The Rejected Times - Issue XXI

[Unibot]

"Truth to Power"

Issue XXI, June 01 2014.

Editor's Note

New logo. Old witticisms. Classic commentary and fresh breaking news. This edition is red hot. The Europeian President and the Vice President stop off for a visit, Lazarus elections begin, RRA Day is celebrated in The Rejected Realms, plus some special commentary from Punk Daddy, Gruenberg, Afforess, among many others.

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Catching up with "The Times"
An Interview with Kraketopia and Pope Lexus X
INTERVIEW | UNIBOT

Goldenblock has a new President and Vice President! Congratulations on your election, Kraketopia and Pope Lexus X. You two were facing steep competition from Drecq and Skyrim Diplomacy – was this at all intimidating? Or did you remain confident throughout the campaign?

Kraketopia: It was intimidating because of how new I was to the region, having been in Europeia for only seven months. But it wasn't intimidating because I had such a great Vice Presidential candidate standing on the ticket with me, and because I was confident in my platform. It was a great race and Drecq ran a solid campaign, and I now enjoy working with him on my Cabinet.

Pope Lexus X: It was by no means a certain victory. I believe that the differences between the two camps were very minimal in terms of policy but these differences, as slight as they were, won the region towards our proposals. Kraketopia's newness could have been an issue but did not feature as a debating point in the campaign which is a testament to the exceptional work he has done in such a short time in Europeia.

Right after the election, of course, you were criticized by The Europeian Times for being short on policy details and I was wondering if you’d like to discuss your vision in terms of various ministries.

Foreign Affairs?

Kraketopia: I found that criticism a little strange, because I felt that there were a lot of policy details in my platform and a lot of proposed changes. I'll the first to say they were small changes, but there was certainly a decent amount of policy discussed there. In Foreign Affairs I plan on implementing a dossier system, so new ambassadors can get up to speed on other regions, as well as for making exchanges of information between them.

I also plan to implement a training program for diplomats, as well as a general education program on foreign affairs for citizens. I think the option to learn more about the rest of NS should be available to Europeian citizens.

Pope Lexus X: Europeia has a very well known and very well developed foreign policy and the focus in our campaign was on the preservation of the work done to date by many previous administrations and the further development of the diplomatic process as Kraketopia said.

The Navy?

Kraketopia: For the Navy I plan to increase activity, train new sailors, and do more joint operations. CSP has been a great Grand Admiral so far, and has already increased ERN activity, as well as embracing a leadership style which incorporates other ERN officers, which will hopefully prevent stagnation in the future.

Communications?

Kraketopia: For Communications we are currently in the process of finishing work on the Office of Dispatches. It will write pieces for Euro dispatches, and will accept and review submissions from citizens. I feel that incorporating private dispatches will help show the rest of NS the diversity and creativity present in Euro. Obviously private submissions will need to be filtered for quality.

Interior / Culture?

Kraketopia: Regarding Culture our current Minister of Culture has done an absolutely fantastic job with pest Festivals, but I plan to take that one step further and have Europeia host an in depth Festival of substantive quality. We have a Philosophy Symposium planned for the end of June, which will have a lot of in depth, creative events. There will also be plenty of less serious events as well, for those inclined to spam and the such.

Pope Lexus X: In terms of culture, we are focusing less on the pro forma methods of conducting affairs. we need to vary events from being glorified spam festivals, as Kraketopia says, and give Europeia more variety in what it can involved in.

More frequent smaller events will hopefully keep the buzz going. The ultimate aim is to kick the myth of the 'summer-lull' in the teeth

You’ve announced your appointments for your cabinet and I was wondering if you could share the thought process behind those choices?

Kraketopia: Lexus and I selected our Cabinet with the utmost of care, and tended to agree on all of the positions. I picked Drecq for the Interior because he's a hard worker, intelligent, and decent to work with. I selected Anumia for Foreign Affairs because he's probably one of the most qualified people for the position. I selected Lethen for Foreign Cultivation because he's already done a great job on the GAP, and it's really starting to pay off. Last term broke Festival activity and attendance records. Yuri was a solid choice for Communication because he's shown a dedication to Europeia, and a willingness to put in work.

CSP has excellent credentials to be Grand Admiral, and he's been doing an excellent job so far.

Different presidents have had different relationships with their vice presidents – some closer than others, some more mentors, some are the best friend, the confidant, the loyal copy editor or just there to play a balancing act with the demographics even. I’m curious, Pope Lexus X, what you feel your role has been in this partnership?

Pope Lexus X: One of the things I said to Kraken when he approached me was that I am not a guy who sits on the side-lines. Kraken is a phenomenal leader - even in a week, he has demonstrated that he is committed to the promises he made at election time. I am happy to sit back when I know he has the reins, to support when a second voice is needed and to advise when my knowledge will count for something. My role is to not be a mere cabinet enforcer but to be the second in command.

