Issue XVIII - The Rejected Times

[Unibot]

Issue XVIII, April 14, 2014

>>> OPINION

Community and Strength: Kringalia Speaks!
"Regardless of whatever happened in the last few weeks, that's not what defines the region," says the New Delegate.
INTERVIEW | UNIBOT


"Kris Kringle is Coming to Town!"

Unibot sits down with Kringalia shortly after being elected Delegate of The South Pacific...

So it was a close race in many ways - it had me biting my nails the whole way through. Are you relieved? How does it feel to have won?

It was indeed! I'll be relieved when Todd certifies the results, but I think it's fair to say I've earned the right to stop checking the vote count every five minutes.

It's great to have won, and I have lots of ideas about things to do for the region. It's going to be a very active term, that I can promise.

The decision to switch roles with Escade - what was the reasoning behind that? Whose idea was it and when did you decide to do that?

Well, ever since December we had constantly joked about switching positions in the future, but it was all joking. Up until a few days before nominations opened Escade was going for Delegate, but then she told me that we wanted to take it easy this term and focus more on some cultural stuff. She asked if I was interested in running as Delegate, and since we already know how to work together, I just asked the she be there as Vice Delegate.

Interesting! What's your general priorities for this term? The main issues. What do you plan on doing as delegate in the coming weeks?

I guess the first thing I plan to do is coup Escade.

Well, it is April! That time of the year for TSP!

[laughter]

But seriously, I'd like to meet with the Cabinet to agree on a common agenda for the next four months, and also to promote some cultural events. We have some regional games still pending, so that's my main priority for now. Beyond that, I guess that would depend on what I talk with each Minister.

Of course, The South Pacific has had its share of trouble in recent weeks with the forum changeover. What's one thing that you think The South Pacific learned from this event?

I think the main lesson was that engaging in so much drama is just not worth it.

If someone messes up, then we should talk things out. If someone doesn't follow the rules, then we don't sink to that level, instead we should keep things in topic and be civil. Right now we are having some interesting discussions in the Assembly, and so far people might disagree but overall we are doing alright. That's because we are making an effort to respond to arguments with more arguments, instead of with attacks.

That's the key here: knowing how to disagree.

You're not the only one who was elected this week, of course. I'm curious which minister you're excited to see at work. There's a lot of talent in this new cabinet I think. What do you think they will each bring to the table, so to speak?

They are all great, but I'm particularly excited to see Geo and Tsu in the Cabinet. They were there at the very beginning, when the Coalition was first established. It's really amazing to have them in the Cabinet once more.

We also have Glen, who has been reelected. He was great as MoFA and I look forward to see him go on with his reforms at the Ministry. And Farengeto is new to the Cabinet, but he has some exciting ideas and brings a fresh new outlook into the Cabinet.

What do you believe will be your big challenge as you move forward?

I think keeping the region active and engaged will be the challenge. So far we've done great, but I don't want that to stop. I want to talk with MoRA and MoA so people will have incentives and opportunities to do anything in the region.

Escade, Awe and Arbiter did great things with MoRA and that should go on. Southern Bellz did fantastic with the NSA, and Geo has some great ideas too. We should work on that and build on that success.

What makes TSP different than the other feeders? What defines it?

The thing that I've heard over and over again from many people is that the South Pacific welcomes everyone, and that in this region anyone can find their place.

We are very welcoming, have lots of things to do, and in the end try to be very relaxed and have fun. Regardless of whatever happened in the last few weeks, that's not what defines the region. Rather, we are the exact opposite.

There's a lot I could say, but I thing in the end we need only say that we are very open, and the fact that people like Escade, Farengeto, Arbiter, me are being elected is enough proof.

You said in your platform that you were looking for more missions with The New Inquisition. What did you have in mind? And do you think you could run the risk of associating The South Pacific with imperialism and interregional aggression?

Well. There are two things to be said about this. First, the specifics about missions with TNI are something that I'd like to discuss with Glen and Geomania, but the overall idea is that we can't be allies with someone without developing an actual relationship with them.

Second, I've made no secret of the fact that I consider military gameplay a way to execute our foreign policy just as much as a way to promote participation in the region. So, I'm not that concerned about TSP being associated with imperialism because we already have the alliance. The only thing I'd be doing is actually working on conditions that already exist.

That said...

The South Pacific is an independent region, so we are not in the business of only raiding or only defending. We will keep doing either whenever it helps our allies and suits our interests. Working with a defender region is as valid as working with a raider or imperialist region, as long as it doesn't affect our allies or negatively impacts us.

Not to beat a dead horse here, but do you believe that conducting what could be considered imperialist operations, may negatively impact The South Pacific?You've said how The South Pacific is a welcoming place and that's part of its identity. Is that not contradicted by wanton aggression and "interests" and such?

That's an interesting question. (And you wouldn't be Unibot if you didn't ask it. )

No, I really wouldn't, sorry.

[laughter]

Here's the deal. I don't see us engaging purely in raiding or in defending. We could raid as much as we defend, if it will help one of our allies or it it's good for the NSA. So we could be associated with imperialism as much as we could be associated with helping natives get back their region.

What I'm trying to say is that, while ethical considerations are important, they won't be paramount when we determine who to raid or who to defend.

Our benefit in terms of alliances and citizen activity and participation will be the main things to consider here.

Thanks for clarifying.

[nods]

On a wider scope, where do you think the Game-Created Regions are heading in the next few months - we've seen us almost on the brink of war before, then we saw a series of revolutions. Where are we heading on a global scale and what role do you think The South Pacific will plan in that?

