Rules of Roleplay - Vienna Accords

The Vienna Accords (rules of roleplay) are the basic rules/guidelines agreed upon by all current nations of the present year of our Lord, 1750 which were apart of the Congress of Vienna. Prior to this document's creation, common sense and several unwritten rules concurrently agreed upon by most nations were law. Councils and committees were formed consisting of key leaders of the world to discuss and agree upon a draft to be presented before the entirety of the world. After hours of debate, compromises, and hearings; the nations of the world to whom were present during the international summit had agreed upon these terms and conditions as presented below. Any disregard for these common rules is frowned upon amongst the world community. This relies upon other nations to police each other to maintain a balance of power.

NOTE: Whenever TLOPO is made available to everyone without the need of a beta key, then the inactivity countdown (ex: removal of inactive leaders after 3 months) will officially begin.

Claiming a nation:

New claimants of countries require at least a majority, just over 2/3rds of the world's active countries' recognition, in order to be recognised as a legitimate country. This process should not take no more than a month.
If an individual desires to claim a country, they must have the intent on holding possession of their country for a period of 10 - 12 months (at least a year), before they are able to concede their entire claim of the country to another country.
A new country must wait a period of at least 3 months after its creation, before they are able to perform any land deals (trade of territory between 2 or more nations).
All new countries that participate in land deals after the 3 month period, cannot cede their historical region containing, their capital until after the period of 10 - 12 months (at least a year).
Claimants may only claim historical countries with historical borders/territory that existed in the present RP year (ex: 1750).
All organised countries’ borders must be of that of the present RP year; ex: 1750 (Any changes to any borders done through conquest/war/or treaty is exempt from this rule).
Subjects or citizens of an existing country must leave that country and give up all rights and privileges of said country in order to attempt to claim a new country. If the individual is able to acquire at least a majority, just over 2/3rds of the world's active countries' recognition, with the possibility of the individual attempting to create a puppet state for the already existing country they have ties to, and provided the full history of the individual provided as well as a petition made by the individual addressed to all other nations, explaining their reasonings to claim a new nation; all made explicitly clear to the countries of the world before they decide, then the individual and his claim shall be recognised. All other points still apply to the new nation.
New claimants of countries to whom have established themselves (A guild, and in-game recognition by most players) on the game/TLOPO do not require a 2/3rds majority of the world's active countries' recognition, in order to be recognised as a legitimate country. If a claimant seeks to claim a nation that already exists to whom have established themselves (A guild, and in-game recognition by most players) then the current nation recognised by the world must negotiate to reach a compromise between the new claimant and the current claimant or fight for country in question.

Succession and government:

All countries require at least 2-3 members (EX: King, and a First Minister), and said members must hold legitimate (recommended historical) positions within their country's government.
All countries should have an order of succession for state officials/leaders including an heir apparent or heiress apparent, so that if the claimant goes inactive, then one of the other members, can be elected/appointed the successor.
If the leaders or ministers of a country desire to resign their positions and absolve all influence within their country, a proper 10 day notice is recommended to provide other members of the country in question, adequate time to elect/appoint successors.
If, ever, a nation is split into multiple nations, the other nations of the world must convene and decide whether or not the new nations will receive representation in the congregation to decide a 2/3rds vote. This is to prevent already-existing nations from splitting in order to gain extra votes.
The Papal States (or any other nation(s) comprised of sockpuppets) shall not be given a vote on the international level as long as their nation is comprised of sockpuppets.

Trade of territory:

All trade of territory must acquire documentation, in order to ensure there is no later dispute upon the matter. Land deals can be done in-game between two individuals as long as proper screenshots are provided, but it is highly recommended that all trade of land is recorded on visual documentation (Wikia, etc) that can be viewed/edited by both parties involved, with proper visuals (map of the land traded), descriptions of the land(in clear historical and geographical context), and identification of the countries involved. The treaty will be recognised once the two countries add their signatures to make it legal.
Signatures must be added by the person who owns the signature. An individual adding a signature that does not belong to them will be considered forgery; the treaty/trade of land will be then considered invalid.
In-game screenshots must include the land in question being traded, what is it being traded for, who would acquire the land, and confirmation between the representatives of the nations. It is recommended that proper visual documentation is archived at a later date with the same terms and conditions displayed on the screenshot.

Rules of War

Section 1: Declaring war:

To declare war upon another RP Nation, the nation's leadership must be online for both parties to assess the situation and prepare for war. The leadership on both sides must be online for the war to officially commence. War must have legitimate reasons for their declarations.
War can only be declared for extreme reasons, that demean or cause derogatory, provocative transgressions, of harm or loss against, said nation without remorse.
In the case that a member of your country attempts to start a war, the leader of the nation must approve said claim in order for it to become valid.
If the provocateur nation(s) provokes conflict between other nation(s), but refuse to fight in the war. The provoked nation(s) then are to set up battles (once every 7 - 10 days) to slowly occupy the land of the provocateur nation(s) but must allow open discussion between both belligerents to arrange the battles to be at a more mutually convenient time. If the provocateur nation(s) refuse/ignore, they slowly lose land to the provoked nation(s).
In the event a nation being warred against believes the terms their enemy belligerent lays out are unfair (ex: they're attacking too much land at once, they set up an inconvenient time and refuse to reschedule, etc.) that they can take their concerns to a congregation of nations (Neutral third-party of at least 2 other nations) for a second opinion on the conflict.

