NationStates Jolt Archive

Now, I'm curious what people think on the whole about the idea of multiple Earths. I want to get a good discussion going about the roleplaying merits behind it, or why the aforementioned merits are crap. However, I want this thread to be an unbiased open forum where people can discuss this prevalent topic without an obligation to defend/attack the thread itself.

Please tell us your opinion of the multiple earths, and why you think that way about them. Enlighten us all to your ways.

That said, let's begin!

I think they are a good idea but I obviously come from a bias as I run Earth II. They are a way to allow people to RP in a more selective and managable environment. It also is a good chance for newbies. After all, who wants to be invaded by 600 4-billion sized nations when you are a mere 6 million just because you want to expand your territory 600 feet.

They're just a formalization of what is otherwise already existing RP circles. There are plenty of regions that don't say they're in some "other" earth or feel the need to announce it, they just RP in the real world and only recognize others in "their" world. So in effect there already ARE multiple, overlapping, informal earths, for example those who do and don't recognize Allanea etc.

They're just a formalization of what is otherwise already existing RP circles. There are plenty of regions that don't say they're in some "other" earth or feel the need to announce it, they just RP in the real world and only recognize others in "their" world. So in effect there already ARE multiple, overlapping, informal earths, for example those who do and don't recognize Allanea etc.
Good point. For those not in the know, a good example of one of these would be "the Heartland" region.

Also keep in mind that being part of an Earth does not exclude you from the rest of NS.

A BUMP to get this back on the radar.

One thing that bugs is there never seems to be an Earth (official [numbered] or unofficial [thematic]) which has space for a bigass superpower like me to play the role of a bigass superpower. By the time I notice these things its always like, "hey Greenland is open..."

edit: either that or its no one I've RPd with before or want to, or theres no interest in the whole thing and its just an ego trip for the person who created it.

Also keep in mind that being part of an Earth does not exclude you from the rest of NS.
And yet there remain people who now simply do not rp with those who are not in "thier" earth. It was a novel idea but too many problems have come about, this is dating back the Chellis' original thread, which was a first come first served but if your join date was later than someone elses your claim would be given to them, and then you had to rp the invasion, and blah and those natives never put up any good fight pfft, and then people got fed up with everything being claimed so the multiple earths came up.
The fact is, there are at any given time over 1,000 active "earth" based nations, lets say at least half are 500 million or more, that's at a minimum two hundred fifty billion people!
The fact is no Earth cant support that many people and countries, there isn't enough room resources or territory. This is one of the underlying reasons for multiple earths...
BUT the old way was much better, you either had a duplicate, rl piece of territory on one big earth like planet, lived in a seperate yet converging reality, or had a made up landmass, and everyone seemed to get along fine without them. ahh back in the summer of 03, there was no such thing as a closed rp, if someone invaded you or bombed you or tried to assinate your leader, you reacted! you didnt go "oh i ignore this invasion because of this and that and its not planned and we didnt have any previus realtions. And you didnt have 400 of your allies jump in wars randomly, and if for some reason the sides were unbalanced greatly, some nation or other would come to the aid of the weakest side and it would make for interesting rps which played out smartly and ended with a solid conclusion

[/rant] [/ramble]

ahh that feels better

Good points TPM. Honestly, those who hide behind their Earth are just n00bs.

I just look at the Earths as a way to get into RP's. Before I got into Earth II it was hard because there's an overwhelming amount of RP's and RPers already established, making it harder to find your place. An Earth does that. Plus, getting (most) of what I want is a huge plus.

Bump

I think my opinion is obvious... (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=348544) And I'm sorry, but I fail to have the slightest, tiniest bit of respect for people confusing NS with Risk, trying to prove their superior penis length by way of OMFG OCCUPYING RL TERRITORY!!!11 THEM NIGGERS R TEH UNTERMENSCHEN!!!11

Apart from that, I'm of course horribly amused by general RL nation claims, given that NS populations + economies on an RL earth mean that they eat up its resources within days, followed by all that shiny modern technology breaking down, due to a lack of such resources, throwing them back into the stoneage (And stuff they salvage from rusting cars etc).

But of course, no one RPs that particular part, for some odd reason...

Conclusion:

DON'T DO (RL) EARTH!

Retarded.

</slashdot>

Quite simply people dont like made-up landmasses to claim territory on... dunno why... but Earths can be OK so long as they are:

1) Inclusive.

2) Not used for homelands.

3) Not the be-all and end-all of II RP.

Quite simply people dont like made-up landmasses to claim territory on

Hey, my continent was pretty successful...I know it was inhumanely large, but I wanted to make sure everything was fair.

Hey, my continent was pretty successful...I know it was inhumanely large, but I wanted to make sure everything was fair.
Yeah, but that doesnt operate like an Earth... I think we need more threads like yours instead of earths/

Earths should just be used for Colonies, not homelands.

In my opinion, they vary greatly depending on how they are run, but they're all on the bad side. I don't have anything to do with them, and hence, no problems with them, but I don't like the concept at all.

