#r/xPowers: Roadmap Update #1 (2024-08-02)

Hello to all Fans of the xPowers genre once again!

As previously outlined in the roadmap announcement, our beloved r/xPowers subreddit will be undergoing a major overhaul and remodel as part of a broader push towards advertising our collective hobby/genre of creative writing.

This is the first of a number of coming and likely infrequent updates, which is being done as part of our broader push for overall subreddit transparency. The update I bring today is quite positive overall, and focuses on the following; behind-the-scenes learning, policy/ethics related adjustments, new developments, and perhaps a bit more.

##Behind-the-Scenes: What's the team been up to?

Thus far our main goal has been establishing the framework for our future discord, subreddit, and learning more regarding the internal workings of larger and successful writing communities. Working towards this, I have been working under and learning from actual major communities both on reddit and outside of reddit that focus on writing/worldbuilding. The main goal of these personal ventures being to see some of the behind-the-scenes related work/projects that will be necessary to grow r/xPowers in a way that is positive for everyone involved. Out of respect for personal privacy and as we are not ready yet to announcement some major cooperative projects coming down the line with some major communities, I will just confirm that the work on this matter has been extremely fruitful and we are very excited for the far future of r/xPowers.

Building on that, I have been currently looking for several discord-builders and have been learning from other larger communities and several versions of our official discord server are actively being built. The goal is to have a very professional community server ready for release when the time comes and other aspects of our overall development are complete. Additionally I am pleased to announce that we have garnered significant interest from outside the "traditional xPowers" communities, and we are excited to be working with several communities behind the scenes for the time being as they help us in building a better product.

##Roadmap for Ethics & Policy for r/xPowers

One major development addition that has come as a result of discussion with other xPowers game runners, and community-leaders from outside xPowers, is the need for us to develop a robust rules/ethics and broader policy for community advertisement. Much of this helps with avoiding de-listing and allowing for safe and inclusive growth for all communities participating in the project.

Some of the current ideas around said policies include,

• Our goal is to drive positive interactions between communities, it has therefore been recommended to me by owners/operators of large communities outside of the xPowers genre to make r/xPowers advertisement one that is fairly protected in nature. The last thing any community advertising with xPowers wants, is to be associated with toxic, hatefilled, or generally communities that belittle, demean, or marginalize their fellow communities and outside members. Therefore, our goal is to begin developing policies that outline a system which will reward positive interaction and discourage negative interactions.
• One major aspect that has been suggested by those who I have been in discussion with, is a system which will prevent "toxic communities" from advertising on r/xPowers or it's associated systems - these would be communities which have a proven track record of toxicity in general, and especially toxicity towards other communities.
• Raiding, alt-spamming, and other forms of harassments which have been a major problem for some communities is not something we can tolerate at r/xPowers not just because of the toxic and negative implications of said behavior - but also due to the potential consequence of de-listing and other forms of punishment from Discord, Reddit, etcetera.
• Therefore, we are currently considering the development of a "hazard list" of sorts which will address communities that are a net-negative in relation to the above. I have been encouraged to do this by several major worldbuilding communities who have been interested in future projects, so it will be developed albeit slowly.

Our other major concern is focused around plagiarism, content-theft, and general ethically wrong behavior. While there has not been any incidents of an actual relevant xPowers community or player, committing the above in some time (many years it has been), it is still something I was personally warned about by avid writers/artists who we've been working with. One of the big concerns is of course whether AI written, visual, or other media content will be permitted through r/xPowers. This is something that has been handled very differently based on the community, and so we are working closely with some communities outside of the xPowers genre in coming up with solutions that better suit the needs of those directly advertising through r/xPowers.

##New Developments

Finally, we do have some more details regarding new developments over the past several weeks since our last announcement. Primarily of which is our announcement of advising administrators/moderators who will be assisting in the development of r/xPowers.

