by Max Barry

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Hello, Warzone Sandbox! heres the new edition of Donestk Insight!

Welcome to the second edition of Donestk Insight, this paper will include latest update on the Warzone Asia Chess Tournament which recently has concluded.

The Results to the matches is what follows.
Centriolia W vs L Duull
Donestk L vs W The order of st eustachios

This meant that Centriolia was going to play in the final against The order of st eustachios

The results to the final match of the Warzone Asia Chess Tournament are......

Centriolia W vs L The order of st eustachios Congratulations to Centriolia for winning the first ever Warzone Asia Chess Tournament!

Sorry if this edition came out late, there was some difficulty arranging the matches between each contestant then later publication of the second edition of Donestk Insight.

Read dispatch

One Small Island and The siegbaldian empire

New Poll time! and its the best yet!!!

page=poll/p=162917

^ Pick your wizard powers!

Eclipse imperium

Sorry I haven't been active much lately. I'm not completely sure if I want to continue with NS.

Eclipse imperium wrote:Sorry I haven't been active much lately. I'm not completely sure if I want to continue with NS.

It happens; the game isn't for everyone.

Whether you stick with us or not, we've loved having you and you'll always be welcome if you want to come back~

Eclipse imperium and Zandilund

I don’t like potato chips

Zempario wrote:I don’t like potato chips

Me either, really. I'll eat them if they're just sorta sitting there (of if there are certain kinds of dips) but like for the most part I can take 'em or leave 'em.

Zempario

Zempario wrote:I don’t like potato chips

Depends what kind Paprika best thing ever and BBQ no no no

One Small Island and Third zseparatists

Sail nation travellers

Hello, I'm a Nationstates nomad, wandering around and seeing the world, reviewing particular aspects of regions for The Embassy's 🌍 TourAdvisor project (from the viewpoint of a visitor/traveller). I'm also collecting information and notes about my travels in a dispatch:

A NationStates Nomad's Notebook

by Sail nation travellers

The Notebook of a Nationstates Nomad
Why I'm doing this/background information
I was thinking how easy it is to think of a 'perfect region', then never find one. I'm happy with my main Sail nation in Lorania and my puppet Prussian sail nation in Thaecia, but it can be a struggle to find these regions. I also wandered about whether nations were nomads, not settling anywhere for too long. Turns out, after a quick search, a very small community does. Finally, I posted on the NS forums about this and was directed to the 🌍 TourAdvisor project. I also thought that learning and writing about the NS community would be a nice experience and hopefully interesting for others to see. Even better, I could use this puppet for some card farming, as I don't want to set up a proper card farm but also want to try and gain more cards.

Personal Policies of Mine
  • I don't join regional discords/forums. Personally, I've never been a fan of regional forums and discords for various reasons (especially when regions are so centered on them that it is easy to forget that the region is supposed to be focused on NS), but I'm definitely not joining any when I'm not going to be in the region for long, which brings me on to

  • I only stay in a region for 4-10 days. No matter what the region, unless I'm ejected, I stay for about that amount of time. If I like the region so much that I want to stay, I'll simply make a puppet or move an existing nation there

  • I follow the 🌍 TourAdvisor guidelines, that is not reviewing a region that I'm a regional officer in, or a region where I've fallen out with someone and making sure I review regions as a visitor, not as a resident, Generally, I won't move to a region where I already have another nation.

  • I won't visit regions classed as Minuscule, Jump Points, regions that have recently been raided or are under occupation, puppet farms (occasionally I might visit more general puppet storage regions) etc.

Regions Visited:

[tr]

Region Visited

Rating

Notes

Refugia
(22/5/2020)

👫 Community
💚💚💚🖤🖤 (3)

Refugia is good for eco-minded players to chat with others about such matters, but can be a bit quiet at times. Relatively enjoyable visit, although not perfect.

Was quiet and conversation rarely got further beyond welcomes and issue-based discussion. After a quick look at activity,
I found that the most active nations were mainly answering issues, and some didn't extend far beyond logging in every few days, or were simply inactive.

New West Indies
(29/5/2020)

After the controversy, I decided not to leave a review. I was informed by one of their government officials that Chief editor was a puppet of a nation who was spamming and trolling them, alongside the bad review. I was going to review their WFE, but I was not impressed with their decision to cease diplomatic relations with The Embassy

RMB focused on RP, but relatively friendly when I talked with them OOC. We had a slight problem when Chief editor, who was trying to help me with my travels, left a bad review of the region not only on The Embassy's RMB but New West Indies' RMB, also without a category. Oops. This also resulted in The Embassy's embassy with New West Indies being closed. The nation which caused this controversy was eventually warned by the NS moderators and I decided to leave the region early, with a note of caution to others visiting the region (only caution, no more), as well as asking Chief editor to stop 'helping' me. A very, well lets say, eventful, stay.

Regionless
(2/6/2020)

📖 WFE
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

While not the most functional, Regionless's WFE is very colourful and provides all the information that one might need to know about the region. Those who wish to visit longer will find themselves in a welcoming, peaceful enviroment. Also a great stop for nomads/tr avellers wishing for some respite on their long journeys.

Was welcoming, yet remarkably quiet. Not much regional activity at all happened while I was there. It was good respite from the busyness and drama I'd experienced previously.

The Great Monarchical Nations(09/06/2020)

👫 Community
💚💚💚💚💚 (5)

The Great Monarchical Nations has a very active, small community who are willing to involve visitors in their chatting. Most discussions are based around NS, with a mix of roleplay, issue/statistic based and WA discussions on the RMB. The government seemed a little confused when I asked them what the focus of the region is when I asked, but I don't see that as a problem for visitors and travellers. Importantly, they do allow non-monarchical nations into the region, so no worries there. A visit is highly recommended.

