Fujai
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Posts posted by Fujai
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I made a couple updates to the Darkipedia mockup with your suggestions. Emphasizing the FWA style factbook is a great idea to get people in the door. I removed the "required" language surrounding the header, footer, and sidebar text, and added a bit to make it more user friendly.
I was also thinking that we could move the Darkipedia main page to a dedicated Darkipedia Index Foundation nation so it isn't tied to just one person and updating is easier, and so it's easier to recognize. Darkipedia-specific guides and more information could be posted there later as well, and it could be used as a repository for TWP role play, perhaps.
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The article fails to mention the one use of Comic Sans: that it is fairly legible to those with dyslexia, although other fonts like Dyslexie and OpenDyslexic are better designed and even more readable.
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24 minutes ago, Davelands said:
TWP has evolved the current Mertiocracy system over years and it has resulted in a very stable region where effort is rewarded. There are plenty of other regions that run on a Parliamentary Democracy and quite frankly the system promotes corruption, and popularity over rewarded effort.
For the most part, in Hall elections, the most capable candidate has been chosen. In many cases that candidate happened to also be the most popular. I feel like it would increase participation and interest, and it would be a fairly simple change overall, the most jarring part of it would be ideological. We already have a strong meritocracy, and there's no reason that electing the Delegate would change that.
28 minutes ago, Davelands said:Seems to work as is, but I can see the case for a Judicial group (with oversight by the Delegate of course).
I agree that it isn't much used, but it also isn't much advertised. My real gripe with it is that one of the people your appeal is heard by is the one who ejected you. Selecting jurors ad hoc would limit the bias of potential appeals and trials.
33 minutes ago, Davelands said:That's a great idea. Perhaps a contest, although again, the flag is a old tradition so it would have to be in the same basic style.
I'd argue that ones in the dispatch are in a similar design, but a different style. The design is good, it's the execution that I feel is problematic and counter to accepted flag design, mainly with the gradient. A lot of flags on NS aren't so much flags for a nation or region as banners for a personality, which isn't bad, but perhaps not appropriate for a region.
37 minutes ago, Davelands said:If you want to redo the map, I'm 100% behind you. Just let me know what help you need. Same for the Darkipedia. It's a nice clean format and may be an excellent resource for people.
I can get a map made up this weekend, I think. I like the style Bran did it in, but a larger scale would be better. I can make a thread for it over in RP if you're into it and make an announcement on the RMB and Discord to start taking requests. Medio is the caretaker for Darkipedia right now, so it'd be up to him, but I'm glad you're into a redesign!
41 minutes ago, Davelands said:It's not too much to expect people to at least skim over the rules to a game they are playing. The RMB Etiquette dispatch is one screen in length with lots of white space. The WFE has a size limit to it. The one that is up now is literally as large as it is allowed (as in I had to remove some spaces and codes just to make it fit). I think we do a much better job than in the old days of explaining and linking to the rules and giving people chances.
You're right that it's not too much to ask, but in some cases it's just too much for people to do. At that point I don't think there's much to do apart from making it as accessible as possible. The RMB Etiquette dispatch might be one page, but there's just a lot of information there and it's not very user friendly. A little formatting could go a long way on that one in particular, though you're right that we're doing better than a couple years ago.
I didn't know that the WFE had a size limit, is that determined by the amount of code or the amount of text displayed?
46 minutes ago, Davelands said:When I became a Guardian under Elegarth there were over 20 banjections every DAY. After Badger took over it went down and it went down even more under my leadership. At the moment we banject less than 20 in a WEEK and most of them are for name/motto/data infractions. The rest are either obvious trolls or people who are given at least 2 or 3 chances to follow the rules.
Those numbers sound right, and if so that's a lot of progress. The most prevalent loss of population is probably less on banjections and more on people just leaving for their multitude of reasons.
47 minutes ago, Davelands said:I will hunt you down and fight you if you try to do that. Comic Sans is a happy accident that works wonderfully as an off-beat fun font. In fact, if you go to the Regional Forum of Karma you will see that I wrote a spirited defense of Comic Sans as part of my entry into that region.
Comic Sans is overused and badly designed. Far be it from me to outlaw your fun, but there are plenty of fonts out there that can be upbeat and warm while keeping good design standards. I suggest looking at Google Fonts for others that may be better designed.
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I love the spirit of this thread, and with that being said, here goes nothing!
Government reforms - parliamentary system
- The delegate is elected by the Hall of Nations. This encourages participation in forum government, and keeps the delegate responsive to the people.