We are currently looking for avid writers/community members who might be interested in helping r/xPowers create a better product, particularly focused on the maintaining of the broader xPowers history as a genre and as a number of communities. With that in mind, some of our existent staff members have been also given particular roles that will better help in maintaining the current system and paying respect to the deep history of our loved hobby.

This includes,

• u/3202supsaW (Waspus)
• With a significant history with xPowers as a genre, and as one of the founding members/original moderators of GlobalPowers, Waspus has been moved to one of our formal record keepers. With a rich and long history of participation in many of the modern-oriented xPowers, and of course his position as a former GlobalPowers Original Moderator, we believe he is a valuable addition to our historical records team.
• He will also be assisting in many of the other projects we have planned, given his experience in running/moderating one of the older xPowers still ongoing.
• u/Gamynthered (Gamyn)
• With experience as a player with many of the fantasy-oriented and character-oriented RP communities, he will be assisting as a records keeper for the fantasy-leaning xPowers communities.
• u/halofreak1171 (Halo)
• With requisite experience, Halo will be helping clean up various aspects of the subreddit on a historical grounds - maintaining several in-the-works pages for xPowers history.

We are of course open and invite other individuals interested in the project to step forward and assist.

##Wrap up! Excitement!

Overall we are extremely pleased with the current direction of r/xPowers, a direction which has already garnered interest from many xPowers-genre communities and broader writing/worldbuilding communities. Naturally we are still in the very early foundational stages and this is being done in our spare time (as xPowers has been done since the beginning). As a result, expect progress to continue slowly, and I will reiterate that we will not be announcing our major community-partnerships until we are closer to a finished product. This has been run by the requisite communities with their approval to reveal the above thus far.

Thanks for reading!

We'll see you in the next one!

#r/xPowers: 2024 Future Roadmap

Hello to all Fans of the xPowers genre and the broader fun that is creative writing and worldbuilding.

As some will already know, and to ensure full transparency and good faith as r/xPowers undergoes a major overhaul & remodel, the following blurb of text is the provisional future roadmap and vision plan for r/xPowers. It will hopefully serve to explain not just why, but also what will be happening over the coming months-to-year as r/xPowers becomes an active, useful, and thriving gateway community for those new or old to worldbuilding, creative writing, and the broader genre of xPowers.

##What is xPowers?

For those who may not know, or haven't played an xPowers game in some time, xPowers is the name of a genre of usually writing-based online games that are predominantly run on individual subreddits or discord servers.

Today, most xPowers derive their origin from one of two subreddits, r/GameofThronesRP which was the first of many thematic Game of Thrones roleplaying games and r/WorldPowers+r/RedditWorldLeaders which are the first and original modern-day xPowers games as we know it today. Now, there are dozens of active and inactive subreddits/xPower games across both Reddit and Discord, most drawing origin from one of two subreddits.

While the genre at large has gone through a rollercoaster of activity, it is now trudging along across several active subreddits including r/WorldPowers, r/NinePennyKings, r/ColdWarPowers, r/EmpirePowers and several others.

##What is r/xPowers?

r/xPowers is a subreddit that has acted as the main hub for advertisement and inter-xPowers (games) interactions for nearly a decade. Traditionally used to share information on new xPowers games being started, existing games starting new seasons, and other important information to drive new-player recruitment for all participating xPowers games.

Over the past half-decade however, the subreddit at large fell into disuse and disrepair, used on occasion but never in a more directed/concentrated effort or setting. Likewise the presiding mod teams have usually left the sub as just a background companion aid to advertising/xPowers recruitment, with the entire current mod team (excluding additions) being inactive on the sub for moderating purposes by multiple years each. This largely came about due to an increasingly insular set of communities across the various games, however, it has also led to a dereliction of r/xPowers as the genre's main source for advertising and community expansion.

##What is next for r/xPowers?

