Mediobogdum

How about "trotting out" as a phrase?

I may eventually put this up in the SC forum gameside, but leaving it here for the moment to work on.  Background: CoCD are a fascist region who recent pulled all their political tags from their WFE as part of a campaign to convince Gameplay that they’re no longer fascist.  Keeping the embassies with Nazi and fascist regions open was a dead giveaway though.
Maybe needs more ham jokes?

Well, I am most sincerely humbled at the honour...  My record as an ardent supporter of all things about The West Pacific is not nearly as long as many other stalwarts of the region, but I have always tried my best to become involved in as many aspects of the region's affairs as possible.  I will wear the Order with great pride. 

Westwind, I thank you for your sage advice and guidance during what was for me at times a rather difficult birth into the West Pacific

Well, I am most sincerely humbled at the honour...  My record as an ardent supporter of all things about The West Pacific is not nearly as long as many other stalwarts of the region, but I have always tried my best to become involved in as many aspects of the region's affairs as possible.  I will wear the Order with great pride. 

Westwind, I thank you for your sage advice and guidance during what was for me at times a rather difficult birth into the West Pacific

We look forward to a period of glorious cooperation in the field or on the high seas between our two regions! 

We look forward to a period of glorious cooperation in the field or on the high seas between our two regions! 

Good evening friends of the West Pacific,
It is my very great pleasure to announce the signing of The Rose Dragon Treaty. We look forward to the prosperity of both our regions and will do our utmost in continuing this bond perpetually. 
I would like to explain what The Hall of The Red Rose is and what purpose it seeks to serve.
The Red Rose is a triad organization, in other words, a Chinese mafia themed region. While our primary purpose is participation in R/D, we're not just a raider region. We seek to take in players, new and old and teach them the ways of NationStates and help them discover their destiny. We want to be responsible for building some of the best players the game has to offer, across a variety of departments and skills, whether one is interested in R/D, Foreign Affairs, Cultural Affairs, or those who simply want to make cool things for the site.
It's my goal to do for the Hall what The West Pacific did for me, by helping others learn and find a greater purpose in the game. In terms of our goals in R/D, it has been agreed that the Hall will do what it can to send over trained talent to The West Pacific to serve in The West Pacific Armed Forces. We look forward to soon join forces as we wage a conquest across the world. As it stands, there are very few choices available in R/D militaries out there, in comparison to the "golden age", so naturally, the Hall wishes to offer the world another option as a Raider aligned region.
The foundation of the Hall is being built, and we're hoping to have it fully open and operating by the following week. We thank The West Pacific for agreeing to become the first to establish official ties with us.
--Madame Victoria K. Asteorra-Wintony (Puppet nation of Kawaii Schoolgirl)
Dragon Head of The Red Rose
Matriarch of The Wintony Family

@Winnipeg, given our discussion about this here and elsewhere, we all agree that we should allow others to be able to contribute.
It seems to me that setting up a Paypal to which people could contribute anonymously would be best, but we will support whatever system you set up.

Vortex was halted as it actually broke the MySQL database (too much data was retained I guess), I might be into looking at redeveloping that a somepoint, but do have to admit that when I get home from work, I'm less motivated to work on Web projects like that than I used to be. 
That said....now that you bring this up, I wonder if Vortex would be a good candidate to use SQLite instead of a full fledged database...I have had an itch to try building something using that.
 
As for a tip jar, I'll look at setting something up so we can use paypal...it seems like the least amount of work overall.

I gave this a bump on Discord.

Which ever way Winnie wants this to go is okay by me... PayPal seems to be the easiest route to follow as many players probably already have an account.  Well, at least I do! 
Do we know what sort of level of funding, apart from annual fees that is needed?  Was thinking about costs for developing/enhancing/repairing features?  We used to have a great feature in Vortex which allowed us to see which nations we had not endorsed and vice versa. This excellent facility fell by the wayside, but maybe that was a different feature from the forum?

