Athy's Nationstates Guide

Nationstates Guide

By Athanasius

That's right you are here. Now what the hell happens...

Lets start. You are some new player maybe? An old player who has got sick and forgot? A random puppet/spy that has existed for a long time? I am not psychic so whoever you are...you are here and that's what matters!

This is what you see as you log in. Amazing isn't it, the graphics right off Star Wars! Set to win a graphics award at some art show, well probably not that. But you are used to seeing it by now so now I can explain it.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/nsbar1.png

Note: United Nations was recently changed to the World Assembly, because the real life United Nations demanded Nationstates stop using the name, but screw them as ours runs better.

Part one: What are the Issues?
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/NSPolitical.jpg"

Issues are events that your nations government has to decide what to do about or ignore, s you can see on this table there are rankings of personal (civil rights), economic and political freedoms, every time you choose to adopt an issue it will effect your rankings, some issues effect more radically than others.

Here is what the issue selection panel looks like:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/Issues.jpg

Here is a issue:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/issueboards.png

What is not mentioned here is a real big issue about economics or politics (such as dictatorship vs democracy), then this is the most difficult type of issue, because often these are ambiguous and concern sectors of your economy or how they vote (or if they vote at all), increasing taxes may hurt your nation or it may help it. This is somewhere where it will be most difficult to decide.

In this way issues effect the way your nation ranks, when you see top 10 nations in the region you are ranked, also you are ranked among other nations from all regions, the freedom you give your citizens, the strength of your economy and so on effects your rankings in regions and in Nationstates in general.

You can choose to have one to two issues, I would suggest two issues a day if you have time or if you don't have much time choose one a day, your nation should have a settings panel to change this (featured on the same bar that your 'issues' area is).

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/settingspage.png

Nationstates forums

You should also notice the Nationstates Forum section on the left of your Nationstates nation screen:

There are two ways to register, either stay logged in with your nation or create a new forum account, but it's more simple to just use your nation to log in to the NS forum, just click on any of the recent topics and you have instant access.

There you will find nation role plays, the full set of rules for the game (and the Nationstates forum), as well as the Technical and Gameplay sections where you can ask the moderators and others about the game. But rather it's the best place to visit the forum rules before you even dare to post, it's a good idea (unless you want a nasty PM or message).

None the less its an interesting place to go, when you want to learn more about the game or get to know the people who run it and what is going on behind the scenes.

You can find out more on the forum itself here: http://forum.nationstates.net/index.php

RP tools

There are plenty of role play tools out there, here are the main reliable ones:

NSDossier (run by Texas region):http://nsdossier.texasregion.net/

Absolution NS Tracker (run by Absolution region): http://tracker.conquestofabsolution.com/

Sunsetrpg (run by the nation Sunset): http://sunsetrpg.com/economystatistics.php

Part two: What are regions?
Regions are where your nation or nation's live, you can either create your own region (which is a hard task for new nations), or you can join well established regions (like the Feeder regions), or User created regions which can be well established, high risk regions (that may be invaded or conquered by stronger regions or region raiding parties), regions just starting up, or regions that could either become larger and more established or collapse (and gradually become smaller), indeed where you put your nation or nation's is up to you.

There are basically eight types of regions in Nationstates:

 Feeder regions (which only have a regional delegate), which include: The Pacific, The West Pacific, The South Pacific, The North Pacific, The East Pacific, The Rejected Realms (where nations ejected/banned nations go), Lazarus (where nations that have died are reborn). Feeder regions which have no delegate, in which case the nation with the most endorsements becomes the founder within a few days (depending on circumstances). User created regions with a founder. User created regions with a regional delegate and a founder. User created regions that have no founder, only a regional delegate. User created regions which are password protected by the founder and/or regional delegate. User created or Feeder regions which are under invasion/recently conquered in which case they may ban or eject nations, including your nation from the region. </li>User created regions that have no founder, or regional delegate, in which case the nation with the most regional influence becomes the founder in a period of a few days. </li></ul> Regional Influence

One thing you will notice first in NationStates is your regional influence. Your nations level of influence is determined by your nation size, how long it has been in the region and it’s amount of Endorsements (votes to support your nation or other nations).