Was very active for a region of that size and discussion was varied, although focusing on NS. I felt comfortable including myself in conversation (although to a limited extent). I noticed an oddity though, there was a focus on both roleplay and issues, which is fine, but uncommon. After noticing WA conversation, I asked what the focus of the region was (RP, issues, gameplay etc), and got a very unclear response. But this wasn't a problem, and I enjoyed my stay, even staying a day longer than I usually would.

Eastern Europe (17/06/2020)

👫 Community
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

A welcoming, friendly community that is open to visitors. Nations are advised to change one of their stats for two weeks (after a regional vote), I don't know whether travellers are exempt from this, but I did try to reduce crime just to be safe. What really made this region good for me is that I was included in regional conversation just like anyone else.

Although not perfect, I did enjoy my stay. I was asked about how I review regions, which did through me as I usually just decide based upon how welcomed and included I felt (for community reviews). I was able to help them when they had a debate about a IC meeting that they were having and they listened to me. It wasn't the most amazing of stays, but I was content throughout the week I was there.

New World Union(24/06/2020)

📖 WFE
💚💚💚🖤🖤 (3)

Visitors to the New World Union will find a functional and relatively good-looking WFE. The only problem with it is that it isn't updated regularly. Outside of the WFE are endless RP posts which some travellers may enjoy reading and others may not. During my visit, I couldn't find an appropriate moment to join in any conversation and it almost felt like the region was full of people who had been there for a while and were experienced RPers. While I didn't get much of a welcome, they did accept me being in the region. Visit if you like this type of region.

Wow my reviews are getting long, I'd better shorten them a bit soon. The region was very RP-heavy, which I hadn't noticed when looking at the region before moving there. I'm not into RP and tend to find mega-long RP posts really boring to read so this wasn't an ideal region for me to visit. I hoped that there would be more general conversation, but there was little and I never felt like I could join in the conversation, or start a new one. I was largely ignored upon arriving, aside from being told that who I could contact when I wanted to ask a question. Eventually decided to simply move on.

I felt insulted to log on the evening I after I left the region to see the nations of this region ranting on about how unfair my review was, after one of them posted my review in their region (mentioning me in their post). They went on about how I made no effort to chat, how the review must have not been thought and 'spiraled into madness' and asking each other what I wanted them to do with the WFE. Firstly, the review was 3/5. As much as modern society wants to tell you, 3/5 is not bad at all. 3/5 is just ok, good for some but some parts could be better/some travellers wouldn't want to visit. Secondly, I wasn't able to chat for a few reasons. That week I was standing in an election on one of my other puppets, so I was mainly focusing on that instead of being constantly on this nation. I also found no appropriate point to join in a conversation as it was constant long RP posts almost all the time I was there. I couldn't think of anything to start a conversation throughout my visit. And one person told me to contact a certain nation if I had any questions rather than say 'just ask here', which seemed a bit like they didn't want me to intrude on their RP. The review was properly thought out and in the short time I've been doing this, I've seen much more harsh reviews than this one.

The main problem is that no-one understands the purpose of TourAdvisor. TourAdvisor is about showing the NS world what regions are good to visit or even just look at, rather than a review of how regions are run, what it's like to stay permanently in a region etc. This is now the second large RP region where I've had this problem. Both here and New West Indies had a community that was focused on discord rather than on-site, had overwhelmingly long RP posts and almost nothing else on their RMBs, were completely unaccommodating of travellers and overreacted to the slightest of criticism. I just had to get this out (if you are from the New World Union, take a look at yourselves first if you are about to post about me again).

There was later a post in the region saying how a did provide good feedback.

United League of Nations(30/06/2020)

🗳️ Government
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

While not super-active, the United League of Nations is steeped in history. Whether your a traveller wishing to rest for a few days or if you are interested in NS history, reading the dispatches, old RMB posts and the NS Wiki page about the region is a really interesting experience. The region is over 15 years old and has been refounded seven times!

The region has some activity, but not much. I was able to have a quick look at the region's history and have a few interactions with the delegate. Nothing amazing, but a nice stay nonetheless.

A Nomadic Hut(05/07/2020)

Travel Break

Took a break while I faced election in Lorania on my main. Also I was starting to struggle with finding regions to move to, so I decided to spend this time forming a new method about how I chose regions to move to. The main problem was I spent a lot of time looking for regions, sometimes with little success. Another problem is that while there are over 20,000 regions, most have very few nations, a lot are puppet storage for one person and most regions are basically 'dead', with barely any RMB activity over the past few months. From what I could see, there is no way to measure RMB activity at all.

I ultimately decided on a system of picking a random page on the regions tag search, with certain tags excluded to prevent regions that I don't want to go to (ones that are two small, password-protected etc)

Region Name (19/07/2020)

👫Community
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

Despite having a name that one might not consider too serious, Region Name has a very active community. It has a fast-paced RP, but posts are short, so while some hardcore RPers might not enjoy following these posts while visiting, non-RPers like me (or even more casual RPers) will find it much easier to follow what's happening in the region's RP. A relatively enjoyable visit.

A nice region, although I didn't get much response when I tried to chat. Nevertheless, enjoyed staying in the region and watching the happenings. The difficulty I had this time is that I've been spending more time focusing on my other two nations, as they now both have important government positions in other regions, leaving me less time to focus on my travels, meaning that this has almost become a nation that I simply log into everyday for a few minutes, rather than work on this dispatch or interact within a region.