Kraken is a person who I could very happily serve under. And I believe my role will be to supplement his vision for Europeia.

Kraketopia, you’re one of the younger presidents that Europeia has – is this an advantage or a weakness, or both and how do you deal with this?

Kraketopia: It's both. My youth gives me the energy to make new contacts for Euro with the NS world, to put forward new ideas, and to be fanatically active It hinders me in that I lack knowledge that other veterans probably consider obvious. I rely on my advisors to help me with technical information, as well as information on NS history and information on other regions I may not have dealt with before. But I like to think I'm a quick learner.

Europeia is saying goodbye to a hat-trick of an Anumia presidency. What will set yourself apart from your predecessor? What differences are we going to see?

In particular, Pope Lexus, I know you were critical of Anumia’s running of the Grand Architecture Project a few months ago and I was wondering if this project is still going to a major priority for this administration, or is it essentially dead on arrival?

Kraketopia: Anumia and I have some similarities, he is my NS father after all But there are some differences too. I'm more communicative with the region. Already I've done two addresses since taking the Presidency just over a week ago, whereas Anumia preferred less frequent, longer addresses. He also had a flair for eccentricity at times, whereas I'm more of a minimalist when it comes to governmental procedure. I like to get things done as quickly and reliably as possible.

Pope Lexus X: I was critical for the pace and the knowledge of the GAP given by the executive to the ordinary citizen. We simply didn't know whether what we had voted for was working.

I absolutely support the GAP and I absolutely believe it is something we should strive to have its full potential realised.

Kraketopia, you’ve announced you’ll be attending Coalition Day on June 2nd in The South Pacific. Do you see relations between The South Pacific and Europeia as growing stronger, or are they possibly endangered? There’s been some grumblings not just in The South Pacific but in many Game-Created Regions regarding the diplomatic isolation that alliances with imperialists have brought with them – is there a concern there that this could spill-over to affecting Europeian relations as well with other Game-Created Regions if it doesn't distance itself enough?

Kraketopia: I would say that relations between TSP and Europeia have been growing stronger, and I look forward to working with TSP in the future. Kringalia and myself have a great working relationship, and I don't see Euro and TSP going any direction but closer together.

I think comparing regions which practice imperialism to regions which practice independence is an oversight. The two philosophies are quite different, and the type of relations you get between an imperialist and an independent region are different.

So no, I don't think this will spill over into Europeian dealings with other regions.

“Europeia”. I just looked it up in a dictionary – what did the entry say?

(After I explained to Pope Lexus X that the question was rhetorical and the right answer was not Portuguese for "Europe"...)

Kraketopia: I think Europeia is defined by what makes all great regions great. Loyal friends, active people, intelligent and mature community members, and a great institutional system. What makes Europeia specifically Europeia though? I'd say it's our commitment to reason and centrism. Europeia stands behind independence - the independence to speak your mind, hold your beliefs, and play the game how you want to play the game. That's what I love about Europeia, and I think that's why it attracts a lot of players.

I'd say that Euro is defined by its commitment to giving friendly, mature people a place to come together and discuss ideas and try to build a community together.

Pope Lexus X: Europeia is a region where the focus is on community and what that community can achieve. I have said many times before, Europeia is a place for new ideas and for old ones to be retested and perfected. Anyone can thrive here.

No, sorry it was a thesaurus. *glares back at the cover* What did it say again?

Kraketopia: Reasonable.

Pope Lexus X: One word...Innovative.

Given a second lease on political life, Pope Lexus X, will you be doing something different this time around – a lesson learnt from your last stay in Goldenblock?

Pope Lexus X: Second lease? Surely it's my tenth or so by this stage! The sad reality is that this will likely be the last term I have in the Europeian executive. Previous experiences are great but every event while in the executive has to be handled on a case-by-case basis. I intend to use what little I have learned to ensure a smooth and productive term of office and hopefully have provided as much as I can towards the future generations who run Europeia next.

And finally: as a newly elected president, Kraketopia, if you could say one thing to your newbie NS self, what would it be?

Kraketopia: To go out into the world and learn the rest of NS more closely. I'm glad I spent the time in Europeia I did. It's where I built my friends, where I learned about Euro, and obviously a big part of what got me elected. But I also feel that having gone out into the rest of NS to make connections before I took the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs would have helped me more on foreign policy. But I feel that I have a fairly good grasp on things now, and that I'm making up for it. Hopefully this interview will help!

We fielded our audience for an off-the-cuff question for you two, this question comes from District XIV: Do you like roleplaying?"

