by Max Barry

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The North Pacific is a Feeder. New nations are founded here at an elevated rate.

WA Delegate: The Onward Light of Kaschovia (elected )

Last WA Update:

World Factbook Entry

Welcome to The North Pacific!
Where the democracy is strong, the debate robust, and the rum plentiful!


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Please endorse Delegate Kaschovia 🌸, Vice Delegate Chipoli 🌶️, and the Security Councillors.


New to TNP? Check out our Handbook and WA Development Program.

Applying for an embassy? Please see our Embassy Policy.


World Assembly Vote Recommendations:

  • General Assembly: For - Why?

  • Security Council: No resolution at vote

Regional Happenings:



Embassies: The Wellspring, Balder, Europeia, the West Pacific, the Pacific, Carcassonne, International Democratic Union, Europe, the Rejected Realms, The East Pacific, Greater Dienstad, Lazarus, Stargate, Taijitu, LunarPunk, Spiritus, and 11 others.Equilism, The League, the South Pacific, Gay, Anti Nazi Alliance, One big Island, The Free Nations Region, The Union of Democratic States, The Land of Kings and Emperors, Declansburg, and World Assembly Legislative League.

Tags: Anime, Anti-Fascist, Democratic, Featured, Feeder, Game Player, Gargantuan, General Assembly, Governorless, Independent, LGBT, Map, and 10 others.Multi-Species, Offsite Chat, Offsite Forums, Regional Government, Role Player, Security Council, Silly, Social, Trading Cards, and World Assembly.

Regional Power: Extremely High

The North Pacific contains 7,130 nations, the 8th most in the world.

ActivityHistoryAdministration

Today's World Census Report

The Lowest Crime Rates in The North Pacific

World Census agents attempted to lure citizens into committing various crimes in order to test the reluctance of citizens to break the law.

As a region, The North Pacific is ranked 5,848th in the world for Lowest Crime Rates.

NationWA CategoryMotto
1.The Superstate of Xenan KingdomPsychotic Dictatorship“Glory to the Kingdom!”
2.The Federation of MinaFederalAuthoritarian Democracy“Rule by MinaFederal People”
3.The Republic of WilkshireDemocratic Socialists“Everyone for everyone else”
4.The Meowvellous Wonderful World of Valentine ZScandinavian Liberal Paradise“Speak softly, but carry a big stick.”
5.The Federal Commonwealth of DickoCorrupt Dictatorship“The only constant in politics: change”
6.The Austria of New ChilokverDemocratic Socialists“Founded 06/10/14, TNP”
7.The Shtâto of BagojoPsychotic Dictatorship“Pacon, Lîberecon, Aventűroyn”
8.The Mystical Isles of DutchylandLeft-wing Utopia“Hey moderators is this motto against the rules too?”
9.The Theocracy of WyomaPsychotic Dictatorship“JEHOVAH TSIDKENU ( The LORD our RIGHTEOUSNESS )”
10.The United Socialist Republic of The Sinclarian ProvincesIron Fist Socialists“Onward. Upward. Together.”
1234. . .712713»

Regional Poll • Springtime Activities

The Shining Star of Chipoli wrote:At last, spring is upon us! With the sun shining and nature blooming, you now have the chance to choose and explore many activities that weren't available to you in the last four months. What do you do first?

Voting opened 1 day ago and will close . Open to residents. You cannot vote as you are not logged in.

Last poll: “Regional Officer Books”

Regional Happenings

More...

The North Pacific Regional Message Board

🌟 Extra! Extra! The North Star - Issue XXXIV, February 2024 Has been released! Yes, folks! This is an advert for February 2024's TNS article!

As February arrived at its conclusion, TNP's Ministry of Communications has been working incredibly hard on this and has officially been released for all of you to check out for March, all with the same consistent high quality as the previous months' versions for you all to check out and read to learn more about TNP, the gameplay world, and its history!

We'd all love to hear feedback on it! Please go check it out, show your support to those who put a lot of time and effort working on it, and give it an upvote! Thank you, and have a great day! :3








Issue XXXIV

LinkMagazine Version


Editor's Note

Dear readers,

Welcome to the 34th edition of The North Star. As February comes to an end, the Ministry of Communications is excited to deliver another issue of TNS to your doorstep. We consistently strive to maintain quality reporting and captivating design in our publications, and that commitment so far has remained unshaken.

None of this would have been possible without our amazing team in the Ministry. The North Pacific’s most talented writers, designers, and editors came together to produce this issue, packed with content and polished with care, to ensure that you have an enjoyable experience while getting informed on the latest happenings in TNP and NationStates at large.

Before jumping in, we want to celebrate a milestone with you. Our TNS January 2024 edition has achieved over 1,000 views! This is an incredible achievement, made possible by you, dear readers. Your continued love and support for TNS help to keep us going. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

In this issue, we highlight the recent raid on Europe and its reverberations throughout the Gameplay world, as well as the upcoming WA General-Secretary changes that may greatly influence WA voting in the future. From there, you can take a dive into TNP's rich history by reading the sequel to our Past Delegates Series, or discover how the games unfolded in our recap of the third installment of TNP-TWP Chess Arena. Finally, don’t forget to try out the questions in our fun little TNP Ex-Delegate Trivia to see how much you know about former TNP Delegates and their achievements!

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to Minister of Communications Halsoni for allowing me to write this Editor’s Note. It is a great honour to be your presenter for the first time, and I hope you enjoy this edition as much as I did.

Yours truly,

Picairn
Deputy Minister of Communications

TNP - TWP Chess Arena IIIby Francois Isidore

To start the year off strong, organizers from The North Pacific and The West Pacific once again came together to host the 3rd Interregional Chess Arena. This time, players could compete in both classic and atomic chess, a variant where all captures cause an explosion by which the captured piece, the piece used to capture, and all surrounding pieces except pawns that are within a one square radius are removed from the board.

Yes, that's right! Whereas last time saw the introduction of the Linkhorde variant during the second iteration of this even back in late October of 2023, this latest event between the two regions saw a new Linkatomic variant that was partially inspired by the then-upcoming N-Day event here on NationStates. Between the two variants that were offered, this arena saw a combined 21 players compete in over 300 games to determine the victors.