The Moonlight Battle Born(27/07/2020)

👫 Community
💚💚💚🖤🖤 (3)

If I could give this review 3.5 stars, I would, but I'll give it a three. The region is fairly new, and is also welcoming and willing to answer questions that any visitor may have. The amount of activity depends on what you're used to, you won't find dozens of RMB posts overnight, but the RMB isn't too inactive. Conversation didn't go that far though.

Nothing really notable here, just a medium-sized new-ish region with mainly new nations in it. Apparently most stuff happens on discord, but I don't know how much as I didn't join it. Relatively little activity but I've seen less before.

Conch Kingdom(03/08/2020)

🎟️ Activities
💚💚💚💚💚 (5)

Conch Kingdom is a very large region, but is also very active and very inclusive to visitors and travellers. I was given a very nice welcome, all my questions I had were answered, and notable members of the region were very supportive of TourAdvisor and made sure I was enjoying my visit. In terms of activities, Conch Kingdom has 'Question of the Day', which encouraged lots of interesting discussions on the RMB. The region also provided news updates in the form of a dispatch, which was an interesting read. A must-visit for the travellers and wanderers of NationStates!

Possibly one of the most inclusive regions yet, members of Conch Kingdom checked whether I was enjoying my time there, gave me dispatches to read and included me in activities. The members of the government were always willing to answer my questions as well.

Democritus(09/08/2020)

👫 Community
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

Democritus is a small, yet very active region that mixes RP and general chat in a purely onsite mix. Most discussion during my stay was about US politics, which is a popular NS topic right now. I would frequently wake up to over 100 messages, which I found nice, but that got tiring after a few days, though for some residents of larger regions that would be normal. Native residents listened to what I had to say and responded, which is always nice. A region that is certainly worth a look for travellers.

Was given a lengthy post about how the region had become a success, through RP and general discussion. As of writing this, the US presidential election is only a few months away, so US politics was a big debate in the region, so as I'm from the UK I decided to largely stay out of the discussion. Sadly I've had to focus on my other two nations recently as there is an election in Thaecia and Lorania has had an activity spike, and I've also been away IRL, so I've had little time to focus on this nation.

Eurth(17/08/2020)

👫 Community
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

Eurth's community, while largely based on regional forums, is friendly and willing to chat on the RMB. The region is full of history dating back to before RMBs were kept (while the residents were in a different region). The region is really accepting of visitors, and several residents are very friendly and talkative!

The region was quiet due to activity being mainly on it's forums, but I had some nice conversation with a few residents and they told me about the region's history. A good visit, not the best ever but still nice.

The Place(25/08/2020)

📖 WFE
💚💚💚🖤🖤 (3)

The Place's WFE contains useful links to pages such as the region's rules and the official NS rules, as well as some information. It also is very colourful and looks quite nice, but could be a bit better and updated more frequently. The region has a lot of friendly, casual residents as well.

Had some enjoyable conversations with residents, but a bit quiet. Altogether not too bad.

Hive(02/09/2020)

👫 Community
💚💚💚🖤🖤 (3)

Hive is well, a hive of activity!! I logged on each day to find 2-3 pages of RMB posts, focusing on RP, regional management and more! What disappointed me though is how members of the region didn't make an effort to chat with me on the RMB, although this could be because I'm a bit busy on NS and IRL right now, so I might re-visit at some point.

When I did try to interact with residents, I was largely ignored, although this could be because I'm busy in real life and on NS at the time of writing, so travelling is not a priority. I might revisit in the future.

Warzone Sandbox (9/9/2020)

📖 WFE
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

Warzone Sandbox's WFE is notable for having so many sand-related jokes or references, which is at a comedic level. The region is oddly peaceful and quiet, but always has a threat of being raided, so please don't travel there with your WA nation unless if you intend on staying for an extended period of time. Note that the WFE might change if the region is raided.

Very nice region, although quieter than what I'd usually like. First Warzone I've ever visited.

Bluecrown Keep(19/9/2020)

👫 Community
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

Bluecrown Keep is a very active and welcoming region, although the levels of activity can be a bit too much for those who are used to quieter regions. The residents are really nice though, and I would still recommend visiting.

Currently having some big problems with activity. Maybe being in two political positions, running a newspaper, travelling NS and having a life outside of NS is too much? I really do need to log into this nation more often.

ATOMIC(26/9/2020)

N/A, Temporary residence for N-Day

Moved there for N-Day, used the puppet during the event. Spent an extra week in region while other puppets were sorted out.

The Democratika(5/10/2020)

📖 WFE
💚💚💚🖤🖤 (3)

The Democratika's WFE is simple, colourful and informative. Links to various important documents and resources are included. The region is fairly quiet, but warm and welcoming, and is altogether an alright region to visit.

Region was very quiet, I was becoming very busy with other nations by this point, so struggling to keep up with everything happening on NS.

Alnobia(13/10/2020)

🗳️ Government
💚💚💚💚🖤 (4)

Albonia is an active fun region, with a nice active government, that includes every WA nation in the region. It is a nice place to visit, although there is little that is extraordinarily special about the region.

I need a break. This puppet is going into puppet storage, effective almost immediately.

Chicken overlords

N/A Puppet storage, nation lays dormant

A combination of less time on NS and becoming tired of travelling, decided to put the nation into puppet storage.

Christmas(25/12/2020)

N/A

Moved nation into region for the latter part of the Christmas period. Considering pausing TourAdvisor reviews indefinitely.