There are plenty of regions that use RL landmasses, but these are not run in the same way as the earth threads are : "Here's a map of the world, now go claim away and let's roleplay based on RL earth." If that's the extent of creativity here on NS, well...it's a good thing it isn't.

Earth I might've been okay, but for the fact that everything was taken by older nations and such, so newer ones had little room to make any sort of headway into it. I suppose that as a result of this there was created Earth II. But don't you see? Earth II will get filled up, and newer nations won't have room. There will always be newer nations until NS shuts down - are we going to always have different earths unto its grave? Earths ad infinitum? Right now, there's not all that many. It's manageable. I can forsee a situation, however, where it becomes terribly confusing, especially to a newcomer who feels somehow compelled to join into an earth, because everybody else is.

As for imaginary earths...problem with that is, that's what NS is. NS involves a bunch of imaginary landmasses already, as it is. There is little to no point drawing up an imaginary landmass and saying, "Hey, let's go claim land, eh?" Unless this landmass is of such exquisite detail that would make Tolkien shudder (and Tolkien made the most detailed world that I can think of, including writing whole volumes of their history and inventing whole languages...), I'd be surprised if there was a great clamour for it.

The one type of exception I can think of to the multiple earths is different time periods. An ancient Greece roleplay, for example. Or a 1000AD roleplay. Cold War Earth is a good example of this; its purpose is not to act as another RL earth alternative, but as a medium for roleplaying during a significantly different time period/tech level. There have been Lord of the Ring roleplays, and though I've yet to see a good one the concept is certainly sound.

Earths are in my opinion useless. A roleplay into a specific time period, fine, there have, are, and will be plenty of those. The way the Earths are run for the most part leaves much to be desired; this isn't helped by the fact that they're a fad and everyone wants in. However, the ultimate end to this game is personal satisfaction, and if people can derive joy from making up a thousand Earths, claiming land, and roleplaying...fine, go ahead - who am I to stop them? If things get out of hand, however, and disputes arise and great flame wars erupt, then I think a mod should step in and terminate the earth concept altogether.

It's happened before, and if it gets worse, that's where it has to end. The object of NS is fun. If multiple earths lead eventually into arguments, it's an obstacle to that, and therefore must be rid of. For now, though, it's tolerable, at least for me.

Zoogie you are right. Earth II fills up then III, then IV, and so on and so fourth. Perhaps new Earths should only be sanctioned when one is full but then you have people claiming land on 3, 4 Earths. Right then and there it negates the idea. That's exactly why on Earth II you are on Earth II and Earth II alone.

I turned the tables on "good"

I turned the tables on "good"

Its a given that this will probably be 50-50 or somewhere around there.

Yeah, but that doesnt operate like an Earth... I think we need more threads like yours instead of earths/

It kind of does...I mean, you have nations coming in and claiming pieces of land and those areas cannot be claimed by someone else, just like on the Earths. The only difference is that no one claims RL nations like Israel and Japan, just pieces of land that suit them.

Thank you though. I should revive the thread, but I'm stuck at how to make it active again.

As for imaginary earths...problem with that is, that's what NS is. NS involves a bunch of imaginary landmasses already, as it is. There is little to no point drawing up an imaginary landmass and saying, "Hey, let's go claim land, eh?" Unless this landmass is of such exquisite detail that would make Tolkien shudder (and Tolkien made the most detailed world that I can think of, including writing whole volumes of their history and inventing whole languages...), I'd be surprised if there was a great clamour for it.

I disagree. Most people either don't want to or don't have the time to create a landmass for their country, so if someone made a landmass for them to participate in chances are people will join knowing that at least some of their work is already done for them. Plus, it provides a ready-made, visible map to use, something that greatly aids RP's.

Besides, who doesn't want more land?

I think A Modern World is more different than what is being the topic of discussion.

A Modern World, created by Dra-pol, is based on the real earth but with quite a few differences, and born out of the realization that earth can't exactly fit a trillion people. Its sort of a good thing in that its good for people who like geography and good for people who like our very strange style of RP.

Everything in moderation is a good quote for this. On one hand, it's always good to have a little bit of realism (Modern World, for example). But also, some imagination is great too, with your made up continents and the like. However, the reasons that more people don't do made up places is simple:
1. They really, really like a country, and want to RP it.
2. They are too lazy to make a map.
3. They are egotistical maniacs who want to control every territory known to man so they can be the "best" at nationstates.
Thats just my 2 cents.

1. They really, really like a country, and want to RP it.

That's what I do, though I love fantasy countries as well. There's just something about incorporating elements of Earth into a completely different place.

I want to sum up by beliefs in one paragraph:

The Earths are simulaters, like the NS World. It is not feasible, yet it is in a way. All the Earths do are give those a commonly understood border and also form a good relation trend for newer, or older, nations.

That's it. Don't take it seriously, plus it has nothing to do with masculentality (Spel?). Actually, it is a good place for imperialists *slaps wrist for giving myself off* to fight and those American Wanna-Bes invade nations that are useless to everyone and not a threat to even Ethiopia.