Starting with the normal arena section, Unified Democratic Europe (AKA OwOUwUOwU) emerged victorious with a final record of 19 wins, 2 draws, and 10 losses. This record earned them a performance rating of 1659 ELO in their games, and they finished the arena with 64 points to boot.

Not far behind them was Giovanniland in the runner-up spot with 58 points (18-4-5). With an arena game performance rating of 1893 ELO, Gio's prowess on the board narrowly exceeded UDE's for the day; but their performance rating still wasn't at the top of our charts, as another player claimed that title when all was said and done.

So, who came in third place? Well, to answer that question, we can look to New Estoniaball's impressive showing of 18 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses. With a record like that, it's no wonder that their performance rating for the day soared to an arena-high 1803 ELO! You may be wondering how Gio managed to edge them out for second place when both players had such similar records. To that, I answer: Matchups! Technicalities, matchups, and maybe a little bit of berserk mode supplied an extra wrinkle of strategy and drama.

After rounding out the top three in this arena, the following players placed in descending order from highest to lowest:

4th Place: The Perfection Isles (17-2-6) with 55 points!
5th Place: Kaschovia (17-2-12) with 50 points!
6th Place: Racoda (16-13) with 39 points!
7th Place: Martledola (10-7) with 32 points!
8th Place: The Washington Federation (10-21) with 22 points!
9th Place: Montrandec (9-27) with 22 points!
10th Place: Eruistan (6-1-2) with 19 points!
11th Place: Jutsa (5-10) with 16 points!
12th Place: Eluvatar (2-6) with 4 points!
13th Place: Inner Ryxtylopia (2-13) with 4 points!
14th Place: Someoneguythatexists (1-0) with 2 points!
15th Place: Mad Jack Is Rejected (1-3) with 2 points!
16th Place: Reshiram Enthusiasts (1-3) with 2 points!
17th Place: Conania (1-5) with 2 points!

Thank you to everyone who played! What a great time with friends!


Moving on to the atomic arena section, congratulations are in order for Martledola (AKA Lemsrow) who won the atomic arena with 99 points and a final record of 29 wins and 12 losses. With a performance rating of 1790 ELO in this environment, it's safe to say that Martledola still played like an expert no matter the variant. Trailing behind them in second place was Giovanniland who, topping their performance in the normal arena section, boasted a performance rating of 2011 ELO! For those of you who don't follow chess or don't know the first thing about the ELO rating system, 2000+ is insanely good. Much acclaim should be attributed to Gio, as he ended the Atomic round with a final record of 20 wins and only 1 loss; which resulted in him garnering 78 points!

Below him was TWPMystery finishing in third place. Who are they? I'm not sure. That's the mystery! But I can only assume that they're a player from the West whose mystique was maintained by their anonymity while playing. If you know their true identity, be sure to keep quiet and don't tell! (But, do always know that you can tell me :P) They ended the day with a performance rating of 1646 ELO, a game record of 22 wins and 17 losses, and a total of 56 points tied to their name.

One thing worth mentioning is how the average moves per game before someone won or lost in this arena was strikingly low. I guess that's best taken as a testament to how tricky and unfamiliar this new ruleset was for some of our players! All and all, it was a great time for everyone involved. Though not everyone playing was from only either TNP or TWP, that only added to the charm of this iteration of the interregional arena.

The following players placed in the atomic arena (in descending order from highest to lowest):

4th Place: The Washington Federation (19-25) with 56 points!
5th Place: Venesia Grande (21-20) with 48 points!
6th Place: Montrandec (16-38) with 41 points!
7th Place: Jutsa (11-8) with 30 points!
8th Place: New United Common-lands (2-2) with 4 points!
9th Place: Toast Incorporated (2-21) with 4 points!

Once again, an excellent showing all around!

Echoes: Past Delegate Series (2004) Part 2by Kaschovia

Introduction

In the last installment, we covered the first half of 2004. With that much substance and history in a year, from steady beginnings to outright chaos, it was practically impossible to fit everything in without it turning into a novella, so you’re in for a lengthy read. I hope you enjoy it and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me.

July (Great Bight → Better Times → Thel D’ran)

So where were we? Well, former game moderator Melkor Unchained had ejected Great Bight from the UN for his ‘gross infractions’ and cleared the regional ban list on the tenth of July. While the ruling would be overturned the same day, Great Bight still had access to the regional controls, and banned several high endorsement count nations including Thel D’ran and Nastic once he was back in the delegacy with his endorsements returned. This was also the same day Thel D’ran took great initiative and formed the government-in-exile naming himself the Delegate-in-Exile, inspired by the growth and activity of the exile region Avengers Assemble, where ejected and banned North Pacificans gathered to plot for the liberation. He reassured the community there were plans in preparation to secure freedom for the North and also appointed a full cabinet as follows under ‘Critical Response Provisions’: Wilkshire as Prime Minister, Poe as Minister of Arts and Entertainment, Makenaland as Minister of Communications, Galdago as Minister of Defense joined by Generals The Order of Gryphons and Tresville, Nem as Minister of External Affairs, Costelloism as Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs, and UglyTool as Minister of Justice, with deputies to be appointed as needed. Thel D’ran further assured that elections would “be held for these offices when order is restored.” The support for the government-in-exile was rapturous on the home front, as all of the appointments accepted their posts including former delegate Wilkshire with figures such as Flemingovia, Goobergunchia, Democratic Donkeys, Blackshear, and Romanoffia all backing the move. It became clearer than ever that the region must continue to function and stay united in spite of Great Bight throughout the occupation.

In a dramatic turn of events, Francos Spain had moved into The North Pacific, ordered members of The Pacific to do the same to endorse him, leaving Poskrebyshev behind as delegate there, and altered the World Factbook Entry of the Pacific to ask UN nations to move to the North Pacific and endorse him too. He continued gathering endorsements by posting on the Regional Message Board the next day, but stopped logging in altogether just four days later. The reaction to Great Bight staying in power at the hands of the moderators’ overturned ruling caused significant outrage within the community, with many asking how the North would ever reclaim its democracy and freedom.