Since I'm the EA in the group, let me snoop around about Canadian Tax rules as it applies to using crowd sourcing.  I will also look into rules around setting up an account and implications (Can I set it up and admin it, or will Winnie need to do it?  Are there rules about cross border ownership of a funding source etc)
I am in meetings all of Thursday evening and overnight into Friday evening.  So any serious research will be done over the weekend, with a significant break for corned beef and cabbage and Jameson (You can keep your Guinness)  : )    I will have a better handle on any legal/tax implications by Monday.  Which will leave us with the more difficult, sticky issues involving human beings and their silly emotions.

Greetings to all the excellent residents of TWP!
This Forum is not free. Its roughly $30 (U.S.)/month cost has been covered by @Winnipeg, @Eli and @Darkesia forever.
It's time we step up and help out.
The Cabinet and I have been discussing ways this might be facilitated, but this is your region (and will be your money! ), so we want to hear from you.
What are your thoughts?

The bright light of dawn breaks over the ocean in the east, turning the sea red and orange and gold. In the temples, the priests light incense; in the palace, nobles begin to stir from their beds as servants continue their frantic preparations in the kitchens; in the streets, guards check and recheck the processional way and women drape banners of red and gold from windows. The day of the Emperor's enthronement is beginning.
The Emperor himself has already been awake for hours; he and his attendants dressed in their ceremonial robes and rode to the Temple of the West long before dawn. Now, as the sun rises, the Emperor stands facing its golden rays, offering prayers to Heaven, in particular to the Jade Emperor Yuhuang Dadi and the Royal Mother of the West Wangmu Niangniang, for the success of his reign. Under their beneficence, he hoped that his dynasty would retain the Mandate of Heaven and prosper for centuries to come.
 
Once the sun has risen and the ceremonial way has been prepared, the Emperor sets out from the temple towards Zijin Cheng, the Forbidden City. As he passes through the streets with his procession of guards and attendants, the masses of people cheer at his approach and bow at his passing. Children bounce on their toes to get a better look; in the future they will tell their grandchildren of this glorious and singular day.
 The Dragon Emperor Marcarius Halo Rahl enters the gates of the Forbidden City to the peal of drums, bo, and luo. In the courtyard stand ranks upon ranks of his warriors, TWPAF. They stand straight and proud as he passes; victory attends emperors with the Mandate of Heaven.
The Emperor and his procession ascend the steps to the throne hall, where he enters first. Waiting at a side door is the Dowager Empress, NeeNee; she steps in after him. One by one members of the court enter, the most senior first, until the throne room is full. Only the space in front of the throne itself is empty, and the Emperor stands still and silent facing it as the room fills behind him.
The room is silent, every man and woman there all but holding back breath. Seeing that all is ready, the Dowager Empress motions to the musicians, who begin a long, slow roll on the strings of the yangqin; the breathy xiao joins in next. The music crescendos and the Emperor walks forward to the throne. As he takes his rightful place, the Dowager Empress calls out his titles:
His Imperial Majesty, Marcarius Halo Rahl, The Holy Principality of Saint Mark, Dragon Emperor of The West Pacific, Delegate, Son of Heaven, Moral Compass, Best Barista and Sovereign Sommelier.
The officials of the court let out a shout, which is echoed first by the warriors in the courtyard and then on and on across the city as people hear the cries and know what they mean: the Emperor has ascended and taken his rightful throne.
In the throne hall, the officials of the region line up to present their memorials of congratulation; the Venerable Sage beside the Emperor taking each scroll on his behalf to be opened at a later date. The Emperor then reads his ascension edict: http://www.westpacific.org/forums/index.php?/topic/3075-honors-of-the-west-pacific/
The festival in the palace will begin soon, once all final congratulations have been given and ceremonies completed. Out in the streets, dragon floats are being paraded to and fro to the sound of music and cheering. The celebrations will last almost until dawn the next day, with fireworks throughout the night. All across The West Pacific, cities will resound with them, their brilliance flickering over the towers and walls of the cities and the faces of the celebrants. A new era has begun.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Today, a new theme is inaugurated in The West Pacific, one that honors our traditions and institutions and builds on these to provide new excitement and opportunities. This ceremony is not about me, but about you, the residents who make this the best region in NationStates. Therefore, I use this occasion to recognize some of those who have made The West Pacific what it is today and those who have begun the work of bringing it to a new glory.
Merit is awarded in The West Pacific. The greatness of our region is the result of the imagination, talentand work of many individuals over many years contributing to our common good. These Honors are one way we can show our appreciation to those dedicated residents. As today is the first Honors ceremony in The West Pacific under the current theme, it will be longer than most will be in the future. There are many achievers that must be recognized.