Kraketopia: I do like roleplaying, although you won't see me doing it too much, as I'm usually busy talking with friends or doing things in government. I'm quite picky about the RP's I get involved with.

But when I do get involved, I get really involved. I actually plan to run a spy based RP sometime in the future, perhaps when I'm no longer President.

Pope Lexus X: When I started NS I really liked it, and I was involved in some brilliant role-plays, but as time went on I became more and more engrossed in gameplay and that was my focus in NS. I do have a large respect for the roleplay side of NS.

I had no idea you were a roleplayer once, Pope Lexus! This question comes from Crazygirl, gun in hand: Who are you rooting for for the next mod olympics?"

Pope Lexus X: I did everything long long ago!

Kraketopia: I think that answer is obvious, Mousebumples!

Pope Lexus X: ehh.. I'm rooting for all of the mods to have a good time!

But also Mouse...

Thanks so much for joining me for an interview - it's been a blast. I think you two are going to keep Europeia alive and kicking right through the dog days of summer. You have the floor if you'd like to say a few more words to our readers before you return to Goldenblock!

Kraketopia: First off, thanks for having us, it's been wonderful. If any of your readers have any of their own questions they can always telegram my main nation, Kraketopia.

Pope Lexus X: Thank you for inviting us! To all, do stop by Europeia at any stage and drop me a personal message, my door is always open!

(After the interview, Unibot poked Kraketopia about completing the Gameplay Alignment Test. If you were curious, Kraketopia scored 5.5 / -0.5 -- with the system suggesting his closest regional match was Europeia, by 97.47%).

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Search begins for New Chairman
Kazmr calls for elections in Lazarus
COMMENTARY | UNIBOT


Voting is set to begin June 14. A seven man race so far...

Lazarus’s Chairman, Kazmr has called for elections, only some eighty days since his own appointment. The delegate lamented that he no longer had the time to serve fully in his capacity as Lazarene Delegate. Hobbesistan will serve as regent in Lazarus where he will manage and organize the elections, while overseeing the delegate transition from Kazmr to his successor.

“We knew Kazmr was inactive for a while and had a thread going, he acknowledged that and we brainstormed for a little while,” admits Hobbes to The Rejected Times, “also on the shortlist for regent was Funkadelia, but the thing with Funkadelia was as he'd be running in any elections, him being sitting delegate would be an unfair advantage”.

Hobbesistan’s work as regent is not a permanent affair however, as he reminded us.

“My delegacy only extends as to regional stability during and administering the election, then I’m out,” says Hobbes, “We wanted to do the elections good, and having Kazmr sitting inactive for 3-4 days at a time would mean leaving him in the seat for another 2-3 weeks or more would do a lot of damage, so a regent was the only logical conclusion”.

The nominations for delegate thus far include Funkadelia, Llamas, Horse and Ikania, in addition to three more recent additions to the race, Stujenske, Fantome and Feux. Funkadelia perhaps stands as the most “anti-imperialist” of the candidates and has a vision of a Post-UIAF Lazarus, proud to stand against the same imperialism that once kept Lazarus restrained.

“Lazarus must look towards selecting a successor,” says Funkadelia, “I do intend on running, and I have many plans to boost the activity of the region. Through a combination of cultural initiatives, taking on a strong and prominent foreign policy stance solidifying Lazarus' defenderist roots, and utilizing our talent in the Lazarene Gazette.”.

Funkadelia thanked Kazmr for his service as Chairman.

Llamas, meanwhile, has emphasized a focus on democratic reform for his campaign, believing that the region needs to stay true to its revolutionary roots and keep the region closed from the aristocratic elite.

Horse, neither a heavy defenderist nor a reformist himself, believes the focus of Lazarus today should be on regional activity, however.

He promised activity and big changes to The Rejected Times when we spoke with him.

“Like Blue Wolf said recently,” says Horse, “we've hit a activity slump. Not one of Pre-PRL times, but still a slump. People like Milo, Hobbes, etc. have attempted to get activity back up (and not to toot my own horn, but I proposed 2 festivals, and Hobbes kinda failed me on those ), to really no avail”.

The LLA General suggested that there may be issues with the LLA as well.

“The LLA has also seemed to be left out of a lot of ops recently,” says Horse, “not being informed until really last minute. I would (as I will soon) talk to other defender orgs on why this exactly is. This also means we REALLY need to strengthen relationships with some, and possibly end some others relationships”.

Horse also called for more of an Anti-Fascist “push”.

Nominations for the New Chairman close June 4, but we won’t know who will become the next delegate until at least June 20 after what shaping up to be an extensive democratic season.

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Liberty Riders International: A Retrospective Look
FEATURE | PUNK DADDY

Where to start?