I'll keep this short. I honestly hope we will see more stability in GCRs. Last year we had revolutions (successful or not) in TSP, Osiris and Lazarus, and also some changes in alignment. I think we'll see the consolidation of all this. What role will TSP play in this? I see us being more active and proactive, and making good on the treaties we have with several GCRs. There is a lot of potential that we shouldn't waste.

Do you see The South Pacific as a leading power that sets the tone among the other GCRs, or more of a diplomatic middle power like The East Pacific? Or something else? Isolationist?

I don't see TSP as being a leading power at all times, simply because at some points we might have different priorities. I do see us at being active in the world stage, and leading when we see a need for us to lead, which won't be at all times, but rather at the right time.

Finally, on the eve of your first day as a feeder delegate: if you could say one thing to your newbie NS self, what would it be?

Wow. Here was I thinking questions couldn't get tougher.

I like to challenge people!

I would tell myself: "Congratulate Escade on her appointment as Minister of Regional Affairs". If I hadn't congratulated her she wouldn't have offered me my first government job, and I wouldn't be here. I have so much to thank her for, really.

Awww. She's great. Though I know what I'd say to myself: stop being such an f**king idiot.

Thank you so much for the interview, Kringalia. Good luck on your term - I hope it is absolutely wonderful. If you'd like to say anything to our readers, you have the floor.

Thanks Uni. I do hope four months from now the South Pacific will be much better than it already is, and since I have this fantastic Cabinet I'm sure that will happen. Thanks to the Times for hearing me out, and best of luck with the next edition.

Cheers mate.

---

Of some of the People, For some of the People, By some of the People
Part Two of a Four Part Series, “Rethinking Power in NationStates”.
EDITORIAL | UNIBOT

The notion that democracy in NationStates, especially Game-Created Regions, isn’t “all that it’s cracked up to be” is by no means a new idea. This common criticism has been the bread and butter of coupers and cultural feederites for years as a way to justify instability and oligarchical power structures – as a newer player, I often found members of The Empire (who were very influential at that time) often tried to press these sentiments upon me. My hope is that this editorial is not placed with those that sympathize with the status quo, but instead, those that see a potential new opportunity for us to step into the real and very scary democratic process for the sake of fun and inclusion.

Now if we’re going to ask the question, “are regions democratic in NationStates?” we first need to know what “democracy” is. Back, oh, five years ago now, I was a naïve, slightly thinner and better manicured freshman under the weight of a novemberish melancholy. Having made an appointment to see a professor for a meeting, I had intended to ask for his thoughts on my paper, “What is Democracy?”. This was my first Political Science course and I was keen to make a good academic introduction. An hour had gone by while I waited outside for the professor (who was also the head of the department) to finish his “conversation” with an angry and (possibly) dismissed employee. When I finally was allowed to enter his office, I found myself in a laboratory of ideas: stacks and stacks of books just lining the floor with absolutely no organization, rhyme or reason. The professor was sitting at the desk smiling – he was wearing his trademark mustard stained white suit with a pink shirt which he apparently wore at work without interruption for about thirty years.

I had asked him what he thought of my paper and he proceeded to essentially explain what democracy really was… with (probably) a complete rehearsed lecture.

“Do you like Monty Python?” he asked.

“I haven’t watched much of them. No,” I said -- which I would later correct.

He painted the scene in my mind from Monty Python and the Holy Grail – “He must be a king. He hasn't got shit all over him,” remarked the Dead Collector, himself caked in mud and filth. The scene goes on to question the legitimacy of King Arthur, musing about the authority of “some watery tart” and her “farcical aquatic ceremony”. Bearing this little anecdote in mind: democracy, in the contemporary Western world is fundamentally a product of the Reformation and the Enlightenment era, based on three central ideas: (i) Equality – the idea that all are “equal”, (ii) Authority over equals must have legitimate grounds, (iii) The Rule of Law applies to all equally, including leaders. The latter two ideas follow thematically from the first. Note: this is a controversial argument, but I would argue that equality is the central idea of democracy and its principles of legitimacy, liberty, justice and the Rule of Law follow from this basic premise that all peoples are equal.

What we see in NationStates is not democracy in any particularly concrete sense. Game-Created democracies purport to deciding leaders based on the opinions of less than thirty to forty people in regions that span hundreds of people. Between July to November 2012, The North Pacific tried an experiment: it elected its cabinet based on a preferential voting system that was open to all residents in The North Pacific – via a link to a website that required no sign up and was easy for voters to use. Lo and behold, people participated. Between the three elections that used this method, the elections attracted a hundred voters avg. and usually a lot of potential candidates who were curious about how this method worked would apply to run as a candidate (12 candidates avg.). This exciting system was later replaced in favor of an older, tried appointment system where the cabinet was composed of those who the delegate appointed. The South Pacific also had a challenge system where delegates were elected by “endorsement races” between the incumbent and their challenger – this challenge system proved to be more difficult to organize fairly and was eventually replaced with a traditional forum-based voting system where delegates are elected by the citizenry via the forums. However, these alternative voting systems stand as rare occurrences where democratic governments attempted a different model than the traditional forum-based voting system.

One of the major problems with these forum-based voting systems is that their turnout is relatively low and vastly lower than the actual body of residents in any given Game-Created Regions. Between 2011 and 2013, delegate elections in Game-Created Regions had an average of 22.31 voters – how this number compares against the actual population of the region is debateable since some would use the total number of residents, others would use the total number of WA Members. What we do know from past experience is that if these Game-Created Regions adopted an offsite mechanism for voting that was easily distributed to residents of the region that average would near quintuple.


