Frequently Asked Questions about Cyber Nations

This article is for frequently asked questions regarding the game Cyber Nations. Not all frequently asked questions are listed here. If your question is not answered here, please first go to the How to Play Category and search for the article relevant to your question. If, after reading through the articles, your question has still not been answered, feel free to ask it on the Cyber Nations forums or do a search on the forums to see if it has already been asked.

Gameplay Questions
'''I'm new. What should I do?'''
 * The first thing you should do is read this FAQ and the other articles in the HowtoPlay section of this wiki. A good start for your nation is to buy lots of infrastructure and stay out of wars.  Find trade partners.  Join an alliance if you want extra protection and involvement in the game.  As you grow, buy land, technology, improvements and make sure to have fun!

How do I get more working citizens/increase my population count?
 * The easiest way is to buy more infrastructure. Other ways include improving your environment, trading for certain resources, buying improvements or purchasing land.

How many soldiers must I have for my people to be happy?
 * Having too many soldiers (more than 80% of working population) will cause your population to become very uncomfortable. Having too few soldiers (less than 20%), will also make your population unhappy.  See the Military page for more info.

What is environment and what affects is rating?
 * See the Environment page.

What do teams do?
 * They allow a +1 to population happiness bonus when you trade with a member of your own team. See the Nation teams page for more info.

How do I win?
 * There isn't so much a win/lose except in battles or war. This is a long term community with which you will grow your nation.

How do I increase my nation's literacy rate?
 * You increase your nation's literacy rate by purchasing technology. Your literacy rate has no affect on your nation at this time, it's just for fun.

What is the Threat Advisory?
 * It is the threat potential of that nation to yours. Hovering over the star image for a few seconds will provide more details about the threat.

How do you alter your DEFCON level?
 * You can set it in the 'Edit My Nation' page.

Who can I wage war on?
 * Anyone listed on your "My Ranking" page who are not in peace mode.

I'm going to be gone for a few days what happens to my taxes and bills?
 * They stack up. When you get back you'll be able to get the tax money for the missed days and pay your bills. If you can, switching to War/Peace peace mode might be a good idea to prevent others from declaring war on you while you're gone.  It will hurt economically after a few days, but not as much being destroyed in a war.

I can't purchase anything!
 * Pay your bills. You can only go two days without paying your bills.  On day 3 you are unable to purchase anything till you do.  Bills garnish interest so paying them daily is really a good idea.

When is update?
 * It is at 6am GMT. Time Zone Converter

What is the red asterisk next to some names?
 * It means they were online in the last hour.

'''How does natural growth work? There are many nations who have larger populations than mine, even though I have more infrastructure.'''
 * Natural growth only applies to land. Land is the only factor that grows naturally.  If a nation with less infrastructure then you has more citizens it could be due to resources, government type, improvements, or other factors.

What is Troop deployment?
 * Troop deployment is how many men you have deployed "overseas", ready for war. If you attack someone, these troops will be the ones who fight while the rest of your army stays behind to defend. You must have troops deployed to attack another nation.  You may only deploy troops once a day.

Do resources/improvements with similiar affects stack?
 * Yes. If you buy 5 banks, you will get the +7% income 5 times (+35% income).  This will be in addition to any +income resources you have.  The only exception is that if you trade twice for the same resource, you don't get the benefits twice.  The same resource does not stack with itself.

Map Questions
Does it matter where I'm positioned on the map?
 * No. It has no effect on the game. Put your nation wherever you want.

I share land with another nation, will there be an in-game affect?
 * No, location doesn't matter in this game. It's all just for show.  There is no effect either way for nations sharing land.  Your nations may receive a "Land Encroachment" message, however this too is just for show.  In the eyes of the game, your nations are not sharing land.

'''It says here that location doesn't matter. However, on the Top 30 map, I noted that it says if anyone overlaps THERE, that would be grounds for war. Which is right?'''
 * This FAQ is correct. Right now that whole overlapping thing is just something Admin has thrown in that he hasn’t figured out what to do with yet.  None of the top 30 or even the top 300 would ever use that as a cause for war, not if they enjoyed where they were in the rankings.

I don't like where my nation is, can I change that?
 * No, you can't. As stated when you first start, certain things are permanent and nation location is one of them.  To allow moving of nations would create an unnecessary load on the server.

