Frequently Asked Questions
Game FAQ
1.) Are multiple nations allowed?
No. A player may not have more than one nation. This rule was implemented Feb. 18, 2006. There is one nation per player, period. Players in possession of multiple nations before Feb. 18 were grand fathered under the conditions that they do not break any game rules. Players controlling legal, grandfathered multiple nations may not use them to trade, send aid to the others or wage multiple wars on a single opponent. The game staff uses more than just IP evidence to detect multi users, so if you violate this rule you face nation deletion and/or a possible ban from the game.
* Violation of these rules will lead to immediate nation deletion and/or a permanent ban from the game and forums.
2.) My family/friend wants to play but we are on the same network. What do I do?
Only one nation is allowed per IP as of 03/13/07. Period.
3.) When does the game update?
The game updates at 6 AM GMT. Time Zone Converter
4.) I don't like my nation/ruler name. Can I change it?
You may not change your nation/ruler name once it has been created. Thems the breaks. Choose carefully!
5.) I just created my nation. Why can't I declare war?
New nations cannot declare war and cannot be declared upon for the first two days.
6.) What are Teams for? What do they do?
Teams are most commonly referred to as trading spheres¯ within the game. They offer nothing for your nation outside of a +1 bonus to Population Happiness when trading with a fellow Team member.
7.) What are alliances? How do I make one?
Alliances are player-created and controlled groups that band together for mutual defense, etc. They are not a game feature. You can find them in the Player Created Alliances forum. Some alliances are based on a Team but not all.
8.) What is Environment and what affects its rating?
Environment gauges how clean your nation is. Environment ratings are gained by Technology level, Infrastructure level, Military level, Citizen-to-Land ratio and current resources among other things. Environment ratings have a direct effect on your Population Happiness and Citizen count.
9.) What does Population Happiness do?
Population Happiness is used to measure how much your Citizens take home in income. The more money your Citizens make, the more taxes you may collect at the end of the day.
10.) My Population Happiness just went down! Why?
Many things can unexpectedly drop your Population Happiness. Check your Trade Agreements to make sure one of your trading partners did not cancel the trade or change teams. Also check your government and religion; some governments add a bonus to Population Happiness. Other possible factors in decreased Happiness: Environment rating, soldier casualties and increased DEFCON levels.
11.) How do I find out what my Pop. Happiness is?
To find the exact number that is your Population Happiness you will have to search for it. It is a hidden gem within the game. If you still cannot find it ask another player.
12.) What are the hidden factors affecting Pop. Happiness?
The hidden factors are to remain hidden, by order of the Almighty Admin. You can find them/figure them out on your own but do not expect help from the game staff.
13.) How do I get more Citizens?
The most prominent and elementary method of gaining Citizens is purchasing Infrastructure. Some resources also add to your Citizen count, as well as a high Environment rating.
14.) What government/religion do my people want?
You will have to abide by the will of your people or set your own course in this aspect of the game. By choosing a desired government/religion you receive a Population Happiness bonus of +1 along with the affects of the selected government. Religions do not offer any bonuses outside of the +1 Population Happiness. You may use the religion cheat sheet, found here, and the government cheat sheet which is found here.
15.) How do I increase my nation's Literacy rate?
Purchase levels of Technology to increase Literacy in your nation. A literacy rate of 90% is required for the Scholars bonus resource. Literacy does not affect anything else in the game.
16.) I want a nuke! How do I get one?
Your nation will need a tech level of 75 or greater, an infrastructure level of 1000 or greater, access to uranium for nuclear weapon production, and be ranked within the top 5% nations in order to begin purchasing nuclear weapons, and you will need $500,000 dollars. A player can only purchase 1 nuclear weapon per day. Another way is to construct the "Manhatten Project" wonder, this requires $100,000,000 dollars, 3,000 infrastructure, 300 technology and an uranium trade.
17.) Who can I wage war on?