Liberty Riders International (LRI) was birthed on a lark. I was reading through a few raider tag threads and said to myself, “Da--, defenders are stupid.” I have felt and still feel that defenders cannot get out of their own way. So, I thought about what I could do to help and decided that if I started a new defender organization that appealed to people’s sense of “defending friends” that might add an element missing to the game.

I honestly didn’t want to create a “region” because the LRI was supposed to be a multi-regional organization like The Alliance Defense Network. The ADN to my knowledge never had a region, per se, but was made up of a number of regions. Unfortunately, LRI wasn’t being created organically and in order to get it off the ground, I decided that a region was required.

Mistake #1 – Going Solo

I believe I made a number of miscalculations that if I ever try to region build again, I won’t do again, and the most major mistake is going at this thing solo. From an out-of-character perspective, I’m a married dad of three in my (still) mid-30s. I’m not a teenager, not in college, and not employed at a position where I can spend my work time doing a ton of NS gaming. The practical effect of this situation is that by going solo, I set the region up for failure right away because what was required was a lot of time. A ton of time.

Nevertheless, I focused on recruiting hoping one of the recruits would eventually take over the military and run with it. There are a ton of teens, college kids, and people in their twenties who have the time for the game and my hope was to recruit one of these types who would take the military and get LRI a few wins. That would start the momentum and my hope was that it would build upon itself. I believe that concept was correct, but having someone committed to this effort before beginning the alliance would have been much more effective.

My time was spent recruiting nations, trying to build the off-site forum, and retelling the vision of what the region was about over and over again.

Mistake #2 - Not Everyone Got The Vision

Perhaps I am too literal a person, but one of the frustrating parts of the mass of telegrams I was receiving daily were people who joined the region and then said, “Ok, can we go and defend region X.” The point of LRI was not freelance defenderism but calculated defenderism of members of LRI. That concept was lost on about fifty percent of the people who joined LRI. I spent a good deal of time explaining the concept again and again and again.

We also needed a statesman and we didn’t have that. Again, one could call me the marketer but we were missing the military guy (director of operations) and a statesman who could focus on the internal region workings, getting people to the forum, and establishing embassies across the NS globe. I simply didn’t have the time to do it with the other activities I was doing. Had we had a military person or statesman, I believe the region would have thrived. Missing both just made it untenable for the alliance to truly become self-functional.

Mistake #3: I’m Old And My Knees Are Creaky

Unfortunately for NS, happy for me, I took a position in RL that forces me to work a crap-ton more hours. Once that happened, there was no way for me to commit to continuing to recruit. Also – we were at a hundred nations with at least about 17-20 WA nations and we couldn’t even take a one endo’d warzone. There was just too much work needed to get the alliance off the ground.

Couple that with an issue in TNP, where I was essentially labeled a non-TNPer while my efforts in LRI made me some sort of “security risk”, was disappointing. But, it also made the decision to allow the alliance to die a much easier one.

In summary, if anyone wants to make a defender alliance have at least 2-3 people who can commit to spending a good amount of time getting the region off the ground. If you have coding skills, create a recruitment script or else you’ll need about $40 a month to spend on recruiting. However, that $40 will be well spent as you will get recruits.

Mistake #4: Defenders Need To Unify

Overall, the defender community was supportive of my efforts in LRI but it also seems very fragmented. I didn’t realize how fragmented it was until I began this project, and I didn’t like that I was adding to this fragmentation either. This fragmentation could be the result of the egos of some of the defender leaders but I would encourage defenders to rethink their present strategy and consider creating one, at most two, defender organizations to pool their resources and take the battle to raiders.

I believe raiders don’t have to be unified to be effective but I think defenders do and I hope this happens.

Thanks for the time. I’m out.

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A Claim to Ill-Gotten Gains
We invaded it, We own it
EDITORIAL | UNIBOT


The British Museum after dark...

In the halls of the British Museum sits the most silent, discreet displays of imperialism.

The Rosetta Stone… The Elgin Marbles… among many objects reaped from British imperialism remain on display and excite the public’s imagination of visions of the exotic, the lost and disremembered. As previously seized countries have begun to flex their economic strength, requests for repatriation of these ill-gotten gains will only continue to escalate, but above all else it is important to remember that imperialism does not always take on obvious forms, but can be silent and obscured, even legitimized.

Hogwarts is one of many ill-gotten gains in NationStates – the spoils of invasions. Lone Wolves United invaded, occupied and refounded Hogwarts. The recently passed WA Liberation proposal stands as a challenge to Lone Wolves United’s grip over the region as they motion to lock the region down or refound once again.

Yet “Repeal Liberate Hogwarts” is now rushing towards the queue in The World Assembly Security Council. The repeal draft, written by Abacathea, calls the decision by The Security Council to liberate Hogwarts, a discriminative, malicious practice – an “attack” on Lone Wolves United.

