WORK IN PROGRESS!! The first poll on states is now live! Go vote: https://poal.me/d8ijui For thoughts/suggestions: aishiji-messenger@proton.me

Hear ye, hear ye! The Shogun has been assassinated and the country of Aishiji is in turmoil! From every corner of the land, a general has risen with the ambition to unite the nation under them!

For this event, botmakies will be asked to makie a bot representing their state. Next, they'll have the opportunity to forge alliances or wage war with generals from neighboring states. The ultimate goal is to have a collection of bots in a shared world with interesting relationships. Who knows, maybe one of them will actually be crowned Shogun!

Step 0: Sign-ups and suggestions

You can't host an event without botmakies! Starting mid-April, there will be a period of 1 week during which makies can register for the event. This time will also be used to collect suggestions for map layout, states, gimmicks and anything else. Non-participants are free to leave suggestions as well.

Step 1: Claim your land

Once we know how many generals are participating in the war, the map will be drafted into states. Each state will come with a short description about the geography, resources and other oddities. Each makie is then asked to list 2-3 states they'd like to claim as their own. Like the previous step, they will be given 1 week to do this. After everyone has voiced their preferences, one state will be assigned per makie.

Erm, resources? Does this mean I'll be limited in what I can make?

In a way, yes. While I don't know exactly how detailed I'd like the descriptions to be, for now I have stuff in mind like "Mountain area, rich in iron ore" or "Merchant hub, excellent port". How grounded or outlandishly fantastic these should be is another point of discussion.

Reading? Descriptions? UGH, that's boring. I want to experience it myself!

By this time, I plan on having a card out for Nazuna, who will serve as both an information booth and tour guide for any and all inquiries you might have about the states. Just make sure you ONLY use her for those purposes, alright? No funny business whatsoever!

But hostie, what if multiple makies want the same land??

THEY WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH.
...Nah but idk, suggestions welcome. With everyone picking several states they'd like, this is less likely to become an issue now. And if it does, we'll just have to see.

Step 2: Make yourself known!

With your land claimed, it's time to let the world know who occupies it! Write a short description of your general. Ideally, I'd like to have this done within the same week as claiming land, but I don't know yet how feasiable that is.

So... Do I write my bot now?? Be more clear, dumb hostie!!

You CAN write your bot in this time, but it's not a hard deadline yet. It's just about letting your neighbors know who they're dealing with. If, in the end, your bot ends up differing from your initial description, that's no problem either.

Step 3: Meet thy neighbor

Now that the generals are known, it's time to see what's on the other side of the border. Forge alliances, force rivalries! It's encouraged to get into contact with other makies and see if you can incorporate one's bots into each others' settings.

But hostie, how do I get into contact with the other makies??

That's where Nazuna, the trustworthy messenger, comes in! Simply send an e-mail to aishiji-messenger@proton.me with your contact request, and she'll make sure it gets safely delivered to the other party.

I don't want any of that. Can I just keep my state isolated and not interact with anyone?

Sure, no problem.

Step 4: Makie the bots

From this point on, you'll have 3 weeks to get into contact with your allies or rivals, and flesh out your generals. At the end of those 3 weeks, on [date], a nation-wide battle will take place, spanning 48 hours. All generals are expected to participate, and any generals missing from the battle will be outed as cowardly deserters, expected to commit seppuku come the next dawn.

Hostie, you're talking nonsense. Just explain it in plain American, you dummy!

Fiiine. Post your bot on [date] (likely the end of May), with a 2-day grace period. Anyone who hasn't posted is a GRINCH.

Step 5: Fight for glory!

So, we now have the states, the generals, the alliances and the rivalries. All that's left to do is let them fight! This is where I, hostie, will have to figure something out. The most likely solution so far is that I write a scenario bot with a big lorebook containing all the armies and then, through some script wizardry, simulate the entire war until a new Shogun emerges. There's still a whole lot that needs to be figured out here, so suggestions are always—

HOSTIE HOSTIE! HOW WILL YOU BALANCE THIS? SIZEFAGS WILL JUST TRAMPLE EVERYTHING! IT'S THE RUMBLING ALL OVER AGAIN!

Shush, I was getting to that. While I am of the opinion that it's fun and interesting to have a little bit of inbalance, we don't want one dominant party to win just because their army has an invincibility shield or something. Some form of statting will most likely have to be done at some point, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

Going forward

Okay, that's cool and all, but what can I do NOW??

I've already received several e-mails from makies, describing in excessive detail how badly they want to make sweet, sweet love to Nazuna. Oh, and some suggestions as well, I suppose. But more is always welcome, so don't hesitate to mail if you have a cool idea!
Besides that, leading up to the sign-up period mid-April, I plan on opening one poll per week where everyone can vote on how they'd like to see certain aspects of the event shape up. These topics are:

• States: What types of resources would you like to see in the states? How grounded should the setting be? Should the resources be statted?
  • Current poll: https://poal.me/d8ijui
• Generals/armies: Should there be a limit to the power of a general and their army? How should we balance this?
• Alliances: How exactly should these work? Is there a limit to their size? Can an entire alliance win the war, or will only one general remain standing?
• The final battle: Is a scenario card the right way to go? How should the final battle be recorded? Should there be underlying mechanics?

And then maybe something else I haven't thought of yet. Again, suggestions!
Super secret poll: https://poal.me/to1zbc