I owe most of the details in this section to the article written by Unibot III: “Anatomy of the Coup II: The Invasion of the North Pacific”, which is a definitively comprehensive account of these events. By the 16th of July, there were players working on a plan now referred to as the Puppetmaster Attack to liberate The North Pacific from the iron fist of Great Bight, who had continuously ejected and banned nations he felt threatened his position or his endorsement levels throughout the occupation. Those players were then Vice-Chairman of the Allied Liberation League (ALL) and current game administrator Ballotonia, Secretary of Defense for the Alliance Defense Network (ADN) CrazyGirl, and Ananke, also a high-ranking member of the ADN and one of the first ever members of the North Pacific Army. Groups including the Global Liberation Alliance (GLA) and Ten-thousand Islands Treaty Organisation (TITO) also supported the liberation effort alongside many other factions.

The primary goal for the preparation of the liberation was to conceal the identity of the lead nations so that Great Bight could not eject and ban them fast enough when the update of the liberation began. This was made possible through a series of unprecedented tactics which used the core mechanics of the website, specifically the way in which endorsements were exchanged, to increase their chances of success. Participants created three non-UN puppets and gave the names and passwords of those puppets to the leaders of the liberation. Then, the planners would log into those nations and pre-endorse the lead nations using a technique made possible by setting the right parameters for the ‘endorse’ action ahead of time such that the endorsement only became active when both nations joined the UN. The liberation planners had been in discussion with game administrators and confirmed the permissibility of the tactics, though at the time they’d never been used before. In the twelve days leading up to the liberation, players from all corners of the region had pushed for an unendorsement campaign against Great Bight despite significant endorsement support from the NPO and others. While over 180 players took part in the liberation, only 121 joined the UN on time. This was enough, however, and on the 28th of July, after weeks of chaos and two rogue delegates, Ballotonia’s puppet Better Times took the delegacy from Great Bight.

Better Times swiftly reassured the community that his time as delegate would only be transitory and in the meantime swapped endorsements and built up his count to secure the position from any further malicious actors. He clarified that it was up to the government-in-exile to decide who the next in line would be, with the native to gather the most endorsements by the 31st taking the position. The region rejoiced and heralded a restored age of democracy when someone finally did take the delegacy as Better Times moved out of the region. That someone was Thel D’ran, who immediately started encouraging nations to endorse him to solidify the transition, using the following message on the RMB the day the region was liberated.


To all returning exiles,

As you return, especially if you'd had UN status under a different national name or it has recently been restored to a familiar one, the best way for you to get a "welcome home" from me is to extend an endorsement and I'll be happy to respond in kind.
My telegram in-box fills up quickly and I'm certain I've missed more than a few. If you need to say anything more than "I'm back." — I'd guess the best place to do that would be Private Message in the forum[.]

But, for now — Welcome Home to The North Pacific my Friends!


August (Thel D’ran)

The first day of August is marked by what can only be described as a renewed and spirited North. Thel D’ran opened nominations for the cabinet positions created by the government-in-exile and committed himself to the democratic processes laid down by the constitution, with each of the votes beginning on the fourth. On the same day, Flemingovia began a vote to ratify the new charter of the League of the Pacifics, which failed miserably. Many felt at the time that the link between the East Pacifican Delegate 1 Infinite Loop and the New Pacific Order were simply too strong. Ratifying the charter of an alliance containing the NPO was understandably not a popular idea within the community at the time, because the region had only been liberated just three days earlier. There were claims that the League of the Pacifics refused to recognize the true forums during the occupation, and as Thel D’ran puts it in the thread dedicated to the discussion, “it would seem that the present charter of the League of the Pacifics does not provide for recognition of any government-in-exile". The vote concludes with four votes in favor and nineteen against.

Thel also creates the first official seals for each ministry on July 30th, though the links to these images are lost to time. It must also be noted that Thel D’ran started the first ever map of The North Pacific, doing all of the maintenance and design in a thread which saw hundreds of posts and applications. This map, however, is also unrecoverable. On the 2nd, he formally ‘re-ratifies’ the constitution as the legal foundation of the region in his capacity as Delegate and starts recording his activities within the position, as well as the work done by the cabinet to put the region back on track.

The week or so after is primarily concerned with the nominations and questioning of the various candidates for the cabinet positions; democracy was back. The next events of note were the discussions brought forward to the region by Thel D’ran around two diplomatic matters. The first matter, suggested on the 10th, was the United Democratic Pacifics multilateral treaty between the South, West, and North Pacific. The aim of the treaty was to “safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of their peoples” but reading the responses from the community, it seems this treaty intended more to stand up to the NPO and establish a mutual defense network. The motion to accept the treaty passes twenty-one votes in favor to four against.

The second diplomatic matter was also suggested on the 10th and brought forward a potential non-aggression treaty with the East Pacific. This was not received as well as the United Democratic Pacifics treaty however, again because The East Pacific had strong ties with the NPO. Multiple concerns were raised over several of the treaty clauses, and by the end of the month, 1 Infinite Loop himself posts on the forums withdrawing the treaty from TEP’s side as it had been allowed to “die in committee”, referring to the length of time the North had given it for discussion and criticism without moving to a vote or passing it.

The activities of the rest of the month under Thel D’ran include a discussion that began on the 10th around the necessity of the NPA’s potential participation in an invasion of the Pacific to depose the New Pacific Order. Thel supported the operation but it eventually lost traction as - according to user Sedarva - the NPO was set to “allow the citizens of the NPO to establish themselves in the government and to have a bigger voice“, as well as the opening of embassies with the regions Europa and Southwest Pacific and an amendment to the constitution to create the position of Minister of Culture and Education which passes on the 28th.

The voting periods for the various cabinet positions at this point came to a close, and by the end of August, the region had chosen its second ever elected cabinet as follows, now with formalized ministerial titles.