With the change in sub-ownership (detailed further below), the goal/future for r/xPowers is a significant and major overhaul leading towards the fostering of a community hub for recruitment, advertising, game-update notifications, and bigger partnerships for the r/xPowers genre as a whole. In essence creating a forum where game-admins can advertise/give game updates in a more organized/user-accessible fashion but also for players of these various communities to share their posts, stories, roleplay, and accomplishments with others that share similar interests (and to a much wider like-minded audience). Further it will continue to provide a place for the general listing of related subreddits without requiring additional work from individual game operators/owners.

r/xPowers will over the coming months be turned into a celebration of xPowers and all its sub-genres/styles of gameplay, while being made increasingly accessible for new-players and those just interested in the various communities. Expanding the collective reach of the various xPowers-form games into worldbuilding, roleplaying, creative writing, tabletop, and other text-based communities. This will be done in a way that celebrates our collective long history, and also allows for a better way of collective advertisement to reach bigger communities.

Further, the basic concept of r/xPowers will similarly be maintained, and r/xPowers will also continue to operate as a way of listing active, inactive, and in pre-season xPower games as it always has - without requiring a subreddit/discord game to opt-in to the broader "r/xPowers Improved". This will also act with a historical mindset, highlighting the diverse and interesting history of xPowers as a genre.

##Introducing the Team

The former r/xPowers subreddit owner has handed sub-ownership of r/xPowers to myself (/u/Diotoiren) who will be leading/working towards the stated goals and vision for r/xPowers. This will be done in close coordination with participating communities, alongside a dedicated team (TBA) if required (if the idea works) for the general management of r/xPowers and the associated new (WIP) discord server.

As of right now, the current active team (excluding /u/Diotoiren as sub owner) includes,

• gamynthered
• halofreak1171
• SteamedSpy4
• 3202supsaW (Waspus)

Others listed as "moderators" on the subreddit will remain listed until final confirmation in the coming months - but are not currently included under the formal team, so to speak. This will likely change (either with additions or departures) as discussions with the various communities come to completion.

As is probably evident, work has already begun on revitalizing r/xPowers including a general place-holder CSS import until a more formal one can be designed.

##Why now?

Certainly some more avid historians of the xPowers genre are likely wondering "why now?", much of that answer is a simple matter of coincidental timing.

Beyond that however, r/xPowers and historical sub-owners/mod teams has largely remained inactive throughout its history and now I've come along with a plan of action and the means to execute said plan.

##Roadmap & Basic Descriptions (No Timeline)

The overall roadmap is extremely loose and subject to change, but is being put forward for the sake of transparency so that everyone and not just sub-owners/game-operators will know what to be looking for in the future.

• First Goals
• Building a ground-up discord server, modeled off of other multi-community centric servers/hubs. Allowing for a system that centralizes the advertising of xPowers.
• Including,
• An accurate and consistently updated list of all participating xPowers/similar games, including separate channels filterable by role - providing invite links to discord servers, subreddits, and etcetera
• Ability to filter search by gameplay style, timeline (ie. the IG starting year), realism level, and other search modifiers.
• Ability to filter search by language (as there are non-English games), platform (ie. reddit vs discord centric), and other mechanical features
• Platform for sharing written works, artwork, and other things your playerbase is happy to share - for discussion, feedback, or general response with likeminded people + shared interests.
• Platform for a more cohesive xPowers partnership program - effectively creating a larger community that might more easily create partnerships/cooperative advertising with other large communities (including worldbuilding, creative writing, and text-adjacent communities)
• Which then allows us to feed new players into a more user-friendly/accessible system that lets them search by interest, wants, and etcetera.
• Platform for cross-promotion and other cooperative efforts by existing/new xPowers communities/games.
• Platform for communities to update their information as needed - including releasing internal patch notes and etcetera to increase/entice players.
• Revamping the existing r/xPowers subreddit
• Including,
• Revamping the CSS, making it more user-friendly/accessible, updating outdated information, and creating flair-types to denote game ads, updates, user creations, and etcetera.
• Creating a method for later xPowers and similar communities post expansion to be verified to avoid content that might conflict with existing Reddit-wide/Discord-wide rules.
• Better integrating the sub and discord, to provide a more intuitive experience for future community partnerships
• Later Goals
• Broad level advertising + network building/partnership creations expanding into non-xPowers communities (including worldbuilding, creative writing, and text-adjacent communities) as a combined effort benefitting all participating xPowers communities.
• Others known but TBA.

