The Rejected Times - Issue XVII

[Unibot]

Issue XVII, March 22, 2014

 

 

Editor's Note

 

Some great stuff here; Starrie's statistical analysis is a treat, plus this edition also has the first foreign interview with a sitting 10XI delegate, Koth's thoughts on Raiderism and a pretty provocative new editorial series on power in NationStates from moi. I think you're going to enjoy it!

 

 

>>> OPINION

 

Meet 10000 Islands's New Delegate!

An Interview with Benevolent Thomas

INTERVIEW | UNIBOT

 

Unibot sits down with Benevolent Thomas, 10000 Islands's newly elected delegate, for a rare interview conducted well past Uni's bed-time...

 

Congratulations on your election, Benevolent Thomas! How excited are you to be delegate of 10000 Islands? What’s the thing you’re looking forward the most to being delegate?

 

I’m very excited to be the Delegate of the 10000 Islands. I first ran for the position back in September, but back then I don’t think I wanted it as truly as I do now.  Having been far more involved with the region than I had been previously, I think I’m far better equipped to face the responsibilities that come along with being delegate of one of the largest regions in NationStates. I’m really looking forward to interacting with those that I would not normally be in contact with if I wasn't the delegate. I plan to engage more with XKI’s more casual members and those that do not frequent the forums as often. I’m also hoping to get to know those outside of the Islands a lot better as well. I think that  I think that is what I’m looking forward to, the communication.

 

For the casual outsider like myself: what are elections and politics for that matter, like, in 10000 Islands?

 

Well our elections are not really any different from any other election in any democracy. It’s a bit of a popularity contest, but unlike the real world, there is a real emphasis on one’s record of service.It’s a bit meritocratic in that you gain popularity via your actions and the more accolades you have, the more likely you are to be elected. This election seemed to favor those with a more robust agenda, but that is not always the case. The Ten Thousand Islands does have several political parties which I imagine most regions have, except we do not follow traditional political practices. Our parties are more like actual parties with all sorts of fun and shenanigans. 

 

 In the end we’re all Islanders and we’ll elect who we think is best to perform civic duty. Political alignment means just about next to nothing in XKI. 

 

I’ve had the pleasure to get know you a bit and I’ve always found you to be a great player and really approachable and practical leader.  But for the readers who may not be so acquainted with you, how would you describe yourself?

 

I did not know that we were so close. *grins* To those that do not know me, I’d say that I’m very ambitious. I set a goal and I work until I achieve it. I also walk a thin line between being casual and serious. I’m very laid back in real life and it flows through me even when I’m on NS, but I can get harshly serious at the drop of a hat. I guess that is a general characteristic of XKI though. We are a very laid back community, but can be very serious when the moment calls for it. I have a bit of an ego as well. My record speaks for itself, but I’m not so shy as to not boast when given the opportunity.

 

As delegate, what new policies are you intending to pursue and bring forth? Where is 10000 Islands heading under your stewardship?

 

I’m not sure as to what “new policies” my term will bring. I’m actually hoping to bring back some of the older Ten Thousand Islands that we all loved so much (well some of us anyways). We’ve kind of retreated into our shell this past year or so and I’m looking to get us back out there in the world. XKI was such a hustling and bustling place once and I’d like to see it be that way once more. I’m hoping for more of a renaissance of Islander culture while at the same time extending our foreign affairs. The process has already begun and it has yielded some results such as the reestablishing of embassies with TRR and our opening of embassies with Lazarus.  Now if we can get some cultural events rolling, we’d be in great shape.

 

What do you believe is the biggest challenge that you will face as delegate?

 

I’d have to say that resistance will be my greatest challenge to overcome. It sounds so simplistic, but really it is only resistance that can prevent wonderful things from happening.  And this resistance may spring up in a number of forms: resistance to the outside world, resistance of others to give us a chance, resistance of participation in regional activities and resistance to change. 

 

Distrust and apathy are the two things I fear most in NS and in RL. Wow… I’ve kind of surprised myself with that answer, but it’s the truth. 

 

What’s one aspect of 10000 Islands’ culture that you’d like to bring back? More tacos?

 

Well the tacos are back *smiles widely*. We lost our entire economy with the Proboards upgrade during the summer and we’ve been slowly rebuilding. Actually, we just recently got the donation system back so tacos should soon be flying everywhere. 

 

We also plan to bring back more of our taco centric programs such as our highly interactive regional map and our immigration stocks. Tacos made XKI go round and we’ve been a bit sore since these programs faded. I also want to bring more people to our community.  One of the things I would like to bring back, and it was part of my platform, is to bring back the Mad Islander. The Mad Islander was a regional magazine which mostly interviewed Islanders both famous and unknown on a regular basis. I would like to revamp the Mad Islander as a more robust source of news and entertainment for the Ten Thousand Islands.  I also want to bring more people to our community. Islanders should be renowned for their near-worship of Werewolves/Mafia games and I’d like to see more people join us when we play these games. 

 

In fact, I’ll be hosting the next game (Werewolves 35) and I’m pretty sure it will be themed after Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I have no idea how I will make it work, but everyone should feel free to join us.  I also intend to hold cultural contests such as best flags and maybe even a FRAvision entry selection competition. I think small activities like these are a lot of fun and will keep people active. 

 

How will 10000 Islands face the “new” system of recruitment?  Has it been a challenge so far? Would you like to see changes in regards to the recruitment system?

 

Anyone who has seen our population rates ever since the recruiting rules were changed knows how we’ve handled it so far. Poorly. We finally started having the right conversations, but it was far too late seeing as we lost two thirds of our population. 

 

Having said that, we’re on the rebound due to recent reforms in the recruiting system including the smiting of Afforess’ abomination. I’m content where it is at currently. The different methods of recruiting have an equal chance of being the first to reach a new nation which has really been a life savor for us proud manual recruiters. Honestly I’d like to see recruiting return to how it was prior to the 2013 changes, but I’m not foolish enough to believe that will ever happen. 

 

10000 Islands often is a powerhouse in the World Assembly – will 10000 Islands, under your tenure, return to voting early and playing a decisive role there?

 

I do indeed plan on voting early when the opportunity arises and stacking for proposals that I feel strongly about. I think I will be more aggressive in trying to get WA authors to argue their positions on the XKI forums because that is where citizens will be influencing my official final vote on these matters. I want everyone to know that they should not bother lobbying me, because my vote will be determined via polling on XKI’s forums. 