Elected

Position

Nemarya

Minister of Defense

Sydia

Minister of Communications

Costelloism

Minister of Justice

Fibonacci

Minister of External Affairs

Poe

Minister of Arts and Entertainment

The Twoslit Experiment

Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs

September (Thel D’ran → Sydia)

It’d been well over a month since The North Pacific was liberated and Thel D’ran had done everything he could to bring the region back to what it was before UPS Rail and Great Bight’s reigns. On the first day of September, he announced his pending retirement from the position and named Sydia as the most likely next Delegate, indicating his full support. It is on the 9th of September that Sydia took the position from Thel D’ran, marking the end of one of the most significant delegacies our region has ever seen. It is difficult to imagine how things may have gone for The North Pacific without his government-in-exile, his willingness to fight for our democracy at every turn, and his initiative to make things happen - but luckily, he was there. However, in the nine day gap between Thel D’ran announcing his retirement from the delegacy and Sydia taking the position, drama begins to stir.

A couple of weeks prior, on the 23rd of August, Ananke had posted a thread about a summit taking place between what seems to have been the NPO, ADN, and some other regions relevant to the tensions left over from the last few months. There was considerable concern that the TNP community could not view the talks taking place within the forum of the summit, and Flemingovia led the charge to question Sydia and Thel D’ran on the nature of the changes in relations to the Pacific in what felt to the community was too sudden a change of heart.

On the 9th, Sydia called for representatives of TNP to go to the UDP forums, with Thel D’ran, Flemingovia, Agnost, and Drkwych volunteering. A day later, he posted a thread titled “Evolutions In NationStates“, which set forward the idea of the North Pacific warming their icy relations with the NPO, at this point now referred to as the People’s Republic of the Pacific (PRP). In the post, he set out four priorities: (i) to establish a welcoming environment for new nations arriving to TNP which conflict with the NPO had compromised; (ii) to assure that such a diplomatic venture could only stand to benefit the North; (iii) to encourage an independent and secure North Pacific; and (iv) to finally improve the international standing of the region. The support for such an idea was not universal, with some still skeptical about the tyrannical nature of The Pacific and their leadership, but the majority was definitely behind Sydia. That was… until they weren’t.

Five days later, Sydia appoints Thel D’ran as the official ambassador to The Pacific without consulting Fibonacci, the Minister of External Affairs at the time, although it later becomes clear that Thel D’ran had posted on the Pacific board three days earlier that he’d volunteered to be the ambassador. Fibonacci’s reaction - understandable for the time yet unfathomable by modern standards - was to suspend all talks with the PRP until further notice. He claimed that the decision to appoint Thel without proper consultation was unconstitutional, which in turn froze whatever summit talks had taken place by that point. The concern that the government had been moving too quickly behind closed doors to reestablish relations with the PRP - which many still believed was a front for the NPO - then spiraled into a much wider discussion.

Flemingovia posted a thread titled “It takes a worried man” on the 16th, which served as the launch point for further criticism of the way the ambassador appointment had been handled. Sydia defends the move, claiming that he had consulted members of the elected cabinet in AIM chat rooms but admitted that things had moved a little too quickly. He assured that he had intended to inform the region as soon as the PRP embassy was opened, but this did not happen. The next day, Flemingovia reports that Blackadder of the PRP suggested holding peace talks “somewhere quieter to talk about nuts and bolts“, fearing that “there are alot of very obsessed people over on [TNP’s] side of the water”. Sydia then clarified that the plan was to set up a permission mask to allow “for interested parties to observe any talks without necessarily having posting rights”, but does not contribute much else to the thread aside from mentioning being busy outside of the game and the discussion fizzles out a few days later. In a poll created by Insane Power on the 19th, out of a total twenty-two respondents, only four were happy with the way the talks had been handled, with the other eighteen not wanting talks at all or believing they had moved too fast and lacked appropriate consultation. This was not a good look for the administration and did not bode well for the North’s continued relations with The Pacific.

On the same day, Sydia put forward the Critical Response Provisions Act as promised by Thel D’ran at the beginning of the government-in-exile, which set out response protocols for emergency situations. He also started a Q&A session with the region, aiming to respond to some of the concerns around the handling of the PRP situation. Sydia does quell concerns once more, answering many pressing questions, but both threads quieten without any real conclusion. There are signs that Sydia’s activity may be falling around this time. The community goes back and forth on the issue of talks with the PRP, but ultimately nothing comes of it. Neither a treaty nor a ceasefire is agreed.

October (Sydia → Pixiedance)

About a week later, Sydia informs the region he would be unavailable from the 1st to the 7th of October and puts Wilkshire in charge of banning nations who exceed the endorsement level of Pixiedance (Cathyy) at 218 by giving Wilkshire the password to his nation. This effectively enacted a temporary endorsement cap. However, upon Sydia’s return, additional issues meant he would be inactive for another two weeks until at worst the 15th, so he authorized Wilkshire and then Thel D’ran to act as “co-delegates'' on behalf of the office of the delegate in his absence. This arrangement was tested when the nation Malaysia II, also known as James2Spooky on the forums, tried to race to the delegacy by endorsement swapping and spamming. The nation was ultimately banned after several warnings, ending an almost seventy-day no ban streak in the region. Sydia was next seen on the forums on the 19th of October, when he shared even more bad news - that his internet provider would be taking another twenty or so days to reconnect. Talk about a series of unfortunate events!

The user Cathyy (herein referred to as Pixiedance) joined the old forums on the 8th of June, but did not make her first post until the 11th of July. It’s unknown whether she had a greater presence gameside (such as on the RMB for example), but her rise to the delegacy took just over three months. She first ran for Minister of Communications during the delegacy of Thel D’ran, but was beaten by Sydia. Although Sydia returned a week later, Pixiedance announced her candidacy on the 17th, citing her role as a supporter of the liberation of the region from Great Bight and answered difficult questions posed by the community. By the 22nd, with Sydia’s activity and availability looking more uncertain than ever, The North Pacific had its next leader.

