Game City

''This article is about the country as a whole. For the capital city which the country is named after, see Game City (city).''

Game City, or the Kingdom of Game City, is a country in Minecraft under a semi-constitutional monarchy, currently formed by its capital city and namesake, Game City, and the smaller counties that surround it.

The server of Game City is open to all Minecraft players via crossplay. Citizens can be using PC, Xbox, PS4, Pocket Edition and Nintendo Switch.

For those interested in joining Game City, please skip to the HOW TO JOIN section of this page.

2013-14. Origins.
Game City was founded in 2013 by Astonviggo, starting out with only a few structures on what is today known as Main Street, those being Viva Bar (the very first building constructed in Game City), The Grange, Astonviggo's own home and the Civil Guard; which before becoming a law enforcement agency was an order of knights charged with defending the old town and supervising order, without pledging allegiance to anyone or anything except honour and justice.

Seeking opportunity in this hopeful land, more and more people flocked to the then small town of Game City, allowing its size to expand and its economy to grow. With an ever-growing society, Astonviggo and his closest confidants agreed that Game City needed an established system to govern this organized community. They wrote a Constitution establishing the basic laws of the land, and the Government Monarchy, Game City's supreme legislative body, was formed. Soon after, Astonviggo and Grand Bishop Lilsmokesignals0 formed the Tribunal of the Gamer Inquisition to sentence both criminals and the unfaithful to death by Execution Chamber.

The government decided that the nation would be a monarchy, and so Astonviggo was crowned King Aston I in a splendid coronation ceremony at the Holy Chapel of Notch (now destroyed, rebuilt as the Cathedral of Game City). And so, the Kingdom of Game City was born.

2015. The dawn of democracy.
When the Kingdom of Game City was first founded, it was an absolute monarchy, with King Aston having unlimited political power. The city's local administration would be supervised by a local mayor handpicked by the King, and the man chosen for the job happened to be JaimeGamer99, at the time a humble farmer at The Grange.

While Mayor, JaimeGamer99 would attempt to introduce measures to modernize the city and develop more urban areas, but was almost always met with the disapproval of the King. The constant vetos of the King would only motivate the young mayor even more, which would lead him to create a political party to represent the working class of the then small town of Game City. This would come to be known as the Labour Party, a socialist progressive faction which would serve as a pressure group for reform. In reaction to the rise of the Labour Party, the nobles would respond by forming the Conservative Party, a rivaling faction defending the King's power and the privileges of the nobility.

One May morning in 2015, the Labourites marched to King Aston's residence demanding urgent change and more representation for the people. Wishing to not anger his citizens, the King came to an agreement with JaimeGamer99 and announced the celebration of elections, in which the citizens of Game City would vote for one of their own to represent them as the second-most powerful person in the Government Monarchy. Later that May of 2015, JaimeGamer99 won and became the first-ever President of the Government, selecting his running mate Canderi12 as his Vice President. From that day forward, Game City would be a semi-constitutional monarchy, with free and fair elections every two years. However, since the King would still have the final say and most power, whether it is a democracy or not has been questioned by the more critical citizens.

2016. Redstone is introduced.
Game City grew more and more as new residential areas and businesses, such as the Goldin Bank and the Red Heart Hospital, were introduced to the city. Not only this, but a technological innovation was brought to the server: functioning electricity or redstone was introduced and facilitated to everyone's use.

Not only that, but in summer of 2016, the Royal Palace was built, which would serve as the official residence of the King and his family.

As for politics, feeling pressured by the people's criticism, King Aston I reformed the tribunal of the Inquisition, legalizing the right to criticize the Church; but preserving the death penalty for another four years.

2017. The year of crisis.
In 2017, Game City experienced a period of economic and technical instability. The Brick Depression, as the period has come to be known, was a phase during which (because of the complexity of the RBS system and the people's unsatisfaction with it) citizens started using economic alternatives like trading or bartering, which the government didn't support at all. This led to the value of the RBS decreasing massively, and Game City would experience its first period of massive inflation.

Amidst the crisis, with his approval ratings at an all-time low and with little to no confidence from the rest of the government, JaimeGamer99 announced his intention to resign as President of the Government, choosing his Vice President Canderi12 as the socialist candidate for the election scheduled for that year. In these elections, however, Labour suffered their worst-ever defeat, with only 39% of the people's votes. JaimeGamer99 stepped down as President and the next elections were won by Woodywyatt, of the Conservative Party. Woodywyatt, a strong traditionalist, monarchist and capitalist, insisted on making Game City a rich, hard-working country, ordering the creation of a train station (today's Game City Central Station), the creation of many new businesses and also encouraging tradition by creating new grand monuments and providing more resources and special privileges to the Church.