 

I’m willing to swing my stick around more when it comes to the Security Council because I know a thing or two about gameplay matters and that is what the SC is primarily concerned with most of the time. I do have a slight apathy when it comes to the General Assembly because most of it is just idealist garbage whether you are pro GA or NatSov. There is also a culture of passing, repealing and then repeating which I absolutely loathe. I’m sure I can work on that though as a delegate. And as I’ve said before, the citizens will determine my final vote. 

 

Does “Defender Unity” exist? And if so, what should it entail?

 

I think it does exist. It involves a certain level of mutual respect between organizations and the ability to work together when the time arises. Do I think we should all work together all the time and use the same methods and launch points? No.  I think that is why I don’t like the term “Defender Unity” all that much. We are not one, we are many. We all have different ideals and methods of defending, that is why there are separate orgs. I think we as a group however should have the solidarity to respect one another despite our differences. 

 

“Commend Anime Daisuki” will be voted on (again) sooner or later, I imagine you’re a proponent, yes? How has Anime Daisuki affected you as a player? If you’ve got a good story to tell, please share.

 

I will be supporting a Commendation of the legend that is Anime Daisuki. Although we have not spent a great amount of time together, it is AD’s doctrine of defending that I’ve been trained under and it is the same doctrine I’ve practiced during my time as Tactical Officer.  Everything I’ve done as a defender has been influenced by his magnificent example. He truly is one of the greatest of all time, commendation or no. 

 

I know as a newbie, Anime Daisuki once gave me a bit of a lecture on detagging because me and my buddies (this was way before UDL) had detagged a region wrong and put up a flag for it. I got his old “leave no footprint” spiel and it’s stuck with me ever since. 

 

Thank you so much for the interview, Benevolent Thomas. I believe this is the first time someone has interviewed a sitting delegate in 10000 Islands, so I’m quite honoured to have gotten the privilege. If you have any final comments for our readers, you have the floor!

 

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to get my voice out there. Being more open with the world is one of my goals this term and to be featured in such a quality news source is quite the accomplishment for day one. 

 

I’d like to thank those of you who have believed in me since the start and have encouraged me to run for delegate:  Land, Eist, Naba,  Aerso, Ater, Ananke and Shizensky. I’d also like to give a special shout out to Sir 69 aka Controlitia. By the way, do you like my nation’s pretitle Uni?

 

"The Taco Autocracy of Benevolent Thomas". Very nice, Thomas. Well played.

 

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Defining "Raiderism"

OPINION | KOTH

 

Koth explores what Raiderism means...

 

Hey folks, Koth here. A couple days ago I was prompted by a discussion in the Neutral Ground thread to start a debate thread in Gameplay, titled simply "Raiderism". The idea of the thread was that we'd all share our own personal definition of a word that is often tossed around but always left vague. I was surprised by the sheer volume of responses I got (eight pages of content), and I was even more surprised at the replies themselves. A condensed list of actual definitions that people made within the thread has been compiled for your convenience here.

 

You will notice that despite opening discussion, I did not share my own definition of raiderism. In order to satiate your undeniable thirst for this information, I'll lay it down for you right here, right now. Before we open up that bag of worms though, let's start by looking at some of the replies within the thread. Many of the replies I received made no distinction between raiding and raiderism, which was one of the main reasons I found it necessary to bring this to debate. To me, it is obvious that raiderism must be separate from raiding, or else why would the word exist? It disappointed me to see that mod intervention was required at multiple points in the thread to keep people from just going back and forth about their opinions on raiding in yet another Gameplay topic, but the discussion helped me refine my own definition of raiderism.

 

There was one post in particular that stood out to me, written by Kyuji: "...the view that people have of raiders is that they're all raiderists , however because raiding can also be done out of revenge or because you morally object to the way a region behaves , or the morals they have, the act of raiding is seperate [sic] from the belief in the morals of raiderism." This brings me to my first part of my definition of raiderism: The belief in raiding for the sake of the enjoyment of raiding. To a pure raiderist, a raid is not executed as a means to an end, but rather as a way of enjoying one's self. A raiderist's motivation is wholly separate from other groups who raid to further a different goal. For instance, imperialist regions may field a raiding force, but their motivation for utilizing it is to advance their region's foreign agenda. Groups like The Eternal Knights merely raid because it is the only game mechanism that allows for conflict; if it were up to them they would have the system eliminated. Pure raiderists can exist in a non-raiderist environment (example: yours truly in regions like Asgard, where each operation had political motivation but it didn't matter to me, I just wanted to raid something), and are often employed by the armed forces of imperialist regions. However, the presence of raiderists in a non-raiderist environment does not cause a region to become raiderist.

 

But Kothles, what about bigameplayers? They raid for fun too, but you can't possibly say they're raiderists! Excellent point, italicized text version of myself. Indeed, it is true that there exist other groups of NationStates players that DO engage in raiding for fun…but they have no qualms with working against their fellow raiders just as easily. This brings me to the second part of my definition of raiderism: raiding with the purpose of antagonizing one or more group(s) of players. Let's be real here, raiderists do love raiding for the sake of raiding, but they also do it for the conflict. They seek to illicit reactions from the people affected by their operations, and possibly the defenders who oppose them as well. Compare this to bigameplayers, who prefer to clean up after themselves so that they do not start a conflict with either the natives or defenders. Raiderists will actively advertise their victories over the parties they wish to antagonize.

 

These two simple definitions are the crux of what I define as raiderism. The application of raiderism can cause a variety of effects as well, which some may confuse with raiderism itself. The most popular of these effects is "raider unity", the ideal that all raiders should put aside their differences for the sake of mutual success on the battlefield. Raiderists feel uneasy about conflicting with each other, because they are by definition all engaging in conflict against other parties and would feel the need to stick together to avoid more needless antagonization. Another effect of raiderism is the great fun that stems from bonding with fellow raiderists and fighting alongside them, which is a thrill that many players seek. I hope you all enjoyed my opinion on this definition and I invite you to post your comments/concerns/threats below!

 

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Are WA Liberation Nominees More Likely to Be Invaded?

FEATURE | STARRIE

 

NationStates's resident statistical guru answers this empirical question with an in depth analysis, his conclusions may surprise you...

 

Data from http://nsarchive.net was used. Invasions were defined as all occurrences where the delegate, flag, and factbook changed within 48 hours. No distinction was made between a invasion by invaders and a detag mission by defenders.

 

This chart appears to show that the frequency of invasions (as a fraction of total invasions) increases soon after liberation. Do not interpret the sharp spike as a reliable measure of more invasions since it is likely that the spike is caused by detag missions from defending forces. However, there remains a plateau of invader activity even afterwards which indicates either a continuous struggle over the 100 day period or a heightened amount of military activity.