The first week of the Pixiedance administration achieves a multitude of things in quick succession. Cabinet inactivity is confronted, with Thel D’ran appointed as Prime Minister, Monte Ozarka appointed as Minister of Defense, Otm Shanks appointed as Minister of Justice, and Ahimsan Carthage appointed as Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs. On the 27th, Pixiedance announces that the region now had an IRC chat channel, aptly named #The_North_Pacific, on the esper.net server. Then, two days later, Sydia accepts Pixiedance’s offer to become the Minister of Communications with the next round of cabinet elections on the horizon. Concerns are raised around holding new votes without enough candidates or platforms which delayed the cabinet elections until the first week of December. The month had ended on a positive note however, and the region was positively revitalized.

November (Pixiedance)

There is definitely a sense of stability and momentum under Pixiedance at this time, with many of the backlogged tasks built up by the absence of Sydia now at the forefront of the regional conscience again. On the 3rd of November, Pixiedance created the Delegate’s Office subforum and a thread titled ‘Delegate’s Actions’ for updates regarding the position. A day later (4th), the cabinet of the time was also posted following her appointments, as can be seen below, as well as a thread titled 'Delegate's Question Time’ which did exactly what it says on the tin.

The First Cabinet Under Pixiedance

Appointed

Position

Monte Ozarka

Minister of Defense

Sydia

Minister of Communications

Otm Shanks

Minister of Justice

Fibonacci/Ananke

Minister of External Affairs

Ahimsan Carthage

Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs

The next five days of Pixiedance’s administration are spent answering questions from the community and charting a course through turbulent times, especially with PRP talks broken down and the newly-elected cabinet not yet in place. On the ninth of November, Wilkshire is appointed Special Advisor to the Delegate to be an experienced and familiar face working alongside the administration.

The next day, Pixiedance announces that the PRP had made a formal request for peace talks. In that request, the PRP asked that a statement be issued by TNP to “assure that no action will be taken by [the] government (to include the NPA) to usurp the PRP”, with the PRP promising to do the same. It continued with them advocating for an open door policy of exchanging ideas and understanding, then emphasized that they’d like to “open negotiations for a peace accord” between the two regions, and also encouraged a detente period while the TNP government and cabinet stabilized. Pixiedance then drafted two joint statements, one to be released by TNP and one to be released by the PRP, committing not to take any action to attack each other. The region awaited a response from the PRP while the elections started to take shape. Not much movement happens on the topic for the remainder of the month as many were content with waiting until after the elections had finished to continue the negotiations, preferably when the newly-elected government could determine their own approach.

On the 14th, Pixiedance officially opens nominations for the next series of cabinet elections. Discussions around voting procedure and the administrative privileges of the Delegate are initiated to decide on the best approach to create a secure and constitutional voting process. One of those discussions was the Voting Procedure Act, posted by then Minister of Justice Otm Shanks, which ultimately did not go to vote. The result of those discussions is to send private votes to the account named “The Voting Booth”, created by Administrator Blackshear, and to post public votes in the appropriate voting threads, a process still used today. Thel D’ran and Blackshear are named election scrutineers, the earliest identifiable version of a position which by modern definitions would be the Election Commissioners. The rest of November is primarily occupied with the platforms and campaigns of the players running for the various cabinet positions.

December (Pixiedance)

Voting for the cabinet positions finally opened on the 1st. Once again, democracy could breathe. While the votes were being cast, Minister of Justice Otm Shanks posted a thread titled “Fixing the Constitution”, which claimed the current constitution was an “idealistic work reflective of the time in which it was written”, and presented a preview of a new version of the document which allowed the delegate to eject nations who spammed the regional HQ or posed a clear and imminent threat to the region. It also allowed the delegate to call early elections amended the role of the Minister of Justice such that the role would be more of a prosecutor of criminal cases. Pixiedance pointed out the desperate need for a Legal Code. This discussion did not end with a vote and hence an amendment to the constitution was not made. The voting period for the cabinet positions elections ended on the 8th of December and the results were posted later that day. The following was therefore the third ever elected cabinet of The North Pacific.

Elected

Position

Monte Ozarka

Minister of Defense

Flemingovia

Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs

Wilkshire

Minister of External Affairs

Hersfold​

Minister of Culture and Education

Cakatoian​

Minister of Arts and Entertainment

Agnost​​

Minister of Justice

Thess​

Minister of Communications​

The day after the cabinet elections had concluded, Minister of Justice Agnost revived the discussion on the Critical Response Provisions Act, but it once again ended shortly after without a vote or consensus, further emphasizing the lack of direction and agreement on how exactly the community was supposed to pass legislature and reach agreements on non-election voting procedures.

Up until this point, relations between The North Pacific and the ADN were amicable and had not undergone any notable drama or disruption. However, on the 12th of December, Pixiedance abruptly resigned from her position as temporary stand-in representative to the ADN without explaining why. There is some speculation from the rest of the community over the next two days, but the situation develops further on the 16th when Pixiedance formally invites the ADN to discuss the matter in private on the TNP forums. Pope Hope, Westwind, Blackbird, and Joop from the ADN were set to attend the talks, with Pixiedance, Wilkshire, and Thel D’ran set to represent TNP. Flemingovia, a well respected voice within the community and the Minister of Immigration & Internal Affairs at the time, calls for the talks to be held publicly, with several others echoing the request. However, on the 19th, Pixiedance stuck by the decision to keep the talks private, but promised they’d be released three months later, which was then shortened to six weeks. This clashed with the stance of Westwind, who maintained that they should be held in public. In response, Pixiedance canceled the talks altogether and published a detailed report to her cabinet about what caused the initial resignation.

To summarize her claims in the report, she was wrongly refused entry into the ADN IRC chat and was unhappy with how members of the cabinet had been treated in the following days. Two members of the region had been granted membership on the ADN forums without the permission of Pixiedance, which apparently contravened ADN procedural regulations and threatened regional security. It was also her opinion that TNP being obligated to participate in defensive operations of ADN member regions, or potentially being asked to choose between its ADN allies and other allies, violated TNP's regional sovereignty. She criticized a resolution put before the ADN council which disavowed “any agreement reached at said talks as illegal”, “the claim of anyone claiming to represent this Alliance at said talks”, and “thoroughly objects to said talks being held in secret.” It became clear later that this resolution may not have had any form of unanimous support from the ADN, though Pixiedance felt it was reflective of the ADN’s attitude towards the North. She concluded the bombshell report by claiming that continued ADN membership was no longer in the region’s best interests and asked for the cabinet's support in her intention to give the alliance two weeks' notice of their resignation. Westwind retorts the claims made in Pixiedance’s report with members of the ADN also defending the alliance on the forums. There is considerable back and forth between members of TNP and members of the ADN which only escalated the situation and created further tensions.

