WHAT IS IMPERIAL WARS?

1. Imperial Wars is an Episodic Metagame. Players make simultaneous moves in a far-ranging strategy game in an ancient Imperial Stellar Empire. The Metagame is the persistent communication environment that exists between the Starlords of each universe as they meet or introduced to each other during the game. In-game email, and other communication methods create immediate connection between players. Players can give game worlds and fleets to one another during each move. Each episode is created when all of the have submitted their moves or when a deadline is reached.

2. The Characters. The most unique and important feature of Imperial Wars is the Character Types, which players choose for each Universe they play in. These seven Character types are archetypal characters found in much science fiction. Each character plays towards victory from an entirely different but not necessarily opposing, point of view. Characters need each others abilities to maximize their own and yet compete for the final prize. Starlords are neutral to one another by default but can declare each other Ally or Enemy to further define relationships.

3. The IWars Play Space. Each Imperial Wars Universe of 350 worlds of various economies contains, 16 homeworlds, 300 starfleet engines, several specialty worlds like black holes, wormholes, Novas, old Imperial Worlds and Rebel worlds. Scattered among these worlds and fleets are ancient artifacts; Imperial gems, Jewels of Power, and Imperial Relics of varying values to the Characters in the game.

WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT?

1. Requesting a game: When you Request a game, you select a Character type to play, a player name and a potential final score. Your request is placed in a realtime queue that is constantly being checked by the universe creation part of the gameserver for a mix of Character types that will assure a good balance for game play. When one of the defined combinations can be made, the gameserver selects these players out of the queue and creates a brand new unique Universe for them. Players are selected from the queue on a first come, first served basis and are notified by email of the formation of their Universe and given a 24 hour limit to enter their first turn. You can always view the queue from the Iwars main site or at http://iwars.org/queue.

1. Your "Universe Created" Notification. Check the email inbox you used when creating your account often for notification that gameplay is beginning. Since players may be playing from anywhere in the world, there is 24 hours allowed for each player's first move. As soon as all 16 Starlords have responded with their first turn, or when the 24 hours have passed, the gameserver will notify you of your second turn.

2. What might seem like a slow start. The first few moves of Imperial Wars seem simple and submitting the moves and waiting for a response could mistakenly seen as anticlimactic. However, you are making critical decisions on setting up your early empire in a precious vacuum that only exists for a couple of short turns until you meet other Starlords. Be patient during these first moves. You will soon meet other players and then you may find that you will want to spend as much time as you can afford in your Imperial Wars Universe. It's likely that you will soon feel that up to 4 days between turns in not enough! If you haven't played before access the Quick-Start Two, always available from the world screens in-game, that will guide you in making your first few moves. This and more player aids including the Players Guide are available at downloads.

3. A different kind of gameplay. Imperial Wars won't appeal to players looking for adolescent murder fantasies and we want to discourage that expectation. The premise and dilemmas of IWars are created by the tension between necessary cooperation and competition between Starlords. Role-playing is created naturally as players must constantly negotiate with one another for diplomatic positioning. You will make friends and enemies all through the game. While there is plenty of conflict it may or may not lead to open combat between competing starfleets and worlds. True conflict, as represented in IWars has many shades of gray and you will experience them all in Imperial Wars. Combat is serious diplomatic tool in Imperial Wars and experienced Starlords understand when it is appropriate and when it is too costly. The fun of long, immersive games like IWars is that there is time for consequences so you will have to think carefully about your actions.

4. A different kind of game experience. There is no other game like Imperial Wars currently available that we know of. This game experience is unique and not for everyone. It requires a certain amount of literacy and communication, the motivation to explore and discover since free will is what drives the game forward and creates each unique story. Players can play in any way they wish creating their own consequences from those actions as a natural part of the game. It is the responsibility of each player to wring as much fun out of these Universes as possible. You will be associated with the same 15 Starlords for a period of months and you will experience intense relationships during that time. Many players express a desire to write up the intense emotions and stories that are created in play and these appear in the Imperial Forums, either in specific Universes or in the Citizen forums.