 

This chart shows the number of invasions in the same period for non-liberated regions. In contrast to the rising frequency of invasions over time (which may be due to an actual increase in activity or just better bookkeeping), the number of invasions seems to fall slightly over the period. This is most likely not statistically significant.

 

This chart shows the frequency of invasions when the liberated nations have their liberation repealed. Beyond -40 days (each bar is 20 days), there appears to be a lack of invader activity. Either the peak before the repeal is the spike shown in the first graph, or the region has gone through a long activity of peace after the liberation, and the peak shows more invasions before the repeal. Comparing the magnitude of this and the first graph, it appears the second scenario is more likely. After the repeal, invasion frequency slowly drops.

 

This chart shows the number of invasions in non-liberated regions around the time of the repeals. There is a conspicuous rise and then sudden drop just a few days before most liberations are repealed. Interpretation will be left as an exercise for the reader.

 

As a control group, a few hundred regions are selected and a simulated liberation on the day of a randomly selected invasion is plotted. In contrast with the histogram for the liberated regions, there is a uniform amount of invading before and after the event.

 

As for the rest of the regions, a hump in invasion frequencies is observed, suggesting that invasions come in waves. This hump is not observed in the corresponding histogram for liberated regions, possibly because the liberation and invasions for many regions was not close to simultaneous.

 

 

A logarithmic plot of invaded regions at the time they were invaded. Green spots show the liberation of regions (not necessarily raided) and black the repeal of liberation of regions. Note that the size of liberated region in both axes is much higher that the mean region (In a logarithmic scale, the values to the right and top are weighed far more heavily). This shows that liberated regions are not representative of the general population.

 

It appears that both liberations and liberation repeals seem to cause a spike in invasion frequency which fades out over time. These effects are not apparent in non-liberated regions suggesting that some aspect of the liberations is probably the cause. However, since liberated regions are not typical of all regions, this interpretation should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

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Using Polls For Referendums?

OPINION | THE CHURCH OF SATAN

 

Church of Satan, one of our Senior Journalists, discusses using polls for referendums...

 

Polls are still new, and therefore still being tested by us users to determine what purposes they can have. 

 

The South Pacific for example, is discussing the possibility of using them for referendums. This is still a flawed feature for such a thing though. With all the factors that go into determining who can vote in the polls that means foreign governments, hostile organizations and all matter of riffraff are free to influence the votes and the government would be none the wiser. Despite our best efforts, the poll feature just isn't suited for this particular thing. Try and weed out all the new, suspicious nations if you want, but we all know it isn't just the new nations that we have to watch. It isn't a matter of tradition. Using regional forums and/or sites such as surveymonkey allow us to get an accurate number of votes from citizens who actually take part in things such as referendums.

 

Personally I object to using polls for referendums due to the inaccuracy. Doing so could have disastrous results on a region. It could very well become a weapon in R/D circles. The poll feature is okay, just not used in this way. Don't get me wrong. It's nice to see what the nations that don't bother with forums think, but they still can't vote in referendums in any official capacity. So what is the point? I just don't see it. I mean, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Right? The system regions use now works. What more do we want? What more could we want? Should we really wreck what we already have going well for us? 

 

In my humble opinion I say nay.

 

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Why are there no “How to Coup” Guides?

Part One of a Four Part Series, “Rethinking Power in NationStates”.

EDITORIAL | UNIBOT

 

It occurred to me today, during class, there are no “How to Coup” Guides. On the official forums, NationStates presents readers with access to information regarding how to invade and defend or how to build a region, but no information specifically on how to overthrow regimes in Game-Created Regions. 

 

There are many techniques involved in overthrowing these regimes which are not used in the regular invasion of User-Created Regions. Coup d'états usually rely on the deception, enticement or otherwise, shepherding of residents into passive supporters, while avoiding the detection of authorities.  To be an effective “couper”, you need to know how to tart, how to “surf update”, when to strike, who to strike and how to maintain power and manage one’s Regional Influence.  The mechanics of these techniques are not available for public consumption or easily accessible. 

 

There is no such thing as a “grassroots” coup d'état– every regime likes to claim it has the will of the people behind them, but all coup d'états are conducted by knowledgeable gameplayers, meanwhile their endorsers are passive participants who show little judgement over who to endorse and who not to endorse (e.g., Sedgistan rose to the delegacy of The South Pacific just as quickly as its elected officials do). These knowledgeable gameplayers include regular coupers (e.g., JAL,  The Empire, The Crimson Order), military professionals and disgruntled elites – the average player, by no means, just “decides” to overthrow a Game-Created Region. If someone is tarting in a region, you are guaranteed that someone is not a “nobody”, but a “somebody”, hiding behind an anonymous account.

 

 “Grassroots” coup d'états do not happen, because average players are not encourage to coup Game-Created Regions – they are often encouraged to get involved with their region or endorse someone, but they are not encouraged to take matters into their own means to overthrow Game-Created Regions. Thus, it can be said that the numbers of those who have attempted to overthrow Game-Created Regions has been limited to those who have had the prior ambition and the skill necessary to commit a coup d'état – and as we have established, these skills are also restricted to a select few, since access to information regarding how to commit a coup d'état is limited.

 

While access to information regarding coup d'état strategies and tactics is limited, the act of overthrowing a Game-Created Region is also, of course, incredibly more taboo than say, overthrowing a regular User-Created Region. Those involved with overthrowing Game-Created Regions face severe interregional and international diplomatic sanctions – this goes beyond simply the diplomatic superstructure and the connections that these regions possess, it manifests from a political culture that demonizes “coupers” – from WA Condemnations to exclusive interviews to essays, propaganda and literature. 

 

Critical theorists should understand that this distinction between Game-Created Regions and User-Created Regions is a false conception – all Game-Created Regions are User-Created Regions, their governments have been created by players, their differences lie in the “feeder” and “sinker” aspects of their regions, but these differences are then swelled and multiplied by the moderation regime, the recruitment regime and userites, who all interact (and indeed exploit) Game-Created Regions in very different ways than they would with User-Created Regions. The greatest concern of the state apparatus in Game-Created Regions is security and the state’s political survival – therefore it is important to note how these states have adopted this distinction between Game-Created and User-Created Regions for their own purposes. If one encourages the distinction between their regions with other regions, it becomes much easier to justify a clear double-standard. 