On the 22nd, the cabinet held its first ever logged meeting in an IRC chat. This caused another point of contention because they voted to redact several parts of the meeting transcript over regional security concerns. At the height of the ADN drama, it felt to many citizens that key information was being withheld when the region needed clarity most. Free4All (Ballotonia) criticized the decision, claiming the government had violated cabinet procedures since it could reasonably be argued that redacting information due to regional security concerns did not apply to the situation with the ADN. He further demanded that the full transcript be released and leveled charges against the cabinet for Minister of Justice Agnost to review. In response, Pixiedance asked Agnost to review the case, who did not rule to take legal proceedings further. Agnost suggested that Pixiedance reconsider the transcript matter and call for a second vote on the redaction. The cabinet ultimately voted in unanimous favor of the release of the full transcript. The released transcript, published on the 28th, revealed a cabinet much more divided on the ADN issue than was known prior to the report, with most of the ministers actually taking an opposing view to Pixiedance. Agnost also recommended that the cabinet procedures be revised, which began on Christmas Day, 2004.

Despite divisions within the cabinet, Pixiedance formally repudiated The North Pacific’s membership of the Alliance Defense Network on the 23rd of December. This action came at the request of Wilkshire in his executive capacity as Minister of External Affairs, which was recognized by ADN Director Pope Hope, and began the two week notice period. Since the talks between TNP and the ADN never took place, there are few records detailing the exact reasons for why relations with the ADN soured so quickly. Nevertheless, a new reality without ADN membership had dawned over the region with the future still uncertain. This schism was confronted again on the 24th when Free4All (Ballotonia) asked Agnost to make a ruling regarding the legality of Wilkshire’s executive decision. Three days later, after considerable discussion between various members of the community on the matter, Agnost ruled that there was a precedent set within the region to seek approval from the region before making important executive decisions which Pixiedance and Wilkshire had not sought in their decision to put forward the repudiation of TNP’s membership within the ADN and therefore recommended that Pixiedance withdraw it. She immediately appealed the ruling. Discussions on the balance of power between the Delegate and the constitution once again flare up, with some whispering of how Great Bight was argued to be legitimate by the mechanics of the game, while others fiercely defended the importance of upholding and applying regional law at every level.

At the beginning of the new year, amidst an ongoing and utterly overwhelming legal mess caused by the ADN situation, Agnost resigned from all positions due to real-life time constraints and stopped posting on the forums altogether, leaving the matter of TNP’s repudiated ADN membership unresolved. It is completely understandable why someone in his position would have felt that their energy to interpret and apply the laws of the region - which were vastly undeveloped and vague at the time - had been drained. A lot of new cases were arriving in the office of the Minister of Justice each day and it had become painfully clear that the region needed a better legislative process. Not only that, but it also needed stability in leadership, a resolution to the ADN situation, and above all, unity.

The question is… what did 2005 have in store for The North Pacific?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article on the events and delegates of 2004. Make sure to keep an eye out for our next release of The North Star where I’m going to be covering the year after, and trust me… things are about to get very interesting.​

Europe Invadedby Chipoli

In the early hours of February 11th, 2024, Europe was invaded by a raider coalition (who referred to themselves as VULPINE) that included The Black Hawks, The Brotherhood of Malice, Kantrias, Astoria, Lair of the Dragon, and Sparkalia. Prior to the invasion, in October 2023 the invaders placed a medium-term plant to accumulate endorsements, influence, and the trust of the members of Europe’s community. This plan worked rather well, as after only a few months in the region, the seemingly innocent nation had risen quickly in the endorsement rankings due to Europe’s lack of an endorsement cap. Once the delegacy of Europe was within striking distance, the raider forces attacked. Approximately fifty-four jumpers participated in the operation and succeeded in temporarily deposing WA Delegate Imperium Anglorum in favor of the raider plant. Said plant, German Social Democracy, proceeded to expel around half of the native population from the region and reduced the number of nations in Europe from 1,592 to 783. In total, the raid lasted for around two hours before the raiders were banned and ejected by the region’s governor, but not without leaving their mark.

In an operation report posted by VULPINE shortly after the conclusion of the raid, the invading forces cited Europe’s “alliance with The North Pacific” within WALL as a rationale for the attack, before going on to accuse them and the World Assembly of being “consistently” anti-raider, and even “fully embrac[ing] the anti-raider ideology." The report later continued to criticize Europe for its lack of an endorsement cap, citing several occasions where native nations unintentionally found themselves in the Delegate’s seat after being over-endorsed and the fact that the raider plant found themselves as one of the highest-endorsed nations in the region relatively quickly, along with referring to regional governor EuroFounder as “incredibly inactive” given the lengthy amount of time that the raid lasted. VULPINE’s message concluded with an attempt to intimidate Europe’s regional government, encouraging the regional government to “either abide by raider unity or sign a treaty”, otherwise they risk being attacked once more.

The Black Hawks - a member of the invading coalition - released their separate statement on the invasion, further listing the Modern Gameplay Compact sanctions as an additional motivator for the raid. More specifically, the provisions instructed the signatories to oppose any WA proposals from authors that are members of TBH, along with C/Cs for TBH members as well, which they interpreted as “effectively blacklisting [them] from further recognition” before closing with “[...] overall, it [the raid] can be taken as a direct response to these restrictions that we were so willing to cut in to [sic] Europe."

Europe, represented by Home Secretary Regnum Italie, issued a statement in the aftermath of the invasion. They acknowledged the disruption it caused, with Regnum Italie admitting that the raiders “managed to expose the weaknesses of our region”. However, the statement adopted a resilient stance, emphasizing the regional government's ability to swiftly restore order to the population and a relative return to normalcy. Europe then announced that it would enact new legislation which would impose “a minimum level” of security to avoid a repeat of the events during the invasion and concluded that the “long-term effects of the [raid] will be negligible”.