Fig. 1. Voter Turnout in GCRs for Delegate Elections. Thanks to Kringalia, NES and Milograd!

Most of the Game-Created Regions, as we can see in Fig. 1 are maturing democracies whose voter turnouts are on the decline. There are many factors which may increase or decrease voter turnout, like competition, stability, cosmopolitanism, regionalism and activity. But any improvement in voter turnout is bound to be marginal at best with the forum-based model because of the filtration that occurs when you expect citizens to join the forums and become regular members. A cynic would ask: how can these Game-Created Regions be “democracies” if little over twenty members of their region are represented in their elections? The reality is that they are not democracies. What are they then, you might ask? This is where things get complicated. The traditional answer is to say that Game-Created Regions are “oligarchies”, rule by the few. However, this approach is difficult to theorize because the power relations are not easily analysed in regions and regions themselves are more porous then one would initially think. Game-Created Regions are interconnected by cross-membership to an extent that “oligarchies” is a misnomer because oligarchies require centralization and political independence. Game-Created Regions are in all actuality, interconnected, networked and interdependent with one another – their governments are all run by familiar faces.


Fig. 2. Shared membership in the Legislative-Executive-Judicial branches of GCRs.

Game-Created Regions are best thought of as “integrated aristocracies”. Their governments are largely run by the same, aristocratic class throughout each region. You can use the term, “elites” or “aristocrats” or what have you, but the basic idea is that the actual population in Game-Created Regions suffer from low participation and low representation in their own governments. Forum-based “democracies” serve first and foremost, this higher pan-GCR class of players, who revel in the drama and the openness of these governments -- they do not necessarily serve their own regions. Moving away from forum-based voting to a model that eliminates the need to join a forum would be detrimental to this higher class of players, because their voting power would immediately drop and their meager twenty votes would soon be outvoted by the larger collective voice of the wider regional population (i.e., "the masses"). Thus, this proposal is incredibly scary to the aristocrats because it poses a direct threat to their influence and voting power.

I'm sure you have hesitations to adopt my argument and I would like to address some common myths surrounding democracies in Game-Created Regions....

Myth 1: “Citizens who join the forums are loyal and committed. Those who don’t? Not so much!”

Most of our forums are dominated not but citizens, but aristocrats – members of an interconnected network, a class, between all of the Game-Created Regions. The forum registration process is more of a filtration process. Few citizens join the forum and fewer participate on it.

This amounts to one either of two scenarios: (i) the centre of power gets overrun and dominated by aristocrats and entryists, (ii) or the very small selection of genuine loyalists put forth regionalist measures to tide the influence and entry of aristocrats, which in doing, only centralizes power even more into their hands.

But these are just two traditional regionalist and cosmopolitan scenarios. In neither case does political participation grow to encompass more than a very thin selection of the actual region itself. These regions are dominated by so many members of this elite class that spans across all of the Game-Created Regions, because the forum registration process does not produce the "cream of the crop" (as some claim it does), it produces a whole lot of foreign produce and very little of your own actual crop.

Myth 2: “We shouldn’t cater or accommodate residents who don’t bother joining our forums”

This myth is based on anti-democratic sentiments if you think about it. To treat non-forum members as "non-committed citizens" or "non-informed citizens" who presumably should not have a say in the leadership of their region, quintessentially misunderstands democracy and its core ideals of egalitarianism.

Those residents are residents too - and the forum registration process is a barrier that radically drops their involvement in their own region. Characterizing them as lazy, apathetic and misinformed misses the point of democracy -- the "masses" can be engaged and a democracy makes a pro-active attempt to get them involved, even if it means sending them their voting information in the mail and making it convenient for them to vote.

Myth 3: “More open voting would mean more outside manipulation”

With forum-based voting you already have as much outside manipulation as you can possibly get -- forum-based voting is basically a legitimization of outside manipulation. On a more open voting system, these outsiders' votes are a much smaller share of the total votes and IP checks and voting requirements can be used to tide outside manipulation.

Some may read this article and immediately assume that the answer to reducing the power, influence and pervasiveness of aristocracy is to implement more regionalist measures. That would be misguided however: regionalist measures reduce the number of voting members, which raises each member's individual voting power and makes entryism that much more profitable and enticing for potential opportunists. Instead, I would like to make the case for wider, more public voting among the entire regional population -- there are a number of ways that one can do this: limiting non-WA members, low influence members etc., but the core idea is that voting should not simply be done on a forum between the forum participants. I believe that this system would, (i) eliminate the "circle jerk" of pan-GCR electoral politics, (ii) be more fun for almost everyone.

Personally, I find the idea of region-wide voting to be really exciting and much more fun. Those who say "but voters don't know anything and will get it wrong" are missing the point: it's a democracy, if you want to make sure voters get it "right", you need to campaign passionately and spread the word. I believe sheer rational greed alone has prevented us from moving towards a more inclusive, democratic structure. This new system would foster a continuum of competitive elections, healthy debate, intrigue and lots of heartfelt campaigning. We've always had the offsite technology to do it and we now also have a polling system too. The time is right for democracy: let's make it happen!

Next week, Unibot discusses Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism and their fickled relationship with Power....

---

Review of April Fools Day
OPINION | THE CHURCH OF SATAN

Every year Max Barry has unleashed something wholly unbelievable or horrible upon the denizens of NationStates. Everyone was expecting something of the same nature as last year's zombie apocalypse, but this year a different kind of evil was unveiled: capitalism.