I believe that Abacathea’s proposal is set to establish one of the most dangerous precedents to ever be recognized by The Security Council.

There are two major problems with the resolution. First, the resolution presumes that might makes right – that power is legitimacy. Second, it mistakenly believes that it would be wrong for the Security Council to discriminate between those with legitimate claims to their regions and those with similar, but illegitimate claims.

The idea that you can just take something from someone and now have a legitimate claim to it is absurd. Lone Wolves United has as much right to Hogwarts as The Security Council has to intervene in their occupation – if the wolves believed they were not wrong in taking someone’s home from them as a prize of triumphant gloating, then I cannot see how anyone can argue that their prize is now protected. Protected from what? On what grounds do they have the privilege over a region that its other natives were deemed to not possess when it was first invaded? Protected from The Security Council, you might say. Some consider an intervention by The Security Council as needing to meet even more standards to be acceptable than we already expect from defenders.

Certainly, The Security Council is a public body aimed at spreading peace and goodwill (by force if necessary), while defenders are private agents, but the question that has to be asked is: how can doing nothing to challenge an occupation be helping peace or goodwill? A refound is not an ethical blank-slate. When the Lone Wolves United invaded, occupied, griefed and ultimately refounded Hogwarts, they did not establish some legitimate claim over Hogwarts, these were spoils of an act contrary to either peace or goodwill. The occupation of Hogwarts will last as long as the Lones Wolves United is in control of Hogwarts, founder or not.

In Hogwarts, we have a case of Contested Provenance. One side believes that ownership of a region begins with refounding, regardless of the circumstances, the other side believes that ownership goes beyond refounding but is instead intrinsic to nativehood.

In another case, “Liberate Greece” and “Condemn Yauna”, The Security Council found that Yauna’s refounding of Greece to claim it as a trophy for the Persians was wrong. My hope is that The Security Council will not withdraw from this brave precedent for Hogwarts shouldn’t be stuck in a museum.

Hogwarts should be a free home.

Even then, though, I understand that some of my own fellow colleagues are concerned about whether there are any existing natives of Hogwarts. I don’t know. What I can assure you of, however, is that there are existing natives of endangered regions all across NationStates – and this notion, this careless disinformation that suggests “taking” is “owning” is a threat to them and The Security Council’s commitment to help those in need.

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The Impact of Stacking on the World Assembly
OPINION | GRUENBERG

Last issue saw Starrie analyse WA voting patterns for evidence of the “Lemming Effect”: the tendency of WA voters to follow the overall trend of the vote margin. The study concluded, with reservations, that there was some evidence that the Effect did exist. Amusingly, it came just after a notable counterexample: the resolution Sustainable Forest Management eventually passed by a large margin having overcome an initial early deficit. But even if the Effect does not happen every time, that it happens at all does have policy implications for the WA. Starrie's piece was largely analytical and simply sought to look at whether the Effect happens and how; a logical follow-up is to assess what it means for the WA when it does happen.

The Effect is driven by what Starrie called “piling”, a term borrowed from NS Gameplay. In the WA community, the tendency has been to call that process by a different term: “stacking”. Whichever term is used, it refers to the same tactic: voting, especially by delegates with large endorsement counts, as early as possible so as to set up an initially skewed vote margin and thereby drive popular sentiment in the wake. Starrie's evidence suggests doing so may in general have success in affecting the outcomes of votes.

Starrie's piece also showed admirable restraint with regards to the Effect; among the self-appointed forum elite, it has always been considered absolute fact that it is extremely difficult to overcome early voting trends. The Effect is sometimes referred to as the “Lemming Effect”, the “Fluffy Effect”, or whatever particular soubriquet best makes it expressly clear the complete disdain those on the forum have for casual players of the game, considering them barely literates subhumans scarcely capable of feeding and bathing themselves.

One of the most prominent advocates of “stacking” was Alsted, long-serving delegate of Europe. Europe is an atypically large, stable and independent region, thus enabling Alsted to maintain a high endorsement count, which he was able to employ to his region's political ends, voting very early. A voting cycle begins at the update, when the previous resolution will end and the new one enter the docket; Alsted was known for voting early on, with a consistent political agenda he described as “progressive”, in general favouring human rights, social justice, and environmental laws, and being particularly active in opposing free trade legislation.

Alsted was neither the first nor last delegate to employ “stacking”, but he did gain particular association with the tactic for three reasons. Firstly, he was effective, with overall votes frequently in line with his own. Other delegates consistently stack, but do so with much lower endorsement counts and hence lesser influence. Secondly, he was not shy about broadcasting his message; while he rarely engaged with the WA forum debates, he did make several announcements of his intentions, making sure his impact was widely known. And thirdly, he earned the particular wrath of the WA forum community, which has always been, allowing for generalisations and exceptions, considerably more sympathetic to free trade than the WA as a whole.

