NationStates Jolt Archive

Have I missed the best of a good thing? Have the best months/years of NS gone?

I can’t claim to be an established NSer, hell, if I asked, I’d bet almost no-one has heard of me. But I see experienced NSers making these points. For example, the recent thread by Atlantian Outcasts (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=398074) illustrates my point perfectly.

All the points that AO makes indicate a decline in the NS forums. For me, a (relatively) new player keen to get involved in the NS RPing world, it is very difficult. So far, in three months I’ve had one decent RP fully concluded, one tapered off halfway through, and a few never got past the first two pages, plus an Earth that seems to have just died. In addition, there are very few open RPs that someone like myself can join in.

At this point, I would like to say that I am generally looking for war RPs, character RP is something that I am not especially interested in. And before someone comes in and says, “there’s X amount of open RPs on the forum right now,” I mean open RPs that are sufficiently new for me to join in with. I don’t see much point me joining an RP halfway through, because I’ll have missed most of it.

It’s not even as if I have trouble with tech level. As yet, I have not fully decided on MT or FT, and there is really nothing obviously available for either. My two most successful RPs have been an MT war and an FT space pirates engagement.

As a fairly new & unknown name, I wonder if threads I start are even noticed by many older players, who skim past them looking for threads by familiar faces. And these older names, having made their connections when they were young, stay within those connections, rarely looking for new talent to make a link with.

Several people have said that as you become more respected and well known as an RPer, it becomes easier to find RPs to take part in, but how do you become a well known and respected RPer if there are so few threads to take part in, and even fewer are actually RPed to completion?

So many threads I see are recollections of times past, how so many of the big names in NS are disappearing, how things were better then and how the forums are in decline. So I ask again, Is NS past its prime?

Any solutions to the problems I seem to be having would be welcome, or even comments to what I’ve said. Still, whatever responses I get, I’m betting this thread doesn’t last long.

Almost as if proving my point, another thread dives straight into obscurity.

Almost as if proving my point, another thread dives straight into obscurity.

Yay. Just like my ones. I feel less alone.

That's what I heard.

Okay, okay, first off... NS is not in decay. It is not in decline. The influx of new players is high, the amount of RPs are strong. Rather, it is maturing, drawing itself to higher levels as it goes, forming into structure. The days of random war are actually pretty well gone.

Second, join RPs. I know, I know, you've heard it. Well, lurk around, find sign-up threads, check the background of the creator, and join in. Mind you most on this forum are Character-scale, so try II for wars, but those are relatively unstable RPs.

Third, Hi, and Welcome.

Friendly Neighborhood K-stan

I have to agree with Koala, it's true that there seem to be less open RPs, mostly because everyone is learning (finally) that open rpers end in flamewars, taper off, end in some n00b trolling the thread for weeks on end, or simply just are ignored. It's better to have an RP that just includes a select few that you know will hold to the plot. If you want some quick fun join one of the smaller alliances or regions, they'll dig you up some trouble. ;)

K-stan, I'm not that new. I've been here for three months. I'm aware of the differences between the NS and II forums, NS just seemed more appropriate for this thread. And it's the instability of the war RPs that is my problem. They don't last long enough for me to get going, or to find players to form connections with.


If you want some quick fun join one of the smaller alliances or regions, they'll dig you up some trouble. ;)
Such as?

Hey! I know who you are! Don't worry you're cool.

OOC: NS is past the "golden age" that came in early '03, a glorious time I was not to bare witness to as I was oblivious to NS's existence at the time, we entered a dark age from early '04 to later '04 but finally, NS started maturing into a place where high calibre story writing reigns supreme and uber armies are being looked down upon (though many still keep them).

I suggest you join an RP region, I am in a region called Haven and it has reaped some marvellous results in the form of RP, two RP's thusfar, one great and one notsogreat but it may get better.

I'll have to follow K Stan's example and advise you to get involved, I used to stay in the shadows and I got nowhere, I started venturing out and I noticed the RP's came to me! Really, make yourself known, write a few good RPs and you're set!

-Everyone's favourite Oligarchic Collectivist Kommie Krieg

Hmm, is the golden age past?

I think the problem is a lack of the former great Rpers being that active now so people like A.O. sort of feel 'left out'

Well the newbie nOOb crop this year didn't seem so bad. Hell I've got a newbie in my region that is demonstrating quite promising talent, (at least I think so)

I'm not sure it has 'changed' and as long as I've been on NS Wars have always been highly problematic roleplays. People like to win.