With a spoof of BitCoins called "ByteCoins", every nation in NationStates became large printing presses, dishing out ByteCoins from thin air to anyone that mined them from them. You could mine ByteCoins and exchange them for your nation's currency. The value of the ByteCoin relative to your own currency fluctuated constantly from devestating highs to dream shattering lows (depending on whether you were buying or selling at the time). The secret to success however was quickly spread; buy low and sell high. Delegates everywhere mass telegrammed this to their respective regions and some went so far as to establish regional exchanges.

Soon our greed took over! We scrambled to gather as much of this imaginary currency of our already imaginary currency and it was fun! I myself was too busy to do much, however I saw many whom had amassed vast fortunes of ByteCoins off the simple concept that we all followed.

To be honest though I'm a bit disappointed. I expected and would have preferred something along the lines of the zombie apocalypse, because it was so much more addictive and interactive. All in all, if I were to rate this year's April Fools day, I'd give it a generous 3 out of 5 stars.

Review: ★★★

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>> NEWS

Frattastan Resigns! TRR Delegate Elections begin!
COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF

In an unexpected letter to the region today, Frattastan has resigned from his position as delegate. He cited the need for fresh new leadership.

“It's been a greatly enjoyable experience in a unique and amazing region,” says Frattastan, “but after a year I think that the RR could benefit from having someone with more energy, interest and ideas in the top spot”.

He was quick to assure citizens that he would not be leaving The Rejected Realms.

“This doesn't mean I will disappear,” explains Frattastan, “as I still plan to be active in TRR in other roles (regional security and the Army, for the most, other than the casual RMB or forum post), but I don't intend to be head of government anymore”.

Frattastan says he will not be leaving the Citizenship Council or the RRA Command. Frattastan spoke to The Rejected Times briefly and shared with us his memories as delegate.

“Throughout my term, I absolutely loved interacting with the colourful variety of characters who end up in The RR,” says Frattastan, “regulars of the BBQ & Grill, victims of purges from regions large and small, invaders and defenders, all the wannabe coupers with more ambition than skill... even those twelve-year old spammers who bothered us for days”.

He explained how experience as delegate was unique.

“You meet a whole universe which is completely different from what you find in a regional government or on the official forums,” says Frattastan, “it may not be especially dramatic or exciting, but it's so diverse that you can't help liking it”.

With Frattastan’s resignation, elections have begun immediately – the nomination process has opened. Currently, The Church of Satan has indicated that he may choose to run. We'll be sure to keep you informed as this story develops.

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A Stain on the Collective Record of the World Assembly
The Tragic Tale of "Rights and Duties of WA States"
COMMENTARY | GRUENBERG

The World Assembly has seen two attempts to repeal "Rights and Duties of WA States" in recent weeks end in failures of two very different kinds. "Rights and Duties..." is the oldest player-submitted resolution in the WA, and in fact pre-dates the organization itself, having been submitted before "The World Assembly", the authorising resolution that abolished the old NSUN and created the new WA at the time of the 2008 April Fool's Day prank-that-wasn't-a-prank, even passed into law. While it had long been a target for repeal, no attempt had come close until Auralia, using his puppet nation, the WA Charter Working Group, launched an ambitious campaign to repeal the resolution and follow up with a replacement of his own.

To the surprise of many WA players, who considered his chances of success slim regardless of the merits of his arguments, Auralia succeeded in mobilising a huge vote behind his repeal after intensive lobbying, including making use of the new telegram system to contact every single WA member nation. The vote count in favour soon swelled to proportions that even the votes of the largest GCR delegates count not sway. But the attempt ended in a storm of controversy as, instead of rightfully passing and striking out its target, it was instead subject to a “Discard” by the moderators.

This new feature contradicted established wisdom, that once a proposal went to vote moderators could not remove it, even if it were subsequently ruled illegal. This situation had been the case ever since the game servers' first move, to Jolt, in 2004; however, vigilance on the part of players and moderators alike had ensured that the system worked, with the exception of "Max Barry Day", an undoubtedly illegal resolution that escaped notice until it was too late. It duly went to vote and passed; the only means of redressing it was for the moderators to permit a tongue-in-cheek repeal by Omigodtheykilledkenny, which thankfully also passed.

But the Discard has changed all that. First used on the 2013 April Fools' Day to remove Douria's "Condemn Horrible Zombies" proposal, it was then used on several occasions in the Security Council. It had not been used in the World Assembly to this point, but made its debut at the hands of Ardchoille, whose notorious inconsistency and failure to grasp the basic sense of the proposal rules would be remarkable if she were even the most culpable moderator in this regard. Having misled Auralia into submitting his proposal and engaging in his campaign by ruling his submission legal, ignoring the fact that using a "branded" puppet nation advertising a particular group was clearly and obviously illegal, a precedent dating back many years to the days of groups such as the ACCEL, she then reversed her decision after it went to vote and decided to punish Auralia for her own mistake by motioning to Discard his resolution.

This came despite her initially saying that the Discard would only be used for the most "egregious violations" of proposal rules, and that she herself wanted to try avoiding the Discard feature at all costs. Within a few days, these words were rendered meaningless. While Ardchoille was undoubtedly wrong – though it may be difficult to blame her for not recalling the precedent, as at the time that rule was made she was uninterested in proposal rules discussions and looked down on those who participated in them– to suggest that using an improperly titled nation was an "egregious violation" is stretching credulity to breaking point.