Notable Events

22/5/2020: After a couple of weeks of planning, I started my travels.

1/6/2020: First Mentioned in The Cable

2/6/2020: The Chief editor/New West Indies incident (explained more in depth above)

19/7/2020: Changed method of deciding how to move between regions from trying to find them, to picking a random page in a list of regions (excluding puppet storage, password-protected etc)


Observations about the NS community as a whole

  • The NS community can be impulsive, over-reactive and sometimes trying to see all of what has happened can be difficult. It's no surprise, that like any online community, NS has people who react weirdly, such as password-protecting the region in response to one nation. Also, seeing all the evidence of something can take time sometimes.

  • Smaller, regional communities can be very quiet, with most nations not talking to each other on their RMBs and focusing on either issues or simply logging in occasionally. There are a lot of regions with very little activity and a few old nations.

  • While the core of the NS community focuses on R/D, regional politics, the WA and RP, a lot of nations focus mostly on issues. Discussion about issues mainly centres in smaller regions.

  • Some regions have RP-centred communities with page-long post and sometimes a lack of understanding of the NS world outside RP from some nations inside these regions (not all, just more than usual). Most non-RP activity is on discord, so a lot of players might be excluded from parts of these communities.

Read dispatch


Never been to a warzone before, so this should be fun!! I'm not in the WA so don't worry about me trying to take over. Is there some culture in warzones that you don't find elsewhere on NS? The communities appear a bit different.

Third zseparatists

Third zseparatists

Tulls wrote:Depends what kind Paprika best thing ever and BBQ no no no

I agree with you on the Paprika part, but BBQ isn't bad either.

Zandilund

Eclipse imperium

One Small Island wrote:It happens; the game isn't for everyone.

Whether you stick with us or not, we've loved having you and you'll always be welcome if you want to come back~

Thanks.

One Small Island and The siegbaldian empire

Yo people! So TRT recently wrote an article about Thalassia's constitution and Thalassia didn't like it. Because of that, they asked a bunch of people to downvote the dispatch of TRT's latest issue. But two can play that game! So to offset their pettiness, I'm asking you to upvote the dispatch. Don't let a dictatorial government masquerading as a democracy that can't take a little criticism punish this time-honored institution of The Rejected Realms for daring to speak our minds!

Sign up for The Rejected Times' Subscription Service here.

Issue LX | September 2020

Editor-in-Chief Agalaesia
Deputy Editor-in-Chief: N-Vince

Index

  • Thalassia Analysis: Sho Got Lucky This Time - Agalaesia

  • The Great NationStates Flag Contest - The church of satan

  • Democracy or Not? Thalassia's New Constiution - Toerana

  • An Interview with Fihami, the South Pacific's Ministry of Military Affairs - Kraljevstvo Rata

  • Arroz Con Frejol - a Family Recipe - Kraljevstvo Rata

Thalassia Analyisis: Sho Got Lucky This Time

OPINION | WRITTEN BY Agalaesia | EDITED BY The church of satan

Just mere months after becoming a constitutional monarchy, the founder (Sho) announced that the Thalassian constitution would be overturned by a council of players appointed by the founder, as it strove to draft a more permanent constitution.

Before I embark upon this article, I would like to state the following: this article is not about the benefits of democracy versus meritocracy, or the merits of its interim constitution. This article is about how founders should be more cautious when exercising their powers in a democracy, especially as players may become disgruntled and quit the region if and when they see their founder radically change things in a way they didn’t agree to.

Firstly, mechanical founder supremacy is something that no-one can dispute. Founders, ultimately, hold the power in the User Created Region, and no-one can do anything about it, unless there is some major mechanical change to the game. This means that they can technically do anything with their region, and no-one can stop them. This is a huge benefit for regional security, as founders can ensure that their region is kept safe, however, if a founder takes an action that people who reside were not prepared for and do not like, then the motives of the founder wouldn’t be aligned with the motives of the residents.

The population of the region and what impact your actions will have on the overall population and residents. If residents dislike the actions of the founders, or the fact that they aren’t bound by the law, they will simply pack their bags and leave. The population of the region and what impact your actions will have on the overall population and residents. If residents dislike the actions of the founders, or the fact that they aren’t bound by the law, they will simply pack their bags and leave. This was particularly notable in Thalassia’s early incarnation, Pacifica, which was founded by Topid. The residents didn’t like Topid’s unpredictability, so therefore they just packed their bags and refounded into Thalassia. [EDITOR'S NOTE: TRT staff were later notified that this wasn't entirely accurate, and that there were many other problems with Topid's foundership, not necessarily limited to the problems outlined above.]

The people who join a region expect to participate in what is on the can without any unexpected major changes that could change the region entirely - the player joins for regional continuity and certainty, even if that contains elements of instability (such as political debates, frequent change in leadership etc.). To put it simply, a new player joins a region for its niche. If a new player joins a region that prides itself on being meritocratic, then the user will expect that region not to turn into a democracy, unless a lot of discussion goes into it first, and the leaders determine that it is what the players want. Likewise, the repealing of a constitution without any notice given to the citizenship is a bad look, both for stability and for the predictability of the government. It effectively plays a part in destroying Thalassia’s niche - it seemed to pride itself in democracy, however, the likely unconstitutional repeal of the constitution suggests that it isn’t as democratic as it once made itself out to be (at one point, it’s WFE stated that “We're a seafaring bastion of liberty, democracy, and solidarity”).