Honors Of The West Pacific
Granted by His Imperial Majesty,
Marcarius Halo Rahl, The Holy Principality of Saint Mark,
Dragon Emperor of The West Pacific
on the first day of March in the year two-thousand and nineteen.

The recognition of merit is one of the pillars of The West Pacific.
These dedicated residents of our region, by applying their unique talents with hard work and imagination
to the betterment of The West Pacific have earned high praise.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
First, it is with great affection and admiration that I grant Neenee the titles of
Dowager Empress of the West Pacific
For her dedicated service as our last Delegate,

 
 Chancellor of The Hall of Peers
So that she may continue to serve the region with her wise counsel, and
Celestial Sage
As one who appointed the current Delegate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next, I would like to honor, Davelands, 
the Delegate that preceded her and who has done so much in so many different roles for our region both before and after his delegacy,
by granting him the title of
Royal Prince of The West Pacific.  

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next honor is granted to Big Bad Badger
for his inspired leadership during his past delegacy
which led to the creation of The Manners among many other regional improvements and institutions.
He is made a Royal Duke of The West Pacific. 

 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In recognition of his past work as the Delegate during whose tenure I was born in The West Pacific,
for having started several of our fond traditions and for always being our Delegarth,
I grant Elegarth the honor of
Royal Duke of The West Pacific.

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In recognition of his aid to The West Pacific multiple times as our transition Delegate,
and honoring his many years of loyally serving as one of our region’s Guardians,
I grant Mediobogdum the title
Royal Duke of The West Pacific.

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grateful for the chocolate she shares and appreciative of her wise counsel,
and in recognition of her service as a past Delegate,
I grant Darkesia the title of
Duchess of Hainan.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In gratitude for his many years of time, talent and treasure in supporting our region, and especially the forum,
I award Southern Eureka with the title of
Duke of Chongming.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In recognition of his many contributions to the region since antiquity,
including his terms as our Delegate and his support as The West Pacific’s unofficial historian,
I grant All Good People the title of
Duke of Zhoushan.

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In gratitude for his assistance as a Guardian,
and in recognition of his past contributions as a Delegate of The West Pacific,
I bestow upon Yy4u, the title
Marquis of Donghai.

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In appreciation for his service to The West Pacific as its Delegate multiple times,
Wickedly Evil People is granted the title
Marquis of Shangchuan.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In recognition of his past Delegacy, and fearful of his roofur madness,
I bestow upon Bhang Bhang Duc the title of
Marquis of Damang.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In gratitude for her loyal and dedicated service as The Commander of The West Pacific Armed Forces
and briefly as our Foreign Affairs Minister, and in appreciation for her willingness to delve enthusiastically into any project,
I grant Kawaii Schoolgirl the title of
Countess of Junshan.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In gratitude for his devoted service as Speaker of The Hall of Nations and Minister of Foreign Affairs,
and in appreciation for his willingness to work for the region,
I grant Arkadia Universalis the title of
Earl of Ping.

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In recognition of his work as our first Minister of Education, and in appreciation of his wise counsel,
I grant Dalimbar the title of
Baron of Zhifu.

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In gratitude for his exceptional work in Internal Affairs, both past and present,
and with appreciation for his wise counsel,
I bestow upon Bran Astor the title of
Baron of Hebao.