Thereafter, discussion of the Discard feature received little to no response from the moderators, who also refused to consider the much simpler suggestion of banning any future proposal from profiting from association with the submission. It became apparent that there was never any intention of not using the Discard: the lure of that big red button was too powerful. The moderators' unresponsive attitude led to Auralia's simmering frustration boiling over into a powerful, if overwrought, open letter of resignation: while the moderators still did not have time to answer the most straightforward questions about how the Discard would affect the game, they did at least have time to almost immediately silence any criticism by locking that thread.

Before the vote was even concluded, however, a second repeal attempt was already underway. Following his resignation in the wake of the self-commendation scandal (qv. RT passim), Auralia had given public permission to use any of his proposal texts, especially that of this particular repeal. Douria, known for his successful sponsorship of many repeals, immediately took him up on that offer, privately contacting Auralia with a message of sympathy and support, and asking for permission to submit the repeal again. He received permission and submitted the repeal, launching a telegram campaign to get it to quorum; the only change was the omission of a call for a replacement "charter" for the WA.

Yet Auralia had repeatedly prophesied that a second repeal attempt would not be as successful: it would not have a big campaign behind it, voter fatigue would have set in, and there would be time for opponents to mobilise. So it proved, with the vote target almost immediately suggesting catastrophic failure for the repeal, but the bigger drama emerged when Douria himself came out strongly against his own repeal, entitling his forum thread "Vote Nay" and changing the text of his original post to instead list a screed of poorly composed, rambling, nonsensical arguments against the repeal itself.

At the same time, Monkey Island delegate and long-time Auralian foe Mousebumples, through her Europeian puppet, wanted to take advantage of Ardchoille's mistake, cashing in on moderator incompetence to exploit for her own political gain. She campaigned for several proposals she did not support, such as "Code of Maritime Law" and "On Planetary Annihilation", to reach quorum (both failed by wide margins), thereby pushing back the date of the repeal vote until she could orchestrate her ploy, whereupon she published a bizarre dispatch that purported to rebut the repeal's arguments, while in fact barely addressing them and instead concentrating mainly on the fact that "Rights and Duties..." really did not have any meaningful effect – and holding this up as a reason to support retaining it. The dispatch was voted to the #1 news article of the day.

Auralia and supporters of the repeal condemned Douria's actions, but it was by now too late, and the attempt has probably succeeded in poisoning the well to prevent any genuine attempt to repeal the law from passing in the foreseeable future. A destructive and callous act of pure vindictiveness, instead of being condemned for the intellectually repulsive barbarism that it is, has been held up as an example of business as usual in the "Snakepit" of the WA. All, of course, with the moderators doing nothing to redress this deliberate deception by Douria: they are only willing to get involved when it is to protect a resolution written by one of their own.

That a repeal of "Rights & Duties..." has attracted so much discussion and legal drama is perhaps ironic, given the provenance of the original resolution. Largely a work of plagiarism, an offence normally resulting in WA ejection, it was submitted by Frisbeeteria, who has routinely expressed contempt for the WA game of debating the contents of proposals but who nonetheless wanted to take advantage of his position as game moderator to pass the first resolution in the new WA organization, after less than 18 hours of drafting with legality challenges brushed off as "sophistry" with an open acknowledgement that he was using his position to advance a resolution no one else would have even been allowed to submit.

The actions of the past few weeks represent a stain on the collective record of the World Assembly, and demonstrate that petty animus towards unpopular players is more important to the self-appointed WA elite than trying to reform a resolution that should never have been allowed to pass in the first place. A naïve, broken definition of war that will constrain future legislative efforts will remain on the books, all for the sake of ensuring that Auralia is well and truly chased off with pitchfork and torch. And all to the sound of light applause from a moderator team whose wildly inconsistent, hilariously debased mangling of once-sensible proposal rules purely for the purposes of solidifying their own power has reached proportions so chokingly oppressive the basic WA game is no longer a functioning experience.

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The South Pacific: Election Recap
FEATURE | UNIBOT

The South Pacific's much anticipated general elections closed on April 9th. In many ways, the election could be said to have been relatively "conservative" - with many returning faces (Kris Kringle, Escade, Glen-Rhodes), some popular veterans (Tsunamy, Geomania) and a rising star (Farengeto). The elections themselves were threatened by a forum move, however the community sought to run elections on its scheduled date as a sign of resilience. With many of the administrators running for positions in the government, Todd McCloud served as Election Commissioner for the election.

Many of the predictions and wishes of our senior commentators, Unibot, McMasterdonia and Hileville were realized during the course of the election -- look out for the next edition of "Election Fever" for more smart political forecasts.

Delegate/Vice Delegate Elections: Kringalia / Escade (19), Rebeltopia / Arbiter08 (14).







This proved to be the close fight that our commentators suspected. Kringalia switched places with Escade and ran as the Delegate, while she ran as Vice Delegate -- this pivotal switch may have been the decisive factor in their win over their challengers, Rebeltopia and Arbiter08. Rebeltopia himself is an outspoken veteran of the region whose folksy charm and conservatism posed a delicate balance against Kringalia's enthusiasm and openness.

Kringalia started off strong on the first day of voting, but Rebeltopia nearly tied him by the second day of voting - however, the incumbents were ultimately saved by a strong, although nail-biting, finish. So close!

The Rejected Times managed to get a hold of Escade for comment.

"I'm really excited to see Kris take on the delegate position and he truly is an excellent person to lead TSP," says Escade, "I'm happy to take on a Vice Delegate role and really work on certain regional and inter-regional projects. I'd also like to welcome everyone who ran to join the government, there's a place for you to contribute".

