoric and hostility has skyrocketed in not only Panama City but across Latin America. This morning, while most of the world was celebrating the coming of the new year the leaders of Panama, Nicaragua and Honduras issued calls for an emergency session of the OAS to discuss sanctions against the United States. "The United States's failure to abide by its own treaty calls into question which treaties they may unilaterally decide to ignore next." Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso said in a radio address. "I arrived this morning to the Gatun Locks with the hopes that the President had come to his senses and decided to follow the treaty, that our friendship and partnership would win out. Instead I was met by men with rifles, telling me to leave or be arrested. I responded that this is our country, my country and I am its President and I would never leave it." The President said. Although the U.S. Military does confirm that President Moscoso did arrive at the Gatun locks this morning and was turned away, they maintain that the President was not "threatened with arrest".

In Washington, support for the President's decision continues to grow with most in Congress approving of the decision and deployment of U.S. Military assets to protect the Canal. The American people also agree, in an AP/NBC poll 62% of Americans agreed with the decision to maintain control of the Canal. In a telephone poll conducted by Rasmussen, 7 in 10 Americans believe that the Panama Canal is "rightly American" and shouldn't be turned over to Panama. With the Panama Canal crisis continuing, many Americans listed Foreign Policy/Panama as a top 5 issue going into the election which sees its first primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire only weeks away.

Whether or not the Panama Crisis works itself out before the end of the campaign season remains to be seen but one thing is clear, whomever is President after the smoke clears on election day will have to rebuild American goodwill in Latin America.

Since I still don't know how to change the calendar in the banner, just a reminder that today we start Q1 2000 so happy New Year