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Orders of Xia
Xia means someone with power who helps others in need. The Xia (pronounced shya) are the knights of The West Pacific.
This is the highest non-peer honor a resident can receive.
~~~~~~~~~

Benevolent Order of Mencius:
for extraordinary service to the people of TWP
This is the highest of the Xia Orders.

Those admitted to this Order today are:

Southern Eureka
For his years of Forum support

Big Bad Badger
For beginning The West Pacific’s transformation
 

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imperial Order of The Dragon:
for extraordinary service to The Emperor

Those admitted to this Order today are:

Kawaii Schoolgirl
Arkadia Universalis
Dalimbar 
Bran Astor
These have demonstrated steadfast loyalty, wise counsel, constant vigilance, and an untiring willingness to serve.
 

 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Martial Order of Ching Shih:
for extraordinary service to TWPAF 

Those admitted to this Order today are:

Kawaii Schoolgirl
Chervil 
Altino
These have been crucial to the restructuring and rebirth of the region’s armed forces.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Benevolent Order of The Three Perfections: 
    for extraordinary service in The Arts 

Those admitted to this Order today are:

Fujai
Kawaii
Bran Astor
Yy4u
These have demonstrated an uncanny talent in turning any request into a beautiful work of art.
 

I also seemed to have had misplaced three other former members: Former Holy Ministers Treize Dreizehn , Intelligent Holograms and Charax 
And it's worth noting that The Sacred Order embraces other Orders in NationStates, including The Crimson Order, the New TAO Order.....although I am concerned The New Pacific Order has lost it's way. Perhaps someday the NPO can return to the Sacred Order and complete the Gates of Redemption and Reunification Ceremonies and restore harmony between The Pacific and The West Pacific.
*raises his hands to the heavens in supplication*
*bows low to the earth bringing his arms down in a sweeping motion*
*stands again*
Welcome Former Delegate Elegarth!
It is a honor to accept you into The Sacred Order. There is no doubt that your service to The West Pacific is deserving of recognition by The Sacred Order. A Grant of Title will be made upon due consideration. In the meantime, you are hereby Welcomed into The Sacred Order of The West Pacific as an Honored Entered Acolyte of The First Circle.
I believe that Cleansed Seeker of The First Circle Mediobogdum is due for a Grant of Title as well. 
*raises his hands again*
May the blessings of Max and ADMIN be upon you!

No problem. I hadn't cast my own vote earlier because I didn't want to influence anyone's choice. I cast my vote for China, breaking the tie between the two. 

That's definitely a step in the right direction, though I have two questions about it.
First, why not just do this in the first place and skip the part where we vote on three options? Kawaii, OT, and Ark could certainly head their own teams and if one of their themes was chosen then more power to them. That seems like a really good compromise between more community involvement and keeping it centralized to me, and could have avoided a lot of this drama.
Second, if you had the beginning of this plan before voting started, why wasn't there more transparency? Again a lot of this drama could've been at least soothed by more fluid communication (not that I claim to be good at communication myself).
Can you tell us what they are and how to get involved, should we desire?
I've noticed it a lot in past and present Delegacies that changes and new programs are very much a "guardians and ministers only" club. Right now those two groups overlap a lot, which doesn't help the situation. We always complain to ourselves that the regional government isn't very active, and yet we have regional governments that aren't inclusive in the activity that's happening.
People keep saying something we as a region need to think more about: if there's no ownership, then what incentive does the community have to interact with it?
The answer is, of course: none. We can try to make incentives like the peerage and point systems, but if the community doesn't feel like something is genuinely theirs—like the're not intrinsically a part of something—then there's no reason to be involved. That's one reason some of us don't like the three themes presented. They don't feel like TWP—they don't feel like something the community can rally behind and say "this is who we are."
There's a discussion to be had on whether a theme should do that. I argue that if a theme doesn't inspire long-term feelings of regional spirit and belonging, then what good is it? A real theme should be a tool to enhance regional identity, not just as a change of clothes to throw off every so often.

This is exactly my point. If you want the theme to be successful there must be community buy in. The best way to achieve that is by giving the community ownership of the process.
Instead we are told "trust us". And those of us who have wanted to discuss the process have been put down, discredited, and mocked for being afraid of change.
 
This is exactly right as pointed out by Kawaii on discord:
 
This is the exact approach to create community! Instead of creating the opposite...an us vs them environment.
When there's absolutely nothing occurring in the Hall except elections, sure this discussion could have occurred in a healthy and meaningful way. 