Alright, two paragraphs....ohh well.

I think A Modern World is more different than what is being the topic of discussion.

A Modern World, created by Dra-pol, is based on the real earth but with quite a few differences, and born out of the realization that earth can't exactly fit a trillion people. Its sort of a good thing in that its good for people who like geography and good for people who like our very strange style of RP.
A Modern World is basically a seperate RP, and I dont like it for the same reason as I dont like "Earth II" - it's devicise.

On another point, NS nations DONT exist in RL landmasses - that's clear from the populations they can support. It's a shame that people in II have lost their imaginations and are relegated to simply pretending they're actually just real nations with different names and less intelligent actions. No wonder the NS forum laughs at us.

And yet there remain people who now simply do not rp with those who are not in "thier" earth. It was a novel idea but too many problems have come about, this is dating back the Chellis' original thread, which was a first come first served but if your join date was later than someone elses your claim would be given to them, and then you had to rp the invasion, and blah and those natives never put up any good fight pfft, and then people got fed up with everything being claimed so the multiple earths came up.
The fact is, there are at any given time over 1,000 active "earth" based nations, lets say at least half are 500 million or more, that's at a minimum two hundred fifty billion people!
The fact is no Earth cant support that many people and countries, there isn't enough room resources or territory. This is one of the underlying reasons for multiple earths...
BUT the old way was much better, you either had a duplicate, rl piece of territory on one big earth like planet, lived in a seperate yet converging reality, or had a made up landmass, and everyone seemed to get along fine without them. ahh back in the summer of 03, there was no such thing as a closed rp, if someone invaded you or bombed you or tried to assinate your leader, you reacted! you didnt go "oh i ignore this invasion because of this and that and its not planned and we didnt have any previus realtions. And you didnt have 400 of your allies jump in wars randomly, and if for some reason the sides were unbalanced greatly, some nation or other would come to the aid of the weakest side and it would make for interesting rps which played out smartly and ended with a solid conclusion

[/rant] [/ramble]

ahh that feels better

Please dont spread lies about RL nation claims. Nobody has their claim given up simply because they joined earlier than a different claimer. RL nation claims acts upon the basis of single owners of land, and people have claims that contradict. I look at which one has more base. If both are completely unrelated, and one person claimed the land before the other(not being created before, claiming before), then I give the land to them, because they claimed it first. It wouldnt be fair otherwise.

I think it's completely insane. And now every day you see a new 'Earth spin-off'. Tomorrow I'm thinking of creating a 'South-East Ireland' thread...

I think my opinion is obvious... (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=348544) And I'm sorry, but I fail to have the slightest, tiniest bit of respect for people confusing NS with Risk, trying to prove their superior penis length by way of OMFG OCCUPYING RL TERRITORY!!!11 THEM NIGGERS R TEH UNTERMENSCHEN!!!11

Apart from that, I'm of course horribly amused by general RL nation claims, given that NS populations + economies on an RL earth mean that they eat up its resources within days, followed by all that shiny modern technology breaking down, due to a lack of such resources, throwing them back into the stoneage (And stuff they salvage from rusting cars etc).

But of course, no one RPs that particular part, for some odd reason...

Conclusion:

DON'T DO (RL) EARTH!

Let's see... we're on "NS Earth" and Earth III, officially. We also manage to "dimensionally multiplane" ownership of Madagascar with at least three other people, none of whom are upset by this.

In addition, we own two "imaginary continent" colonies (Sisu Pangea and Sisu Arshu) and the entire of Earth XI (we were feeling peevish that day...).

The advantage of a "real life" setting - instamaps, everyone has an idea of logistics, and it can move things along quickly. This can be a boon in war rps, or for those of us with minimal art skills.

Do I consider anyones claim of anything to be "absolutely set in stone"? Hell no. A claim exists within the RP it is in, no further unless acknowledged by the other players. Its that simple - play however you want, with whomever you want, wherever you want.

After all, isn't the point to have fun?

Blank countries are fun. That's how I made the map that is in my factbook. Every so often, I'll add a new city.

I just picked a pre-existing country because it was easy to find a blank map of it that I can customize. I don't think that there is a Pfennig of a 'Thaler City' in Australia.

All these Earths are annoying. Seriously, they just get old and annoying.

Earths should only be used for colonies. It isnt that hard to make a map - you can do it fairly easily in paint and there are plenty of people who'll make one for you. I wish people would be more imaginative...

Earths are easier for those of us who have a harder time imagining things. I like the sound of "The conquest of Italy" better than "the conquest of Farldee". Also, I, as well as everyone else, am familiar with the terrain of the Earth and don't feel like learning a new one.

Earths are easier for those of us who have a harder time imagining things. I like the sound of "The conquest of Italy" better than "the conquest of Farldee". Also, I, as well as everyone else, am familiar with the terrain of the Earth and don't feel like learning a new one.
No offense, but this really plays into the anti-multi-Earth arguement of Earthers being lazy and unimaginative. If anything, you really hurt your cause by posting that.

Again, no offense.

OH! And BUMP.