The truth is that the WA forum community has virtually no impact on the outcome of votes, and never has; indeed, those who frequent the WA forum are (mostly) aware of this, and choose to do so for different reasons – enjoying “nitpicking” and debate, wanting to roleplay characters, or being more concerned with drafting discussions than the actual vote outcomes. Nonetheless, the presence of players who wield far more power and influence in determining the WA's legislative path, yet choose not to spend much time on the forum or to agree with the political consensus of the forum (other areas where the forum differs sharply from the WA en masse include non-human characters and non-modern technology), is undoubtedly a frustration to those who do want to play the WA game actively.

“Stacking” makes it far more likely that delegate votes will have a significant impact on the overall outcome; it also makes those delegates' regions much more attractive for campaigning and association. It is notable that regions that currently employ “stacking”, such as Europeia and Texas (who have an interesting policy of permitting an initial “stacking” free vote by their delegate, but then determining the eventual vote by internal poll, by which point a change in the delegate's position may no longer be relevant anyway), have more active WA departments than regions that do not engage in “stacking” yet hold much larger endorsement counts, such as The South Pacific.

Stacking does require that the delegate either have authority to vote on their own conscience, or that they are able to organize a vote before a resolution reaches the voting stage. In either case, an active delegate taking an interest in WA matters is required for “stacking” to consistently work, and perhaps explains why despite their size, the GCR delegates have mostly not been known for “stacking”, given very few GCR delegates have ever made WA matters a primary concern of theirs. Nonetheless, if the democratic obstacle can be surmounted, it should be clear that “stacking” is a desirable tactic for delegates to pursue, and that by “stacking”, they will be able to leverage much more influence for their region.

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The Swastika in NationStates: A rebuttal
OPINION | JOE BOBS

Joe Bobs considers the opposing view to Church of Satan...

In Issue XX of the The Rejected Times, Church of Satan wrote an excellent article defending use of the swastika when it is not used as part of a Nazi symbol, proposing that a swastika without the red and black background is acceptable. It is certainly true that prior to the 1930s the connotations of the swastika were different, and in areas with substantial Buddhist and Hindu populations, the pre-Nazi meanings are still observed. However, I will argue that, in the vast majority of cases, these definitions are not applicable to uses of the swastika in NationStates, and the symbol should continue to be restricted.

Firstly, let's look at the demographics. According to Alexa, over 50% of players come from North America, with much of the remainder coming from Europe. To the vast majority of NationStates players, the symbolism of the swastika is tied to Nazism. Whilst 1.9% of players are Indian, where the swastikas meaning is primarily related to good luck, and 1.5% are Filipino, where the symbol has a mixture of connotations, an overwhelming proportion of NS players primarily associate it with Nazism.



However, if the symbol were used in a way that clearly identified it as not being in relation to Nazism, surely this would make it acceptable? The difficulty comes in the definition. Let's look at the current images in use in some Nazi regions in NationStates (I'm not going to use their names as I don't wish to promote them). You can see that they don't use the swastika, but clearly have their intended effect of mimicking the logo. Unfortunately, defining a Nazi usage as the use of the red and white background is not sufficient to prevent its use in a racist manner. If we were to allow the use of the swastika, it would only allow the further escalation of this imagery.



In Germany and Austria, the use of the swastika is restricted to Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples, whilst use anywhere else is illegal. There are also restrictions in Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Brazil and Panama. It has also been banned on Xbox Live.

In 2006, I formed a group called the Anti-Racism Coalition which grew to over 600 members. I'm aware I was not the first or the last to attempt to vocalise the anti-Nazi / anti-racist sentiment of most NS players. Around that time 'the other game' had come under fire from a Norwegian newspaper due to claims that a Neo-Nazi group were using it as a recruiting tool (these claims later turned out to be false). Myself, along with Northern Sushi / The Merlion and The Planet Federation, co-leaders of ARC, attempted to work with the moderators on the issue of openly Nazi and racist regions. SalusaSecondus ruled that these regions 'while distasteful, do not cross the line into 'malicious''. (As a side note, isn't it odd that orang-utan pee is now offensive, but Nazism apparently isn't?) Max Barry made the following statement:
 

Nations mimicking Nazi Germany are considered to be glorifying real-life violence, which is malicious and therefore banned. "Racist regions" depends on what you mean by racist, though, because that's a pretty broad term. Using an ethnic group as a national animal, for example, is considered malicious and banned. So is the use of malicious, racist national slogans. But it's not prohibited to start a thread in the forum that discusses racism, or expresses racist opinions, so long as the posts aren't malicious or threatening. This kind of racism falls under the banner of "stupidity," which is not banned. That sort of thing I want argued against, not hidden.

