NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Don't post here just yet, at least until the Appendix is up.
This is something I've made up a while ago, and I've decided to see what you think of it. There will be some references to TKoE, which is the region I'm in, so either replace with your own region or just ignore. I will change it later to remove this.


The following is a guide to help new NationStates players and those who are new to playing with a modern-tech nation. This guide offers pointers on how to start playing within the community, and how to get the best out of your time on NS. The guide will help you with developing your nation in terms of the NationStates world, and also in developing your posting skills, getting used to the lingo of NS, and some of the coding used on the forums.

Contents

Chapter 1 - You've got a nation - now what?
Chapter 2 - Getting more invloved in NationStates
Chapter 3 - Further delving in to the NS world
Chapter 4 - Forums, and how to use them
Appendix

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Chapter 1
You've got a nation - now what?

Either your new to NationStates, or you have recently started a modern-tech nation and need some help. Anyway, your probably going to need some of these pointers in or form or another.

First things first - I've already mentioned modern-tech several times already, and there's a good reason for it. In NationStates (or NS for short) there are several different technology levels that people play as - the majority play at modern-tech and most of the remainder play at future-tech. However, some people play at fantasy-tech or near future-tech. These are all described below.

Modern-tech
Most of those playing NS play at modern-tech since that's the easiest for people to relate, because it all revolves around the present day. This period stretches until around the years 2008/2010 and also includes pretty much anything that is used today, or is possible in the very near future. So, if it's in use today or in development today, it's modern tech.

Future-tech
The rest of the NS community play at this level. This is in the very far future and invloves stuff that is impossible today and possibly not even in our own future. A good way to think about Future-Tech would be to watch Star Trek, Star Wars, Stargate, Babylon 5 programs. Other TV programs and books are used as well, though the majority use these.

Fantasy and Near Future-tech
Fantasy is just that - wizards, magic, fantastical creatures, mixed in with bows, swords, etc... There are very few nations that play with this level. Near Future-tech nations are half-way between Modern and Future-Tech, and so have a wierd blend of both sides.

For the rest of this guide though, we'll be dealing with Modern-tech, as this is the level that the New Commonwealth, and a good majority of the NationStates world, plays at.

Your Region
If your reading this, then you've already made some decisions in NS - answered to some of the Issues, looked at your region, and possibly entered the NS forums. Either way, you've made the decision to move your nation to our region or are considering our region, The Kingdom of Elendor.

The region in NS is a collection of like minded nations living in close proximity to each other that are bound by an alliance or regional government - a bit like the continents in the present world. In the The Kingdom of Elendor (TKoE for short) we allow any nations that wish to join, to join, so you'll be mixing with nations whose governments are different that yours, though this doesn't get in the way of co-operation between nations.

TKoE is highly organised by the few members that are active, consisting of a Regional Council. We all came from various regions initially, but are all united now as a new region.

On the region page, you will see the Regional Factbook - a description about the region and other important information such as the forum address - if the region has one; the name of the regional founder - the nation that created the region; the UN Delegate's name - see later for more information; the top ten nations for the current UN report on the region - most of the time it's a bit of fun; and the Civil Headquarters - where general chat goes on between members of the region.

Issues
Theses are propsals given to your by your government that are brought up by various happenings in your nation. Within the game, these are randomly given to you, and so will not be based on your current activities.

Issues help mould your nation into what you want it to be and effect things like your economy, civil rights, and political freedoms. If you don't answer issues, your nation will most likely never change. Please note that issues do not effect how your nation grows and do not effect population - so, if you stop answering issues, your nation wil still grow. If you want to see what an issue will do, you should stop into the Got Issues? (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=1232) forum in NationStates.

If you want to create an issue and sumbit it to the moderators, you must have at least 500 million people in your nation. If they like your issue, it will be coded into the game and people will start recieving it.

Telegrams
The telegram system is simply an inbuilt message system within NS that allows instantaneous transmision of your message to your taget, without anyone else knowing what you said. Telegrams are commonly called TGs in NationStates.

The UN (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=un)
This is the NS version of the UN today - every so often, in the UN section of NS there will be a new proposal for you to vote on. Beware that these proposals are a bit like Issues in that they change the Economy, Civil Rights and Political Freedoms of your nation. If you don't want your nation to, you don't need to join the UN - it's optional.

To join the UN you will need an email address so that a confirmation email can be sent. You can only have one nation in the UN operating off of one IP address. Even if it's your brother's nation or whatever, if the mods see that there are multiple UN nations off of one IP, they'll kick all the nations out of the UN and they may even delete your nation.

One of the perks of being in the UN is that you can be endorsed by other UN nations and you can become the regional UN delegate. Once you get 2 endorsements, you can create your own proposals, the same sort of way you can make your own Issues. For more on UN proposals, stop into the United Nations (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=1225) in NationStates.