Moreover, Europe's leadership vehemently refuted the raiders' claims of alignment with the defender sphere or participation in anti-raiding initiatives, highlighting that they did not provide any military assistance to The North Pacific or any defender-aligned regions, and remained apathetic to Security Council matters. They emphasized Europe's long-standing neutrality and independence, dismissed accusations levied by raiders and defenders alike, and asserted that their neutrality was not synonymous with inaction. The statement additionally acknowledged that while Europe’s leadership received warnings about the lack of an endorsement cap from The North Pacific, they opted not to implement one to preserve their endorsement-happy culture despite the associated risks. Finally, the European regional government declared that sacrificing their regional culture, which heavily focused on other aspects of gameplay such as Issues, the World Assembly, and regional politics, for a greater focus on R/D (Raiding and Defending) would be “pure delusion“.

In response to the invasion of Europe, the Modern Gameplay Compact (MGC) released its own statement. It noted that Europe had not enforced the prior set of sanctions as they were not a member of the MGC, and did not play a role in "blacklisting [The Black Hawks] from further recognition". The statement emphasized the neutrality of raider unity’s latest target and called on the rest of the world to “declare their opposition” to said unity, in order to avoid suffering the same fate as Europe. The statement further insisted that neutrality was not an option, as any region which adopted that stance would simultaneously accept raider unity’s destructive and antagonistic behavior. Moreover, the MGC criticized its allies that “looked the other way” and allowed other regions to be invaded or blamed for other attacks, which “enabled the aggression” that resulted in the conflict between the members of the MGC and the raider unity movement. The statement further warned allies that if they refused to make a decision, it “will have been made for [them]”, hinting at the possibility of an attack from raider forces.

Finally, the MGC announced an expansion in the sanctions' scope to a wider range of regions to isolate and limit the influence of raider unity in gameplay. The Brotherhood of Malice, The Black Hawks, The Communist Bloc, and Sparkalia, as well as their allies, territories, dependencies, and regions which are operated by their members and support them militarily or ideologically were placed on the sanctions list. Under the sanctions, members of the sanctioned regions were prohibited from participating in events hosted by the signatory regions/organizations, joining coalitions led by them, or being featured in their media, and vice versa. Sanctioned members cannot serve in leading roles in joint military operations with signatories except those that are purely anti-fascist. Members of MGC signatories were also restricted from engaging in media produced by the sanctioned parties or participating in military operations led by them unless anti-fascist in nature. Additionally, the signatories pledged to oppose the sanctioned regions in the World Assembly by voting against C/Cs of members from the sanctioned regions, and supporting the liberations of regions occupied by the same (that did not qualify as anti-fascist).

The invasion of Europe may prove to be one of the most pivotal moments in the war between The North Pacific and the Brotherhood of Malice. It remains to be seen whether it will persuade those who have adopted neutrality to do away with it and join forces with one side or the other, and whether it remains a feasible option or not, as it seems that raider unity will not differentiate between the regions who have not adopted closer ties. To them, they are targets all the same.

Incoming Changes to the WA Secretary-Generalby Picairn

A new set of changes is coming soon to the World Assembly (WA), changes that may greatly influence how we vote on WA resolutions. Originally created by Max Barry as an April Fools’ joke on April 1st, 2016, the position of the WA Secretary-General (SecGen) has remained as a figurehead for the past eight years, with no actual powers or privileges attached to the office. However, a number of reforms spearheaded by Sedgistan (Sedge) - recently promoted to NationStates’ Site Director - may radically transform the position as we know it.

"Making the Secretary-General Meaningful"

On March 12th, 2021, Sedge first revealed his project to reform the WA SecGen to the public in a thread titled "Making the Secretary-General Meaningful", posted on the Technical subforum. In the opening post, he unveiled his proposal for a newly revamped SecGen position: the office would become a permanent feature of the WA with regular elections every six months, and have the authority to use a single veto for each 6-month term. The Vice Secretary-General seat would be preserved as a backup in case the SecGen ever ceased to exist. "It adds a level of politicking to the game," he explained, "and in the World Assembly, which ties a lot of disparate communities together."

The reforms were met with heavy opposition from the General Assembly (GA) community, with the most vocal criticisms raised by members of the General Secretariat (GenSec). The community expressed their concerns that regular elections would exacerbate campaign telegram spam from candidates asking for votes, and lead to more nations blocking all telegrams belonging to the WA Campaign category, making it more difficult for authors to seek support or approval on their resolutions.

But it was the idea of applying the SecGen’s veto power to the GA that received the most outrage. GenSec members and prominent GA authors were united in their hostility to the veto’s broad scope, viewing it as further encroachment of toxic Gameplay politics on a primarily roleplay-driven community. Many implored Sedge not to go forward with the veto, or to restrict it to the Security Council (SC) only.

In the face of overwhelming opposition from the GA community, Sedge relented and declared that the veto would only be usable for the SC. "I do believe this would have been positive for the General Assembly," he maintained, "but I can recognise when I'm in a small minority."

Alternatives to the veto were floated and discussed at length, namely the power to reorder the proposal queue, which could hasten a proposal to the voting floor or delay it indefinitely, or make an official recommendation on every resolution at vote which could influence voting patterns. There were also lively debates on the merits of several suggestions to change the SecGen’s and Vice SecGen’s names (to avoid confusion with the GenSec committee), as well as to create a separate election campaign telegram category, change the election system, extend the SecGen’s term, impose term limits, and even to implement a mechanic to impeach or recall the SecGen.

Latest 2024 Developments

Following intermittent discussions for the next three years, on February 4th, 2024 Sedge published the latest update to his project. The position would keep its name as the WA Secretary-General, be elected every six months (alongside their Deputy SecGen), and have the power to make official voting recommendations on each WA resolution at vote – a watered-down version of the original veto plan. Despite having announced to the GA community that the SecGen’s authority would be restricted to the SC, Sedge backtracked on his promise and stated that the position would continue to be a WA-wide one.

