NationStates Jolt Archive

Hey everyone, I just wanted to try my hand at a help-thread, and figured this one might be good for everyone. It was probably done before but hasn't been updated or something like that. So here we go


The Art of Losing
As weird as this sounds, yes losing is an art of role play. In order to gain certain things, including respect here you have to role play pretty good, and in order to do that you are bound by NS destiny to lose. We all hate it, sometimes the consequences of losing are so great we don't want to give up, but you will have to eventually or your battleship will be sunk by the mighty I.G.N.O.R.E. cannon. But when there is no hope, here are some tips.

-Make it epic.
Everyone loves a good story, and there is nothing better then a great ending! Not only will this entertain people, but it will gain you respect here in the Nation States Community.

-Characters are more important then tech
Form a story, let the emotions of the dying overpower the tech and number wanking. In other words, develop characters; go into detail about how the populace feels and such. The more you go into it the more entertaining it is.

-Do the unexpected
When you are about to lose, do the unexpected also known as a plot twist. People always hope for a surprise in a story, and its always best to follow customer orders. Do something like surrender, form a resistance, even nuke yourself (Done that one myself, not recommended however).

Now What?
So what happens then, when your country becomes a colony or whatever there are several things you can do.
-Restart your History
Many nations have done this, however there are better alternatives. It basically means you are to start over.

-Role play the occupation
No nation in RL or in NS, will have the people fly towards the occupiers. There will be resistance, role play it. You never know you might win back your country. If this is the choice it always better to plan things out with the occupier. Find a way to contact him/her.

-Have a good old revolution. Similiar to a resistance movement, the revolution however would take time to occur and organize. This would also include contacting the invading nation on instant messaging asa good ide.

-Develop a way to free your nation, such as a 10 year treaty that will allow you to be a free nation in ten NS years of course if the occupying nation fails to comply with that after "signing" the treaty go to the last two ideas.

Continue to role play
Sure you’ve been taken control of but there are plenty of things you can do. Such as
-Role play like a protectorate, these are nations that are basically self governed colonies. They pay tribute and are the property of the occupying nation. This is though very limiting

-Create a new nation. Some nations do this, but most always have a back-up

-Develop an interesting plot line with the occupying nation. Say something along the lines of the breaking of the former leader, war trials, and stuff like that

Helpful tips on what not to do
-When you lose you lose, there is no denying that. Don’t go back in time, or try god modling your way out of it.
-Don’t get noobish, and launch thousands of nooks at the invading country.
-However don’t just give up, follow the tips and advice displayed here.
-Don’t go tech wanking and expect to win, same thing with dog piling and number wanking. I’ve seen a hundred million pop. take on a coalition that numbered 10 times it’s size.
-

Comments? Suggestions?

Losing is just as fun as winning; I had a really great loss at the Battle of Tenetia; my fleet wiped out, my ground forces epicly decimated; my final blows being catastrophic ones :P
I was happy that I took so many with me ;) But it sets you up to be bitter and stew somewhere awaiting revenge :P

Good point and is another reason I created this thread.

Why? To encourage us all to be epic little vengence fiends? ;)

If you've ever seen my factbook, you shall see that I have a very sophisticated Character system. At the same time, i've lost a few wars, but It's just that i've had so many allies, i've always beaten back my foes with support. For example, had it not been for my allies when I had a war with Ragnarok VII, I would now be occupied by them. But I always do my best to avoid war anyway. War isn't the only reason to have a nation.

I like to explore, encounter aliens and whatnot. ;)

Nice thread. I added it to my Emporium of Helpful Threads.

*beams with pride at being added* :D thanks!

bump

Defintely great advice, In other RP's (I'm a total newb to NS, so I can't really talk about it on this...) The death of a charcter, or the loss of a fight can add a really interesting dimention to a story, I's usually worth the loss, and besides, nobody likes a god-modder!

Good thread, good idea :)

thanks!:)

bump

OOC:

*points to Neo Tyr*

We (that is, the FKC) razed his capital, killed millions, dismembered much of his military, enslaved some of his population, occupy his land, etc...and so by every conceivable definition his country "lost". Yet, he is still not only alive but he is roleplaying the resistance quite well.

The Klatch arises in anger: Invasion of Neo Tyr (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=372027)

*Tag*

OOC: When I first started rping, there was a 5mil nation who was doing a nice little rp about a revolt against the ruler in his country. I decided to be nice, put down the revolt, and make myself a friend. I think we got a few comments from older players along the lines of "Aww, cute". Sadly, Generic Empire (Then with a massive population of 14milllion) came in and bashed about my expeditionary force. I reinforced, only to discover just how comitted GE was to winning this - also one of his first rps - and got my forces thoroughly beaten up. We retreated to the capital, but apart from bombing GE's troops a bit (He got air superiority later), I couldn't do much. He smashed through the six walls of the city with artillery support, the attack led by one particularly violent Captain. They forced their way to the palace, intent upon killing the Duke, shooting the hell out of my few remaining troops on the way. Finally, they entered the Duke's bedchambers, to be confronted by the commanding officer of my forces. Alone. The Duke had been extracted early in the conflict, and GE's gallant Captain was challenged to a duel by the Brigadier. After a bit of swordplay, the young meathead got a bellyfull of steel, and my CO detonated the fourteen strategically placed C4 blocks within the palace. Now THAT was a cool ending. I loved every minute of it, even though I lost horribly.

*Tag*

There is also the "win the battle and lose the war" loss, or the "gain everything I want - you keep the problems" loss...

Vastiva, that is what's called a 'Pyrhic Victory.' Not the kind of victory that you want. :p

A very useful thread.

Indeed. Numbers can be re-pulled out of one's ass in a moment, an excellent character cannot. I try to RP small, and make everything like a character, so killing it always has an impact on my people.

Of course, character RP'ing has always been one of my strong points.