Jaxusism
18-10-2004, 00:30
I decided, after my guide to roleplaying Terrorism (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018) got stickied, to create a general roleplaying & NS guide.
1) Presenting Your Nation
Is your nation a five-star educational center for youth? Is your nation the military capital of the world? Is your nation a terrorist organization scattered around the world? This is all up to you. You could be the most dictator-ish dictator in the world, or you could hold a direct democracy where the people of your nation vote to make laws. Does your nation have several branches of government? Or is it just you and your posse?
Now, this also leads to who is your President? Does he have a cabinet? Does his cabinet have any power? Does he even listen to them when they speak?
Do you have a Congress-type system? Any Judicial Department? What do your citizens think of you? What are some of the laws in your nation that aren’t presented in issues?
Now, be realistic in all this. Don’t say, “I’m a rich idiot leader who makes everything strict but my citizens love me!!!”. If you’re a strict dictator, your citizens could hate you. And you could kill the ones who voice this publicly. You could be a great direct democracy, but you’d run into problems if you had a real direct democracy. Maybe your direct democracy consists of four hundred to five hundred elected officials, but at that number I think it would still be somewhat of a direct democracy.
Maybe you’re a small nation and you want to ignore the growth NS automatically gives you. Maybe you like that your nation is one small community.
This all goes into what your nation is really about. If your not going to voice these, then at least know them in your mind. It makes roleplaying a lot more easy and fun.
Bad :
I am dictatorship. Rawr.
Good :
The Grand Empire of Jaxusism is a nation with a so-called “President”. It is based on military. The Grand Council, basically a congress, was abolished by President Sherveen Mashayekhi because of passing only one important bill. The President does have a tight cabinet in which he uses often for advice or for ordering them what to do. Military is compulsory for boys and girls and they start military training at age 14-16, whether in strategy, combat, supplies, or anything else. We are not in the UN because of our nuclear policies and our military and education.
2) The United Nations
OK, as you see all the time in Real Life, nations are in the United Nations, but they don’t really follow the rules. They find loopholes to get around them. But in NationStates it is way more restricted. If your not following the United Nations resolutions, then you will be kicked off.
Now, joining the Untied Nations means your going to follow the resolutions and vote. But you should go beyond that. You should participate in the debates, form proposals, and propose anti-resolution proposals. Participating in the UN is the point of joining. Don’t just join and then forget that there is a forum there waiting for you to come and voice your opinions.
Now, proposing some crazy non-friendly proposal is idiotic. Don’t propose that the UN make slavery compulsory. Don’t propose that the UN Nations have to have their woman hide their hair. Propose things that are realistic to the UN. Not non-sense. Otherwise you ruin the UN for yourself and other people, and that just defeats the purpose.
Bad :
I propose we ban smokin’ everywhere.
Smoking Ban
-The nations of the world have been junked with the horrid cigarettes made. It is time that the UN take action. All United Nations nations should hereby ban all smoking in public or private places. Violators should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
((Of course, UN proposals should be in UN proposal format, but this is just an example of how not to be totally clueless))
3) Being An Ally
Many alliances are formed between nations, whether one-on-one alliances or a five-hundred nation alliance. Some take these alliances a bit too lightly. When an ally is in war, you should participate in that war! (if it isn’t a closed RP) You’re that nation’s ally. You’re that nation’s friend to turn to when its in trouble.
When forming an alliance, you should also have embassies in each other’s nations. You should have meetings and talks with them whether on the forums or through messenger.
You should also make many allies. The way to win a war is to have a good support group. And they don’t necessarily have to be big nations. Six newly created nations will probably defeat three older ones. Allies are needed in NationStates if you want to survive.
4) Military & Economy & “N00kZoRz”
OK, face it, young ones, you’re not going to be able to create your nations, come to the forums, and then declare you have a storefront selling the most advanced modern-tech tanks in the world. It takes time to develop. While you don’t need to sit down and create a thread saying “I’m developing a tank for my storefront!” you should make sure you think about statistics, fluff (description), and other things before you create it. Then you should give it development time, depending on what it is, one to two real days.