I'm not sure it has 'changed' and as long as I've been on NS Wars have always been highly problematic roleplays. People like to win.

Yeah... I've noticed that too. Too many people trying to build an empire and not tell a story. It's cool to have a nice win every so often, but IMO losing is more fun. You get to RP a desperate force, cut off from all supplies. The men are weary, the food is rank... you are even low on ammunition. All around you can hear the sounds of enemy artillery slowly whittling away at your forces, your own artillery long since destroyed. The radio is almost dead quiet now, but it was no better two pages ago. Back then the only messages you could hear were "Retreat" or "We're surrounded... need reinforcements!"

I wish I could just find an RP I'm interested in lol. I'm not good at finding the signup threads till it's full and started.

Free Eagles, I had the exact same problem as you. I was in about five Rps and all decayed away and are now lost in a sea of pages of this forum. It wasn't till about two months after I joined before I got into an Rp that lasted to it's end.

I look back on my writing from that rp (Tarlachia's Change of Blood) and I wonder what the heck was I thinking.

I think the lowest point for NS was the days after the new Jolt fourms came online and several good Rps died or just clung on to life before they too died.

I have to say that NS is growing, many new Rps and generes are coming out. I have taken upon myself to inject horror into the mainstream with City of the Dead and my Alien vs Predator series.

Times have changed, and the future for NS looks better than ever. People's style of writing is changing, from simple bland writing in some early Rps, you now see rich and colorful writing that brings you into the world in most of the Rps.

NS is definatly not past it's prime. I have to say, it is not even there yet.

For a person who was here before '03 I personally am amazed at what has happened here. When I first started participating, godmodding was rampant, larger nations putting smaller nations down, forcing the end of wars between small nations with brute force, and the ignore cannons. I think NS has really turned itself around. And if you are looking for someone to have a small bush war with I'm always up for a challenge. I even started some back in the old days. :mp5:

If you want to do war RP's and the like you might be better served by posting in the International Incidents forum.

In my opinion, its a so-so thing.
Personaly, I think the godmoddish, pointless, ignore-fest wars gave NS a sort of flavour. The n00kzies, n00bzies, Comzies and whateverzies all gave NS something rather unique.
As one person on general said, NS sometimes seems like Neopets with population counts.
Sure, they were annoying and all, but they were so fun to simply observe :)

And then theres the putting-down of newbies.
It happens RL all the time, NS is a world simulation, after all, so patronizing, interfering giagantoid nations are part of the deal.
I remember being ignored, patronized and interefered with. I think its one of the things that made the great RPers great.
Aside from that, I cant do it now. :(
And I was so looking forward to it >_<

NS will be in decline when people stop making threads claiming it is. The first time I saw a thread like this was, what, a couple days after I joined...

lol :p

As an established player who came in during what I consider to be the absolute high point of NS, I guess I'll impart a little wisdom here.

The worst thing to happen to NS......ignoring. Ignoring came about several months after I started in on NS, and things just seem to have gone downhill since then.

Ignoring takes most of the fun out of the game. Everyone wants to have everything preplanned, removing any real creativity or actual strategy in war. If something deviates from the plan, it is ignored.

Wars are no longer possible for the most part. I haven't seen a war finished in ages. They just turn into bitchfests and flamewars. CO-RPs are still doable, as there is no real way to screw them over eternally.

NS can never again hit the level of quality it had before the beginning of the II forum. That forum just seemed to suck the quality and attention out of the NS forum. NS forum is where all the greats were located. All of them.

[/nostalgic rambling]

A foolish little child raises his hand. "Um, Mr. Sigma, what about the n00bs, wankers, and godmodders? Can't we I.G.N.O.R.E. them???"

"Ignoring" is fine. And really simple, too: just don't respond to the person's posts. "I.G.N.O.R.E."ing is irritating and childish. There's a big difference.

I'll leave nationstates when you pry the PC from my cold dead fingers.

The worst thing to happen to NS......ignoring. Ignoring came about several months after I started in on NS, and things just seem to have gone downhill since then.

Um, no...Ignoring was only called ignoring after a while, it always happened. Previously we called it 'telling people to fuck off.' Claiming the principle of consent ruined a consent based RPG is, well...Ridiculous.