Here are the Regional Influence Rankings in the game from highest influence to lowest:

Hermit (This level is only achieved if you are the only nation in a region.) Hegemony (This is the highest level of Regional Influence in the game) Dominator Superpower Power Powerbroker Eminence Grise Enforcer Dealmaker Instigator Contender Negotiator Auxiliary Ambassador Diplomat Envoy Duckspeaker Handshaker Truckler Vassal Minnow (You should start about here when you join the region)

If you leave the region for a short time (e.g. a day) your regional influence will decrease a place when you move back to the region and the longer you spend alway from the region, the more regional influence you will lose.

Regional Controls

Regional Control is basically just what it's name suggests: it allows you to have a more authoritative control over the region. It is only accessible if you are the founder or delegate (in a few instances) of a region.

In regional control you have access to certain special tools. These include:

<ul> </li>The ability to edit the World Factbook Entry (and add url links, and messages for the region,etc). </li>The ability to password-protect your region (not available to Feeder regions). </li>Delegates as a rule lose influence if they perform actions in the regional control. </li>The ability to eject and/or ban nations from a region (Feeder region delegates, just like any other regional delegates lose influence doing so; with the exception of Lazarus). </li>Delegates as a rule lose influence if they perform actions in the regional control. </li>Founders can use the the regional control without losing any regional influence. </li>Founders can add and remove embassies of other regions. </li></ul>

Part three: Nation tools
There are additional tools you can use to keep track of other nations, send messages to them and some brief rules everyone should know when they are logged in to their nations, some main ones are here.

Telegrams

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/telegrams-1.png The telegram section on is shown on the left of your NationStates nation screen, using this section you can send messages to any nation in the game, but be careful not to put offensive material in them because the site Moderators could give you a warning or possibly even delete your nation depending on how offensive it is.

Additionally when recruiting (which we will come to later) with telegrams, remember that you can only send 1 telegram to each nation. If a player complains to the moderators, prepare to be punished (but in most cases people show some compassion and let you go, as this kinda mistake is easily done).

What is the regional message board (or notice board) and what can be done on it?

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/RegionalNoticeboard.jpg

You can leave a message for other nations in the region to see or converse with other nations, but do not do too much of this e.g. spamming the regional message board (RMB) with many messages each day, of course if it is such an important event for the region (like an invasion) then people might have a reason to spam the message board within reason.

Nations can use the following BBCodes on the Regional Message Board:

"<dl><dt>Code:</dt><dd> </dd></dl>"

Bold

"<dl><dt>Code:</dt><dd> </dd></dl>"

Italics

"<dl><dt>Code:</dt><dd> </dd></dl>"

Underline

Region url links:

"<dl><dt>Code:</dt><dd> </dd></dl>"

Nation url links:

"<dl><dt>Code:</dt><dd> </dd></dl>"

"<dl><dt>Code:</dt><dd> </dd></dl>"

"<dl><dt>Code:</dt><dd> </dd></dl>"

"<dl><dt>Code:</dt><dd> </dd></dl>"

World Assembly

You should also notice the World Assembly section on the left of your NationStates nation screen. This is the place which proposes or repeals resolutions, which can have positive or negative results on your nation just like issues, except these you can't ignore and follow the views of the resolution. Here is a list of what you can do there:

<ul> </li>Vote for or against resolutions. </li>Vote to repeal existing resolutions. </li>If a regional delegate (and thus a WA member) you can in addition vote for or against proposed resolutions. </li></ul> You can also propose new resolutions as well as new issues in the Nationstates forum, but these follow strict guidelines that must be observed, because when doing either of the above you could get a telegram warning from the Nationstates Moderation team (your nation is banned from the World Assembly for good if you receive 3 altogether or at once).

