Fwurg

[The Lifebringer Clans]

1. Is there such a thing as contract law? If a player loans another player money, and the player agrees to pay him back next turn, but doesn't, is there a Union law that holds the player accountable? Is this handled ingame or ooc? (note, I personally expect all players to play honorably regarding legal deals.)

2. Is bribery, vote buying, offering recompense, and all that fun stuff that happens around voting time legal by Union law, or does this occur in a shady area?
3. How common is it? Is it rude to be direct in offering a bribe?
4. Are all communications private and secure?
5. If backroom deals are legal, are these kind of deals subject to Union contract law in the same way normal deals are?
6. Will all the NPCs play fair and keep their word?

[Mercury]

1. Is there such a thing as contract law? If a player loans another player money, and the player agrees to pay him back next turn, but doesn't, is there a Union law that holds the player accountable? Is this handled ingame or ooc? (note, I personally expect all players to play honorably regarding legal deals.)

There is such a thing as contract law. This applies specifically to treaties and financial arrangements, but can apply in other area's. There is in fact a Ministry of Justice specifically for this reason. However, as a general rule, cooperation is the best solution in the long term (the game system is designed specifically with that in mind, in fact).

You can probably get away with the Ministry of Justice for failing to vote the way you said you would once or twice, but you likely won't get away with not repaying a loan.

With that in mind, my expectation is that these matters can usually be handled IC - should there come to exist serious breaches between different players or should emotions run high, I will interfere OOC. This is a cooperative game.

2. Is bribery, vote buying, offering recompense, and all that fun stuff that happens around voting time legal by Union law, or does this occur in a shady area?

Buying a Senators vote is illegal. However, trading favours between worlds, a tit-for-tat "mutually beneficial solution" is perfectly legal. In this, losses in one area can be compensated by gains in another.

To be clear: You can bribe a world with a deal to provide Organics for half the market price, but you cannot (legally) bribe a Senator with a new car for his personal collection.

Though there is no law specifically forbidding deals for votes, you are free to attempt to create one.

3. How common is it? Is it rude to be direct in offering a bribe?

As a general rule, it is rude to ask for a bribe, but not to offer one.

That being said, certain NPC worlds respond better if the wording is chosen carefully to not make it look too much like a backroom deal.

4. Are all communications private and secure?

Yes.

5. If backroom deals are legal, are these kind of deals subject to Union contract law in the same way normal deals are?

As a general rule, back-room deals are not treaties or contracts, so they are harder to enforce, but if a deal is broken, that NPC or PC may not want to deal with you again. If you are in doubt as to whether your partner can be trusted, you can register the agreement as a treaty in which case it will be fully enforceable.

6. Will all the NPCs play fair and keep their word?

As a general rule, NPCs play fair. Occasionally one may waver, but this will be the exception rather than the rule.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

4. Are all communications private and secure?

Yes.

I assume this is meant to apply to PM's between different characters, or is this also targetted at the forum itself in which conversations are easily accesible by all players?

I use as an example the 'private' message from the Clan Ket Isika to Senator Enrorgh, a message that was supposed to be private. I could not really help but read it though...

[Mercury]

More explicit answer:

IC, your characters do not have access to the private messages of other characters, unless specifically granted access. That includes posts marked "private" or even entire topics if your character is not involved in them.

Normally, all discussions are held in the Senate Hall in Unity City. Naturally everyone has access to both the discussions there and the transcripts of the discussions for later reference if their character was not a member of the Senate yet (this means new players can read back on old discussions, basically, for example to get a feel for different worlds)

If you want to discuss things in private, but still prefer a thread to PM's (those have the advantage of being easier to read, especially when involving multiple parties), then you can simply mark your topic as private by noting it in the topic title. The private message linked to was also a valid means of marking private information.

The information from private threads and posts can be read by anyone, obviously, but the information is not available In Character, and you should not base your negotiation strategy or decisions on it.

Does this clarify the matter?