 

For the Defenderist, this privileged place that Game-Created Regions hold, perpetuates systemic violence against User-Created Regions. Take for example, The East Pacific: currently it has a guide hosted in its World Factbook Entry called “Hobbes' Handy Guide to Military (R/D) Gameplay” – it teaches the mechanics of update to readers, but focuses on how to invade or defend founderless User-Created Regions. I doubt that there were malicious intentions with the addition of this guide – but can you imagine the uproar if a User-Created Region began linking its citizens to “How to Coup or Defend a GCR!”? It sounds like something nutty and taboo that, I dunno, Afforess might do in Capitalist Paradise. Most Game-Created Regions completely encourage invading User-Created Regions (especially small User-Created Regions):  citizens are given literature on how to invade, the regional army orders them to invade, it tells them invading is “fun”, gives them badges when they invade and above all else, tells them their region, as a Game-Created Region, is exempt from the same behavior they are inflicting on any given, small-time User-Created Region.  

 

In a recent and controversial case, when The South Pacific helped invade St Abbaddon, Topid reacted emotionally by sending telegrams to citizens of The South Pacific, informing them of what was happening in St Abbaddon and encouraging them to unendorse the government as a sign of protest for their region’s own aggressive foreign policy. The South Pacific and many other commentators then argued that what Topid did was much worse than what The South Pacific did in St Abbaddon, despite St Abbaddon being more vulnerable and despite the fact that Topid was simply encouraging natives to protest their government (whereas The South Pacific imposed itself oppressively on St Abbaddon). This is a major consequence of Game-Created Regions considering themselves as more privileged than User-Created Regions, especially smaller User-Created Regions (that lack foreign connections): we’re supposed to care more about acts of violence or resistance against Game-Created Regions, than we are for your regular run-of-the-mill region. 

 

One friend of mine, McMasterdonia, who is currently delegate of The North Pacific and whose ideas have had a lot of influence on the North Pacific Army, has repeated over and over again, his belief that these User-Created Regions that The North Pacific strikes, like (as of late) Transylvania, St Abbaddon and East Pacific, do not matter. In his view, they are small and they're inactive, backwater regions. Therefore, he would argue that we should not care about their security or their sovereignty.  I would respond to this (popular) belief by noting that it is important to bear in mind not only what one says, but what one does not say: McMasterdonia (and many others) say you shouldn’t care about not invading small, inactive regions, but when he says this, he implicitly means only small, inactive regions that do not have the means to retaliate. History has well established that one player alone can overthrow a Game-Created Region’s government, therefore attacking any region, without provocation, is a poor Foreign Affairs policy if one of its members may effectively be able to retaliate. Reducing the access to information in regards to how to overthrow a Game-Created Region, means native residents cannot effectively retaliate – it keeps them weak, it keeps them helpless and it keeps them trying to hide away from the bad wolf, instead of fighting them.  

 

This is the ugly face of power.  First, it teaches you that they are special and they are privileged, it makes you feel that you deserve and you are responsible for the harm you will receive in the system that it creates and perpetuates. Then, it makes you more vulnerable, it reduces your capacity to retaliate, to challenge or even recognize your oppression and then finally, it encourages violence against you when you are weakest.  People do not perpetuate this system knowingly, this is a system that is difficult to observe and we have all played a role in its perpetuation. 

 

At the beginning of this article, I asked, “Why are there no “How to Coup” Guides?”. By now, I hope you understand that there are no “How to Coup” Guides, because it does not serve the interests of those in power.  Not everyone reading this piece will care about the harms posed by invasions to natives, but I do hope every reader walks away from this article with the notion that our access to information and our social and political norms and mores are shaped by the interests of the centre of power in NationStates. 

 

For the invader reading this piece, here is a tidbit to think about: newbies are taught from Day One how to invade founderless regions – in small, even experienced bands, their targets will have to be small without cooperating with larger, more established invading organizations (another institutional form of power). Perhaps these players would have more fun overthrowing Game-Created Regions? They do not need a large band of people to overthrow a Game-Created Region; what they need is information and experience. Just because the interests of those in power reflect our standards, does not mean these interests also reflect what is fun for you. Perhaps the funniest joke of it all is that invaders are convinced early on that their fun lies in attacking the smallest, backwater regions… far, far, far away from anyone actually powerful or influential, despite the fact that these powerful and influential regions are fundamentally vulnerable without severely restricting their citizen’s endorsement counts.    

 

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>>> NEWS

 

Badges, Promotions and too much Invaderism?

Backlash over invasions in Magicality City

COMMENTARY | UNIBOT 

 

Transilvania has some visitors...

 

The North Pacific Army has seen renewed activity under its Deputy Minister of Defense, Gladio but what specific activity has taken place has caused controversy in Magicality City. After announcing the successful invasion and occupation of Transilvania (between Gladio and Abacathea), some citizens were critical of The North Pacific Army bragging about the success of the mission.

 

“A two-nation raid is a joke,” says Blackshear, former delegate, “It has no legitimate training value for the North Pacific Army as a whole and certainly isn't anything to be proud of. Any argument to the contrary is specious nonsense”.

 

Flemingovia, former delegate, also voiced a harsh opinion of the current activities of The North Pacific Army – nostalgic for the days in which the old North Pacific Army had a driving purpose to defend and liberate regions abroad.

 

“I remember when the North Pacific Army stood for something,” says the High Priest, “Now some here may not agree with what it stood for, and you have managed to get the Regional Assembly to agree that the North Pacific Army will stand for, gosh, just about everything ... which means, of course, that it stands for nothing. And when a military stands for nothing, decline is inevitable”. 

 

Flemingovia continued by condemning the supposed pettiness of the army’s recent activities. 

 

“This panty-raid is, for me, symbolic of all of this,” says Flemingovia, “It is everything the North Pacific Army used to stand against, and even if it were not, it is just ... pathetically sad. And we remember better times”.

 

The controversial veteran is alluding to the first incarnation of The North Pacific Army, which under the direction of Twoslit Experiment; saw the creation of an active defense force led by the likes of defender legends, Ananke, NEM and Tresville. In regards to Transilvania, while some challenged the legality of the mission, others like Lennart simply found that the actions did not make them feel proud as citizens of their region. 

 

“I find no pride in it,” says Lennart, Security Councillor, “And I don't think this action increases interregional respect for the North Pacific Army either”.