(Some people think it's better to censor racism than debate it. I don't agree with that. I think censorship just moves racism elsewhere. I prefer to see racist arguments dismantled in public.)

I agree with the fact that dismantling the views of racists is a better way of advancing anti-racism than simply censoring them, but I'm also concerned with what others will think when they visit this game that is so dear to me, and I'm sure to you, and find it littered with racist, homophobic and other forms of discriminatory language and imagery. At this time, when nationalist parties are gaining ground across real-world elections, and walls are being put between us, I want NationStates to be a haven for political debate, but it has to be a place where everyone feels they are able to join in the debate. Discrimination is a form of censorship, and a website that openly displays racist attitudes is going to exclude some visitors from some backgrounds. Whilst I abhor censorship, allowing discrimination to run rampant leaves us prone to censorship by exclusion.

If you don't think it's an issue, take a look at the number 3 search term that brings people to NationStates:

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The First RRA Day
COMMENTARY | RYNO

RRA day was celebrated for the first time on May 28, 2014. Interestingly enough, however, RRA Day wasn't a holiday in the Rejected Realms officially until May 27, 2014. The Regional Holidays Act was amended to include RRA Day.

The RRA stands as one of the oldest surviving armies in NationStates, having been believed to have been founded on May 28, 2003. However, hat today is now a defender army was founded to invade. It's history is interesting on that fact alone. Gres, the delegate at the time, had created The Rejected Realms Army with the hopes of invading The East Pacific (a failed endeavor).

Unibot recounted the story of The Rejected Realms Army's transformation from an invader army to defender forces, remarking that "we learnt as a region that respect is earned, not through fear, but through leadership".

Meanwhile, Crazygirl shared a rare and rather incredible glimpse at the army's history: the original recruitment message that Gres had sent to members of our regions which explained the idea of the army for the very first time.

Amazing!

Residents were encouraged to celebrate RRA Day by voting in the RRA Day poll, consider joining the RRA and to share their experiences with the RRA on the Regional Message Board.

One resident, Neomenia, who flew the RRA flag won the lottery based around flying it and had their nation recognized on the World Factbook Entry.

"I feel that it is great that there is a day for celebrating regional cooperation," says Neomenia, " I am quite honored that my nation was chosen as the winner".

According to a poll in TRR, the most popular way of celebrating RRA Day was by flying the RRA flag. With 26 nations having used the RRA flag on RRA day it wasn't a surprising result. The holiday is meant to help recruitment into the RRA, as well as giving it the attention of the region. Another benefit is, of course, making people aware of it's long history in NationStates.

"RRA Day was wonderful!" Unibot tells The Rejected Times. "You know I had my worries that the holiday might go over the heads of some of our residents, but really they got quite involved with it - putting the old RRA Flag on their nation and cheering on the Regional Message Board. I was very pleased that citizens wanted to honour our region's oldest resident, The RRA. We've always had a special relationship with our army, because of course, The Rejected Realms Army is separate from our government. Politics and warfare don't mix, but just every once in a while we like to spice things up. This holiday was not just about reminding our residents about our army, but reminding our army that we look up to them. The day was part reflection, part celebration. And might I say: you don't look a day over eleven, gentlemen."

Others also saw RRA Day as fun, such as Sankh-Lanport, one of our newest citizens. Sankh-Lanport told The Rejected Times that "RRA Day was memorable and fun and honored the Rejected Realms Army".

Crazygirl, however, sent a video clip when asked for comment on RRA Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpYEJx7PkWE). 'Nuff Said, Crazygirl. 'Nuff Said.

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Mystery of the Lumpy NationStates
NationStates encounters bizarre website traffic
COMMENTARY | AFFORESS


Afforess is on the case...

In a public discussion on the technical forums, NationStates administrators revealed they were having trouble identifying the cause of spikes in traffic to certain areas on the website. Site administrator Violet described the behavior as “caused by lots of people abruptly hitting the same place at once”. Violet further clarified that the incidents were occurring on the game-side and appeared to be traffic from normal users.

Normal website traffic is distributed over time, what might seem like a short span of time to a player browsing NationStates is an eternity to a web server. The behavior Violet describes is abnormal because coordination involved, to cause a spike in traffic involves simultaneous requests.

Software was the first obvious suspect, and Violet discussed the possibility of rogue NationStates++ requests from users with Shadow Afforess. As a result of the discussion, changes to the way NationStates++ makes requests to the website for content, to explicitly identify the request as from software, and not a user, are planned. It is unclear how long the site has been experiencing the spikes in traffic, and whether the changes to NationStates++ will solve the mystery, or raise more questions than answers.