##Final Word

If you've read till the end, thank you! It is much appreciated.

r/xPowers and the official associated discord will be undergoing major changes over the next months so we are very gracious for your patience.

For the sake of transparency, general reader should note that similar messages have been sent ahead of the posting of this to various xPowers communities (primarily those that had inactive moderators on the subreddit, either currently or before removal).

This however is meant for the general viewers/broad level community who have enjoyed xPowers as a hobby!

Thank you.

#Active /r/xPowers Games - 2024-07-10

The following are all active /r/xPowers games.

##/r/WorldPowers

• Description: The original cooperative worldbuilding RP currently set in the near future.
• Discord: https://discord.gg/fbKSu3FBhK

##BasketballPowers

• Description: A discord-based cooperative basketball game, inspired by xPowers.
• Discord: https://discord.gg/QKWYZpw

###/r/xPowers games that are in pre-season

• /r/GlobalPowers
• Description: Modern day realistic and diplomacy-focused nation-building game.
• Discord: https://discord.gg/5sGbhY7
• /r/Postworldpowers
• Description: TBA
• Discord: https://discord.gg/C699MBCqfm
• r/Peirn
• Description: An xPowers inspired collaborative worldbuilding roleplay, currently set in a bronze age equivalent region of a realistic fictional world.
• Discord: https://discord.gg/RgXeDyUNKU

Other xPowers or similar-genre games that are currently active or in pre-season, are free to make a comment and they will be added as appropriate.

Yesterday, on June 28, r/GlobalPowers celebrated the passing of its 10 year anniversary, and we've put out a recap of the subreddit's history and progression to mark the occasion. We also unveiled the next step for GP's gameplay in anticipation of a new, experimental season in August! Check it out, if you want! I'm not your dad, I just like fostering vague notions of community spirit!

​

The continent of Horea, our starting region.

Dawnpowers, an rp-focussed xpowers set in a realistic world on the brink of it very own bronze age, is launching its new instalment on the 21st of May!

Our fifth season is set in the land of Horea, a fictional subcontinent at the dawn of civilisation. In dawnpowers, you follow the birth and development of your culture as they discover technological advancements, engage with their neighbours through trade and war, and form political structures. If you're interested in creative writing, anthropology and ancient technology, look no further! Check out the pinned posts on our subreddit, r/DawnPowers, for descriptions of the setting and a detailed run-down of the mechanics and, if you like the idea, join our discord!

A Throne of Bayonets Season 2 is starting in a few weeks(1-2) with claims to open this upcoming Wednesday. We start in January of 1939. Reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/ThroneOfBayonets/

Discord: https://discord.gg/sWU3ZAry64

​

Summary:

A Throne of Bayonets follows a world where the Belle Epoque and International Socialist Unity are alive and well. A world where a new cold war begins but one without a world war ever occurring. Instead the Central Powers were dragged into the Great Eastern War by the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. War with France was avoided at the last moment by Jean Jaures’s assassination being avoided.

The cold war is between the Entente Coalition of France, Britain and Japan against the Central Powers with an active naval arms race due to the Washington naval treaty never occurring. Germany is also dealing with a number of eastern European insurgencies and disloyal vassals.

Lore has been reworked substantially since last season both for the sake of suspension of belief as well as to make new narratives more compelling.

Notable changes are the conflict in Italy being demoted to a struggle between a left leaning parliament and the king with the addition of Sicilian separatists.

France is now facing the rise of de La Rocque instead of integralism given the fact that integralism didn’t stand a real chance at relevancy.

America will no longer be in the great depression and will instead face the panic of 1929 which has caused a lesser recession. The American President is Al Smith who has overturned prohibition earlier than otl, implemented anti-lynching legislation and taken steps to crackdown on racial violence.