Um, no...Ignoring was only called ignoring after a while, it always happened. Previously we called it 'telling people to fuck off.' Claiming the principle of consent ruined a consent based RPG is, well...Ridiculous.

You're both right. The "principle of consent" has always been a cornerstone of good RPing.

However, there are also those who use it as an offensive weapon - or rather as "the ultimate defense". And this detracts greatly from what can go on.

As to "NS is on the downturn!" - Rubbish.

For me, NS has been busier than ever since I ressurected my nation. Apparently a number of the regular Jolt gamers have joined since we started here.

It's probably because I'm really tired and still feeling the concussion I got yesterday, but I guess my last post wasn't very clear. Vastiva is dead on. Those that use it as a weapon, which far too many do.

Nation 1: "My troops flank yours and set up suppressive fire."
Nation 2: "Nuh uh! There's a....uh....cliff. Yeah. A cliff's there. IGNORED!"

that sorta thing

I need sleep.

Alright. I get the message. NS is not in decline.

Now I'm just looking for solutions to my seeming lack of RPs. I have no Imperial ambitions, and while I haven't RPed losing a war yet, I think I might do so soon. I'm an amateur writer, I want to tell stories. If my nation being overrun and blasted to hell makes a good story, I'll write it, then I can go into a resistance movement to try and take it back. My problem is finding people to RP with. I've had two or three people suggest moving to a different region, but which region? No-one bothers to suggest any.

But hey, at least some of the big names noticed my thread.

But hey, at least some of the big names noticed my thread.

I try to keep my eye out.

I've had two or three people suggest moving to a different region, but which region? No-one bothers to suggest any.



Hmm, I think someone suggested Haven.

And I can suggest the Federated Klatchian Coast. However we Rp as a cross between the Disk World and the American Confederacy on steroids. One nation united in keeping outsiders from interfering with us. Including our fellow states. Of course the added dimension of the inter-state rivalries and politics at the Federal Level makes things more intresting personally.

There are a few other regions about that I know are heavily involved in Rping. Some are connected with alliances like the CFA (the problem is you have to be older to join that one.)

Additional Points:
1 - Neo_Tyr in the Klatchian/Neo Tyiran War has done a great job losing a war and then having a resistance force start up. Of course it has cost him his captial. Maybe not some of the greatest writting ever. And a bit confusing to follow because of the multiple sub-threads, at present almost no preplanning is occuring in OOC terms though. (The OOC thread vanished months ago)

2- "Tatical Ignores", as I refer to the example given by Sigma Octavus, are annoying and have been used by some well known players on NS.

Some people ignore just about everything, Ma-tek for example. And others sometimes just need to be ignored (of acel anyone?).

Oh, well I do not really like wars all that much, primarily because they just become numberwanking.

[/Ramblings of a June 03' nation]

OOC: I was wondering where you had gotten off too Imperial Navy...

My problem is finding people to RP with. I've had two or three people suggest moving to a different region, but which region? No-one bothers to suggest any.


You could..... I don't know start your own region. :sniper:

The NSWC welcomes every new RPer... feel free to join. Signup here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=397889

Now I'm just looking for solutions to my seeming lack of RPs. I have no Imperial ambitions, and while I haven't RPed losing a war yet, I think I might do so soon. I'm an amateur writer, I want to tell stories. If my nation being overrun and blasted to hell makes a good story, I'll write it, then I can go into a resistance movement to try and take it back. My problem is finding people to RP with. I've had two or three people suggest moving to a different region, but which region? No-one bothers to suggest any.

Now you've done it... the floodgates have opened!

There were probably twenty people just lurking in this thread, and when you said "I need a region", all hell is breaking loose. I guarantee you, if you go to gameplay and make a thread called "Need Region", you'll get swarmed by advertisers trying to suck you in. See, and you didn't feel wanted. ;)

Anyhow, if you want to do an RP, talk to me via TG. I think I can give you something...

Now you've done it... the floodgates have opened!

There were probably twenty people just lurking in this thread, and when you said "I need a region", all hell is breaking loose. I guarantee you, if you go to gameplay and make a thread called "Need Region", you'll get swarmed by advertisers trying to suck you in. See, and you didn't feel wanted. ;)

Anyhow, if you want to do an RP, talk to me via TG. I think I can give you something...

I resent that allusion in regards to me...
I do not shill for my region on Gameplay. And likely he'd find great fun over in Haven if he could deal with the number of wars.