2018. The Erin is introduced.
After the Brick Depression and the general unpopular opinion the public had of the RBS, the Conservative government and the King agreed that Game City needed a new, stronger currency. The Erin was declared the new national currency of Game City in early 2018.

2019. Steelborough is built.
Since Labour could not put forward a presidential candidate, Woodywyatt ran effectively unopposed in the next elections in 2019, even though many citizens still chose to vote for the socialists, which was a key reason why they pushed on.

On the outskirts of Game City, the small industrial village of Steelborough, built to accommodate the Steel Mill's employees, was inaugurated in summer of 2019. A connection to it via the Game City railway was established.

Later that year, the Government of Game City approved the creation of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of Game City which would lend money to other, smaller banks like Goldin Bank; and would regulate borrowing by increasing or decreasing the interest rate, which can eventually discourage or encourage inflation.

In August, the Royal Palace suffered a terrible fire after the fireplace in the King's bedroom accidentally leaked and burnt down most of the bedrooms on the top floor. How this accident happened, however, is unknown to the public.

2020. The "Constructional Miracle".
In March 2020, the Government of Game City unanimously agreed on demolishing the abandoned and derelict zoo on Justice Street. This move was applauded by the population as a triumphant move against animal cruelty.

King Aston I would receive the assistance of renowned Swedish architect Handduken, who would greatly improve the look of Game City's buildings and give the capital city some much-needed beauty. The Cathedral, for example, would be expanded and reformed massively. In mid-April of 2020, Handduken would become the very first common citizen to set foot in Government House, in order to pitch the cathedral renovation project to the rest of the government ministers. Later on in the year, he would completely reform the Royal Palace.

In April 2020, a debate was held in Parliament on the abolition of the death penalty, with many from both parties agreeing that execution was an antiquated system of punishment that had to be replaced in order to truly progress (even the more traditional conservatives, who had previously undergone an image change under Woodywyatt). Two options were presented: "Yes, the Inquisition should be abolished" or "No, the Inquisition should be preserved". Surprisingly, on the "No" side there was even a very small Labour minority. The "Yes" option won, and the King officially abolished the death penalty, tearing down the huge Execution Chamber on Justice Street, marking the end of the Era of the Inquisition. A monument has since been placed at the location of the old "device" in remembrance of the persecuted.

On the 10th of September, Handduken joined the Labour Party and became its leader by default after the party had been without one for more than a year.

On the 29th of November, after a lengthy debate in Parliament, it was decided that Game City would have a national anthem. The selected anthem was the "Royal Fanfare", which uses the melody of the Promenade of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

2021. A new world.
In the early months of the year, the Government Monarchy planned several operations in order to facilitate what King Aston named the Global Relocation Effort: the plan to move Game City from its initial superflat world to a bigger world, and with it, all of the preexisting infrastructure. In preparation for the Global Relocation Effort, the King passed the Commodity Mining Legislation in early February of 2021, which decreed that, with the possibility in a new world for more mining companies (instead of just the original Game City Steel Mill), a single mining organisation would not be allowed to own a Jewellery Exchange while simultaneously running a mining industry (to prevent commodity inflation and excessive capital income). In addition, every mine would have to maintain a strict shape and form according to the Agricultural and Mining Hazard Protection Standard: an inspector could be sent by the Government Monarchy to visit the mines without prior notice, and if a mine were found to have a length of 10 or more blocks unadjusted to the Mining Hazard Protection Standard, the business could risk being dismantled.

Summer marked the election season once again, with the 2021 general elections being celebrated in July. Handduken would present himself as the Labour Party's electoral candidate, with Woodywyatt coming back with his Vice President Xep for a third term. The election would be won by Handduken, marking the first Labour victory in four years. Woodywyatt would resign as President after his defeat, but would remain in politics as Mayor of Steelborough.

The first thing the new Labour government did under Handduken was replace the old ID system with a brand new and much more complete passport, with information ranging from the date the player joined to the number of businesses the player owns.