Now, buying equipment. You’re not going to create your nation, come onto the forums, declare you have a twenty-trillion dollar military budget, and buy a thousand Navy Carriers. You have to go to Third Geek (http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com) or some other NationStates Calculator (links at end of thread) and find out your budget. Now, it says how much your spending in military, education, etc, but you don’t necessarily have to follow where they say you put it and how much you put into it. And buying things. A 99 million and bellow populated nation shouldn’t be buying weapons of mass destruction. Wait ‘til you are 100 million to even start your programs. Nukes are dangerous weapons and shouldn’t be in the hands of the newer nations. I don’t care that a three-hundred billion population nation is donating it to you! It is GODMOD on these forums and that is that. Period. Dot dot dot.
Now for military. Your military is going to be 2-5% of your nation most of the time. Some nations, if they prepare 2-4 years ahead, can say 10% if they prepare big-time. This, even with preparation, will be a huge blow to that nation’s economy unless they prepare maybe 10-20 years ahead. And remember, that 2-5% is very split. It would be generous to say 50% of your military is combat. But some nations do just for the sake that this is a game and we’re not here to logistic ourselves to death, although this is important. Half of your military, if not more, are drivers of the foods, ground commanders that don’t fight, airplane maintenance, ship maintenance, etc etc etc, its all vital to having a working military. So don’t think you can have 5% of your population be all fighting. It would be generous to say half of that.
Keep records of whatever you buy. I usually keep them in a notepad or Microsoft Word file. I also keep records of most of my major posts and what I sell. This helps keep you organized and realistic.
5) Time
One RL day = One NS year is how most people work it out. During times of war it slows dramatically so you can roleplay everything correctly. That’s all I have to say about Time.
6) Nuclear Attacks
Ok, first off, nukes should be a last resort no matter what. Now, the decision is when to ignore nuclear attacks and when to accept them, because they are very damaging.
If some nation decides that they don’t want to deal with a war with you and sends a nuclear attack at you, it should be ignore right there. But if someone uses it because they are about to loose a war and need a surefire way to keep you from destroying them, nuclear attacks are valid here. That’s the way nations work. A last resort to survive.
If a nation ignores a perfectly well-based and well-planned attack, then they are wrong. If they ignore a stupid idiot attack made for no reason, then the attacker is definitely wrong.
Bad :
Boom boom! I send my n00kz0rs at j00!
Good :
The Nation of Cheezey Stuffz has been loosing the war against the nation of Lollipops for the past five years. After mobilizing it’s nuclear weapons six months ago, Cheezey Stuffz has launched a nuclear warhead (>Details Here<) at Lollipop’s capital, Chewy Center City. This was a last resort attack by President Cheesey, and after being successful, Mr. Cheesey does not regret it…
7) Terrorism
I have created a guide to terrorism that was stickified. Right here : Guide To Roleplaying Terrorism v2.0 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018)!
8) Roleplaying Itself
Ok, first, if your planning on invading / starting war, you need to have a valid reason. And, unless the other nation is an idiot godmodder, you need to get permission and work with them to get the war to go perfect and great. Reasons for war? Political ideals, recent actions, sanctions and ultimatums not met, etc etc etc.
Now, when you do invade, you have to post what your invading with. Then you have to post it going there. Then you have to post the actual attacks.
Make it as detailed as possible!!!
Bad :
I send my five tanks at you and they blow up your main government building.
Good :
Three UCAV “Hand of Jax” bombers, transported to Nation B four days ago by UCAV Carrier, have been sent across your lands and have set off bombs in strategic locations where we believe your governmental buildings to be.
Never post someone else’s casualties. Let them do it. But if they are being stupid or unfair, then work it out with them.
Make it even more detailed then my good example. RP the bombers getting into the planes, their launch, and the attack itself. Make it interesting!
Now remember, it takes time to get things to places, it doesn’t automatically go there.
Now, roleplaying events, propositions of bills, statements from your government, etc etc etc, are done the same way.
Bad :
The United States of Cheezey Stuffz declares that human rights are gone.
Good :
The United States of Cheezey Stuffz President has passed a bill created by Congress two days ago. The bill can be summarized as the following :
The Cheezey Rights Bill
1. No More Equal Opportunity – Due to many young children wasting space in the crowded schools of Cheezetopia, school is 5 dollars per day, and children have to come at least ten days a year.