Honestly this entire process has left a really bad taste in my mouth for the way our region is governed. Perhaps it is time to discuss a second forum government to give the residents a voice. As WW has pointed out, it has happened in the past.

Seeing as the whole process is up to the delegate's discretion, the only "too late" point is when the new theme is in place.
Respecting the delegate's decisions and wanting more community input are not mutually exclusive. It's not "my methods are better," it's more "we think there hasn't been enough community input in this process and that may jeopardize the success of a theme change."
Yes, but the extent of that say has been voting in the nice and neat poll that includes only the options presented to us by the cabinet. There hasn't been, and I hazard that there never was intended to be, community involvement in the actual drafting process.
There's no reason the delegate couldn't have come to the community, or just the Hall, and said "We're going to have a theme change. How do you feel about that? What do you think of these preliminary options we've come up with so far, and do you have any suggestions of your own?" That would've spawned discussion similar to this one, but without people being miffed by an exclusionary process.
As WW pointed out, there are poll options gameside to make it fairly secure. Opening the vote to all residents over 1B will certainly get a better response than the couple dozen in the Hall.
Better yet, if we actually put effort into promoting and advertising the Hall, perhaps we wouldn't have that problem.

Lol. I feel like an onsite vote is a little on "too little too late" territory at this point. Kind of having a hard time processing the disparity between "I respect the delegate's decisions" and "but the delegate should do things by my methods." What the delegate has chosen to do is give TWP a theme. He's also chosen to give citizens of the region a say in the direction of that theme. Very kind of him. And wise, to make sure that those involved in making long term decisions for TWP are people who understand the place and will not CTE a few weeks from now, unaffected by what their randomly chosen vote brings us. Or vote stackers. Or trolly people from different regions taking that opportunity to decide TWP's fate without TWP's consent. Wouldn't that just be a disaster. 

Done! But please don't call me Dark.

I agree that interest in the theme change has been more than for all other subjects that have come up for debate in recent times, which is great news.  The numbers still do not, in my opinion, come anywhere near to a mandate from the player community at large.  By denying them a say, even if it is an advisory one, seems to me to be overly restrictive and may result in feelings of having been ridden roughshod and ignored.
It is understood that much work has been done by yourself and the proponents of the shortlisted themes, and that by going to the populace may seem be be against your personal wishes/judgement.  However, I fail to see what the cogent argument(s) for not doing so is/are. Of course, the final path ahead is your's to chart, but if I were a player and knew that a theme change was in the offing I would love, nay expect, to be at least asked my views.  After all, without the players, what is the region's raison d'etre?
 

I can see absolutely no reason why we cannot present these options, plus others, to the TWP players as a Regional Poll.  It would give a much wider set of opinions and might even come up with some new options. In addition, it would make the players feel much more involved and that they 'own' what is happening. 
It is understood that there might be some attempts at rigging the vote by outside influences, but this issue can be easily sidestepped by clearly stating that we are only allowing nations who have been in the region prior to 1 Feb 2019, or maybe 1 Jan 2019, to vote and to make the poll as an advisory, but meaningful, one to the Delegate.  Sorting out the false 'claims' from the probable few hundred voters might be time consuming but still worth the effort.  Just out of interest, is it possible to delete a vote from the list by the poll originator so this might be another way of cleaning the pollsters out who are not eligible?
Suggest Options: Russia, China, Japan, Pirate, No Change, Other- state on rmb with case argued.  Options randomly placed in the selection list, of course!

I agree that interest in the theme change has been more than for all other subjects that have come up for debate in recent times, which is great news.  The numbers still do not, in my opinion, come anywhere near to a mandate from the player community at large.  By denying them a say, even if it is an advisory one, seems to me to be overly restrictive and may result in feelings of having been ridden roughshod and ignored.
It is understood that much work has been done by yourself and the proponents of the shortlisted themes, and that by going to the populace may seem be be against your personal wishes/judgement.  However, I fail to see what the cogent argument(s) for not doing so is/are. Of course, the final path ahead is your's to chart, but if I were a player and knew that a theme change was in the offing I would love, nay expect, to be at least asked my views.  After all, without the players, what is the region's raison d'etre?