 

The mission, however, was received by other members – after it was announced it received a chorus of “Hail the NPA!” from such political heavyweights as Crushing your Enemies, Former Black Hawks Commander, r3naissanc3r, Cormac Stark and Blue Wolf. While North East Somerset and Lord Ravenclaw, delegates of Balder and Osiris respectively, also praised the invasion. The invasion, however, prompted one concerned citizen, PaulWallLibertarian42, to propose an amendment of Chapter 8 of the Legal Code entitled “On NPA Raiding Activities”, which would have restricted the ability of the North Pacific Army to invade without permission from the Regional Assembly.

 

Transilvania was eventually liberated by The United Defenders League, but serves as only one of The North Pacific Army’s recent missions, with Gladio also awarded soldiers with ribbons to recognize their service in the recent occupations of St Abbaddon and East Pacific, as well as the defense of Osiris and Stargate. While Gladio is serving as Brigadier General, Abacathea has been promoted to the rank of Corporal and will serve as The North Pacific Army’s new Chief of Staff.

 

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Loop Day

Rumors Say 1 Infinite Loop Will Take The Delegacy

COMMENTARY | THE CHURCH OF SATAN

 

Loop Day is coming this May for The East Pacific! Rumor has it that for the duration of Loop Day, 1 Infinite Loop will be taking the delegacy of The East Pacific. Talking to Bachtendekuppen, delegate of The East Pacific, he confirmed the rumors.

 

"1 Infinite Loop started this as a way of advertising The East Pacific and getting more attention to what happens in the Region while we approach this years anniversary,"  says Bachtendekuppen.

 

However he did express a bit of cautiousness in the matter,

 

"I've of course been in contact with him and we'll have to see if it's an option to do this in a safe and secure way," says Bachtendekuppen, "It's a while before it's May, but I think it's obviously a cool idea that the Founder of modern East Pacific could be in the seat once more, to celebrate the founding of our forum and community".

 

Of course, I was curious as to what the celebration will entail. When I asked if he could tell me what they'll be doing, Bachtendekuppen remained tight lipped.

 

"Not yet!" says Bachtendekuppen, "As I said, it's still quite a while away and currently we are in the process of amending our legal holidays. Loop Day will be preceded by a week of celebrations of the various Delegates that TEP had during it's 10 years of existence".

 

An entire week dedicated to their past leaders. Very nice! Given the lack of planned celebrations at this point, he couldn't honestly tell me what we can expect. 1 Infinite Loop however did have something to say about it.

 

"The only thing I can tell you for sure (preserving the mystery and all) is there will be bloodshed," says 1 Infinite Loop, who may or may not have been kidding, "lots of bloodshed, perhaps a sacrifice or three, and of course, Caek and punch. We also want to try to get as many people to be online in the East Pacific forum in one day as we can. Personally I would love to see 9001 people but as long as it is in the quadruple digits I will be happy and consider it a success".

 

So will everyone else! One thing is for sure, Loop Day is going to be wild! We're all looking forward to it!

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Anumia re-elected in Europeia

Discussion surfaces regarding the Senate and the Grand Architecture Project

COMMENTARY | UNIBOT 

 

The Grand Architecture Project: "Make it So"

 

Anumia has soundly been re-elected in Europeia, which marks a rare third consecutive term for him as President.  After this key electoral victory, Anumia is set to become Europeia’s longest serving President. Speaking to The Rejected Times, the newly elected President called the achievement, “wonderful”.

 

“I have really enjoyed the past five months or so that I have served the Republic and am looking forward to the next two,” explains Anumia. “I am lucky to have excellent people behind me and working with me, and we have done some great things so far”.

 

Of course, becoming the longest-serving President is quite an achievement in Europeia given its storied history. The Republic recently celebrated its seventh anniversary, which Anumia said reflects four years now, by his reckoning, of Europeia as a major international superpower.

 

But… how does one replicate Europeia’s success?

 

“I think we are lucky to have some extremely good people,” says Anumia “and although our political culture is obviously not perfect I do feel that it produces some of the finest domestic leaders in the game. In addition to our ability to shape and grow domestic leadership, I think our unique and engaging political scene is such that it attracts talent from other areas, who contribute their strengths to our sociopolitical fabric - like my dastardly plan to capture Mousebumples, although Mallorea insists it is his dastardly plan to use her to control Europeia, and -she- insists it is her own dastardly plan at work...”.

 

I hope everyone took notes – especially Mallorea and Riva. 

 

When asked what his plans were for this term, Anumia appeared to be focused on getting the Great Architecture Project more active and better established.

 

“This term I am looking to make some more visible successes over some of the quieter ones behind-the-scenes in previous terms,” says Anumia, “and show solid results with the Great Architecture Project before this term is out”. 

 

This Great Architecture Project has served as the centerpiece of his Presidency, which would have Europeia engage with smaller, younger regions in “Construction Partnership Agreements”, which aim to build those regions, instil the principles of “independence and sovereignty” and foster a long-lasting relationship with them. Debate in Europeia, however, has turned to concerns that the Europeian Senate is too inactive – Huxwells Talleyrand-Shaw asked if it was “obsolete”, given the rising activity of the Citizens’ Assembly. Much of the debate surrounds the fact that the Citizens’ Assembly is a body of younger and in many more active legislators, while the Senate is more experienced but also less engaged. Mousebumbles 

 

“The issue right now is that the Senate seems to be waiting for the Citizens’ Assembly to pass stuff,” says Mousebumples, “which is fine, but since we're a slower, more deliberative body than the Senate maybe would be on these topics, the activity in the Senate is down. I still maintain that there are plenty of topics that the Senate could be legislating that the CA is not currently covering”. 

 

Anumia shared his thoughts on the discussion to The Rejected Times, where he suggested this kind of debate was a regular occurrence, which swung like a pendulum between periods when the Assembly was active and the Senate was “dead” or vice versa. 

 

“The Senate has been a mainstay of the Republic from inception,” says Anumia, “something that I think gets forgotten sometimes is that we have typically seen the legislature and the lay-legislature wax and wane in opposing proportion. There have certainly been times when the Citizens' Assembly (or its predecessor, the City Council) have been inactive or outright dead, and there have been times when the Senate has been less active than desired as well. I can think of only one time when both the Senate and City Council were in the ascendant together, and even then there were disagreements over the dynamic between the two”.

 

Anumia said the debate was almost a “tradition” in Europeia, but not necessarily without merit. 

 

“The Senate does need to step up its game in the face of a resurgent Citizens' Assembly,” says Anumia, “one of the things my Vice President Malashaan and I made a point of during our campaign for this term was that he would seek to drive Senate activity from the Vice Presidency, while separately I intend to encourage Senators themselves to take the initiative and prove their leadership”.