- The Hall would probably function as it does, although the Delegate could assume the Speaker's function. I don't have much thought on that at the moment.
- Ministers would continue to be elected or appointed as normal. Guardians would either stay as normal, or would have their positions assumed by the Ministers. Alternatively, a Minister of Security could be created that heads the Guardians.
- A vote of no confidence by the Hall can trigger a special election, with the victor serving until the end of the next term. No confidence votes can be used to either replace a single Minister or Delegate, or to remove and replace the whole Government.
- A better judicial system where people can appeal ejections and the like, where the people doing the ejecting don't sit on the jury.
- Have a functioning intelligence division. I've never seen or heard of any real activity in there, though perhaps they just do their jobs really well.
- Brainstorm ways to make the Hall actually matter outside of elections.
Other assorted gripes
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The TWP flag could use an update.
- Since the last change, it's bothered me that the rays aren't symmetrical. Also gradients just aren't good for flags. An update should be something simple and instantly recognizable as TWP's flag. I have some variations that I've made over time here.
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Official dispatches should have a cohesive aesthetic.
- Everything looks so much better when there's a contiguous theme between dispatches. Think of us as an RL university. You would want the websites for the colleges and departments to follow the theme of the main university page so that people know they're on a university website.
- TWP colors would need to be solidified. I recommend #CC0000 for the red, #481C5E for the purple, and white.
- In dispatch terms, there should be a single header style, with a graphic and title that makes it obvious it's an official TWP dispatch. One menu below that would be for the main pages that should always be a click away. A second menu could be located either below that or to the side, that lists a table of contents or quick links specific to that dispatches needs. Here is an example of what I'm thinking of.
- A single body style would control the font and size used, as well as the way headings and subsections look and are divided.
- The footer style would be mainly aesthetic, containing a small section of quick links that includes the umbrella dispatch.
- @Neenee, how do you feel about these flag and theme ideas?
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We're really missing out on a vibrant part of a community by neglecting RP. We've kind of just accepted the fact that it isn't going to be popular in TWP, but it feels like we just need to collectively give it a shot.
- This can be in a ton of ways, there can be a lot more than just story RP and the like. It seems to me that there's a good possibility of using our nations for this, what with the map and factbook success we've had in the past.
- On that note, I'd be willing to put together a new map and keep it updated and try revamping Darkipedia, there's a whole lot of potential there. Here is a mockup for Darkipedia's main page. @Mediobogdum and @Davelands, I'm curious as to what you think of these.
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There are too many banjections for minor infractions. It'll take more effort to explain our rules to people, but it's certainly worth a shot.
- People don't like to read on the internet. Just tossing our rules at people and ejecting them when they don't read them isn't doing us any favors. That information should be offered in multiple places and different depths. There should be a very condensed form on the WFE, a more in depth form explained when people ignore what is on the WFE, and finally a dispatch with the whole list and explanations for after an RMB/telegram explanation.
- Newbies might be smelly at first but they tend to get better with age if we just give them a shot in the beginning, metaphorical or otherwise.
- Edit: Comic Sans and Papyrus should be outlawed in this region for crimes against humanity.
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Fujaian version:
English version:
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Just found how to search by group, here's a partial list of those who need mask removal:
- Adytus
- Alistia
- Andre
- Ark
- Arthur K. Vasentius (not Arthur Draig Kirkland Vasentius, I assume this is Art's original account?)
- Colonge
- Denizen Kane
- FedoraDan-Skymoot
- Fellos
- Frourraw Gregund
- Ghurka
- Granite Heights
- Imbergamostan
- Iron Harbinger the Faithless
- Iskapsia
- Jeekwigges
- Kade W. Vasentius
- Malvacka
- Marilyn Manson Freaks
- MaxSuchar
- Olgritch
- Polandonia2
- Poterrae
- quietdad
- Royal Chaos
- Rylipphinesia
- Small Huts
- That Called the Vlagh
- The Garfieldites
- TunApocalypse
- Tyrranim
- tyty111
- West Aton Secand
- Willinois
- Xerox Prime
However, it appears that this is not a full list. I used the member search and filtered for the Hall of Nations group. The problem is it seems it lists people who are only in the Hall of Nations group, and when another group is added, it searches for "Hall of Nations" or "other group," not "Hall of Nations" and "other group," so I can't seem to get a full list. I'm not sure if the admin panel would have anything more complete or not?
Of course I only realized this after I went through the whole thing, so I figured I'd leave out those that needed to get new masking for when we get a full list.