The worst thing to happen to NS......ignoring. Ignoring came about several months after I started in on NS, and things just seem to have gone downhill since then.I don't think it's the WORST thing that could happen. If used properly, it's a good tool to remind people to think in terms of a cooperative story, and it should be a wake-up call to the RPer with honest intentions who gets a little carried away. Also, it allows you not to be forced to pollute your computer screen with filth like the latest n00b or the posts of someone you genuinely dislike OOCly.

Ignoring takes most of the fun out of the game. Everyone wants to have everything preplanned, removing any real creativity or actual strategy in war.The problem here is the fact that some people are here because they have a general story arc they want to follow for their countries as a whole and for particular threads. Someone who wants his president to retire to Monticello and sip fine wines until he's 100 years old is not going to want some random country to kill his president in a terror attack when he's running for re-election.

For the most part, I frown on pre-determined outcomes and am very reluctant to get into RPs with those. I also don't want to see characters I've spent months developing suddenly die before I've intended them to. You can be creative during a pre-planned war, but it takes more, well, creativity. Generic Empire and I have a pre-determined end to our front of the war that we're in, but there's going to be a lot of creativity in how we get there.

Wars are no longer possible for the most part. I haven't seen a war finished in ages. They just turn into bitchfests and flamewars. CO-RPs are still doable, as there is no real way to screw them over eternally.Then you haven't been to the right threads. ;) So far as I can remember, all the war threads I've started have finished. My most recent one until the Second War of the Roach was my Second Civil War. That ended up with no OOC bitching or bickering and the people involved either congratulating each other on a job well done or grumbling about not being involved.

NS can never again hit the level of quality it had before the beginning of the II forum. That forum just seemed to suck the quality and attention out of the NS forum. NS forum is where all the greats were located. All of them.Sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me. There are great RPers in each forum. There are damn n00bs in each RPing forum. Instead of looking back on the days of yore, try to make things better. Perhaps you'll be the one who starts the next Golden Age of NS RP. :)

Whoever said that NS is evolving, not declining, is dead on.

Read the difference between this page: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=279149&page=1 and this one: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=385743&page=6 .

Also, if it's war that you want, read the ending to my civil war which just recently ended. http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=334413&page=13&pp=15 (If it strikes your interest, I could show you all three threads)

So you see, RP's are all around you...you simply need to find one that interests you. If you cannot find one, then create one under your rules. I'm sure there will be people willing to write with you.

If I may offer my advice, create an OOC announcment about a month before your RP takes place to spark interest and handle the signups and stuff. Then, once everything is planned, begin. That is how I handled RP in the second link I gave you, and it's working out great.

NS will be in decline when people stop making threads claiming it is. The first time I saw a thread like this was, what, a couple days after I joined...

Me too. At first I thought I had caused the site to decline. No such luck. :(

Whoever said that NS is evolving, not declining, is dead on.

So you see, RP's are all around you...you simply need to find one that interests you. If you cannot find one, then create one under your rules. I'm sure there will be people willing to write with you.



My only quibble with this is that young nations tend to have problems getting people intrested in their Rp's (especially the better RPers). And an even harder time keeping them alive due to droppage.

Steel Butterfly can start a thread and draw automatic intrest. Others have a harder time of it.

I resent that allusion in regards to me...
I do not shill for my region on Gameplay. And likely he'd find great fun over in Haven if he could deal with the number of wars.

I wasn't referring to you, man! I was simply making a joke about how we had all that trouble a while back with region-spammers, and now the poor guy asked to join a region. I had this image of this dude standing at a driving range with a target on his back.

My only quibble with this is that young nations tend to have problems getting people intrested in their Rp's (especially the better RPers). And an even harder time keeping them alive due to droppage.

Steel Butterfly can start a thread and draw automatic intrest. Others have a harder time of it.

Eh...I guess I'd have to agree with you on your second point. NS RPing is all a matter of proving yourself. Once you have, like I have, the rest is easy.

Young nations struggle to get people interested in their writing, but I'm tired of them acting like their situation is special. NS has always been this way. Every one of us "well respected RPers" earned the respect we have, each in various ways. Respect wasn't given to anyone, and it sure as hell hasn't been given to me. I could still go around asking people what they think of my RPing ability and have many not even know who I am. That's just life.

