Texan Hotrodders
29-05-2005, 08:29
Roleplaying
and the
NationStates United Nations
Introduction
What is roleplay?
In the context of NationStates, roleplay is basically a typed representation of your nation that is in-character and performed mostly in the NationStates (NS) and International Incidents (II) forums. For a more lengthy explanation, read the NSwiki article on the subject (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Roleplay).
How do I roleplay?
Because the roleplay in NationStates is free-form and the Mods don't police roleplay (except for violations of the TOS like spamming and flaming), you can technically roleplay however you like. That said, the community of users on the site has developed its own set of methods and conventions for roleplay that you would probably prefer to adhere to for the most part. More on that later.
Roleplay Possibilities
Most people don’t realize the potential for roleplay based on the NSUN, and in my experience the RPers who do their thing in NS and II tend not to have such a great attitude towards the NSUN, possibly because it is an organization that tries to limit their warring abilities through environmental legislation that may hurt their nation’s economy and other restricting legislation such as the resolutions “The Wolfish Convention on POW,” “Banning the use of Landmines,” “Children in War,” and “The Eon Convention on Genocide”.
With the advent of the “Humanitarian Intervention” resolution and the convening of the Pretenama panel to investigate genocides roleplayed by various nations in the NS and II forums, it is becoming apparent that UN-related roleplay is expanding into new territory. Previously the UN-related roleplay was very rare, extending only to a few random nations occasionally referencing the UN in some way in their roleplay. The UN-related roleplay began to pick up momentum later with the advent of the United Nations Space Consortium” resolution and subsequent roleplayed organization being formed and the momentum continued with Sophista’s defiance of "The Law of the Sea” (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=359922) and the resulting dodgeball war (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=361434). One of the older examples of UN-related roleplay is in the UN Stranger’s Bar (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=310853), a place where UN delegates come to hang out when they’re not critiquing legislation.
Possibilities for the UN Forum
To my knowledge, the possibilities for RP in the UN forum are fairly limited. For the most part, the roleplaying in the UN forum consists of roleplayed statements issued by a nation in response to a particular piece of legislation, idea, or debate topic. You can give your representative to the UN any personality you like and you can have multiple representatives issue statements if you like. Generally someone can have, for example, their Minister of Defense issue a statement regarding a proposal that would affect the nation’s ability to defend itself and have another representative while having their Minister of Commerce issue a statement regarding a proposal that would affect their economy. You could also have multiple representatives to the UN with one being a Deputy to the primary representative.
Possibilities for the NS Forum
One possibility for a UN-related roleplay in the NS forum is the construction of a thread in which you play out a scene in which your government addresses a passed UN resolution, perhaps even several resolutions. You can also take a slightly different tack and do a roleplay that shows through the lives of your citizens how a passed UN resolution benefited, harmed, or didn’t affect your nation. The NS forum could also be used to do the character-based roleplaying involved with one of the many UN-related organizations, such as the UN Old Guard (http://s6.invisionfree.com/UN_Old_Guard/index.php?act=idx).
Possibilities for the II Forum
One possibility for a UN-related roleplay in the II forum is a war in which a UN member nation deals with the limitations imposed on war by the NSUN’s passed legislation. Another possible roleplay to conduct in the II forum is a roleplay of the defiance of UN legislation. While such defiance is hardly generally encouraged, it could result in a good roleplay if executed properly. Other possibilities include roleplaying IRCO missions and interventions by the Pretenama Panel.
Roleplay Conventions
As with most communities, the roleplaying community of NationStates has developed a set of conventions governing roleplay that are generally adhered to. There are a number of conventions aside from the more basic conventions such as having a narrative or dialogue structure and reasonable spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Conventions in the UN Forum
Most of what goes on in the UN forum is debate over the merits of passed or proposed legislation. Generally the debates are In-Character (that is, roleplay), but sometimes Out-of-Character (that is, non-roleplay) observations are made to clarify or support a point. It is considered good form to make the distinction between your comments as a nation and your comments as a player clear. A lack of such a distinction often leads to misunderstanding and hostility, which are not things we like to encourage here.
Conventions in the NS Forum
The conventions are found in the stickied posts in the NS forum, namely the the NationStates Forum (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=400312) and OOC: Want more respect on the forums? (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=352036) threads. These threads contains good examples, helpful tips, and a wealth of information for players who want to get involved in roleplay.
Conventions in the II Forum
The conventions are found in the stickied post in the II forum, namely the consolidated International Incidents Sticky (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414035). There is a huge amount of information in that thread, so you may not want to try to read it all at one time so it won’t overwhelm you. Try to check out all the links at least once and see what's going on in the world of II roleplay.
Roleplay Help
Suggestions
My general suggestions for those of you who are interested in getting involved in UN-related roleplay is to read the stickies and all threads they link to. Doing so will help you get a feel for how roleplaying is conducted here. I would further suggest that you browse the forums for a few days to watch a variety of roleplays in action and get a first-hand feel for how they work. You may also want to check out some of the offsite UN-related forums established by players, such as the United Nations Organizations (http://s3.invisionfree.com/UN_Organization...dex.php?act=idx) forum.
Mentors
Below is a list of the names of nations that have volunteered to help with UN-related RP. You may want to contact them for help getting started in UN-related roleplaying or help with a particular roleplay you are planning.