Major regional changes and the destruction of niches without notice can also destroy certain foreign affairs relationships. When I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the South Pacific, Qvait, about the situation in Thalassia, he said:

“Yes, I would say that the situation in Thalassia is concerning to say the least. Thalassia is a region with which we share embassies and ambassadors with, so what's happening there will be observed by the South Pacific. One issue I noticed in all of this is that the dispatch containing the original constitution was deleted by the founder nation account. We'll be monitoring the situation and watching closely to see what comes out of it.”

When I asked him what he hoped would happen with Thalassia, he stated the following:

“Well, I hope that Thalassia will have a democratic, inclusive government — one that is stable and trustworthy. We'll see.”

Although some may not agree with him on the advocacy for democracy, it is clear from his comments that the South Pacific was taken aback by these events. If a region behaves unpredictably, other regions won’t know what they’re aligned with, and therefore they will close embassies with the region. If one wants to build long term foreign affairs relations, one has to remain consistent, and ensure other regions that they will remain consistent. Although this is largely the rule, other regions seem to support Thalassia in the hope that it will become more stable in the future. When I asked Qvait’s Former Lazarene counterpart, the Director of Foreign Affairs at the time of writing this article, Ryccia - about his thoughts on the Thalassian situation, he stated:

“As I have said to our allies in private, Lazarus has offered its support and legal recognition to the Interim Council. Lazarus recognizes the Interim Council as the official transitional government of Thalassia, and thus hopes that Thalassia's regional reorganization proceeds without any major negative issues and proves beneficial for their community. We hope these efforts bear fruit so Thalassia can prosper under a new Constitution.

We stand by our allies in their efforts of regional reorganization so that the issues that concern them (mainly, by their own admission, inactivity) may be resolved. It is our hope that they are successful in the task they have embarked upon so their community may prosper.”

Thalassia still has a lot of promise in the gameplaying and roleplaying world, however, the founder must be anticipatory and ensure that the regional political system remains stable so that it retains both players and alliances. Although the founder does hold mechanical powers, politically, founder supremacy is by no means sacrosanct. The actions of the founder directly impact foreign relations, and the satisfaction of their residents. The Thalassian founder must learn to be more calculable to avoid a mass exodus from their region.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Three members of the Interim Council (Sho, Wymondham and Arenado) were contacted to comment on the Thalassian re-organization. All of them declined to comment. All Thalassian citizens contacted either didn't respond or declined to comment.]

The Great NationStates Flag Contest

FEATURE | WRITTEN BY The church of satan | EDITED BY Vincey

Right under the nose of countless people a vast flag contest has been on-going since May 1, tucked away in Forum 7. Hosted by The Cosmic Mainframe, the NationStates Flag Bracket II started at 128 flags submitted by 49 players. The Cosmic Mainframe had previously hosted another flag contest on February 25th. The difference this time is that the contest has nearly double the number of flags submitted and an additional 19 participants. I however had not been aware of the contest until May 4th, just three days into the competition when The Cosmic Mainframe posted on The East Pacific’s RMB inquiring about who had made their region’s flag. Subsequently he was directed to me and had sent a telegram to most courteously ask if I was okay with one of their participants, Newark Aristocracy submitting The East Pacific’s flag into the contest. At this point not only was I fine with it and content to leave the prize to Newark Aristocracy if he had won with my design but I was also excited about such a large contest. I have been following it ever since. So, I decided to inquire about the competition myself, with a few questions to The Cosmic Mainframe:

CoS: What gave you the idea to start it at all?

The Cosmic Mainframe: At the time I started the first bracket I was really into Forum 7, and I made it a policy to post on every page of the "Two Nations Above You: Which one has the better flag?" thread. That thread was the closest analogue to my flag bracket. Then there was a discussion in the RMB of the Pacific in which a few people were casually debating whose flag was better, and I made a remark that was something along the lines of "there should be a flag competition, so we can settle it objectively!" The more I thought about it, the more I thought it'd actually be a great idea, albeit for Forum 7.

CoS: How large was the first bracket?

The Cosmic Mainframe: On day one I received 56 flags. Since there were some free spots, and I didn't like to turn people down, I let a few people sign up late, and two days in, the bracket had 64 flags, or half the size of the current bracket. I was actually fortunate enough to get the thread archived, if anyone is interested: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=481322

CoS: What have been your favourite flags so far?

The Cosmic Mainframe: In the first bracket, I considered Valentine Z to be the strongest submitter, particularly between his beautiful animated flag and the one he made for Victoriaans Nederlands. He's got some great flags this time around also, and Alanis Star's flag is a particular standout. This time, I'm really liking the flags that Paradeavenlisian States have submitted, particularly Esceanian Union's flag. I also really like The Albali Republic's flags, particularly The Albalian Kingdom's flag.

CoS: Worst flags so far?

The Cosmic Mainframe: This question is difficult to answer because I don't want to throw shade at people online. But I'll answer anyway: there have been submitters in both iterations of the bracket who submitted images which were not really flags. My policy in those cases has been that you can submit those if you want, but don't expect to win. And, well, they didn't win.

At the same time, I found one of the participants to vote after a very in-depth analysis of each submission. So, I asked Paradeavenlisian States to walk us through their process.

Paradeavenlisian States: “Well, this isn't the first time that I've used this sort of category before there are 5 categories that I consider when analysing flags. They are simplicity, originality, colour scheme, design and realism.

For simplicity, I analyse how easy it would be for, say, a 7-year-old child to draw the features of both flags. However, if the features of both flags are, as a whole, equally easy for a child of that age to draw, then I would have to consider simply how much the flag has going on in terms of the number of colours, features, symbols and, sometimes, the presence of certain effects on some flags. The harder it is for a child to draw and/or the more the number of aspects, the more complicated it is and vice versa.