We all have problems with droppage. I just had someone drop out of my "Realm of the Risen II." Now tell me that's a bad RP? They dropped out because it wasn't want they wanted. Shit happens. Once again, that's life.

In today's NS, with newbs not having an outlet for immediate expression, I'm almost happier. Before they'd simply declare war on someone or godmod to get attention. Now, they have to conciously work on a plan to be noticed, often through good writing and a good level of involvement.

Eventually you will be noticed, eventually you will be remembered, and eventually you will be invited to various RPing events on this site. In the meantime, write how you want. RPing with two good "internet friends" and putting together a great story is far better that RPing with 20 fanboys who are only there to kiss your ass or to show you up.

This thread, and others like it, made me create this:

The NationStates Orientation: Welcome to the Jungle (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=398818)

bump...

Personally, I think that too many of the older nations (myself included) tend to look back on things with rose-tinted glasses. For example, the first RP I was in had instant interest. However, I understand now, when thinking about it sensibly and not nostalgically, that it gained interest because it had constant activity between myself and Slutbum Wallah. If you get that in a well scripted and thought out RP, you will get support. That doesn't mean you can churn out a ton of crap and expect someone to join in because it gets a post every hour...

Have I missed the best of a good thing? Have the best months/years of NS gone?

I can’t claim to be an established NSer, hell, if I asked, I’d bet almost no-one has heard of me. But I see experienced NSers making these points. For example, the recent thread by Atlantian Outcasts (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=398074) illustrates my point perfectly.

All the points that AO makes indicate a decline in the NS forums. For me, a (relatively) new player keen to get involved in the NS RPing world, it is very difficult. So far, in three months I’ve had one decent RP fully concluded, one tapered off halfway through, and a few never got past the first two pages, plus an Earth that seems to have just died. In addition, there are very few open RPs that someone like myself can join in.

At this point, I would like to say that I am generally looking for war RPs, character RP is something that I am not especially interested in. And before someone comes in and says, “there’s X amount of open RPs on the forum right now,” I mean open RPs that are sufficiently new for me to join in with. I don’t see much point me joining an RP halfway through, because I’ll have missed most of it.

It’s not even as if I have trouble with tech level. As yet, I have not fully decided on MT or FT, and there is really nothing obviously available for either. My two most successful RPs have been an MT war and an FT space pirates engagement.

As a fairly new & unknown name, I wonder if threads I start are even noticed by many older players, who skim past them looking for threads by familiar faces. And these older names, having made their connections when they were young, stay within those connections, rarely looking for new talent to make a link with.

Several people have said that as you become more respected and well known as an RPer, it becomes easier to find RPs to take part in, but how do you become a well known and respected RPer if there are so few threads to take part in, and even fewer are actually RPed to completion?

So many threads I see are recollections of times past, how so many of the big names in NS are disappearing, how things were better then and how the forums are in decline. So I ask again, Is NS past its prime?

Any solutions to the problems I seem to be having would be welcome, or even comments to what I’ve said. Still, whatever responses I get, I’m betting this thread doesn’t last long.


[OOC: It's not just new faces that get 'passed over'. It's not even that people get passed over, in many cases; the nature of the forum is that most people only read the first page. If your thread is not on it, it doesn't get read. Conversely, if you bump your thread too often, and people see the bumps when they read it, they decide that your thread probably isn't worth coming back to. Which means that you have to keep a thread active in order for a thread to be active - a beautiful double-bind if there ever was one.

One of my new threads, once upon a time, received over ninety reads in twenty minutes. Now, I'm lucky to manage twenty in ten days. I sincerely hope my writing ability has not deteriorated (although perhaps it has - this disturbs me greatly), but it surely cannot have deteriorated so far.

Perhaps the problem lies with people desiring 'war RP'.

Perhaps there should, somehow, be a way of making people only engage in 'war RP' over on International Incidents, and only engage in character RP (I have an urge to shout out to the world that 'war RP' SHOULD be character RP - but shouting is rude) in the NS forum. But isn't that the case, already, to a degree?

And isn't the problem also that we have so much to keep track of with our own nations, if we're really into that kinda thing, that we don't have time to keep track of others?

I view maybe three or four new threads a week, average. This is because I'm usually involved in four or five at once anyway. At the moment, I'm involved in something like seven. And because I'm an awful windbag who likes to develop his characters (with a greater tendency towards that now than ever before, as the history and culture of my nation is pretty well-define to those who have read any amount of my stuff so far), this means that I spend most of my time doing what?