2. High Tax – The government now takes 70% income tax due to debts to other nations. Any violators will be executed.
Etc etc etc…
Now, for Presidential statements :
Bad :
The Pres says no more drugs.
Good :
Jaxusism News Network
The President has banned drugs in the bill of “No More Pot” and has made a statement about it today…
My fellow citizens…, the President started, drugs have ruined some of our nation’s finest over the years, and, at the approval of the House of Representatives and the Senate, I have passed the “No More Pot” bill, banning all drugs whether in private places or in public. If found with possession of drugs, violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in the Judicial System of our nation…
That’s all today for Jaxusism Morning News on JNN…
9) Godmoding
Here are examples…
I send my 500 n00ks at your capitalz!!!11
i sendz 2 billon solderz 2 inv4de j00 nat!on!!111
OMGZ I sendz-r 500 bajillion troopzerz at j00!!!1
Doing things that aren’t realistic, basically…
10) Space v Modern v Past
OK, I generally don’t RP wars (yes diplomatic stuff though) with future-tech nations, so I don’t have any tips for this so I’m gonna steal from the Godmoding thread.
The Space-Time Continuum and Godmoding
Just because your country zips around in flying saucers and comes from another planet doesn't mean it's invincible. See below:
Future-tech VS Present-tech
What's to stop an M-16, well-aimed, from knocking out all sorts of important bits of androids?
Future-tech VS Past-tech
Even a catapult could do some sort of damage. Ditto a crossbow bolt - they're still effective murder weapons today.
Present-tech VS Past-tech
If your castle's being shelled by tanks, try to tip some boiling oil over them. Crude, but effective.
Helpful Links :
Guide to Roleplaying Terrorism v2.0 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018)
FYI : What Godmoding Is (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=274470)
Guide to NationStates (Euroslavia) (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357975)
Proposed Code of Conduct for Storefronts (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=359981)
Want respect? Find out how to earn it. (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=353535&)
Role-playing in space, OOC suggestions (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=355350)
What Logistics Is. (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=275828)
Third Geek NationStates Calculator (http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com)
Pipian NationStates Calculator (http://www.pipian.com/stuffforchat/gdpcalc.php?nation=)
Any suggestions, changes, ideas are appreciated. Thanks. And hope this was useful to you.
1) Presenting Your Nation
Is your nation a five-star educational center for youth? Is your nation the military capital of the world? Is your nation a terrorist organization scattered around the world? This is all up to you. You could be the most dictator-ish dictator in the world, or you could hold a direct democracy where the people of your nation vote to make laws. Does your nation have several branches of government? Or is it just you and your posse?
Now, this also leads to who is your President? Does he have a cabinet? Does his cabinet have any power? Does he even listen to them when they speak?
Do you have a Congress-type system? Any Judicial Department? What do your citizens think of you? What are some of the laws in your nation that aren’t presented in issues?
Now, be realistic in all this. Don’t say, “I’m a rich idiot leader who makes everything strict but my citizens love me!!!”. If you’re a strict dictator, your citizens could hate you. And you could kill the ones who voice this publicly. You could be a great direct democracy, but you’d run into problems if you had a real direct democracy. Maybe your direct democracy consists of four hundred to five hundred elected officials, but at that number I think it would still be somewhat of a direct democracy.
Maybe you’re a small nation and you want to ignore the growth NS automatically gives you. Maybe you like that your nation is one small community.
This all goes into what your nation is really about. If your not going to voice these, then at least know them in your mind. It makes roleplaying a lot more easy and fun.
Bad :
I am dictatorship. Rawr.
Good :
The Grand Empire of Jaxusism is a nation with a so-called “President”. It is based on military. The Grand Council, basically a congress, was abolished by President Sherveen Mashayekhi because of passing only one important bill. The President does have a tight cabinet in which he uses often for advice or for ordering them what to do. Military is compulsory for boys and girls and they start military training at age 14-16, whether in strategy, combat, supplies, or anything else. We are not in the UN because of our nuclear policies and our military and education.
2) The United Nations
OK, as you see all the time in Real Life, nations are in the United Nations, but they don’t really follow the rules. They find loopholes to get around them. But in NationStates it is way more restricted. If your not following the United Nations resolutions, then you will be kicked off.