Section 2: Rules of engagement:

In a time of war it is mandatory to accept terms of a battle (Land being fought over, for control, etc. Ex: SvS, PvP), requested from either side within 48 hours. Leaders of the two nations at war must agree upon a time and place(server/third-party game, ex: Empire Total War), and time limit for the battle/event, 24 hours in advance of the actual battle.
All official battles played between nations must be watched by a third party or must be documented by taking a screenshot or recording.
You may not declare that your nation has conquered another nation/gained another nation’s territory without an official battle for said territory or nation.
During a battle, should there be any form of glitch or crash the player must state so immediately in-game. Both nations will be required to rematch. If the player(s) of a particular nation cannot enter the battle due to crashing or glitches, the two nations must find an alternative form of battle. Screenshots or video, if viable, are recommended to support said claim.
A naval battle (SvS), must be at least 45 minutes, but no longer than 3 hours, unless agreed upon by both sides, of said conflict. If a belligerent believes that the battle is lost before the agreed battle time limit, they must state so, and port their vessels.
The belligerent with the highest score/bounty at the end of the agreed duration of the battle shall be declared the victor.The victor may then screenshot the scoreboard, and port their vessels. If the screenshot is proven counterfeit, then the supposed “victor” will relinquish their victory rights to the supposed “loser.”
Prior to a land battle (PvP), belligerents must state who shall represent their factions in the PVP, 5 minutes before battle; all weapons are to be permitted unless stated/agreed upon by both belligerents.
During a battle, should any nation attempt to use illegal modifications, hacks, or other forms of cheating to attempt to gain an advantage over the other nation, the nation that is cheating forfeits the battle to the other nation immediately. Screenshots, of video evidence if viable is recommended to support said claim of cheating to be reported to in-game administrators if they so exist.
In the inevitable outcome of defeat while defending, nations must accept, said outcome. No Exceptions. Nations will not be dissolved or excommunicated; the victors will receive the territory owned by said, defeated country that was disputed upon in battle. Defeated nations may, at a later date, attempt to reclaim their lost territory through another battle.
In the event that TLOPO shuts down for an extended period of time due to updates, all conflicts will be temporarily suspended (unless agreed upon to use a third-party game EX: Empire:Total War) until TLOPO returns.

Section 3: Making peace/truces, forfeits, and concessions:

A peace treaty or a Non-aggression Pact may be discussed at all times and both sides must agree to the terms for it to be instituted.

In an event of a holiday, new content, break, etc, during a time of conflict (In-game), belligerents are encouraged to initiate a parley to temporarily end the ongoing conflict or to propose the idea of a temporary cessation of fighting, by mutual consent for a set period of time, also known as a truce. During a truce no belligerent may attempt battle or conquest for the period of time agreed upon during the parley. (A truce must be at least 5 days but no more than 4 weeks.)

If a belligerent refuses to fight any future battles even though they have fought previous battles, that belligerent would forfeit their territory if they do not sue for peace or surrender.

If a belligerent attempts to leave the realm of RP during a time of war previously agreed upon, then that belligerent of said, nation(s) forfeits all territory. Ex: Ishmael Decksteel claiming they are leaving RP during war, in order to not lose land or continue the conflict without suing for peace.

If a belligerent to whom has either been provoked or is the provocateur of a conflict between nation(s), refuses to fight in the war (Ex: Refusing to meet to schedule an initial opening battle for the war) or to whom has previously fought battles and ignores all future requests for battle and does not sue for peace (EX: In order to halt the capture of their nation's land) during a time of war previously agreed upon, then it is up to either belligerent to set up battles (after an initial wait period of 2 weeks if there has been no previous battles fought in that war) at their own convenience for the other belligerent's territory every 48 hours, until the nation is without any land.

Inactive Nations:

Nations whose leader has gone inactive (for a period of more than 2 months, and have no other active members of that nation, relinquish their claim to the nation. Unless the nation has a treaty of succession then the nation goes back into the pool of unclaimed nations. Leaders who are inactive and return must return for at least 7 days. If they do not return for at least 7 days, then it is up to the other nations of the world.

Nations whose leader has gone inactive for a period of more than 2 months, but have active members of that nation, keep their claim of the nation at the leisure of the highest ranking official/heir of that nation to whom is still active. The highest ranking official/heir of that nation to whom is still active may at their leisure dispose of the inactive leader and take their place.

In the event that TLOPO shuts down for an extended period of time due to updates, all inactivity notices or requirements shall be temporarily suspended until TLOPO returns.

Conquering Unclaimed Land:

Land that is terra nullius (nobody's land) is neutral territory. Nations may not claim sovereignty over neutral territory unless they have historical evidence to support that their nation has even the slightest presence in the region during the present RP year. (EX: Expanding into Central Africa would not be practical until the 19th century due to technological limitations)
Any expansion of said borders into unclaimed territory that lies along a nation’s borders (with proper claim and reason EX: Russia claiming the Kingdom of Kartli (Georgia) early because of no challengers or claimants) will be permitted as long as no other country or faction challenges their claim. If no challengers arise, within 7-10 business days, then the nation’s claim shall be recognised regardless of any other nation’s opinion.

Signatories

A copy of this General Treaty shall be deposited, in the Archives of the Court and State of his Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, at Vienna, in case any of the Courts of Europe shall think proper to consult the original text of this instrument.

In faith of which the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this Act, and have affixed thereunto the seals of their arms.

Done at Vienna the 19th of March, in the year of our Lord 1750.