How in-active can you be?

If you have been in-active for 30 days, your nation is deleted, but as you saw further above I stated 28 days (as leaving a day or two before to log in is a risk), however if you change your nation to vacation mode on your nation settings panel the amount you can be inactive becomes 60 days.

Once your nation is 'deleted' you can revive it by trying to log in, it will prompt you for your nation password to revive it, in which case it ends up in the feeder region Lazarus, but if it is inactive for too long i.e. several months or so then it is deleted to the point it is gone for good.

What are dossiers and reports?

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/dossier1.png

It makes it easier as you can link to nations quickly and do not have to search for them, you can add nations to your nation dossier by looking on their nation page (which is the equivalent of your nation page when you log in to Nationstates) for the 'Add nation name here to dossier' button.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/reports.png You can also make reports on nations or regions and so forth to check up on their recent activities.

What is recruiting and how do I do it?

Once you know the above and a bit more through discussion with your regions leaders (or other nations) you may learn of Recruiting opportunities, to recruit on the RMB of feeder regions you move your nation (this you know how to do by now because you had to do it to arrive and started in a feeder region when you joined NationStates).

Then, once you are in their region, post a message (on the regional forum there should be a topic on recruiting. Go there to learn more and find the recruiting message).

Also to recruit other nations for the region (while not wasting that precious regional influence you would lose in moving) you can make a new puppet nation to use for recruiting. Remember, you can ONLY post ads in feeder regions.

You can telegram other nations (ONLY nations that are in feeder regions) with an invitation to join the region; only one telegram per nation. If you do not do follow this or the other rules mentioned above you break the game rules (moderators of the Nationstates game can be harsh).

Check with the head of recruitment or likewise anyone who has the relevant authority to add you to their regional recruitment team if you would like to help recruit.

Part four: Joining the World Assembly
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/WA.png

The next stage of any new or returning Nationstates player is joining the World Assembly.

There are two main reasons for joining the World Assembly:

1. You can take part in the voting process i.e. proposing new resolutions, or voting for or against new resolutions as well as repealing of resolutions.

2. You can take part in the military aspect of Nationstates (raiding, invading or defending).

However its up to you but personally it would be a good idea to get into a mix of both otherwise you might be a noob forever no matter how long you are there, which is a scary thought you have to admit.

Follow these steps to join:

1. You supply a email address in your nation settings (this will be the nation your wish to make a World Assembly member):

<img src="http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/settingspage.png"

2. Apply to join with the nation you wish to make a World Assembly member:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q42/hipeter924/Random%20Stuff/WAJoin.png

3. A email confirmation will be sent to the email address you provided. Confirm your WA status and in 24 hours time you will be a WA member.

Once you have joined the World Assembly:

You should gain the endorsements of two other WA nations, in order to do this endorse other nations in your region and eventually they will return the favor and endorse you. Once this is done you can:

1. Propose new resolutions (see the Nationstates Gameplay forum for precise rules).

2. Vote for or against new resolutions and likewise vote for against the repealing of existing resolutions.

How can I become World Assembly delegate of my region?

This depends on what the process of becoming the World Assembly delegate is your region, to do so in a manner that does not involve forcibly removing the delegate by a raid or invasion of the region you will likely have to:

<ul> </li>State you wish to contest the WA delegacy of the region on the regional forum and by telegraming the existing founder and/or delegate of your intent to do so. </li>Reach a certain quota of WA nation endorsements for your nation before you can contest the WA delegacy for the region. </li><li>Take part in a formal election process in the regions forum, in which case it is best to only contest if you are well endorsed already, close in WA nation endorsements to the current WA delegate, or if the region does not consider the above preconditions for winning the WA delegacy. </li></ul>

For expert help on game mechanics you can't understand go to this topic: "http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=12