 

With this in mind, the President still has at least one reoccurring intergovernmental issues to address during his historic third term, while he also looks towards pursuing his Grand Architecture Project.

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Poll Raiding Declared Legal; Ballot Counters Confounded!

COMMENTARY | BODOBOL

 

Confused ballot counters wonder why all the votes are equal.

 

Public referenda are no longer safe from outside corruption following a new ruling making it legal for voters to vote multiple times in order to achieve their desired outcome.

 

The history regarding this ruling dates back to early January, when Codger invented the practice and published an article regarding it in Issue XI of the Rejected Times. However, controversy surrounding the practice did not begin until over two months later, when I founded a region known as the Poll Police and filled it with puppets. When inequality was detected within public ballots, the Poll Police would be dispatched to make the ballots equal again. This, however, did not go over well with some natives, who reported me to the moderation team. I received a warning and fourteen of the twenty-one puppets were deleted.

 

After I made a casual complaint on Lazarus's RMB (the region that inspired me originally to found the Poll Police), Codger appealed the ruling to the mods. This was the beginning of Communist Eraser v. Moderation, a landslide court ruling that would change the fate of the controversial practice.

 

It was a cold, late winter morning when I showed up, and court was already in session. Though I wasn't required to come, I figured I probably should anyway seeing as how I was relevant in the case. I walked into the main courtroom to find advocates and opponents of poll raiding debating the topic hotly. After a while, the moderation team adjourned the court in order to discuss the matter among themselves. All of us were tense, and we had to wait for over two days to receive a final decision, when Sedgistan took the podium and made the following announcement-

 

 

This has been discussed amongst the team, and decided that "poll raiding" is not an offence. Delegates and founder who set up polls have the ability to limit the eligibility to vote in polls, and should make use of this feature if this wish to control who votes in a poll.

 

 

The warning on Bodobol's nation has been removed, and the deleted puppets restored.

 

Please be aware though that usual rules on spamming (e.g. regional happenings spam) still apply.

 

 

 

Across the courtroom, cheers of joy and cries of disgust echoed at the same time. "This is entirely lame if you ask me," commented one disgruntled opponent of poll raiding by the name of Death Star Reborn, who was one of the original victims of poll raiding.

 

After the ruling was made official by Sedgistan, the Poll Police continued their operations and expanded to include more members. Donning their police uniforms, the Police quickly set about again confusing ballot counters worldwide. However, these operations were soon interrupted by voters donning Darth Vader uniforms who followed the Police around and made the votes completely inequal. It was quickly discovered that these were, in fact, the puppets of the aforementioned Death Star Reborn. When questioned about this, he replied, "If people wanna play, I'll flood polls too."

 

One question that remains, though, is if poll raiding will ever catch on as region raiding has. "I think poll raiding will remain a novelty, as the thrill/damage from it doesn't quite match region raiding," Codger said when asked the question. "On the other hand poll raiding is much easier to do, so you might get a few 'lone wolves' raiding quite a few polls to get instant gratification."

 

So while poll raiding may not be ushering in a new era for NationStates, it is likely it will continue to confound ballot counters across the world.

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

The Dreaded Ex(-nation)

COMMENTARY | THAFOO 

 

It was quite the shock for most on Monday when the avatar that had been Obi-Wan Kenobi for so long had most suddenly become the dreaded Ex-Nation flag- a picture signifying one player's deletion, whether due to inactivity or the universally-feared moderator deletion. 

 

Considered by some (not including himself) to be a pillar of the General forum's massive debate community, it hardly took minutes until many had noticed his forced absence from the forums.

 

"[expletive]ing-[expletive]ing-[expletive]ing-[expletive]ing-[expletive]! Divair's gone!" exclaimed one Generalite on The Eternal Thread upon learning the news barely four hours after Divair's deletion. "Divair was the coolest person on this site. When it came to chatting, he was da bauss [sic]. And he answered so many of my questions about the Israeli-Palestine situation... This is a sad day for NationStates."  

 

The opinion was shared by many, including an individual who was startled by his sudden deletion, noticing his unlinked name in their telegram box in the thread "A Missing User: Divair," which was locked after a mere eighteen posts by the moderators.

 

"...the immediate trigger for Divair's deletion [was his] repeated advertising of a competing game (not another discussion forum, which would be legal, but another nation simulation game) both in the forums and via attempted TG recruitment. This runs counter to long-standing policy." announced moderator The Archregimancy barely minutes after Divair's deletion.

 

Div was not just deleted for this reason, however. Known for quite a while as an active proponent of The Batcavern (http://thebatcavern.freeforums.net/), Div was not exactly, let's say, liked by most of the Moderation community- the moderators Euroslavia and The Blaatschapen were known to have active accounts on The Batcavern, while Farnhamia's has fallen into relative inactivity.

 

I, myself, have made myself a part of this- before receiving the cease-and-desist order from the NationStates Moderation regarding the fact that I had assisted Divair in recruiting for a competing nation simulation game, I had invited a near 130 members of NationStates to follow us to said simulation game- mostly from my own large region of Tofuline, while Div had invited many more from his amazingly large region Versutian Federation- a region that found itself without a founder on Monday. Heck, I could consider myself Div's left-hand man in many aspects.

 

Due to his active dissent of the rapidly deteriorating moderation policy, Div was not well-liked in the slightest by most moderators- notably, the renowned (and somewhat feared) Dread Lady Nathicana.

 

Eighteen days before Divair's deletion, he had already been banned for active criticism of Moderation policy in a different thread. Dread Lady Nathicana was quoted as saying on that day, "Divair is not the topic of this thread. Nor are any other players who may or may not be participating at this time. Let's not attempt to make it so. Thanks!" in The Eternal Thread.

 

Another definite reason to Div being more than strongly disliked among Moderation quite recently likely stems to Moderation's decision to close The Eternal Thread at 100 incarnations- a decision that was rejoiced upon by much of General, while others took to fleeing to Forum Seven's sudden surge in chat threads, or leaving altogether, or- much to the moderators' distaste- The Batcavern, at the behest of, most prominently, Divair, who was guiding much of the crowd to this offsite forum of former and current NSGers, leaving some to not return to NationStates even when their beloved Eternal Thread was returned barely ten days later by the moderators, who had all but too late realized that they had made a massive mistake in closing a thread that was barely keeping a large part of the NationStates community alive.