Keeping up.

In fact, I suspect that what I mostly do is that: keep up. And when I'm not 'keeping up', I'm catching up. It's a vicious circle. It's even just a little tiny bit annoying. I'm like anyone else; I would dearly like to work on things that are really, really, really, really, really important to my nation...

Things such as the Treaty of the Alliance of Stability and Harmony; like SCOJAN; like any number of other matters that I need to work on and can't devote the time to. Why? I find myself striving to ensure the continuation of that which is already established. I find myself, in other words, constantly roleplaying with the same people, over and over and over again. It's not personal choice, even though I very much enjoy roleplaying with those people who I roleplay with most often; it's a case of necessity, from an IC standpoint. My nation could not stand alone - or, rather, has no desire to. Trade is critical, and I like realism. If I don't RP with them, they might think I don't exist. They might even cut off trade without me knowing. Then I'd fall behind on facts and figures, too, and as I strive to RP my economy as well as the people behind it...

It's a dratted snowball. And I'm rolling round and round on that snowball. And you know what?

I love it. That's why I'm here. That's why any of those people who have been here for a long time are here. NationStates forces us to turn the page; it makes us have to write that next chapter; and that is the quality of the very best books, the very best stories.

So it is that my point is this: the very reason, unfortunate as it may be, that we 'older' ones do not sometimes notice the new threads by the 'new' people (to me, anyone from August 2003 or so onwards seems new...), is because we are so immersed.

NationStates isn't past its best. It hasn't found its best yet. That's why we're here. And that's why you want to be here.

Damn. I feel like I'm trying to get funding, or something...

Incidentally, if you want to RP with my friendly self, feel free to drop me a telegram. In fact, I've been looking for someone to roleplay a nation that I've been 'occupying' for a while (albeit in something like 'pause' mode), but have had no luck, so if that interests you...]

A few notes.


[OOC: It's not just new faces that get 'passed over'. It's not even that people get passed over, in many cases; the nature of the forum is that most people only read the first page. If your thread is not on it, it doesn't get read. Conversely, if you bump your thread too often, and people see the bumps when they read it, they decide that your thread probably isn't worth coming back to. Which means that you have to keep a thread active in order for a thread to be active - a beautiful double-bind if there ever was one.


This is not true. The nature of the forum is to look for "exciting" titles, as a recent experiment of mine here proved. If you have something eye catching, it'll get attention. Then if it has a high view count, it gets more attention. So in order to get attention, you have to get attention - and keep active.



One of my new threads, once upon a time, received over ninety reads in twenty minutes. Now, I'm lucky to manage twenty in ten days. I sincerely hope my writing ability has not deteriorated (although perhaps it has - this disturbs me greatly), but it surely cannot have deteriorated so far.

Perhaps the problem lies with people desiring 'war RP'.

Not everyone desires war - but finding a good, non-directed, non-war RP is a difficult cherry indeed.



Perhaps there should, somehow, be a way of making people only engage in 'war RP' over on International Incidents, and only engage in character RP (I have an urge to shout out to the world that 'war RP' SHOULD be character RP - but shouting is rude) in the NS forum. But isn't that the case, already, to a degree?

Nope.



And isn't the problem also that we have so much to keep track of with our own nations, if we're really into that kinda thing, that we don't have time to keep track of others?

I view maybe three or four new threads a week, average. This is because I'm usually involved in four or five at once anyway. At the moment, I'm involved in something like seven. And because I'm an awful windbag who likes to develop his characters (with a greater tendency towards that now than ever before, as the history and culture of my nation is pretty well-define to those who have read any amount of my stuff so far), this means that I spend most of my time doing what?

Directing others? This has been what has turned me off your RPs, BTW.



Keeping up.


I stand corrected.



In fact, I suspect that what I mostly do is that: keep up. And when I'm not 'keeping up', I'm catching up. It's a vicious circle. It's even just a little tiny bit annoying. I'm like anyone else; I would dearly like to work on things that are really, really, really, really, really important to my nation...

Things such as the Treaty of the Alliance of Stability and Harmony; like SCOJAN; like any number of other matters that I need to work on and can't devote the time to. Why? I find myself striving to ensure the continuation of that which is already established. I find myself, in other words, constantly roleplaying with the same people, over and over and over again. It's not personal choice, even though I very much enjoy roleplaying with those people who I roleplay with most often; it's a case of necessity, from an IC standpoint. My nation could not stand alone - or, rather, has no desire to. Trade is critical, and I like realism. If I don't RP with them, they might think I don't exist. They might even cut off trade without me knowing. Then I'd fall behind on facts and figures, too, and as I strive to RP my economy as well as the people behind it...