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I don't know if or how many people are improperly masked as Hall of Nations, but only the people in this list should be masked.
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On 7/11/2017 at 11:27 PM, Mediobogdum said:
I would suggest be that we need to have just a SINGLE place to discuss the various topics i.e., either in the forum OR on Discord NOT both.
I for one use Discord for the daily running of R&C simply because it's the only place where I can have a discussion on whatever random topic with only the other ministers, assistants, and guardians. I agree that if there were a place to do that on the forum I would gladly use said place.
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Nice to see you around!
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Meaningless posting is the best kind of posting!
Try checking out the Clubhouse for some time wasting opportunities!
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21 minutes ago, Willania Imperium said:
Get rid of the s and I think you're golden! I like to suggest that we make the links to our Discord and Forums clickable. That way, it will be easier and quicker for people.
I'm not sure which s you're referring to, but in telegrams you can only link urls in text from the NS site, not external ones.
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I don't believe centering works in telegrams, sadly. As for fun, I leave that up to your disgression. Perhaps "It's the best place to learn how to play the game, meet new people, get involved at your own pace, and have fun!
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Okay, that's interesting, but doesn't surprise me too much. Just removing the hr should be fine, they were just for dividers, but an enter between the "welcome to nationstates" and "first, let me bid you welcome lines would be helpful without the horizontal lines.
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I copied everything directly from the dispatch I used, which I had tested in a telegram. Can you send a screenshot of what went wrong?
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22 hours ago, Winnipeg said:
Done
Paris has been removed from the MIA masking, and Prole has been updated.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by folders...if you mean Forums, it's not happening as I'm not giving you admin access.
Fixed.
Also done...
Think that's everything.
Thank you so much! You rock!
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@Big Bad Badger The welcome telegram is ready!
Spoiler[hr][b]---------------------- -- DON'T PANIC -- ---------------------- [/b] Welcome to NationStates, a political simulator game. You're probably very overwhelmed, and we're here to help with that. [hr][b]First, let me bid you welcome to [region]The West Pacific[/region]![/b] [i]~Where the coffee is always fresh, the bar always open, and there's Karaoke every Friday.~[/i] We're one of the best regions in the game and we have just about everything any region can offer. It's the best place to learn how to play the game, meet new people, and get involved at your own pace. New players can quickly learn more about the game by reading the [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=640579]Survival Guide[/url]. [hr] [spoiler=[b]Click to learn about our forum![/b]]Join our forum here: [b]http://www.westpacific.org[/b]! You can become a citizen and get involved in the regional government of [region]The West Pacific[/region]. You can try: [list] [*][b]Military[/b] -- [i]Fight for your region![/i] [list][*]A great place to start, our Commander, Yuno Owl organizes raids against our enemies across NationStates.[/list] [*][b]Foreign Affairs[/b] -- [i]Become an ambassador![/i] [list][*]Join the FA Minister Davelands and represent The West Pacific with our allies.[/list] [*][b]Internal Affairs[/b] -- [i]Culture! Games! Newspaper! Role Play![/i] [list][*]Help TheNextMinisterofIA plan new events and games for the region.[/list] [*][b]World Assembly Affairs[/b] -- [i]The latest in international intrigue![/i] [list][*]Discuss the latest resolutions at vote in the World Assembly with States of Glory.[/list] [*][b]Hall of Nations[/b] -- [i]Have a say in the government![/i] [list][*]Apply for citizenship, help write laws for the region, and hold elections for office under the eye of The Holy Principality of Saint Mark[/list] [*][b]The ClubHouse[/b] -- [i]Day Life, Night Life, High Life, and Low Life![/i] [list][*]Spam, games, talking, anything you could desire.[/list] [/list] So much you can do! Make an account and introduce yourself![/spoiler] [spoiler=[b]The World Assembly![/b]]You can join the NationStates [b]World Assembly[/b] [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=un]here[/url]! The World Assembly is very similar to a certain international institution in our own world, complete with resolutions and commendations and strongly worded letters! Once you have joined, I invite you to [u]endorse the Delegate and the Guardian nations listed [b][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=616364]here[/url][/b].[/u] This is very important your endorsements increase the power and influence of our region, and help keep us safe from invaders. Keep in mind that joining the WA will allow you to also receive endorsements, and increase your own nation's influence! In addition, you can visit our forum to post a draft of your own proposals, and our esteemed Minister and Co. will help you sort it out.[/spoiler] [spoiler=[b]Our regional Discord![/b]]We have a Discord server! You can find it here: [b]https://discordapp.com/invite/C8PAEvR[/b] It's a great place to stop by and say hello to people across the world! There are many channels to talk in, from politics to role play to music to D&D! Join us today![/spoiler][hr] If you have any questions, you can send a telegram to a member of our [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=804336][i][b]Board of Questions[/b][/i][/url], found here: http://www.westpacific.org/forums/index.php?/forum/81-board-of-questions/ They can answer any question you can throw at them! Drop on by the [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=display_region_rmb/region=the_west_pacific]Regional Message Board[/url] and say hello! There you'll find the residents of our region talking, and our two events, Punday Monday and Karaoke Friday. And don't worry, we only bite on full moons. And once again, welcome to [region]The West Pacific[/region]! I hope you enjoy yourself and decide to stick around! Yours truly, [nation]Big Bad Badger[/nation] [i]World Assembly Delegate of The West Pacific[/i][hr]
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Board of Questions FAQ!