Austria-Hungary is now already Austria-Hungary-Croatia with remnants of the Czechoslovak movement active, Illyrian Yugoslavism, conflict between the Kaiser and Parliament, and finally Karl is dead with Otto now Kaiser of Austria-Hungary-Croatia.

Soooo I messed up

I said that I liked kids in the discord. Bad idea I guess.

Just letting you guys know that I am not actually a pedophile. My damn friend took my phone and sent that to the server as a joke lol. Err, please unban me?

r/xPowers made it onto the final r/place canvas, in no small part because of our much appreciated allies and the combined efforts of many of the r/xPowers genre coming together in an unprecedented display of pan-powers unity. This post will serve as a brief thank you to the groups that participated.

Ave r/xPowers!

#ALLIES & FRIENDS:

• r/ShibbySays [NSFW]

Our oldest alliance; we thank you for your support and hope your spiral comes out great in the timelapse.

• The Badger & Its Merry Men

We loved the great and glorious Badger like it was our own, through thick and thin, and were proud to defend it alongside its creators and Shibby.

• r/DoorMonster

We technically gave the world for r/DoorMonster, and they were allies in our earliest adventure onto the canvas. Thank you!

• Free r/Peru

Fuck that streamer.

• r/Lithuania & r/Belarus

Thank you for taking on the encroaching void head on in our earliest days. Couldn't have fought the good fight without ya!

• r/LiverpoolFC

Good luck in your next game, gentlemen. Pleasure working with you.

• r/stanleyparable

Sorry we couldn't help you build your 8 ball in the rainbow, though we're glad to see you got it in the end. Thanks for the support and good luck with the upcoming release!

• r/sewayakiKitsune (Senko)

Graciously allowed us to move in next to them when we were fighting for any scrap of canvas, and were steadfast allies to the end. Thank you! Sorry for calling Senko a cat.

• The Calamity Mod for Terraria

What is there to say but thank you? You helped us rebuild and defend in our latest and final home on the canvas, and we helped you build your logo and defend Calamitas. Comrades to the end!

• The Turtle & Its Merry Men

We knew you only briefly, but we liked ya so much we tried to defend you through the void, the crown, and that weird pink stuff, and I hope you liked us as much as we liked you. Enjoy your spot on the canvas, fellows!

• Flood Escape 2, the Roblox Game

Thank you for the companionship and support; we wish you the best of luck with your game into the future, as we hope you wish ours in turn. Enjoy your spot carved from the void.

#CONTRIBUTING SUBS:

• r/GlobalPowers
• r/Geosim
• r/ColdWarPowers
• r/HistoricalWorldPowers
• r/EmpirePowers
• Individual members of r/PostWorldPowers
• Individual members of r/WorldPowers
• r/xPowers leadership

#DRAWING INFO:

Position: 880, 1459

Dimensions: 9x53

Final pixel: 885, 1501

GG

If you're on this sub, you're either already an xPowers player, or you've seen us on r/place and have come to do some diplomacy (something we're experts in), or you're here to see what the heck xpowers actually means. Since this place is not that commonly used, I figured it would be nice to have a post explaining what we're all about!

xPowers is a broad genre, and not all of us are the same. In general, xPowers are reddit-hosted text-based model-nation roleplaying games. Basically, what that means is that we do something sort of like a model UN over Reddit. Players control, or "claim," as we say, countries and are essentially the invisible guiding hand that guides them. We develop the economy, detail political events, write diplomatic deals, wage war, and everything else that a modern nation-state does, just in text and over the Internet. These kinds of subs are generally formatted as r/_____Powers, styled after the progenitor, r/WorldPowers and many that followed it.

xPowers come in a variety of themes; here are a few examples of games that have run in the past or are currently running:

r/Geosim -- a semi-realistic take on the genre with a focus on narrative and worldbuilding (and according to some, economics) starting at the present day and moving until roughly 2035-2040. I'm a former mod over there so I'm biased, but obviously it is the best xpowers, even if we deviate from the traditional name format. Just started a new season, so currently in the year 2023.