Now, joining the Untied Nations means your going to follow the resolutions and vote. But you should go beyond that. You should participate in the debates, form proposals, and propose anti-resolution proposals. Participating in the UN is the point of joining. Don’t just join and then forget that there is a forum there waiting for you to come and voice your opinions.
Now, proposing some crazy non-friendly proposal is idiotic. Don’t propose that the UN make slavery compulsory. Don’t propose that the UN Nations have to have their woman hide their hair. Propose things that are realistic to the UN. Not non-sense. Otherwise you ruin the UN for yourself and other people, and that just defeats the purpose.
Bad :
I propose we ban smokin’ everywhere.
Smoking Ban
-The nations of the world have been junked with the horrid cigarettes made. It is time that the UN take action. All United Nations nations should hereby ban all smoking in public or private places. Violators should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
((Of course, UN proposals should be in UN proposal format, but this is just an example of how not to be totally clueless))
3) Being An Ally
Many alliances are formed between nations, whether one-on-one alliances or a five-hundred nation alliance. Some take these alliances a bit too lightly. When an ally is in war, you should participate in that war! (if it isn’t a closed RP) You’re that nation’s ally. You’re that nation’s friend to turn to when its in trouble.
When forming an alliance, you should also have embassies in each other’s nations. You should have meetings and talks with them whether on the forums or through messenger.
You should also make many allies. The way to win a war is to have a good support group. And they don’t necessarily have to be big nations. Six newly created nations will probably defeat three older ones. Allies are needed in NationStates if you want to survive.
4) Military & Economy & “N00kZoRz”
OK, face it, young ones, you’re not going to be able to create your nations, come to the forums, and then declare you have a storefront selling the most advanced modern-tech tanks in the world. It takes time to develop. While you don’t need to sit down and create a thread saying “I’m developing a tank for my storefront!” you should make sure you think about statistics, fluff (description), and other things before you create it. Then you should give it development time, depending on what it is, one to two real days.
Now, buying equipment. You’re not going to create your nation, come onto the forums, declare you have a twenty-trillion dollar military budget, and buy a thousand Navy Carriers. You have to go to Third Geek (http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com) or some other NationStates Calculator (links at end of thread) and find out your budget. Now, it says how much your spending in military, education, etc, but you don’t necessarily have to follow where they say you put it and how much you put into it. And buying things. A 99 million and bellow populated nation shouldn’t be buying weapons of mass destruction. Wait ‘til you are 100 million to even start your programs. Nukes are dangerous weapons and shouldn’t be in the hands of the newer nations. I don’t care that a three-hundred billion population nation is donating it to you! It is GODMOD on these forums and that is that. Period. Dot dot dot.
Now for military. Your military is going to be 2-5% of your nation most of the time. Some nations, if they prepare 2-4 years ahead, can say 10% if they prepare big-time. This, even with preparation, will be a huge blow to that nation’s economy unless they prepare maybe 10-20 years ahead. And remember, that 2-5% is very split. It would be generous to say 50% of your military is combat. But some nations do just for the sake that this is a game and we’re not here to logistic ourselves to death, although this is important. Half of your military, if not more, are drivers of the foods, ground commanders that don’t fight, airplane maintenance, ship maintenance, etc etc etc, its all vital to having a working military. So don’t think you can have 5% of your population be all fighting. It would be generous to say half of that.
Keep records of whatever you buy. I usually keep them in a notepad or Microsoft Word file. I also keep records of most of my major posts and what I sell. This helps keep you organized and realistic.
5) Time
One RL day = One NS year is how most people work it out. During times of war it slows dramatically so you can roleplay everything correctly. That’s all I have to say about Time.
6) Nuclear Attacks
Ok, first off, nukes should be a last resort no matter what. Now, the decision is when to ignore nuclear attacks and when to accept them, because they are very damaging.
If some nation decides that they don’t want to deal with a war with you and sends a nuclear attack at you, it should be ignore right there. But if someone uses it because they are about to loose a war and need a surefire way to keep you from destroying them, nuclear attacks are valid here. That’s the way nations work. A last resort to survive.
If a nation ignores a perfectly well-based and well-planned attack, then they are wrong. If they ignore a stupid idiot attack made for no reason, then the attacker is definitely wrong.
Bad :
Boom boom! I send my n00kz0rs at j00!