You can declare war on any nation with 75% of your nation strength (NS) up to 133% of your NS. You can always declare war on any nation that is within 250 ranks of you above or below regardless of nation strength. By clicking on the My Ranking link you can find a list of nations who you may declare war on. Nations set to Peace Mode cannot declare war or have war declared on them.
18.) What happens when you lose a war?
You cannot technically lose a war. Most people consider being put into Anarchy loosing the war, though, you can still fight on after that. Your nation does not cease to exist after losing a war. Anarchy will affect your Population Happiness and economy. To quell the riots in your nation, purchase soldiers. Your economy will start to recover from the defeat after the purchase of an adequate defense.
19.) What can I gain/lose from a war?
Attackers will loot the enemy and often take Land, money and/or Technology for spoils of war. Attackers may also lose some by abandoning equipment on foreign soil. Infrastructure can also be lost.
20.) What is the Threat Advisory?
This was a feature that has been removed by administration. It use to help measure the potential threat of a particular nation against your nation. This feature may or may not return in the future.
21.) How are battles determined?
Battles are determined at random. This is why battles are sometimes so lopsided. Technology levels can influence the the outcome of the battle and rumors are afloat that there is a secret attacking troop percentage. Be on the lookout for battle changes in the future.
22.) What is Troop Deployment?
It is how many soldiers you have overseas, your able-bodied force who is ready to do battle at your command. These are the soldiers who will fight in your offensive strikes while your the rest of your soldiers at home defend. You must have troops deployed in order to attack and you may only deploy troops once per day.
23.) What influences military performance?
Government choice, DEFCON level, and technology affect military performance. It should be noted that DEFCON can increase/decrease the cost of soldiers. You can change your DEFCON level by going to Edit My Nation on the game menu.
24.) Why doesn't DEFCON influence military performance?
DEFCON is about defensive readiness, allowing you to purchase more soldiers for a cheaper price, but also at the price of decreased Population Happiness.
Defcon now increases military performance, with a better performance rate at lower defcon levels.
25.) I lost Pop. Happiness due to casualties of war, how long does it take to recover?
It is said to last 3-5 days.
26.) Does my position on the Google Map matter?
No it does not. Your nations position on the Google Map only reflects where your nation is located. It has no other affect in the game.
27.) How does natural growth work?
Natural growth works strictly on Land. If a nation has more Citizens than you but less Infrastructure it is due to the setup of that players trades and government.
28.) Why is no one accepting my trade offers?
They may have their trade slots full, may be inactive or may not need/want what you are offering. Generally, if a trade isn't accepted within two days of the offer, cancel it and try somewhere else. It also considered a courtesy to inform your trading partners if you are canceling a trade.
29.) What happens if I don't collect taxes and pay bills?
Your taxes and your bills will stack. You will be able to collect the missed tax and pay your missed bills as well. If you do not collect taxes at 25 days your nation will be automatically deleted for inactivity without notification.
30.) Why can't I purchase anything?
You have to pay your bills. You can only go two days without paying your bills. On the third day you cannot make any purchases until your bills are paid. Bills also collect interest so paying them every day is always a good idea.
31.) Why can't I send Foreign Aid in peace mode?
Nations are no longer allowed to send foreign aid while in peace mode.
32.) Should I buy Technology?
Whether or not you should purchase Technology is entirely up to you as a player and the leader of your nation. Technology improves your military strength, increases Population Happiness and improves your Environment. If you are unsure about what to do with Technology, it is best to balance it out as your Land and Infrastructure levels increase.
33.) What are Improvements?
Improvements will help certain aspects of your nation. You may have one Improvement for every 1,000 Citizens. They are expensive and cannot be destroyed in war. You may destroy an Improvement at any time for no cost.
34.) What are Bonus Resources?
Well, bonus resources are actually a representative of what your resources go together to do. Say you have Water, Wheat, Lumber, and Aluminium via your trades and your starting resources, you can use all of those to go together and make Beer. Having beer will increase your Population Happiness +2. There are other combinations available as well.
35.) What is the clock next to some names?
The clock means that the player was online within the last hour.