Can we set up the map to show all other nations?
 * No. There are too many nations it would overload the server and it would never load anyways since it would take so long.

Well, can we set it up to see all nations near me?
 * No for the same reason. Certain areas are high volume and the server would be overloaded. And yes that includes a 50 mile radius.  Some areas of the map practically have people stacked one on top of the other.  Location does not matter, Honest!

'''What are the little colored circles for? You know those background colors around my team color...'''
 * As your nation grows over time though land purchases, gains via conquest, and natural growth, the ring around your capital city will expand. This ring represents your land holdings in actual miles on the map.  The color of the inner ring is your selected background color for your nation and the outer ring represents the team that you are currently a member of.

Community Questions
Where can I chat with other Cyber Nations players?
 * There is a very active community of players on the Cyber Nations Forums. In addition, you can chat in real time with Cyber Nations players in the IRC chat room: #cybernations on the Espernet Server.  If you are uncertain how to get there post on the forums asking how and someone will direct you.

How do I join my team forum?
 * Go to the Open Teams Forum, find the team sign in thread for your team, and sign in. Someone will send you a password for your team forum. If they don’t, send a private message to someone on your team and request it.

What are Alliances?
 * Alliances are player created and run defense (and sometimes aggression) pacts. They are listed in the Alliance/Wars sub-forum. Any player may ask to join any alliance.  Some Alliances are based within a team, but not all.  One team may have multiple alliances.  See the Alliances page or the Alliances Category for more info.

How do I join an alliance?
 * Find the sign-up thread for the alliance you wish to join in the Alliances and Wars forum. Follow the instructions listed there.

How do I create an alliance?
 * An alliance is simply an agreement between you and another nation. You can make this agreement verbally, through e-mail, through the forums, through private messages, or any way you want.  You can call your alliance anything you want (if you even want to give it a name).  There is no place to go to "sign up" a new alliance.

Where does the money go from Donations to the game?
 * The money goes into the game and only into the game. It helps pay for the server and such.

'''I made a donation through Pay Pal last month for that bonus offer. If I made another contribution, would I qualify for another bonus this month?'''
 * That is correct. You can make a new donation and receive the bonus each new calendar month (once a month). $5.00 USD is the set amount to receive the bonus each month.

How do you contact the admin?
 * Send him a private message. His forum name is Admin. If you are looking to have your nation deleted or requesting a rules call, you will need to PM Moderation.

Why is it taking so long for the admin to respond to me?
 * Admin does much more than respond to question/complaints regarding Cyber Nations. He has school, he adds new features and fixes bugs in the game (which he does by himself) and he does have a large amount of questions and suggestions he needs to address.  Please either be patient or ask on the forums or IRC, many of the other players may have the answer you seek.

Technical Questions
'''I got a message saying I might be cheating and that I only have 8 more attempts before I will be banned! What did I do wrong?'''
 * The site has a number of scripts implemented on it to prevent hackers from abusing the site. The most common way to encounter this script is by pushing one of the submit buttons multiple times.  In order to be banned, you will need to have 8 failed attempts occur in a row.  As soon as you perform a transaction successfully this counter will be reset.

Does a nation ever cease to exist if you do not sign into its account for a certain amount of time or get deleted at request?
 * Anyone who is inactive for more than 15 days will have their nation deleted; your activity is determined only by when you last collected taxes. Anyone who is found guilty of abuse could have their nation be deleted.  If you put in a request, you can have your nation deleted.  If you are not currently engaged in any wars, you can also use the Delete My Nation feature.  If you are going to be gone for more then 15 days for real life reasons but wish your nation to remain, you can contact Admin and see if he'll grant a stay of nation execution.  If you truly trust another player you can hand your account to them, just make sure to keep it within the rules. There is nothing the game admins can do if your account is stolen for this reason, so choose wisely if you do.

I don't like my nations name or ruler name, can I change them?
 * No.

'''My links for buying land, infrastructure, technology, etc. are not showing up! Where'd they go?'''
 * Every day (or night) during update these links are disabled for one hour. This helps spread the activity during this time out a bit so that the server isn't hit so hard all at once.  Just wait an hour and they will be back.