For the second category, originality, I would analyse the amount of, and extent of, similarities that the two flags share with their real-world counterparts through the colours, features and composition. The more similarities and links there are with (a) real world flag(s), the less original they are and vice versa.

For the third category, the colour scheme which is a bit of a broad one, I would pretty much analyse the appeal, weight, strikeness, memorability, implementation, aesthetic, meaning and, sometimes, even the character that the colours bring as well as how well they fit together, with the nation they represent and with the design.

Speaking of which, the fourth and, perhaps, the broadest category, the design, I would consider the same aspects as the colour scheme with a few additional aspects such as the composition, cleanness, crispness, symbolism and incorporation.

And for the last category, realism, I would analyse it by considering how well the two flags would fit as a real-world flag. Generally, I would consider the cleanness and crispness of the design for any flag.

Other than that, the aspects required to determine which is more plausible, would have to depend since it might not be fair for certain flags if we were to consider the exact same aspects. For traditionalist flags (i.e. those that evoke a sense of traditionalism, tribalism or historicity), I would consider how much detail they have in their symbols, how that detail is incorporated, how symbol-oriented the design is (depending on the precise aesthetic that the flags give off) and how the sense of traditionalism is evoked through their use of symbolism. For FT flags (those that evoke a sense of technological advancement, a space aesthetic or just anything that evokes a futuristic sort of aesthetic), I would try and consider the layout, the simplicity (especially the symbols), and just how well they evoke the sense of futurism or progressivism. For a FanT flag (those that, or their nations, evoke a sense of fantasy), this would be a little more difficult to consider, although I would likely consider similar aspects to a MT flag (modern tech) for most cases even though it could well depend on the flag itself. If neither of these aspects draw out a conclusion to which is more realistic, then I'd consider how well they would work for a nation of a similar aesthetic or lore to that of the nation that the flags represent.
Then, there is the verdict which takes into account all of the above categories. If it is a three-way match, then I'd consider which one ranks first in the most categories. If that doesn't work, which can often happen in these sorts of matches, then I'd consider which flag, on average, scores the highest ranking amongst all five categories as a whole which I'd do the same for the remaining two.

So, yeah, those are the five categories that I tend to consider and how I would go about approaching, analysing and determining them. However, I may or may not be considering changing how I analyse them by adding some other categories and, perhaps, replacing the design category (since it seems to be the broader of the five categories) with others such as appeal, memorability, meaning, composition and symbolism.”

And lastly, some words on the contest so far from Paradeavenlisian States:

“Well, so far, it has been quite a competitive and, in some cases, unpredictable flag bracket, arguably even more so than the first through the emergence of hugely talented users and their gorgeous, sometimes extremely meaningful, flags. And through such competitiveness has come many surprises with many flags either reaching further or eliminated sooner than many of us had anticipated at the start through fortune or misfortune. Personally, I'm hoping that these series of flag brackets do continue to gain more popularity and awareness amongst the NS community (especially those who are passionate about their flag-making skills) to help inspire them to truly tap into their imaginations delve deep into their inner flag talents that they possess and bring out their creativity. I'm feeling especially optimistic that, if there is a 3rd Nationstates Flag Bracket (or even more), more NS users do have the passion to create more enticing, unique flags, as has already been shown in the 1st and, currently ongoing, 2nd Nationstates Flag Bracket.”

I’d like to thank The Cosmic Mainframe and Paradeavenlisian States for their time as well as their insight on the contest. It is currently in the second match of its top 8, with the conclusion not far off. I’m hoping there will be a third NationStates Flag Bracket. There’s a lot of flags out there and more being made all the time. I’m sure there’s enough flags for at least one more contest. Maybe a third one would have even more participants! For those interested, you can find the current NationStates Flag Bracket here.

A Democracy or Not? Thalassia's New Constitution

OPINION | WRITTEN BY Toerana | EDITED BY Agalaesia

Thalassia, a self described bastion of democracy recently went through a radical change in government. The region’s constitution, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thalassia, was abolished by the Interim Council, a previously unknown organisation within Thalassia originally consisting of just three members: the founder, Sho (also known as Mars), alongside Arenado, the former Prime Minister, and Wymondham, who is a Vizier in Osiris.

Despite the constitution, which has since been deleted by the Founder, not permitting any entity to single handedly abolish the constitution, and the region’s government by extent, it was done and an “Interim Constitution” was put in place.

This, to an external observer, should have been the first red flag about events in Thalassia. Instead of working on a new constitution, or amending the current one, while the democratically elected government was still in office, the Founder chose to abolish the entire system, before having a replacement ready to be proposed; they instead chose to waste time writing an interim constitution, which gave them absolute power over the region.

The constitution, which was proposed over a week after the government takeover, was written by the now expanded Interim council, which consists of seven members, including the Prime Minister of the overthrown government, despite the fact the government was overthrown for inactivity.

A Review of the Proposed Thalassian Constitution

All references can be found at the end of the article.

Article I

Article I covers the rights of citizens and residents.

A key change from the previous constitution is that citizens now have to be approved by the “relevant authorities.”[1] However, despite the introduction of a forum and an offsite forum, and a citizenship application that would likely be conducted on the forum, a citizen is still required to hold World Assembly Membership in the region to vote.

(More details on the voting process can be found in Article VI)

Article II

Article II covers the Monarch, the Founder and their powers.

They will head the “Curia Regis,” which has a shocking resemblance to Interim Council, as it will consist of no less than 3 members, exactly like the Interim Council, with the founder having the ability to add more.