r/GlobalPowers -- aimed at being a more realistic take on the genre, also in the modern day similar to Geosim. Currently on break, no restart date yet given.

r/WorldPowers -- a much less realistic take on the modern-day genre and the original xPowers sub, as far as I'm aware. Currently in the year 2061.

r/WeltkriegPowers -- a translation of the popular Hearts of Iron IV mod, Kaiserreich, into an xPowers text-based roleplay. Currently inactive.

r/ColdWarPowers -- an xPowers set during the Cold War; unlike most in the genre, CWP tends to have a different start date with each season. Season just ended, no restart date yet given.

This is by no means an exhaustive list (we do have one on this sub somewhere) but an example of the variety within the genre. Every game is quite different with their own communities and rules, so if this sounds like something that interests you, I'd recommend COMING TO r/GEOSIM DISCORD LINK ON OUR SIDEBAR browsing the list and finding an active sub and asking around its Discord!

Hope this cleared up who we are a little more, and maybe piqued your interest enough to try it out!

Hello, I’m here as an unofficial emissary of the aroace flag below you on r/place. I’d like to arrange peace between us early on so we can both survive the onslaught that is know as r/place. I hope we can reach a peaceful co-existence and that both of us will survive the event! Please let us know your thoughts on this.

Our bird to your left is currently being violated by the void mob. Once they take us they will advance south and eat you up as well, if any of you would please spare your pixels to push them back!

#List of /r/xPowers games that are active:

Below is a list of current active games that you can join now.

• /r/EmpirePowers
  • Set in 16th century Europe
  • https://discord.gg/jMN2gKu
• /r/Geosim
  • Modern day geopolitical roleplay community, focusing on soft-realism.
  • https://discord.gg/pbfTJhu
• /r/HistoricalWorldPowers/
  • Started in 1000 BCE, a millenia spanning gamified civlisation roleplaying game.
  • https://discord.gg/CkVDFQv
• /r/KerbalPowers
  • Create your own little slice of the Kerbol System.
  • https://discord.gg/K4jtHsAMKF
• /r/PostWorldPowers
  • Post apocalyptic near-future.
  • https://discord.gg/gVgU9CSnwD
• /r/WorldPowers/
  • The original cooperative worldbuilding RP currently set in the near future.
  • https://discord.gg/worldpowers

#List of /r/xPowers game that are in pre-season:

• /r/ColdWarPowers
  • Started in 1949, set in the midst of the Cold War, with a precarious world balance between Communism and Capitalism.
  • https://discord.gg/WWYbjZb
• /r/GlobalPowers
  • Modern day realistic and diplomacy-focused nation-building game.
  • https://discord.gg/5sGbhY7

Also join the xpowers community-wide discord: https://discord.gg/PZvpFm4

Hey everyone I used to be involved in the xpowers community a few years ago. Globalpowers and empirepowers I think it was. I am hoping to get back into it but a lot of subs seems dead/abandoned. Anyone have any suggestions? I prefer semi-realistic stuff and like RP.

Howdy! I'm starting a new game titled /r/FantasyWorldSim - inspired heavily by other games that have run in the past such as /r/AgeOfMan, /r/HistoricalWorldPowers, /r/createthisworld, and more, this game seeks to allow players to create nations in a unique high-fantasy world and interact with each other in a variety of ways, through diplomacy, trade, war, and more - ideas I'm sure many avid xPowers players are already familiar with.

I'm looking for anyone who is interested in helping grow this idea. If you'll look at the subreddit you'll see I've already begun posting my ideas (though nothing at this stage is final, it's all really a work in progress.) I have a world province map done, and I hope to have a playable game ready in a month or two. Another person or two helping with this would hopefully expedite the process greatly.

Feel free to give me a DM or respond to this post if you're interested in helping with the project! Thanks!