It's a dratted snowball. And I'm rolling round and round on that snowball. And you know what?

I love it. That's why I'm here. That's why any of those people who have been here for a long time are here. NationStates forces us to turn the page; it makes us have to write that next chapter; and that is the quality of the very best books, the very best stories.

So it is that my point is this: the very reason, unfortunate as it may be, that we 'older' ones do not sometimes notice the new threads by the 'new' people (to me, anyone from August 2003 or so onwards seems new...), is because we are so immersed.

NationStates isn't past its best. It hasn't found its best yet. That's why we're here. And that's why you want to be here.

Damn. I feel like I'm trying to get funding, or something...

Incidentally, if you want to RP with my friendly self, feel free to drop me a telegram. In fact, I've been looking for someone to roleplay a nation that I've been 'occupying' for a while (albeit in something like 'pause' mode), but have had no luck, so if that interests you...]

If you want to RP with more varied people, drop a post on others RPs now and again. Nothing huge, but some member of your nation takes notice. It gets notice back, and there you go - new RP partners.

Works (and has worked) for me.

[OOC: To prevent clutter, I won't quote things that were in reply to other quotes. Instead, I'll number.

1. I don't deny that's the nature (edit) of the forum. However, that's not what my experience has been. That's what that particular part of the thread was referring to, at the least. I merely suppose that others have had similar experiences, and that may be why new threads - sometimes perfectly good in themselves - are not noticed so often now as they once were.

2. Absolutely. A large proportion of people, though, even if they don't desire war, have a tendency to push things towards war ceaselessly. That's a whole other subject, though, and I won't get into that here...

3. I think 'to a degree' is probably the key phrase, there, at the end. What I mean is that, to at least some extent, wars are fought (if not started) in the II forum. That's what I see when I look there, at any rate.

4. Directing others? In what way? In an OOC manner?

If you do mean in an OOC manner, I'll have to contradict you there. Unless I've stated specifically that I'll be GMing in a thread (always a concept thread, therefore, with a predetermined storyline), I don't direct others OOCly.

ICly is a different matter. That's simply playing a role. That's the character of the nation I play. And it's pretty annoying, I must say, that people blur the IC-OOC line and don't recognize that. I'm not really that dominating of a person. Well, I do like to dominate, but that's not in the interpersonal sense, if you catch my meaning, eh. *nudge-nudge-wink-wink* Say no more.

I could go into a long, boring, largely sociological/historical description as to why my nation is the way it is, but that would be far less interesting than if you were to read certain threads which detail the history (and thus the reason for the current pattern of behaviour) of the nation. Failing that, see the NSWiki site for the ICEL factbook.

Again, though, if it's OOCly you mean, then I'm a little disturbed at the notion. The only examples I can think of where I may have acted in that manner are in cases whereby someone has done something which is, at best, pushing the boundaries towards godmodding. Examples would be my OOC reaction to ICly being nuked by one nation over two hundred thousand times in a few minutes (ie in one post), or having artificial stars put in orbit above my nation, which, when defeated, collapse into black holes which threaten to kill everything on the planet.

I'm not sure what would be wrong with being rather irritated at the above instances, though.

I forget what number... ah yes.

5. Uh. Not much to say to this, really...

6. Yeah, I do that, on occasion. I don't always have time, though, which is what kinda sucks but also makes the whole thing more interesting. It's like playing against a clock. Incidentally, the main reason I'm not always active is because my fiancee (the wonderful, loving, beautiful, and fantastic lady that she is) lives thousands of miles away, and so I spend most of my time talking to her. I'm thus only active a couple of hours a day, which is why my time is so drattedly crowded. Admittedly, I'd rather talk to her than be here anyway, but being half-here can be pretty awful at times, all the same. Which is why I'm not-here at all, some of the time. Better not-here than not with her - although she'd no doubt tell me to spend more time here if I mentioned it more in passing, caring loving soul that she is. ;)

P.S.

She doesn't actually read this stuff, so I'm not a crawler. Honest! - I'm just amazed constantly that she wants to be with me. *g*]