In other aspects, a new "Events" telegram filter would be introduced to circumvent the WA Campaign telegram block. The requirements to run for office would stay the same as before: WA membership, five endorsements, and a Campaign Bulletin. Only WA members can vote in the SecGen elections, but nations under 30 million population would not be able to. Regions would be allowed to endorse and advertise their favourite candidates. The incumbent SecGen would remain in office until a new replacement was elected, and if the former ceased to exist, the Deputy SecGen would assume the office.

The application of the SecGen’s scope to the whole WA prompted criticisms from the GA community, who reminded Sedge that he previously assured them the position would be restricted to the SC only. Sedge, however, was insistent on his reversal:

"[…] The General Assembly community extends beyond those that participate on the forums, and includes the roughly 20,000 World Assembly member nations that have their stats affected by each resolution it passes, and the thousands of nations that cast votes on proposals. The Secretary-General is directly elected by those member nations, in a more democratic fashion than the Delegate-dominated proposal voting mechanism. I consider it a benefit to both chambers to engage more players with WA politics, ideologies and legislative plans as would come about through election campaigns."

To what extent a GA-regular candidate with a serious legislative platform would be genuinely elected by WA voters, as opposed to a Gameplay politician with little regard for the GA and its body of legislation - but endorsed and supported nonetheless by large coalitions with all of the political and diplomatic resources at their disposal - remains an open question.

At present, proposals to separate the two WA chambers and a mechanic to recall the SecGen are still being discussed. Eligibility rules e.g. two authorships over six months were proposed as a solution to prevent the GA from being potentially hijacked by Gameplayers, but the reactions were mostly negative as many felt it would unnecessarily restrict the pool of eligible candidates too much.

There is no solid timetable as to when the changes will arrive, but Sedge has stated that “there is no chance of this being implemented in time for April 1st [of 2024]”. Various suggestions to improve the WA SecGen and their respective merits continue to be debated, and at this stage any feature can be subject to amendments. Nevertheless, one thing is certain about this project: It would turn a figurehead position into a real one with powers, capable of influencing the WA and raising the stakes for everyone involved, making it a valuable prize to be gained.

TNP Ex-Delegate Triviaby Olvern

WASC Commends and Condemns:
  1. This individual was the first WA Delegate of The North Pacific to be condemned by the WASC.

  2. This individual was the first WA Delegate of The North Pacific to be commended by the WASC.

  3. This individual was the most recent WA Delegate of The North Pacific to be commended by the WASC.

  4. According to their WASC commendation, we have this former WA Delegate of The North Pacific to thank for the formation of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

  5. According to their WASC commendation, this former WA Delegate of The North Pacific was, in the early years of the region, once the "MInister of Immigration and Internal Affairs", or MIIA.

TNP/NS History/Politics:

  1. This former WA Delegate was responsible for the statement "On Alignment".

  2. This former WA Delegate was not only the first Minister of Radio, they also apparently were "Speaker of the House" at some point according to a "recall" effort by Romanoffia.

  3. This former WA Delegate was Delegate during the first Z-Day.

  4. This former WA Delegate was Delegate during the first N-Day.

  5. This former WA Delegate is the namesake of the official regional religion.

TNP forum silliness:

  1. This former WA Delegate is perhaps best known today for having the most posts on the TNP forums!

  2. In their final post on the TNP forum, this former WA Delegate described a change to the admin staff of the forum as "a coup d'ete", and that "flem must be very, very happy".

  3. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Comfed, has asked if TNPers would "believe the contents of a lecture on the 1453 fall of Constantinople” from this former WA Delegate.

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Thank you for reading!
Publisher: Kaschovia | Editor-in-Chief: Halsoni | Executive Editor: Picairn
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The North Star is produced by the Ministry of Communications on behalf of the Government of The North Pacific and is distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs externally and the Ministry of Communications internally.

Except where otherwise indicated, all content represents the views of the Government of The North Pacific.

Index of Issues


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Planetary Soviet Socialist Republics wrote:Both sound good.

Thank you.
Also I swear if Chao Phraya says this was made under duress...

Planetary Soviet Socialist Republics wrote:Both sound good.

Okay :D
We'll aid some tanks, bombers and Humvees while we'll at it too ;)

The DFK Coalition Stuck A Spear Through The Heart Of The Kurzak Beast, I See No Reason Why It Could Not Turn Around And Do The Same To Chao Phraya, Especially In A Defensive War And After A High-Profile Victory.

United Republic of Birkaal wrote:Thank you.
Also I swear if Chao Phraya says this was made under duress...

I think they're plan backfired..

Blob Regulators wrote:The DFK Coalition Stuck A Spear Through The Heart Of The Kurzak Beast, I See No Reason Why It Could Not Turn Around And Do The Same To Chao Phraya, Especially In A Defensive War And After A High-Profile Victory.

We really don't want another war :p

Blob Regulators wrote:The DFK Coalition Stuck A Spear Through The Heart Of The Kurzak Beast, I See No Reason Why It Could Not Turn Around And Do The Same To Chao Phraya, Especially In A Defensive War And After A High-Profile Victory.

I am confident that we could beat him, it's just that this war would be extremely pointless and just a huge waste. Plus I also need to prepare to fight a god.

Lol, basically advertised TNS 16 times by now xD

No escape from the ads >:3

"when shaking hands with foreign leaders Chancellor Klaus wears an armoured gauntlet"

Laforeia wrote:Lol, basically advertised TNS 16 times by now xD

No escape from the ads >:3

Installs ad-blocker

The Teutonic Kingdom wrote:Installs ad-blocker

Oh, haha! You're funny to think that will save you from the reign of adverts when I have the motivation to advertise!

The only way to temporarily escape is when I sleep, which will be right about now, goodnight, TNP :3

Laforeia wrote:Oh, haha! You're funny to think that will save you from the reign of adverts when I have the motivation to advertise!

The only way to temporarily escape is when I sleep, which will be right about now, goodnight, TNP :3

No bread for you then :'(

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