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 Even though it  doesn't  seem  like  it  at  times,  Empire  is  a  game  for
everybody's  enjoyment, and within the limits of skill, should be fair to all.
It also should be easy for the Deity to administer, and it should not pose  an
undue  strain  on the resources of the host computer on which it is being run.
To this end, there are rules listed here  that  cannot  be  provided  by  game
semantics,  but must be observed by players if game play is to stay within the
bounds of the game.

Don't play more than one country!  Current Empire games are played  by  dozens
of  people  around  the  world, and it is quite easy to spoof accounts each of
which can receive an Empire country in a particular game.  Playing  more  than
one country just isn't fair!

Report all bugs in a timely manner!  Empire players will  always  report  bugs
that  do  bad  things to their country, but seem to suffer some strange reluc-
tance in reporting the ones which are more  beneficial  to  them.   The  deity
reserves  the  right to punish folks who don't report bugs in a timely manner.
Naturally discreet use of bugs will occur, and even when reported, bugs take a
while  to get fixed.  Just remember though, the bug that you use this game may

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be used against you in the next!

Don't perform denial of service attacks!  A denial of  service  attack  is  an
action which denies the usage of the game to one or more other players.  While
every attempt has been made to remedy these when  they  become  apparent,  not
every  possibility  can be foreseen.  Actions such as deliberately running the
host computer out of disk, making constant meaningless  but  expensive  Empire
commands,  causing  large  numbers  of  pointless telegrams to be sent to your
enemies are all examples of denial of service attacks.  These generally use up
large  amounts  of host computer resources.  You should remember that the host
computer is probably used for something other than Empire!  Other attacks con-
sist  of  crashing the host computer, severing the host's internet connection,
or causing the game to crash.  The ability of various deities to monitor these
kinds of unfriendly activities vary; you may not get caught, but you're defin-
itely breaking the rules if you engage in this kind of anti-social behavior.

Don't break security to get information!  There are all kinds  of  things  you
can  do if you can log in to a player's account.  Suffice it to say that it is
against the rules to snoop on his packets, break into his account without  his
permission,  modify his programs or data, or break into his house to steal his

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Empire maps!

All of these "rules" are really just an attempt to keep the game  play  within
the  confines  of  the game.  If any of these rules are broken, then the Deity
reserves the right to respond as he sees fit, up to and including the  removal
of your Empire country!