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Here you will find answers to many common questions and links to more information than you wanted.
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Common Questions:
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What is NationStates?
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Well...It's a nation simulation game where you respond to issues to mold your country and interact with the players and regions around you.
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Can I declare war on someone?
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No, this is not a war game.
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What region am I in?
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You're in The West Pacific! Commonly known as the Best Pacific, we have all that you could ever want in a region, so stick around and find out!
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Who and what is a Delegate?
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Our Delegate is Big Bad Badger. He is the leader of our region.
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What's the government like?
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The West Pacific (TWP) is a meritocracy. This means that if you work hard and show that you can do well, you will advance in rank. Our region is headed by the Delegate, who is assisted by his/her Guardians. The Delegate is free to choose their own Guardians and a successor at any time. We have a legislature called the Hall of Nations that is headed by a Speaker. There are multiple Ministries, including Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, WA Affairs, Military, and Recruitment and Citizenry. Some Ministers are elected and some are not, our "constitution" is viewable here.
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I like roleplay, do you have that?
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We sure do! We especially like pen and paper RPGs here in TWP, but we have a roleplay channel on our Discord server, a factbook encyclopedia, nation RP, and much more on our forums!
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Information Links!
Guides:
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Survival Guide to NationStates <-- This is one of the best guides out there.
TWP Government:
TWP Stuff:
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TWP News and Information! (Foreign Affairs Updates, Newspaper, TWP Radio, TWPAF, and more!)
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Community Interest Survey (from your friends at Internal Affairs)
General NS Stuff:
World Assembly:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I'm sure I missed tons of useful things, please send me a PM/TG so I can add things.
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Welcome to the Board of Questions!
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Here we have two goals:
1) Provide everyone with quality information.
2) [REDACTED]
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There's a few things you should know first:
We will do our best to not simply answer your question, but to point you to the sources that contain the information you need so that you can find the answer yourself. Many questions can be answered this way, but not all of them. Also, there is an FAQ post in this forum that deals with some common questions pertaining to the game and TWP. This post also contains links to more information than you could possibly want.
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Now then, to utilize this service you must first read the FAQ, then you can:
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Make a post in this subforum with your question in the title.
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Send a telegram on NS to a member of the Board.
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Send a message on our forum to a member of the Board.
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Send a message on Discord to a member of the Board.
Once you've done one of these things, a member of the Board will respond with an answer. Be aware, not all of us are awake or available at all hours, so it may take time.
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Current members of the Board:
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Fujai - Minister of Recruitment and Citizenry and resident flag nerd --
Forum - Discord: Fujai#6074
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Arthur - Assistant Minister of Recruitment and Citizenry and has too many connections --
Forum - Discord: Arthur K. Vasentius#9813
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Drall - Sergeant at Arms and all around wise guy --
Forum - Discord: Drall#5345
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Prole - Minister of Internal Affairs and really likes RPGs --
Forum - Discord: Prole Confederation#1966
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Halo - Speaker of the Hall of Nations and way too involved --
Forum - Discord: Halo#7513
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Drak - Minister of NS Daily Issues and recently risen from the dead --
Forum - Discord: Drachmaland#8355
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Medio - TWP Guardian and proverbial Grumpy Old Sage --
Forum - Discord: Medio#1470
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Since you said we could have multiple submissions per category, here are mine:
Beauty
- One A: http://i.imgur.com/gbihpWp.png
- Two A: http://i.imgur.com/y0XRwYS.png
- Three A: http://i.imgur.com/Ehh07I3.png #UsePurpleMore
- Four A: http://i.imgur.com/q3odbUD.png
Brotherhood:
- One B: http://i.imgur.com/oxUT28H.png
- Two B: http://i.imgur.com/8rTShrD.png
- Three B: http://i.imgur.com/MYIaJnR.png
- Four B: http://i.imgur.com/HStVYNp.png
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Are we limited to one submission per category?