Ecopoeia
Vastiva
Nargopia
If you wish to have your name added to or removed from this list, please contact me.
and the
NationStates United Nations
Introduction
What is roleplay?
In the context of NationStates, roleplay is basically a typed representation of your nation that is in-character and performed mostly in the NationStates (NS) and International Incidents (II) forums. For a more lengthy explanation, read the NSwiki article on the subject (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Roleplay).
How do I roleplay?
Because the roleplay in NationStates is free-form and the Mods don't police roleplay (except for violations of the TOS like spamming and flaming), you can technically roleplay however you like. That said, the community of users on the site has developed its own set of methods and conventions for roleplay that you would probably prefer to adhere to for the most part. More on that later.
Roleplay Possibilities
Most people don’t realize the potential for roleplay based on the NSUN, and in my experience the RPers who do their thing in NS and II tend not to have such a great attitude towards the NSUN, possibly because it is an organization that tries to limit their warring abilities through environmental legislation that may hurt their nation’s economy and other restricting legislation such as the resolutions “The Wolfish Convention on POW,” “Banning the use of Landmines,” “Children in War,” and “The Eon Convention on Genocide”.
With the advent of the “Humanitarian Intervention” resolution and the convening of the Pretenama panel to investigate genocides roleplayed by various nations in the NS and II forums, it is becoming apparent that UN-related roleplay is expanding into new territory. Previously the UN-related roleplay was very rare, extending only to a few random nations occasionally referencing the UN in some way in their roleplay. The UN-related roleplay began to pick up momentum later with the advent of the United Nations Space Consortium” resolution and subsequent roleplayed organization being formed and the momentum continued with Sophista’s defiance of "The Law of the Sea” (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=359922) and the resulting dodgeball war (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=361434). One of the older examples of UN-related roleplay is in the UN Stranger’s Bar (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=310853), a place where UN delegates come to hang out when they’re not critiquing legislation.
Possibilities for the UN Forum
To my knowledge, the possibilities for RP in the UN forum are fairly limited. For the most part, the roleplaying in the UN forum consists of roleplayed statements issued by a nation in response to a particular piece of legislation, idea, or debate topic. You can give your representative to the UN any personality you like and you can have multiple representatives issue statements if you like. Generally someone can have, for example, their Minister of Defense issue a statement regarding a proposal that would affect the nation’s ability to defend itself and have another representative while having their Minister of Commerce issue a statement regarding a proposal that would affect their economy. You could also have multiple representatives to the UN with one being a Deputy to the primary representative.
Possibilities for the NS Forum
One possibility for a UN-related roleplay in the NS forum is the construction of a thread in which you play out a scene in which your government addresses a passed UN resolution, perhaps even several resolutions. You can also take a slightly different tack and do a roleplay that shows through the lives of your citizens how a passed UN resolution benefited, harmed, or didn’t affect your nation. The NS forum could also be used to do the character-based roleplaying involved with one of the many UN-related organizations, such as the UN Old Guard (http://s6.invisionfree.com/UN_Old_Guard/index.php?act=idx).
Possibilities for the II Forum
One possibility for a UN-related roleplay in the II forum is a war in which a UN member nation deals with the limitations imposed on war by the NSUN’s passed legislation. Another possible roleplay to conduct in the II forum is a roleplay of the defiance of UN legislation. While such defiance is hardly generally encouraged, it could result in a good roleplay if executed properly. Other possibilities include roleplaying IRCO missions and interventions by the Pretenama Panel.
Roleplay Conventions
As with most communities, the roleplaying community of NationStates has developed a set of conventions governing roleplay that are generally adhered to. There are a number of conventions aside from the more basic conventions such as having a narrative or dialogue structure and reasonable spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Conventions in the UN Forum
Most of what goes on in the UN forum is debate over the merits of passed or proposed legislation. Generally the debates are In-Character (that is, roleplay), but sometimes Out-of-Character (that is, non-roleplay) observations are made to clarify or support a point. It is considered good form to make the distinction between your comments as a nation and your comments as a player clear. A lack of such a distinction often leads to misunderstanding and hostility, which are not things we like to encourage here.
Conventions in the NS Forum
The conventions are found in the stickied posts in the NS forum, namely the the NationStates Forum (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=400312) and OOC: Want more respect on the forums? (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=352036) threads. These threads contains good examples, helpful tips, and a wealth of information for players who want to get involved in roleplay.
Conventions in the II Forum
The conventions are found in the stickied post in the II forum, namely the consolidated International Incidents Sticky (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=414035). There is a huge amount of information in that thread, so you may not want to try to read it all at one time so it won’t overwhelm you. Try to check out all the links at least once and see what's going on in the world of II roleplay.
Roleplay Help
Suggestions
My general suggestions for those of you who are interested in getting involved in UN-related roleplay is to read the stickies and all threads they link to. Doing so will help you get a feel for how roleplaying is conducted here. I would further suggest that you browse the forums for a few days to watch a variety of roleplays in action and get a first-hand feel for how they work. You may also want to check out some of the offsite UN-related forums established by players, such as the United Nations Organizations (http://s3.invisionfree.com/UN_Organization...dex.php?act=idx) forum.
Mentors
Below is a list of the names of nations that have volunteered to help with UN-related RP. You may want to contact them for help getting started in UN-related roleplaying or help with a particular roleplay you are planning.
Ecopoeia
Vastiva
Nargopia
If you wish to have your name added to or removed from this list, please contact me.