Good :
The Nation of Cheezey Stuffz has been loosing the war against the nation of Lollipops for the past five years. After mobilizing it’s nuclear weapons six months ago, Cheezey Stuffz has launched a nuclear warhead (>Details Here<) at Lollipop’s capital, Chewy Center City. This was a last resort attack by President Cheesey, and after being successful, Mr. Cheesey does not regret it…
7) Terrorism
I have created a guide to terrorism that was stickified. Right here : Guide To Roleplaying Terrorism v2.0 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018)!
8) Roleplaying Itself
Ok, first, if your planning on invading / starting war, you need to have a valid reason. And, unless the other nation is an idiot godmodder, you need to get permission and work with them to get the war to go perfect and great. Reasons for war? Political ideals, recent actions, sanctions and ultimatums not met, etc etc etc.
Now, when you do invade, you have to post what your invading with. Then you have to post it going there. Then you have to post the actual attacks.
Make it as detailed as possible!!!
Bad :
I send my five tanks at you and they blow up your main government building.
Good :
Three UCAV “Hand of Jax” bombers, transported to Nation B four days ago by UCAV Carrier, have been sent across your lands and have set off bombs in strategic locations where we believe your governmental buildings to be.
Never post someone else’s casualties. Let them do it. But if they are being stupid or unfair, then work it out with them.
Make it even more detailed then my good example. RP the bombers getting into the planes, their launch, and the attack itself. Make it interesting!
Now remember, it takes time to get things to places, it doesn’t automatically go there.
Now, roleplaying events, propositions of bills, statements from your government, etc etc etc, are done the same way.
Bad :
The United States of Cheezey Stuffz declares that human rights are gone.
Good :
The United States of Cheezey Stuffz President has passed a bill created by Congress two days ago. The bill can be summarized as the following :
The Cheezey Rights Bill
1. No More Equal Opportunity – Due to many young children wasting space in the crowded schools of Cheezetopia, school is 5 dollars per day, and children have to come at least ten days a year.
2. High Tax – The government now takes 70% income tax due to debts to other nations. Any violators will be executed.
Etc etc etc…
Now, for Presidential statements :
Bad :
The Pres says no more drugs.
Good :
Jaxusism News Network
The President has banned drugs in the bill of “No More Pot” and has made a statement about it today…
My fellow citizens…, the President started, drugs have ruined some of our nation’s finest over the years, and, at the approval of the House of Representatives and the Senate, I have passed the “No More Pot” bill, banning all drugs whether in private places or in public. If found with possession of drugs, violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in the Judicial System of our nation…
That’s all today for Jaxusism Morning News on JNN…
9) Godmoding
Here are examples…
I send my 500 n00ks at your capitalz!!!11
i sendz 2 billon solderz 2 inv4de j00 nat!on!!111
OMGZ I sendz-r 500 bajillion troopzerz at j00!!!1
Doing things that aren’t realistic, basically…
10) Space v Modern v Past
OK, I generally don’t RP wars (yes diplomatic stuff though) with future-tech nations, so I don’t have any tips for this so I’m gonna steal from the Godmoding thread.
The Space-Time Continuum and Godmoding
Just because your country zips around in flying saucers and comes from another planet doesn't mean it's invincible. See below:
Future-tech VS Present-tech
What's to stop an M-16, well-aimed, from knocking out all sorts of important bits of androids?
Future-tech VS Past-tech
Even a catapult could do some sort of damage. Ditto a crossbow bolt - they're still effective murder weapons today.
Present-tech VS Past-tech
If your castle's being shelled by tanks, try to tip some boiling oil over them. Crude, but effective.
Helpful Links :
Guide to Roleplaying Terrorism v2.0 (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018)
FYI : What Godmoding Is (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=274470)
Guide to NationStates (Euroslavia) (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357975)
Proposed Code of Conduct for Storefronts (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=359981)
Want respect? Find out how to earn it. (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=353535&)
Role-playing in space, OOC suggestions (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=355350)
What Logistics Is. (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=275828)
Third Geek NationStates Calculator (http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com)
Pipian NationStates Calculator (http://www.pipian.com/stuffforchat/gdpcalc.php?nation=)
Any suggestions, changes, ideas are appreciated. Thanks. And hope this was useful to you.