Chair of the Assembly: Tsunamy (21), Penguin (6), Belschaft (5)





When Tsunamy entered the race it was clear who was the front-runner. This race demonstrated the love and respect that the community has for their new ROOT admin and his consensus-building mediation skills. Many perceive him to be the right man for the job as the Assembly is increasingly seen as a uncivil and combative.

Minister of the Army: Geomania (26), Disapprove (8)



In an surprise end of term letter, Southern Bellz had announced that he did not intend to run again as Minister of the Army as had been expected. Geomania, former ADN, RRA and NSA General, entered an empty race as the one to fill the void. Geomania has since nominated QuietDad to replace him as General.

Geomania spoke to The Rejected Times briefly after his win and shared his enthusiasm for the new opportunity.

"I am gratified that the citizens of the South Pacific have the confidence me to command their armed forces," says Geomania. "I hope to continue the breakthroughs done by my predecessor, improve the functionality and abilities of the New Southern Army and maintain the security of the South Pacific".

Minister of Foreign Affairs: Glen-Rhodes (21), God-Emperor (12)



Twenty-One was the lucky number for both Tsunamy and Glen-Rhodes. Glen-Rhodes, the outspoken democratic critic began his career in the World Assembly as a notable International Federalist. He first entered politics in Osiris, where his calls for reform fell on deaf ears but The South Pacific has since proved to be more receptive of his critical earnestness. He was recently also made an admin in The South Pacific and shares the new ROOT account with Tsunamy.

Glen was grateful and optimistic when he spoke with The Rejected Times shortly after his victory was announced.

"I'm grateful that the citizens of The South Pacific are giving me the chance to see through my changes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," says Glen-Rhodes, "I think God-Emperor ran a decent campaign, although I questioned his ability to enact his ambitious platform. I'm glad that The South Pacific has faith in my abilities and re-elected me to a second term".

"We have an exceptionally good Cabinet this time around, in terms of personal relationships," says Glen-Rhodes. "Many of the Cabinet members have been in near constant contact regarding the forum move, so we already know we have good working relationships. I hope to see that bloom into a very successful term".

Minister of Regional Affairs: Farengeto (20), Ryccia (12)



As per usual, the Minister of Regional Affairs was a race between two newer members of the community. Ultimately, Farengeto was the victor of the election. His own career in The South Pacific took off earlier when he defeated Belschaft in a surprise election to become Chief Justice. Commentators had suspected Farengeto would pursue the Minister of Regional Affairs position as an "in" to cabinet politics.

With every election comes new faces, new dynamics and new potential. We here at The Rejected Times wish The South Pacific all of the best!

---

Gatesville Couped?
This isn't what it looks like!
COMMENTARY | THE CHURCH OF SATAN

Gatesville was, without warning, taken over by Noctarus, delegate of Gatesville. Somehow he had gained access to the founder account and began a revival of Gatesville's traditional hatred of the WA. Nevadar demanded that the founder account be returned, however Noctarus responded by banjecting The High Council of Gatesville and dissolving the government! It had become a dictatorship that actually had more support than one might think. Gates The God himself publicly stated his support of Noctarus. As a display of mercy, Noctarus allowed the former High Council to come back. Although Noctarus didn't take the time to speak with us, it was soon made clear what his intentions were...

Just days into his new regime, it was revealed that Nevadar gave the password to the founder account to Noctarus in the event of an emergency. I know what you're thinking: "big mistake". You would be wrong though! This was by no means an actual coup. As it turns out it was an exercise to test the security and stability of Gatesville, which was stronger in its coup than Osiris was for any of them. Pretty ironic if you think about it. I'm not sure who all knew about this exercise, but Noctarus chose the perfect day to pull this stunt! On April Fool's Day of all days! I gotta admit, even I thought Gatesville had actually been couped. My hat's off to you Noctarus!

---

TNP petitions to remove Punk Daddy as Admin
COMMENTARY | UNIBOT

A petition began on April 1st (no relation to April Fools) to remove Punk Daddy as admin of The North Pacific. Despite the fact that Crushing our Enemies says the petition had “had nothing to do with Punk's gameplay alignment”, the petition itself was led mostly by The North Pacific’s invader-leaning members (e.g., Abacathea, Abbey Anumia, Blue Wolf, Lord Ravenclaw, Mall, NES, r3naissanc3r and Treize Dreizehn).

The petition’s main argument was that Punk Daddy no longer was a citizen of The North Pacific, despite being active in NationStates elsewhere. However, the petition’s language was criticized for possibly being “anti-defender”.

From Crushing our Enemies’s original petition letter, the focus on Punk Daddy’s new defense organization, LRI, is obvious.

“The North Pacific Army raids and defends,” writes Crushing our Enemies, “The LRI would be very interested to know when we are raiding, how many troopers we have, and anything else discussed in our military forums. I'm sure they would be interested to know if we are pursuing treaties with any other major raiding powers. These are the sort of things that defender organizations want to maintain tabs on, and giving their leader admin privileges on our forum is an invitation to let them. It is entirely inappropriate for their leader to have unfettered access to our entire forum, including sensitive matters of foreign and military affairs”.

For many of the petitioners, however, this petition was based on commitment and showing your loyalty to The North Pacific.

“It appears to us that you don't care about TNP,” says Abbey Anumia, one of the more vocal petitioners, “your interests in NS are very much elsewhere. While I accept that you're highly unlikely to actually betray the region, when you're showing very little active commitment to TNP that's very hard to gauge or say for certain”.

Punk Daddy said he was “disappointed” by the petition.

