NationStates Jolt Archive

A Practical Guide
to the
United Nations Forum


In a move surprising to no one, I have decided to write a guide to the UN forum. This guide lays out the things you should know before posting here as well as the things you should keep in mind when posting. I pray that at least one person reads this before jumping into the murky waters of the UN forum and saves themselves some trouble. This guide will have been worth it if that happens.

Before Posting

Prior to posting you should read a number of things and perhaps even consider their implications. I’ll list them for your convenience.

Read the FAQ

Reading the FAQ (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=faq) and understanding it is the best way to keep out of trouble in the UN forum. You may want to re-read it occasionally to remind yourself of its contents.

Read the Stickies

Reading the stickied posts at the top of the forum is almost as important as reading the FAQ. Those posts contain information that let you know what the rules of the UN are, how the UN works (or doesn’t, depending on one’s perspective), and what the UN is. Believe it or, the UN is a fairly complex entity, and reading those posts and considering their implications will help your understanding considerably…and I’m not just saying that because I wrote several of them. ;)

Read the Passed UN Resolutions

If you’re going to be dealing with legislation in the NSUN, you’ll probably want to read the list of passed resolutions, which is a record of all legislation the UN has passed. If you want to propose legislation to the UN, this is especially important because people in this forum do not like it when other people post a proposal that’s already been passed by the UN in some form or another.

Read the Rules

If you read nothing else in your time in the UN forum, at least read the rules (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=420465). If you do not, you may get official warnings or be ejected. I would prefer not to see you warned or ejected, and I’m sure the Mods would like you to save them the trouble of warning or ejecting you. Besides, if you post a proposal on the forum that’s in flagrant violation of the rules, you will likely receive snooty comments and polite-but-terse suggestions that you read the rules promptly.


When Posting

Now that you know what you need to do before posting, we can move on to what you need to keep in mind when you are posting.

Post a Copy

One of the most common mistake people make in the UN forum is to post arguing for a proposal they’ve submitted to the UN and fail to post a copy of it for the rest of us to view. Please either post a copy of your proposal or at least give us a link to it in the proposals list and tell us the title. It’ll save us all some time and effort in the long run.

IC and OOC

Defined simply, In-Character (IC) comments are the statements you make as a nation and Out-Of-Character comments are the statements you make as yourself, the person behind the computer. Keep in mind these distinctions when posting, both when you are reading other’s posts and when you are making comments. Try to label your IC and OOC comments as such to prevent misunderstanding. I’d rather not see another flamefest start because people don’t mind their roleplaying etiquette.

Lend a Hand

If you can, you may want to participate in the drafting of legislation here on the UN forum by offering critiques of the legislation others post here. If you offer helpful suggestions, the proposal author may change their proposal and if their proposal gets passed you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have truly contributed to the ongoing process of legislation in the UN. Besides, you also get to show other people how smart you are.

Consider the Context

Particularly in debates over the merits of a piece of legislation or policy, it is important to consider the context of your situation. You may want to take note of the general personality and characteristics of the person you are debating, both in an IC and OOC sense. You may want to know whether the person you are debating accepts RL (real-life) sources as valid in a UN forum debate or not, whether they are likely to annoy you, and so on. Keeping the other person in mind can help you to act more appropriately when debating them. (It can help to view their post history, something you can find by doing a Search for their posts or by clicking on their name and selecting the View More Posts By [Insert Name Here] option.

It’s also a good idea to focus on the proposal under consideration rather than to branch off into a policy discussion that is better suited for the General forum. It’s not just annoying, such divergence tends to lead nowhere very rapidly, and I’ve noticed Hack cracking down on that sort of thing lately. Try to make sure that your debates are related to the UN or the legislation.

Dead Horses

In addition to the onslaught of proposals that are redundant, the UN forum is regularly treated to the display of the beating of one of our dead horses. Dead horses are essentially issues or topics that have been discussed so much that any more discussion on them is likely to be useless in the extreme. Some of those topics are:

Abortion
Homosexual Marriage
Capital Punishment
Banning Nukes
The UN Sucks
Prostitution
Euthanasia

Those topics have been debated a sickening amount of times. Please avoid starting new ones if you can.

Nearly Dead Horses

Some issues and topics have been debated fairly often, but aren’t quite dead yet. Some of these topics are:

Global Free Trade
Conservation of Trees
DVD Regions
National Sovereignty

Please try to to avoid starting discussions on these topics unless you’ve read most of the previous debates and feel you have something new to add.

If you would like an issue or topic added to this list please post in this thread.

I would suggest adding Prostitution and Euthanasia to your list of dead horses. They've been covered enough times.

I would suggest adding Prostitution and Euthanasia to your list of dead horses. They've been covered enough times.

Done. Thanks, Enn. :)

To be honest I don't think the dead horses list is very fair to new members.

Those who have been here for a while may have discussed those subjects many times but new members haven't and surely have the right on an open forum to discuss those subjects if they wish. You are also saying that posting new repeal attempts etc here on those topics to get advice on changes and/or gather support aren't welcome either ;):).

If older members are sick of those subjects then they don't have to read or post in the threads concerned.

I do like the rest of it though. Good work :).

To be honest I don't think the dead horses list is very fair to new members.

Neither do I, but there's no way to be completely fair to everyone involved, so I have to take some position. Sorry.

Those who have been here for a while may have discussed those subjects many times but new members haven't and surely have the right on an open forum to discuss those subjects if they wish. You are also saying that posting new repeal attempts etc here on those topics to get advice on changes and/or gather support aren't welcome either ;):).