The Founder also has the ability to declare someone “Persona Non Grata,” effectively banning them from the region.[3] The clause does not include any restrictions on the power, allowing them to ban anyone from the region, for any reason.

Article III

Article III covers the Curia Regis.

What is most worrying about this article is it legalises and makes permanent a system of elitism that ensures a select few - the Founder and their friends - can keep a monopoly on power in the region. This is especially true as any constitutional amendment requires the support of not only the new regional legislature, but two thirds of the Curia Regis[4] as well.

This will make it near impossible to amend the constitution in a way that may remove power from this unelected council, as it would be near impossible to get two thirds of the council to agree to dissolve their positions. Despite this, the Constitution does allow for the Regional Assembly to overrule the Curia Regis with a 3/4ths majority, making it impossible to do so without unanimous agreement if the Regional Assembly is at its minimum size of 3 members.

Recent actions of the Founder show us that she will prioritise what she thinks is right for the region, instead of respecting the democratic process that is already in place. There is nothing preventing her from appointing and removing members of her council at her will, with the exception of the constitutionally[2] mandated positions, making it impossible for anyone to seriously disagree with the founder without risking their position and political power.

Article IV

Article IV is the article that outlines the position of World Assembly Delegate, the only position in government that is directly elected by the citizenry of Thalassia. It is close to the original position in its makeup, making some question whether the previous constitution was abolished due to an inactivity plague, or whether as a power grab by the Thalassian founder.

Article V

Article V outlines the Regional Assembly, the region’s elected legislature. An elected legislature works incredibly well in real life, where there is a very large voter base which makes it incredibly impractical to have the citizenry vote on each individual bill. However, when scaled down for NationStates, it is simply a tool to strip citizens of their direct say and breed a culture of political apathy as day to day citizens do not have to take an interest in regional legislature, as they will likely never get a chance to vote on the legislature.

The article allows for a simple majority to drastically downsize the size of the legislature to only three people[5], making it significantly easier for a tiny percentage of the region to have complete control over its legislative future, requiring they have the agreement of the Curia Regis, Thalassia’s elites.

The Legislature elects its own speaker, the Chancellor, however to remove a speaker, it requires unanimous agreement between all members of the Legislature. The Chancellor can be removed, but it requires a 3/4ths majority[6], once again letting a single person veto the Chancellor’s removal if the Assembly is at its minimum size.

Article VI

Article VI, the final meaningful article in the constitution outlines the procedure for elections. One notable aspect, which could be argued as an improvement is the addition of secret ballots in citizen referendums. However, since citizen referendums are non binding, it makes the citizen’s vote effectively an opinion poll, meaningless. The only other ability the citizenry has in terms of elections is to vote for the regional assembly.

These non binding referendums are incredibly hard to start[7], requiring a petition to have 25 citizen signatures within 7 days for it to be moved to a vote. That is 12% of the region’s current population. For comparison, if the same percentage of the regional population was required for a petition in the Rejected Realms, it would require the signature of 550 citizens, nearly five times the number of citizens the region has.

Articles VII & VIII cover Out of Character Administration and Constitutional amendments.

Overall, the new Thalassian Constitution strips residents of Thalassia of their right to vote, requiring them to be approved by a currently unidentified body. This takes residents out of the day to day running of Thalassia, making further changes that downgrade Thalassian democracy significantly easier.

We can only wait to see whether the Thalassians will approve of this new change, or whether they will be lured into a sense of false security by an endless number of government endorsements.

  1. Article I - “2. A Citizen of Thalassia shall be defined as an individual who has filled out an appropriate citizenship application which has been approved by the relevant authorities.”

  2. Article V - “16. The Chancellor shall be required to serve as a member of the Curia Regis.”
    Article IV - “8. The WA Delegate shall serve as a member of the Curia Regis.”
    Small footnote: The Chancellor is required to serve as a member of the Curia Regis, while it appears the WA delegate is not required to serve as a member. This could be a simple mistake or inconsistency in the proposal, or it could be an intended feature as the Founder is the sole legal authority on the constitution’s interpretation.

  3. Article II - “12. The Monarch may declare a non-citizen Persona Non Grata in the region.”

  4. Article IX - “1. Amendments to this constitution shall require a 2/3s majority vote of both the Curia Regis and the Regional Assembly to pass.”

  5. Article V - “2. The Regional Assembly shall initially comprise of 7 Members of the Regional Assembly, however, the assembly may alter this number, by a 2/3s majority vote, to no less than 3 and no more 11 members.”

  6. Article V - “17. The Chancellor may be removed from the Chancellory by a 3/4s majority vote from the Regional Assembly. The Chancellor may not vote on their own removal from office.”

  7. Article VI - “14. Petitions for referendums must have 25 citizen signatures within 7 days from the public announcement of the petition to be accepted.”
    Article VI - “12. With the exception of referendums relating to Article II Section 14, all referendums will be non-binding.”

An Interview with FiHami, The South Pacific's Ministry of Military Affairs

INTERVIEW | WRITTEN BY Kraljevstvo Rata

I sat down with FiHami, Minister of Military Affairs for The South Pacific for an interview. Here’s how it went.

Q: Alright, Phoe. Ready? Here's the first question: When did you first join NS?

A: I first joined NS in May 2019!

Q: How do you view your last year on the platform?

A: I have had a ton of fun! At the beginning, I was definitely not expecting to get involved in TSP government, I was just into roleplay, but then I did Chair of Assembly and now I'm Minister of Military Affairs lol. I met so many amazing people on this site, I look back and I'm continually astounded at how much there is to this game and how awesome everyone I've talked to is.