“I'd like for the TNP community to know that I am approachable and that I am open to hearing any concern,” says Punk Daddy. “I made a return to TSP to do something that I believe is next to impossible to achieve. Punk D likes to do impossible things. I created LRI because I wanted to make defending fun. I am not a defender, my political leanings are raider. Still, it was about creating more fun for the game”.

Punk Daddy has since resigned his citizenship in The South Pacific and applied to join The North Pacific. He told residents in The South Pacific that he was resigning but “not happy to resign” and bemoaned his critics.

“For some reason,” says Punk Daddy, “there are a group of people who do not believe I am committed to TNP without being a current citizen despite spending almost 10 years there”.

Although the debate is not over, the petition was withdrawn on April 6 – Crushing our Enemies said the “hyperbolic” language of the petition had be problematic (given it “overplays” Punk’s role in LRI) and that he was open to the possibility of a new petition. The admins themselves are still discussing the issue and have not officially responded yet.

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Challenges in The Rejected Realms
COMMENTARY | RYNO

Challenges commenced this week in The Rejected Realms with all of the current officers being ousted from their positions. This is the first time that officer positions were forcibly vacated via the constitutional amendment. Afterwards the former officers could challenge for their old job back as well as any new challengers could try to take their jobs.

During the challenging phase Unibot, Guy, and Christian Democrats all challenged to keep their jobs. While Libetarian Republics was a new challenger. With Wopruthien not trying to retain his position there was four challengers for four officer positions. Before the voting it seemed as though none of the challenges would fail. Everyone would likely earn a officer position.

Again since there was one candidate per vacant officer seat, the vote was a mere confirmation vote for the candidates. A simple majority of for votes would win each candidate a seat. Almost every candidate got unanimous support from nine voters. With the lone candidate that didn't (Christian Democrats) receiving eight votes in favor and one against.

One vote was tossed due to not being specific. Since it wasn't going to effect the outcome in either direction there is unlikely going to be any controversy. The vote was decisive with three incumbents and one challenger winning basically uncontested.

Christian Democrats (Internal Affairs), Guy (Foreign Affairs), and Unibot (Media) all kept their officer roles. With Libetarian Republics taking over culture.

---

Scotland Invaded
Sparks controversy in The North Pacific
COMMENTARY | UNIBOT


"The invasion was well received from Scotland's residents."

On March 29th, forces from The North Pacific Army, in conjunction with The United Imperial Armed Forces and The Black Riders invaded Scotland and occupied it for the following week. The occupation itself featured over forty pilers and presents itself as just another example of the current strength of “raider unity”.

Christopher Bishop happily remarked about the burgeoning relationship between The North Pacific and their friendly neighborhood imperialists.

“The cooperation of these two groups demonstrates the excellent working relationship being developed between The North Pacific and Albion,” says Bishop, “as well as with the other members of the UIAF, in military matters, and potentially beyond this. It was a pleasure to work with The North Pacific, and its excellent representatives, in this matter, and we hope to entertain such friendly and productive relations more in the days to come”.

Scottish natives were less kind. One spoke to The Rejected Times earlier this week with harsh words for their latest occupiers.

“Piss aff, ye worthless shites,” says Labhrann MacBhraonaigh, angry resident, “Ah dornt live ‘ere sae ye can buck up mah ‘ome. And ye can tak’ ye feckin’ flag and shove it yer techt, bony arses. We dornt need anymair stinkin’ imperialists. We got th' sassenach fur 'at”.

The invasion drew a mixed response from The North Pacific’s own natives. Lord Nwah gave a solid “meh” to the announcement, while others were even more critical.

“OK, so definitely, this is what the NPA stands for now,” says Lennart. He added that he was “less than excited” about this development.

Flemingovia told the Assembly that The North Pacific had sunk to a new low, with the North Pacific Army “pretty much a raider organisation now, despite its protestations of neutrality for the sake of the proles”.

Democratic Donkeys, The North Pacific's beloved Vice Delegate, didn't hold back in his criticism either.

“It seems like the only defense mission the NPA is involved in at this point is defending itself from people's opinion of them. Poor dears...” muses Democratic Donkeys.

However, others praised the mission. It was heralded as another great success by JAL, r3naissanc3r and Kiwi, while other members like Rachel, Lord Ravenclaw and Abacathea were critical of the dissenters – questioning their patriotism and commitment to the region. This attack drew some backlash from members who were tired of their pacifism being mistaken for lack of commitment to their region.

“This creeping attitude that members of the Regional Assembly who are not active members of the NPA somehow have no right to comment on what is being done in their name by their army is beginning to be troubling,” says Flemingovia, shaking his fist.

For many this new trend towards destruction and aggression is a betrayal of The North Pacific’s historical roots as a humanitarian region that once fought for a more just cause. While others would argue that without invading others their military experience cannot be fun. A classic debate which seems to be only escalating further in The North Pacific under McMasterdonia’s quiet oversight. The seasoned leader appears hesitant to choose a “side” on the matter.

McMasterdonia spoke with The Rejected Times later this week and repeated his previous comments earlier that this growing backlash was valid and would be taken seriously, he did not say however where he stood on the issue though.

"The North Pacific Army primary responsibility is to serve the region," says McMasterdonia, "It is the responsibility of the Army and it's leadership to take the concerns of citizens seriously and to respond to them as best they can. TNPers are quick to tell you if they are not pleased about something, this is a natural part of democracy in the North Pacific and I support citizens exercising their rights according to that principle. We want the people to have faith in their regional army and we are doing what we can to address these concerns".