I am saying that because it's true. :) :D


While posting here to garner support for a specific proposal or repeal you've written that addresses a dead horse is generally acceptable, you have to be very careful how you do it. Starting yet another debate on the dead horse is annoying to most and a fun chance to beat the intellectual crap out of you for a small number of others. To save most of us from the annoyance and to save themselves from those who will enjoy beating them harshly in a debate, I would generally suggest not taking up the issue to begin with.


If older members are sick of those subjects then they don't have to read or post in the threads concerned.

That's one possibility. However, the newer members could browse through the old topics in this forum and read those older debates on those subjects so that they know why the older members are sick and tired of hearing about them. ;) In addition, the General forum is a...wonderful...place to debate things like abortion and gay marriage if that's what you're into.

(And by the way, I often do avoid reading the threads where dead horses are under discussion.)

Essentially, it seems to me that it's better to inconvenience some of the newer players who have the option of taking their discussions to a non-UN forum by having them avoid those topics and read the old debates than it is to inconvenience the older players by annoying us with repetitive discussions over issues that have been discussed over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. In addition, the oldies are likely to be around for a while longer, and the newer players have a high attrition rate. Basically, the oldies are probably going to be around, and the newbies are not. Why then, should I cater to the needs of the people who aren't likely to be here for long? Sure, I try to draw in as many people as possible to become regular contributors by generally being nice to them and writing these guides, but even with extensive guides and all the kindness in the world, I can't make a newbie into an regular. They have to do that themselves by reading and understanding and participating. Besides, if you ever make it to the oldie stage you'll be tired of the abortion debates too. :p

I do like the rest of it though. Good work :).

Thanks. I do appreciate that. :) You brought up an important issue, and that's good too. I like to see posters bring up important issues (especially ones that haven't been beaten to death ;) ).

I do understand your point. I'm not really a newbie myself (though aren't an oldie either). Have been hanging around the UN forum since last August (as Crydonia before I gave it away in March) so have seen exactly what you are talking about. I guess we just have different views on the subject :).

I can see both sides but do believe if new members want to talk about one of those subjects and/or discuss their ideas for new repeals etc and get rebuffed by the oldies, then the UN forum may well lose potential good regulars.

I will admit that I am more into those sort of social subjects because they are the ones I have the most experience and knowledge in. I guess thats why I don't mind them and am more likely to contribute to these sort of subjects than trade, economics etc which I know little about.

I do understand your point. I'm not really a newbie myself (though aren't an oldie either). Have been hanging around the UN forum since last August (as Crydonia before I gave it away in March) so have seen exactly what you are talking about. I guess we just have different views on the subject :).

This is the UN forum. It's not uncommon for us to disagree on a subject, even with people we like and respect. I'll use Ecopoeia as an example. I like Stewie (the player behind Eco) and respect him. I'd like to sit down and have a drink with him if I'm ever in his neck of the woods. He's cool. But none of that means that I'm going to agree with him on every issue. He's an anarcho-communist interms of his political ideals and I'm anarcho-capitalist in terms of my political ideals. Our beliefs on economic policy tend to be different, to say the least. ;)

I can see both sides but do believe if new members want to talk about one of those subjects and/or discuss their ideas for new repeals etc and get rebuffed by the oldies, then the UN forum may well lose potential good regulars.

I'm concerned about the loss of potential regulars as well. It's why I've written all these guides. Hopefully the guide to the UN forum can prevent some potential regulars from being lost because they were offended by an oldie. I want the newbies to know what they're getting into and have a chance to regulars. Unfortunately, there are practical limits to what I can do by myself to turn newbies into regulars. :(

I will admit that I am more into those sort of social subjects because they are the ones I have the most experience and knowledge in. I guess thats why I don't mind them and am more likely to contribute to these sort of subjects than trade, economics etc which I know little about.

I see where you are coming from. I'm more into the social sciences also. :)

But I would still encourage you to state your nation's stance on economic proposals that come up.

I hope you become an oldie, by the way. I've been watching you post for a while and you seem to have a good head on your shoulders. :)

This is the UN forum. It's not uncommon for us to disagree on a subject, even with people we like and respect. I'll use Ecopoeia as an example. I like Stewie (the player behind Eco) and respect him. I'd like to sit down and have a drink with him if I'm ever in his neck of the woods. He's cool. But none of that means that I'm going to agree with him on every issue. He's an anarcho-communist interms of his political ideals and I'm anarcho-capitalist in terms of my political ideals. Our beliefs on economic policy tend to be different, to say the least. ;)
Indeed. One of the (unfortunately ex) players that I have the greatest respect for was the person behind Evil-Catzegovina. During the drafting process for Habeas Corpus, he and I had many debates over the rights of those charged with terrorism.
Basically, he was an extreme right-winger who believed the indicted have no rights whatsoever, while I'm a fairly extreme left-winger who believes in universal, inalienable human rights. But we managed to keep it civil, and even polite. Unfortunately he's no longer around, as there are several people who frequent the UN forum who choose to argue based on incorrect assumptions, and could well benefit from a demonstration of polite debate.

Err... topic hijack over, back to Texan's guide.

'Stewie'? That's it, mo-fo. We're sworn enemies.











ah, y'know I still love ya.

Stewie, eh? Victory is mine! Nice guide, Tex. :D

TH, thanks for the thorough and succinct guide to the UN. I now have it printed and posted by my monitor.

Stewie, eh? Victory is mine! Nice guide, Tex. :D
I knew this would happen...

Thanks to everybody who expressed their support, and sorry about the name thing, Eco. ;)