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1000 Deletions, But Still 0 Answers
COMMENTARY | GRUENBERG

The results of the "Game Mod Olympics" have been revealed by [violet]. A light-hearted way of paying tribute to the volunteer efforts of the moderators in performing tasks logged by the "mod centre", the Olympics are an NS tradition dating back many years, and almost always completely dominated by Frisbeeteria. This time was no exception, with Frisbeeteria leading the mods in many categories. But the "medals" handed out for such triumphs do not tell the whole story: as [violet] noted, NERVUN performed over 11,000 moderator actions without receiving such a medal. The Olympics saw a total of 312,600 moderator actions recognised since the last Olympics in late 2012, at a rate of over 500 actions per day.

One notable result was in the WA Proposals Removed category, where Kryozerkia comfortably led the field, removing over 1000 proposals - more than all of the moderators combined! With The Most Glorious Hack seemingly no longer active in WA moderation, the results demonstrate the new era of WA moderation has well and truly taken over. But while due acknowledgement should be accorded Kryozerkia for her actions, representing a sizeable time commitment to unpaid volunteer work for an online game, WA players may have cause to question what this changing of the guard really means for their area of the game.

In the past six months, Kryozerkia has posted to the WA forum fewer than 50 times. She rarely provides public rulings, leaving it to the overworked Ardchoille to relay, and attempt to decode, her sometimes inscrutable rulings second-hand. As unquestionably doomed to futility as the ongoing attempt to "archive" rulings and interpretations of WA proposals is, Kryozerkia has not contributed a single post to the discussion. At times she has not even disclosed to the authors of deleted proposals why they were removed, leaving them confused and frustrated.

The Game Mod Olympics are a time to thank the moderators for their volunteer service to making the game run smoothly, ridding us of spammers and trolls, and enforcing the rules fairly for all - the only way any game ever makes sense. But it is not ungrateful to also take the moment as an opportunity to question aspects of moderation that are less desirable - and to suggest that the massive lack of accountability in particular affecting moderation of the WA community creates a chilling effect on players' ability to take part in, or even understand, the game. Let's hope the next Mod Olympics see boisterous competition for the coveted Gold Medal in Proposal Questions Answered - but let's not bet too many ByteCoins on that happening, either.

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State Council Shakeups
COMMENTARY | KOGVURON

The executive branch of the Lazarene government has undergone some changes lately, with new members of the State Council, as well as the surprise resignation of Chairman Kazmr. On May 9, Kazmr announced two new appointments to the PRL State Council. Milograd took over as Diplomacy Governor after Dalimbar fell inactive and Llamas was named Culture Governor to fill the opening left by Bodobol. Both new governors have gotten to work quickly, with Llamas proposing two sets of cultural reforms and Milograd recently publishing a new Lazarene foreign update.

More shocking, however, was the news that Chairman Kazmr would be stepping down due to real life business. Kazmr, who's term saw increased activity levels on the Lazarene forums, announced yesterday that he would be resigning the Chairmanship. In addition, he appointed Hobbes as regent to oversee new elections for the position of Chairman. Hobbes will also oversee the election process for the next Chairman.

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NSG Summer Begins - 2014
COMMENTARY | THAFOO


Newbs.. Newbs everywhere...

Ah, summer. To most, it means time by the pool and enjoying (or, perhaps, detesting) the hottest temperatures of the year. However, for the crowd that frequents the NationStates General forum (NSG), summer is a dreaded period of time in which certain people who are of a not-so-mature age flood NSG, the most well-known and perhaps most-infamous of NS forum sections.

While there are certainly many, many members of the NSG community that are ages 13-15 who are lauded for their maturity and assorted positive contributions to the NSG community, they are an unfortunate minority during NSG Summer.

The flood of 13-15-year-olds who lack maturity is not exactly inexplicable- NSG Summer is generally agreed upon as beginning sometime ranging from middle to late May, when most high schools and junior high schools let out for summer, releasing a barrage of young adolescents who aren't quite ready to grasp certain elements of internet etiquette (and, as noted before, a minority who are ready to do so, but once again, they are most certainly a minority). This NSG Summer, some say, has arrived early, starting as early as February of this year, while others believe that 2013 Summer never quite ended.

Either way, it cannot be denied that NSG Summer is in full swing at the time of this article's publication, with the forum moderators scrambling to lock one-line discussion threads, ban certain players who have had one warning too many in regards to behaviour, and regulate the seemingly endless flow of spam that is flooding the NS Forum Board as a whole. As an illustration of this fact, [violet] posted an announcement that chronicled the various achievements of the game moderators (http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=298178), showing an astonishing 10,000+ nations deleted and more than 200,000 total moderation actions in the past eighteen months, with certainly more to come as the horror of NSG Summer presses on.

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