Either way, this conflict may be between The North Pacific’s citizens vying to define their region and its identity, but an innocent region, Scotland has been caught in the crossfire.

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GRA-AH, The Defender-Imperialist Alliance Against TBR
COMMENTARY | JOE BOBS

The Global Right Alliance, founding members of the FRA and long-time defenders, recently came back onto the scene, mimicking their emblem of the phoenix as they enjoy their third rebirth in five years. Diplomatic relations were forged with noted Imperialists, Aura Hyperia, which led to an interesting proposal from AH’s Emperor, Mara Sargon.

Aura Hyperia are launching a detagging and liberation war on The Black Riders, who many complain have rampaged across the world relatively unchecked. Mara Sargon extended an invitation to the GRA to join these efforts, and the invitation quickly gained support from myself as Foreign Affairs Minister and Jonewest, High General of the GRA Defence Force and Vice-Chancellor of the FRA, but found vocal opposition from Internal Affairs Minister Sovereign Liberties. However, as the motion within the GRA moves to a vote, it looks as though the Ayes will defeat the Nays, and a joint Imperialist-Defender Task Force will be taking the fight to TBR. Mara Sargon and Frostmark agreed to change the nature of the retagging missions to simply detagging, on any missions involving GRA troops, which removed the primary objection to those following the ‘leave no footprint’ philosophy of defending.

Whilst the primary objective is to wage a war on griefing and tagging, my hopes beyond this are to show that the gulf between gameplayers is not so wide. I personally returned to the game after a four-year hiatus last month, and was saddened to find that many raiders, defenders, imperialists and independents do not share embassies with one another, and resort to highly restrictive maskings when those from the other side visit their forums. Gone are the days when multilateral efforts were common, international conferences occurred on a near weekly basis, and whilst one was not welcome everywhere, you could still say hello on any forum. I hope that gameplayers will tear down the walls that divide us, because, at the end of the day, the game is built upon our interactions, and there’s nothing more fun (and activity generating!) than posting your victories in your enemy’s embassies!

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Delegate's Poll: Adspam
FEATURE | FRATTASTAN

Frattastan discusses The Rejected Realm's latest poll in our ongoing series, "Delegate's Poll"...

For our second poll the choice fell on 'adspamming' and whether it affects the normal flow of the Regional Message Board.

Presently, those who still use this recruitment tactic are unanimously (even ferociously) condemned by feeder and sinker governments for their often-garish, dull, disruptive messages and the 'insulting' treatment of sovereign regions as mere advertising boards.

The vote, open to all nations meeting an influence requirement ("natives"), ran from March 27 to March 31. Fifty nations took part.

Do regional advertisements ("adspam") discourage you from posting on the RMB?

Yes. Most adspammers show no respect for the region, and make the RMB look messy and unappealing: 38%
I don't post on the message board in first place, really: 28%
No. Even if I'm not interested, ignoring them is easy enough: 24%
All the contrary. Poking fun at adspammers can be a great conversation topic: 10%

It should be no surprise that a plurality of voters does not appreciate adspam and considers it off-putting, with many seeing it as unimaginative and posted by nations who don't care about the permanent inhabitants of the region (something which is hard to deny).

However, it is significant that over a fourth of the total are not interested in RMB-posting in first place, adspam or not, and another 24% finds the advertisements tolerable and easy to ignore.

Only a small minority praises the ability of recruiters to generate conversation by provoking natives into mocking their poor advertising efforts.

While the posts are undoubtly nothing more than a nuisance, with the decline in the use of RMB recruitment (only two regions advertised in the Rejected Realms in the last week with that method), rendered obsolete by the widespread use of telegrams and improvements in the RMB system, the issue of adspamming is losing relevance among natives; it is seen more like an annoying occurence which can still be controlled with post suppression and frequent conversation, than an unbearable insult.

For the benefit of GCR natives and region-builders alike, RMB advertisement should be replaced with a more efficient system in the future.

But, until then, people can live with it.

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[God-Emperor]

I like ^ this.

[Eli]

the only vote for Delegate that matters is the WA vote, it includes all citizens of the region.

 

 

so that makes Unibot a tool of the userites.

 

 

not like that is a revelation

[Darkesia]

You read all that? 

 

Slow day?

[Eli]

I read to the point that we got the typical defender = democracy hypocrisy and made the comment I wanted to make.

 

 

But yes, we were adding some docsis service groups to the Bay City/Palacios/Blessings TX are overnight, I had loaded my new config, and we were waiting for the modems to come back online. It took three hours to find all the modems and correct our cabling mistakes.

[Westwind]

I would note that the voting system mentioned in TNP did not work for me.  I received the link, and it refused to accept my votes.  So once again...yet another problem with supposed 'democracy' in NS.

[Joe Bobs]

I would note that the voting system mentioned in TNP did not work for me.  I received the link, and it refused to accept my votes.  So once again...yet another problem with supposed 'democracy' in NS.

 

Sounds like 'hanging chads' all over again!

[God-Emperor]

Who?

[Eli]

there is no democracy in NS, it is a lie perpetuated by defenders to subvert Enlightened leadership in GCRs as embodied by the Guardians and our own Grand Inquisitor.

 

 

Their foul perversion of truth is heretical and must be stomped out whenever it appears. All Unibotan allies must be banished from the West to the RR where they may roast on their spit with the other discredited odious philosophies of the tyrant.

[Westwind]

*nods* A roasting sounds like a wonderful idea. 

[God-Emperor]

What 'bout a honey roast?