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Absolutely! I was waiting until you got things more sorted out, so I'll add you up right away!
Until the subforum for it gets put up I don't really have any plans for it, as it is mostly necessary for function.
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6 hours ago, Davelands said:
Nice dispatch!
Don't forget to add the new TWP news and information website at http://thewestpacific.com/
When you finalize the info in the dispatch, there will be a place for it on that site.
I had forgot about that one, thanks for the reminder!
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I got my brain working and put a preliminary dispatch up: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=804336
It needs more on the FAQ side, I think, but at least the formatting is down.
If you guys have any suggestions I'd love to add them.
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I may be mistaken, but I think you can change your display name from your account settings.
TWP regional branding
in The Lounge
Posted · Edited by Fujai
Added a bit on why branding is important, added a flag, fixed link to workmark dispatch
Hey there folks. I've put together some ideas for unified regional branding here, as I think we could use a shake up in our look. There've been attempts before at making a theme for official dispatches, but none have ever stuck past a delegate change. For the time being, I have an emblem, wordmark, dispatch theme, WFE, and a potential new flag.
Why have consistent regional branding, you ask? A cohesive look not only makes the region easier to navigate, but it asserts and enhances regional identity. As far as I know, only TWP and Lazarus have no dispatch theme (although they do have some pretty jazzin' graphics kicking around). Without it, we have a harder time displaying who we are both to ourselves and to the rest of the NSverse. My goal for the redesign was to keep everything in line with TWP's identity. Central to that is a sense of playfulness and not taking ourselves too seriously, which is why I tried to went for simplicity, recognizably, and vibrancy. As Dark once said, I believe, TWP runs a tight ship, but we do it wearing a tutu and a propeller hat.
The colors I'm using I have [tentatively] titled The West Pacific Scarlet (#CC0000) and The West Pacific Violet (#481C5E), with white as a third color, when needed.
For the emblem, I wanted to do something that was simple and round, so It could be used in a wide variety of places. Another thought I had was taking the favicon (the blue one here) and using that for the emblem after swapping the colors. The main reason I didn't go with that is because it didn't incorporate the flag and would've been less recognizable, but the option is still there.
For the wordmark, I really wanted to keep it simple so that it could be typed out and still have the same look. To that effect I used Verdana for the font, because it's widely available both on and off line, with just a simple bold, italic, and color.
Next are a couple options for a dispatch theme. I took my last attempt and incorporated some of the feedback from Dark's idea thread. The three versions each have a different header. The first is has only the words "The West Pacific", the second has the wordmark, and the third has only the words, with the symbol floated to either side. Edit: I added an example for an FA exclusive template, as an example of something that could be tailored to our ministries.
Dispatch just words
Dispatch wordmark
Dispatch floated symbol
FA Update example
Should we decide to use these, I think the opportunity should be taken to migrate our official dispatches onto a regional nation. They're very scattered and in some cases duplicated right now. I'm willing to do the legwork for the migration once finals are over in a week and a half (I'll also finish the rest of my backlog then). After that, I can keep it updated when updates and new dispatches are needed. It should be noted that this would apply only to official dispatches, such as the RMB rules, code of conduct, ministry posts, etc, but not to personal projects like Yy's Survival Guide.
For the WFE, I kept 90% of what it has now, changed a couple things around, and swapped colors. I didn't link Halo or the Guardians because I didn't want to bother them with a useless ping. I did test it to make sure that it fits inside the length limit, so there's no concern there. The only thing I really took out was the "No RMB recruiting" section, because no region really allows it anyway, so there's not much use in keeping it around.
TWP WFE sample
Lastly, and probably most contentiously, is the flag. I am in no way opposed to just keeping our original flag (this being the oldest version I know of), although the current version isn't vertically symmetrical (although the old version is technically a bit off as well, I found). Overall, I'm not ecstatic about the flag I did with the new colors, something about it, perhaps the colors themselves, just looks off to me; I'd like to see what you folks think about it. I have a bunch of other redesigns sitting around here if those look better to anyone.
Edit: I added a second flag that I'm happier with. It captures more of the depth on our current flag while keeping the new color scheme intact.
Note: I posted smaller versions of everything so it wouldn't be overwhelming and take three years to load. Later I can post the full size ones and put the svgs up on google drive or something so they're publicly available.