However, soon after Game City would once again suffer economic trouble. More and more Emris gems were being discovered at a rapid pace and entering circulation, causing their value to plummet. The Parliament was called for an emergency meeting in October to find a way to contain the situation, but no agreement was reached. For the following months, players would disobediently destroy or trash many Emris gems in the blind belief that they would increase its value, but this did nothing as more and more gems were being uncovered.

2022.
The year started off ceremoniously, with Woodywyatt and Handduken being knighted as a Baron and Marquis, respectively, for their political and architectural service to the kingdom. The Labour government also made some progress with its previous pledges: on the 22nd February, taxation was introduced for the first time at an initial rate of 10%.

Geography
The Kingdom of Game City is divided into three counties: Game City County (the capital of the kingdom), Steelborough County and Sylvves County. While the first of these is only and entirely the capital city, Steelborough and Sylvves County contain a few sparsely populated villages subordinated to the main county towns.

When it comes to area, Game City has various climates, from warm coastal forests (where the capital city is) to snowy mountainous areas (like Steelborough County) and jungles (Sylvves County).

Economy
The currency of Game City is the Erin.

Ever since the collapse of the RBS economy, it was officially declared that the new currency would be seen in the form of the Erin, a fiat-mimicking form of currency. Due to the lack of secondary currencies outside of the Erin, inflation is currently considered impossible, though a limited print was issued to the Mint and set in circulation, to prevent any form of deterioration in value; at least as seen from the public eye.

Culture
Game City has various traditions that the community have adopted over the years.
 * In the first session of the New Year, the country celebrates the State Opening of Parliament, a ceremony in which King Aston I officially "opens" the Government Monarchy for the new year. The date of this occasion can vary from January to even early February (depending on the availability of all G.M. members).
 * The 7th of February is the King's Birthday. Although it's not a bank holiday, a few times in the country's history a party has been celebrated in the Royal Palace, to which the closest members of the Government would be invited (no commoners allowed).
 * The 7th of May is known as National Greetings Day, in which people are expected to say "hello" at least three times on said day to their nearest neighbours.
 * The 18th of May is Saint Jeb's Day (the birthday of Jeb, the lead designer of Minecraft alongside Notch). It's not a very notable holiday and nowhere near as huge as Notch Day, but you would surely see the most devout followers of the Church attending mass in the Cathedral on this day.
 * The 1st of June is the Day of Notch (Notch's birthday), the most important religious festivity of the Church of Notch, usually celebrated with an outside banquet near the Cathedral and a swim in the river (to wash away badness from the soul).
 * National Day is on the 22nd of June, the day that Game City was founded.
 * Election season takes place every two years throughout the month of July, with the results being announced the morning of the 1st of August.
 * Christmas, also known as Wintry Day in some regions of the kingdom, is an extremely important festivity to the citizens. The King always makes a special broadcast on the 25th of December giving a speech about the events and successes of the past year.

Defence
For a full explanation of each policing organization in the server, see Law Enforcement Hierarchy.

Politics
Game City is, officially, a unitary state under a semi-constitutional monarchy with King Aston I serving as head of state. According to the Rule Room, the monarch has the power to approve and veto all laws debated in Parliament and any changes in the Rule Room, to choose every other member of the Government Monarchy except the President and Vice President, to dissolve Parliament, to call for sudden general elections, he is immune from any legal charges or accusations and is the supreme commander of the Armed Forces.

The "Constitution" of Game City is the Rule Room, with the many rules of the server being written on the walls. These rules are also manifested through the inner structure and morals of the Government Monarchy.

Although members of the government tend to insist that Game City is a democratic country, many do not define Game City as a democracy, but rather as a semi-representative state. This is because the only politician in the government who is actually elected by the citizens is the President (and the Vice President is simply the President's running-mate), while the rest are all appointed by the King. In fact, Game City still possesses many absolutist elements, with the King having almost absolute power, being limited only in certain bureaucratic and administrative sectors in the Government Monarchy. Therefore, the correct term for Game City's regime is a semi-constitutional monarchy.

To see how the political system truly works in the Kingdom, see The Government.

HOW TO JOIN
Those who are interested in joining Game City can send a direct message via Instagram to @gamecitykingdom, when they will soon receive a link to the Kingdom's official Discord server, where they will meet the citizens and Government officials and will be informed of the date of the next session.

Once in Game City for the first time, the player will have to visit the Tourist Information Office on Main Street and get a passport. From that moment on, the player will officially be a citizen of the Kingdom of Game City!

Game City