36.) I'm going away. Can I have someone look after my nation?
Yes. You may let someone look after your nation while you are on vacation. It is commonly referred to in the community as nation sitting. The player for who you will be nation sitting must alert the game staff of the temporary transfer in the nation sitting thread found here. Once someone has watched your nation for you, your nations will have been logged into from the same computer--the standard rules will then apply: you may never aid, trade, or war with/jointly against other players with that nation again. If you do, your nations will likely be deleted.
37.) If I become inactive, what happens?
At 25 days of inactivity (activity is defined as collecting taxes, NOT simply logging into your nation) your nation will be pruned from the system. It is a wise decision to give your nation to a friend during your absence to avoid deletion.
38.) The game told me not to cheat. What did I do wrong?
You must have clicked something more than once. Doing so will send multiple requests to the server and it will assume you are trying to cheat by doing something multiple times. Next time just click once and be patient.
Remember you are also not allowed to aid, trade, or war with any nation that has ever been accessed from the same computer or network as your nation. To do so is against the rules, and the game will raise a cheat flag.
39.) Are there going to be any additions to military?
There has been a very recent addition of Navies to the military. Other than that, Kevin, the Admin, is a very busy person. You are playing an excellent game for free and are at the mercy of the Almighty Admin. Be patient.
40.) Can I have a custom flag?
No.
41.) I want to donate but I want to know where my money is going...
Your donations will be going towards to game development, maintenance, and administration costs. These include but are not limited the highly priced servers needed to run the game over the Internet. For full details please visit the Cyber Nations donation offer page.
42.) How many times can I donate?
You can only donate as many times as you want each month. However, you will only receive a donation bonus for the first donation your nation receives each month. You can donate to both youself and a freind/friends and all of you who haven't yet received a donation bonus will receive one for the month. Remember the minimum donation amount is $5.00 USD.
43.) Why can't I get a friend to register?
Ingame registrations are sometimes turned off for various reasons, most of the times because a big war is happening in the community and this is a way to prevent people from breaking the game ToS. Don't worry, stay around and after it you can register. See the Open World Forums for information about the war.
44.) Why didn't I get my anniversary bonus?
Nations created after 12 P.M. receive their anniversary bonuses a day late.
45.) I am getting too many negative events. Why?
The odds of receiving an event drop to 7% after the first event, 3% after two events, and 0% after three events. The event you receive itself is totally random, however the odds are slightly in favour of you getting a negative event compared to a positive one. This is an intentional so as to give nations a challenge.
Forum FAQ
46.) I heard about an IRC channel?
Many alliances have channels located on Coldfront. The official Cyber Nations channel on coldfront is #cybernations
47.) Why hasn't the Admin responded to me?
If the Admin has not responded to a PM, suggestion, etc., do not fret. He is a very busy person. Please be patient when dealing with the Admin or any game/forum staff. It may also be a good idea to ask around, as many of the seasoned players may have your answer.
48.) How do I contact a staff member?
Send a PM to the staff for any concern you may have. For forum related requests contact any moderator you may find around. You can find out which moderators are relevant to which forums by clicking here.
49.) Why can’t I use the search feature on the forum?
The search feature is currently disabled for members. There are no plans as yet to change this.
50.) How do I change my avatar/signature?
Click ‘My Controls’ in the upper right hand corner of the page, and from there you can upload any avatar and signature providing they adhere to the rules. Failure to adhere to these rules will result in disciplinary action.
51. I got a forum warning. Why?
Moderators issue forum warnings to players who violate forum rules. You should receive notification via a private message (to your CN forum account) that your warning level has been increased and the reason why.
52. How do I check my current forum warning level?
When you make a post on the forum, look under your avatar and title. You will see a bar and a percentage, that's your warning level. Warn go up in multiples of 20%.
53. Can I appeal my forum warn?
Yes, in the appropriate forum here. It is highly recommended that you read the sticky BEFORE appealing to ensure you don't break any further rules.
WORK IN PROGRESS
Please keep contributing to the FAQs!