Q: Speaking of being Minister of Military Affairs, what do you consider your biggest accomplishment so far?

A: I don't really think I've accomplished too much yet as MoMA. But our current active numbers are amazing to see and I'm proud of how enthusiastic they are.

Q: Alright. What about the raid on South Pacific? What are your thoughts?

A:I did my best to recruit and liberate for it, and we did get the numbers for it thanks to the East Pacific, so grateful for them! But the updatebending killed that effort. We did our best, and we will overcome that update bending as defenders, so future liberations with much higher stakes will see successes when that tactic is used against us. Overall, I'm grateful that the raiders didn't intend on completely destroying the region and just wanted to bonk defenders. And grateful to Panther for not getting annoyed with us.

Q: Wonderful. I won't hold you for much longer, just three more questions. Are there any things you would like to improve relating to the SPSF?

A: Ah you're good! :p
I do want to improve our organizational culture with the rest of my term, doing stuff together to really feel like more than just a military org, but a group of close-knit friends. And really help define our theme as a military that reflects TSP's culture and values.

Q: The last two questions are a bit more fun: Ice Cream, or Cake? (any other dessert is fine)

A: Well, I do have a preference for ice cream :p

Q: Last one: Does pineapple belong on pizza?

A: I'm allergic to pineapple :< but yes, a barbeque and pineapple with cheese on a pizza bread thing sounds amazing and I can vibe with it.

Me: Well, Phoe, Thanks for your time!

FiHami: Thank you for the interview! ^-^

Recipe for Arroz con Frejol (rice and beans):

CREATIVE | WRITTEN BY Kraljevstvo Rata

Hardware:
A Dutch Oven shaped pot. (if you don't have one, just use a stock pot)
A 3 quart saucepan.
Plates

Rice:
2 8oz teacups of long grain white rice. (236 ml)
2 1/4 cups (530ml) of water
Oil
A pinch of salt.

Beans:
1/2 can of red kidney beans
1 packet sazon (specifically Goya)
1 can tomato sauce (also goya)
Sliced Ham (optional)

Instructions:
1. Rinse rice until no starch is left. You'll notice the water getting less and less milky, which is the indicator for no starch.
2. Pour water into the dutch oven, and splash a little bit of oil into the pot. Add a pinch of salt, and turn the burner to HIGH.
3. Add rice into the pot, and let sit. When the water starts to evaporate, you'll see that small pockets start to form. Let the rice continue for another 15 seconds, then immediately cover the rice and set it to LOW, where it'll simmer. Be sure to move the rice, or it'll stick to the pot.

Now, for the beans:
1. Pour a small amount of oil into the saucepan. Set burner to HIGH.
2. Cook ham over the oil. (If you don't eat ham, skip this and go to step 3)
3. Pour the can of beans into the saucepan.
4. Pour sazon into the saucepan. Mix the beans and sazon (and ham, if that's what you want in the beans)
5. Add a small bit of water, just enough to cover the beans.
6. Add tomato sauce. Stir the beans until it starts to boil, then bring the burner to low.
7. Simmer until you're ready to serve.

After you're done, serve however you want to! Ta-da, you just made Kral's family-recipe rice and beans

NOTE: The Rejected Times does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Rejected Realms.

Discuss this Issue over on the NationStates forum here.

Find The Rejected Times Index here.

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Read dispatch

One Small Island and Communismi aeternam

Communismi aeternam

Spiritus

Drewish wrote:Dang the region I asked that was because when I came to NS on this account I saw a nation with the same flag as you but J can’t find him since I don’t remember his name and when I saw yours I though you were their puppet.

Republic of karskarovyt, I remember that guy. (This nation’s just a puppet.)

Tulls wrote:Depends what kind Paprika best thing ever and BBQ no no no

BBQ’s not bad, lol

Drewish

Communismi aeternam wrote:Republic of karskarovyt, I remember that guy. (This nation’s just a puppet.)BBQ’s not bad, lol

What nation is a puppet and to me BBQ tastes like feet

Drewish

Communismi aeternam

Spiritus

Tulls wrote:What nation is a puppet and to me BBQ tastes like feet

Excuse me, BBQ is great!

(I'm the puppet, I know Drewish from XKI).

One Small Island and Drewish

Communismi aeternam wrote:Excuse me, BBQ is great!

(I'm the puppet, I know Drewish from XKI).

Indeed

So wait your him?

Communismi aeternam wrote:Excuse me, BBQ is great!

(I'm the puppet, I know Drewish from XKI).

Well it tastes like feet to me but I guess you can like it

One Small Island and Drewish

Hola all.

/Sets up beer stand.

/Hands out frosty pints.

I have Lemonaid for the nations who do not drink or are underage. ^^

The best poll in human recorded history is on going!

page=poll/p=162917

^ Vote today! pick your wizard powers!

WaffenBrightonburg wrote:Hola all.

/Sets up beer stand.

/Hands out frosty pints.

I have Lemonaid for the nations who do not drink or are underage. ^^

Give me the biggest mug you've got.

How is everyone?

Hi

The siegbaldian empire

Zpuppet10 wrote:How is everyone?

I’m doing well, how about you?

The siegbaldian empire

Kingdom of casetaria wrote:Hi

Hello!

Sail nation travellers

Zpuppet10 wrote:How is everyone?

Fine, it seems a bit quiet here for a region of this size, is that normal?

Sail nation travellers wrote:Fine, it seems a bit quiet here for a region of this size, is that normal?

We're a fairly sleepy region~

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