 

I, myself, dearly want to leave NationStates. I really do, for reasons other than problems that have presented themselves in the site- studies, most importantly. And I will, most likely, soon enough, as much as I'm fond of you lot. But alas, at nearly thirty thousand posts amassed, I have all but immersed myself in NationStates- I only stay for the element of wasting time, really. But then, I must consider that Div has left quite successfully, all the while leaving his extensive history of sixty-six thousand posts behind. He should be remembered by the lot of us as an exemplary example of a player.

 

If you're active in NationStates General and you're reading this... well, take everything into consideration. All of it. All of what you've seen recently.

 

"I'll miss you folks. If anyone wishes to contact me, I can be found on Divair2 occasionally." -Divair

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Australia refounded

Kangaroos and Koalas celebrate everywhere!

COMMENTARY | HORSE

 

A happy Koala takes a celebratory boat trip after the refounding...

 

This month has finally seen the refounding of Australia, after a few months of hard work by defenders and natives. The refound began after the invasion of United Imperial Armed Forces (UIAF), around three months ago.  After the occupation of six days, by the UIAF, McMasterdonia (notable Aussie) contacted 10000 Islands in hopes TITO would help the natives refound the region. TITO said they would help, but only if “there was support from the native World Assembly nations “, says McMasterdonia. After the native Rankmore gained a substantial amount of endorsements, TITO sent Rankmore information on how to safely and correctly refound the region.

 

After Rankmore started to gain the endorsements, a native by the name of Caiohim started to fight the refound, for reasons of “I dunno”. Endorsing every World Assembly member in the region, Caiohim decided to try and fight “dem ebul fendas”. After a while, Rankmore was "switched out" for Juergen, having more influence than Rankmore.  Sadly, in a strange turn of events, Juergen was ejected from the World Assembly for multying. The explanation for this was that Juergen apparently gave one of the older nations he owned, and that nation was admitted to the World Assembly. 

 

When commenting on the refound mission, Benevolent Thomas, newly elected delegate of 10000 Islands, was very modest and told The Rejected Times that the natives deserved all of the praise. 

 

"This should be all about them and not us," says Benevolent Thomas, "the natives of Australia were the ones brave enough to partake on this endeavor with its fare share of risks and I'm glad that it has paid off for them".

 

The region was finally locked down by Bayswater, a long time native. Luckily, the natives eventually refounded the region successfully, despite the risks of interception involved. I congratulate all members who helped, and I hope Australia has a long, peaceful future ahead of them.

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Protecting Lazarus From Subversive Influence: the Committee For Public Safety and State Security Force

COMMENTARY | BODOBOL

 

Among the newest wave of reforms implemented by ex-Chairman Milograd in the PRL is the creation of two new offices within the Judicial District; the Committee for Public Safety (CPS) and State Security Force (SSF).

 

The two offices were announced on 23 February by Milograd when he created a thread in the Judicial District subforum establishing them as a department of said District. The intent behind these cadres is to protect Lazarenes from dangerous influences affecting the region; this includes RMB adspammers and potential invaders. There is, however, a vital difference between these two offices; the CPS handles matters regarding internal security, while the SSF monitors public conversations to watch for illegal activity.

 

Among the first to join the SSF were Horse, Llamas and Pergamon, with Officer Fantome boasting an incredibly active record. Milograd appointed Lemongrab Union, a new citizen and immigrant from the Confederacy of Allied States, Chief of State Police due to the past experience LU had in similar departments. However, due to alleged involvement in a Balder coup attempt, Lemongrab was removed from the position and Fantome was given the position instead.

 

There are three positions within the SSF one can apply for. RMB Patrol Officers are tasked with finding 'subversive' comments on Lazarus' regional message board (such as adspam), and eliminating them along with informing violators of their misdeeds. IRC Officers, meanwhile, monitor #lazarus and preserve its tranquility. Finally there are State Security Officers, the most popular branch. These Officers keep an eye on the region itself to watch for endotarters and others who wish to unseat the Chairman.

 

The CPS is more of a discreet organization; unlike the SSF, citizens of Lazarus cannot apply for it and only a select few are chosen to partake in it. The discussions are kept behind closed doors and the Committee is generally secretive. Its purpose is to plan out internal security for the region.

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Arrivederci  Charax

A cool cat retires, but the memory remains.

COMMENTARY | UNIBOT 

 

"Mein Führer... I CAN VALK !!!"

 

NationStates is saying their goodbyes to yet another fantastic player – it seems with every spring, we say farewell to another friend, as tensions run high, schoolwork higher and patience is strained, spring brings with it a procession of flowers and sad departures in its wake for many communities in Gameplay.

 

 Charax began in NationStates as “The Black Leaves”, beginning his career in Spiritus and Mordor, before he eventually branched out to work with first, The United Defenders League (where I met him when he served as an enthusiastic Senior Merryman) and later Wintreath and The West Pacific. He maintains a legacy as a lighthearted soul who preferred to see the fun in NationStates as opposed to being weighted down with ideology and philosophy. His signature for years, very appropriately, reminded gameplayers to not take themselves so seriously. Ultimately, Charax retired as a Francoist, residing in The Pacific as a member of their Praetorian Guard. 

 

The Rejected Times spoke with Charax briefly, asking him the circumstances surrounding his departure. He explained that his reasons for leaving were the deadly combination of a busier life and becoming increasingly disillusioned with the game.

 

“The major thing was that I was just bored with it all,” says Charax, “I'd burned out in terms of regional politics certainly. My influence and capabilities as Interior Minister of The West Pacific were severely limited, I'd been unable to press the reforms I'd intended in Mordor and I'd allowed myself to drift from the Wintrean community through my inactivity on their forums. I'd usually turn to Gameplay for entertainment in this circumstance, but that had devolved into a bunch of clueless morons crying to themselves about how awful The Black Riders were whilst the rest of looked on in bewilderment. Only fun Gameplay gave me in the last few weeks was the Eternal Knight's implosion”.

 

When asked what it was that he would miss most about NationStates, Charax was clear…

 

“It has to be the community,” says Charax, “You guys are the only reason I stuck around at all for the majority of my time, sick to the back teeth of the game itself”. 

 

I know for many Charax leaves behind a void, where one could expect his fun banter and jesting between both sides of Gameplay, they are now left remembering the player that was. We here at The Rejected Times wish him well with all his endeavors and hope that he comes back sometime – they always do…. [/i]

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

 

NS Moderation to Invite Discussion

New Policy permits player discussions

COMMENTARY | UNIBOT 

 

A new moderation policy has been officially introduced which poses some serious changes in regards to how the Official Forums operates. With these new changes, there will be two categories for moderation threads: “[Report]” threads and “[Discussion]” threads. Report threads are for, as you would imagine, reporting suspected rule-breaking, while Discussion threads are for, obviously, discussion regarding rules, policies, rulings and anything else relevant to NationStates’s moderation regime.  

 

This comes as a major change – for years, NS Moderation has been criticized for its unwillingness to engage in a prolonged dialogue with players over controversial rulings or policies.  This new system would not only allow, but in many ways, actively encourage players to discuss decisions with Moderation. Before this change, broader discussion threads on various perceived moderation “crises” were unsanctioned (although they did occur sometimes) and discussions on rulings were outright prohibited. 

 

[violet] earlier this week, said that the new moderation policy sought to repair the trust and working relationship between moderators and players.

 

“There has been a troubling rise in the number of moderator/player interactions here that I would characterize as deeply dysfunctional,” says [violet]. ”They have engendered a toxic atmosphere in which neither side completely trusts the motivations of the other, which has derailed a great deal of what would otherwise be good, productive discussion”.

 

The "colorful" Site Admin also called upon players at act in good faith in Moderation and use this new policy for genuine criticism of moderation actions, not so-called “rules-lawyering”.  This may not be the only change coming too: Mallorea and Riva proposed that the Moderation subforum should be divided into “Report” and “Discussion” subforums, which Euroslavia said was being currently discussed by staff in order to better organize this new system. As The Doctor once said, “Life depends on change and renewal”. We here look at The Rejected Times look forward to seeing how this new dynamic for moderation develops. 

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Spring Edition of "NationStates Improviser" released!

FEATURE | THE NEW WORLD OCEANIA 

 

The Rejected Times is proud to sponsor the NationStates Improviser...

 

The NationStates Improviser is an NS–wide literary magazine and a publication of artists in the Arts and Fiction board on the NS Forums. Created in 2013, The NS Improviser is fueled by a passion for the written word and artistic expression.

 

The NS Improviser is the strongest example of our forum's mission to study and disseminate the crafts of creative writing and visual arts. A staff of scholarly, aspiring, and professional artists compile original work submitted by writers and artists from across the site. We publish four online editions per year, in February, May, August, and November, exhibiting the best art NationStates has to offer.

 

Now publishing our second issue, we're glad to say that the NS Improviser is moving towards its goal to disseminate the visual and literary arts across a site namely concerned with hypothetical scenarios and ever-lasting conversation.

 

No artist becomes an artist in a moment, regardless of how, precisely, that moment is defined. Often it is relative to other moments, or the expanse of time which they cover. Thus, no one has ever become an artist in a day, nor in an hour. No one has become an artist in the decade, or the year, or the century (rightfully insinuated, artist of the century is a bullshit term). None could be artists in their lifetime, save that they have not died come the end of eternity, yet none are simply born artists. The Enlightenment thinkers, Renaissance men, from the ancient poets and through the pamphleteers to the post-modernist economic philosophers, da Vinci nor Di Caprio, neither Rand nor Marx, Christ and Nietzsche both, and not those even within this literary magazine: none are artists. We will always be aspiring.

 

Featured in our Aspiration Issue, Spring 2014, is poetry, short fiction, and visual art. The cover artist for this edition is Generalite Nazi Flower Power, whose fractal artwork is seen both as said cover and within the magazine. In addition, we have notable poet The Nuclear Fist publishing his work It Comes, Winter Story Contest winner George and the Dragon, and Silver Key Distinctions winner The Merchant Republics with City Street Samba and Stargazing. Rising artists are also within the pages of the Spring 2014 edition.

 

In any case, few artists on NationStates have the audacity to create human figures, but when The Merchant Republics does as such, the results are nothing short of astonishing.

 

In City Street Samba, we see a bustling, 40s-esque city street, full of lively characters heading to where they need to be, even if they aren't quite sure where their feet are leading them. We begin at the far left of the scene, where a child gazes through the windows of Trois Debutante, her mother pulling her along. The moment can be taken, now, to observe the detail and continuity of the architectural designs, particularly on this shop. At the upper corners of the windows, we see a three-diamond design, which the logo on the shop window mimics. Around the bend of this shop’s window, we see a turn onto another street, not only truly setting a scene for us but exhibiting mastery of devising a three-dimensional piece.

 

In an Art Nouveau style, The Merchant Republics has shown not only he artistic community, but all of NS what his hand is capable of. City Street Samba is tangy, like a picnic in an igloo, and awarding a Silver Key Distinction, we’re sure that our Nouveau Merchant has many more great things to tell us in his career as an Improviser.

 

The Spring 2014 Issue of the NationStates Improviser is available now. See its thread for excerpts, reviews, and the full magazine, at http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=287545.

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

[Unibot]

BREAKING NEWS EXTRA:

 

Hileville accuses Belschaft of Fraud and Defamation

Meanwhile Escade asks CSS to review Belschaft’s behavior…

COMMENTARY | UNIBOT

 

Hileville goes to Court...

 

Hileville has brought forth a case to The South Pacific’s High Court against Belschaft on the grounds of Fraud and Defamation.

 

On Friday March 21, Belschaft sent a telegram to the citizens of The South Pacific, suggesting that a “coup” had occurred and that the root admin, Hileville, had gone rogue and that Hileville had established a dictatorship in The South Pacific. Belschaft had argued Hileville had done so because he had not gotten his way in regards to an “internal admin matter”, but what he neglected to inform readers was that this internal admin matter was the decision on whether or not to uphold Belschaft’s removal from the Admin Staff.

 

The case will be based on the fact that no “coup” had occurred (the coalition was still in place) and that the administration shake-up had occurred a month after the shake-up had been announced (in which no admin except Drugged Monkeys had replied).

 

“This telegram contained lies,” says Hileville to the High Court. “It is my belief that this was done to put a negative light on me for his own gain”.

 

Hileville’s case hinges on the argument that since Belschaft had been removed from the administration staff for abusive posting and harassment of a player, Belschaft had an interest in pursuing the defamation of Hileville’s character in the hopes of generating the need for a switch of forums where he stood a chance of becoming an administrator once more. Hileville is seeking counsel to represent his case.

 

Meanwhile, last night, Escade posed a need for review of Belschaft’s behavior to the Committee of State Security where Belschaft remains a voting, senior member. While the review has since been moved to a private forum, Escade argued that Belschaft’s recent telegram to the region, plus his history of harassment, made him inappropriate for membership in the Committee of State Security. It remains to be seen whether or not the Committee of State Security will agree, but nonetheless, these pose startling new developments from The South Pacific.