If you have the majority of the UN endorsements in the region your currently in, then you will be made the UN Delegate. In most regions, the UN Delegate has the same powers as the Founder in ther region, and so can eject nations from the region, ban nations from entering the region, put a password on the region, and even change the Factbook that appears at the top of the region's page.

However, in some regions - like TKoE - the UN Delegate's powers have been locked out by the founder. This means that the UN Delegate is just another nation without any power over the regional controls. The reason for that is because groups of nations go around regions and elect their own UN Delegate and "conquer" the region. Some groups eject all the nations of a region and "crash" it - which, although it is illegal, is an all too common practice.

The World (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/page=world)
This shows the top ten nations in the entire NS world for the current UN report, similar to the regional one. It is also the place where you can search for a specific region or nation.

Chapter 2
Getting more involved in NationStates

Okay, so you've got used to the various buttons on the NS site - now to the forums. Before you reply to any of the threads and get 'IGNORED' or labeled a 'n00b', read a few of the threads - especially the stickies - and immerse yourself in the style of writing required by the majority of the players in NS. Once you reckon you have the idea, get stuck in, but try to get into RP's without lots of big players - they'll just ignore you most of the time, and your game will be soured.

If your very new to the RPing game, then just send a message to a fairly old nation, and ask them if they would help you to grow your RP skills. If they say no, then just keep asking and someone will help you. Another good idea would be to get involved in an RP here on the TKoE forum or ask someone to teach you how to RP properly. Someone would be more than happy to help you out.

Forum Etiquette
When RPing, try not to use one word/one sentence replys - these don't add anything to the RP and just serve to annoy the other players. If your going to reply, then think about what your going to write, and then do it - fleshing it out with descriptive sections too. Just a couple of things - break up long sections by splitting it into paragraphs, seperated by one line; and try to keep it readable, so no 5000 word essays in one post, as the majority will just skip it after the first few lines.

DO NOT under any circumstances use 1337 speak - things like: PH34R M1 1337 N3KK1|) SK1LLZ!! Its not clever, and unless its in jest most other players will IGNORE you and laugh at you.

Always make sure that your spelling and grammar are correct. This ensures that the other players know exactly what you mean, and don't have to decypher the bad spelling, grammar and other things like using all capitals. It's a good idea to send your post through Microsoft Word and run a spelling check on it.

The IGNORE
If you are getting really stupid during an RP, or are just irratating another player for no reason, most nations will refuse to RP with you and fire IGNORE cannons at you. This is simply the NS way of saying that from now on, unless you prove yourself to be better, they will ignore all posts by you and will not react to you and anything you RP will have no effect on their nation at all - YOU DO NOT WANT THIS! IT IS THE WORST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN IN AN RP! Everyone will have more respect for someone who loses fair and square than someone that acts crazy in order to win.

If you truly do not know why people have IGNORED you, just ask either in the thread, or by a TG, for them to explain why they IGNORED you - people are generally willing to explain the errors of your way.

If you do get IGNORED by someone, don't get discouraged - it's happened to the best of us. You should probably look around for someone who's willing to help you with your RPs. Don't be ashamed to ask for help from someone.

RPing an attack
If you plan on RPing an attack on someone, and your joining in on an active thread, just RP sending a message to the leader of the side you wish to join, and then wait for a reply. Once they agree, RP your forces joining and then RP the fighting.

If you plan on launching a first strike offensive, then you need to get your targets permission to attack - otherwise you will most likely be IGNORED. This is especcially important if you are RPing a terrorist network or RPing an assination of a government member. Once you have permission from your target, then carry on as normal. People will appreicate it if you give them a heads up if you're going to do something big to their nation.

Your Military
To RP attacks you'll need a military - you need to plan this ahead of any RP you'll be participating in, as your military can change depending on certain variables, such as population size, economy, defense budget, etc...

Generally the military is below 5% of your population for a small, new nation. Once you reach around 500mil population, the percentage of your military should begin to drop to around 1-2% of your population. This is a guidline, and nations that are highly militaristic should have a higher percentage, and more peace loving nations should have a lower percentage. But under no circumstances should your entire military be more than 7% of your population as you'll probably be IGNORED.

As a new nation you will have NO access to nuclear weapons. Up until you reach 100mil population, your resources will not be able to support the research and maintenance of nukes, so don't even think about it at this stage.

For you vehicles for your military there are several routes you can take: use current technology and vehicles as yours; design your own vehicles; buy stuff from another storefront. I will explain these below:

Using current technology
Just look at some of the websites on the internet for specifications and costs of various vehicles in real life. A few useful websites are listed in the Appendix.

Designing your own
This is for those with a more creative edge. This is generally the hardest route as you have to compare your stuff with others to ensure that the cost for the vehicle is correct and not overly cheap/expensive. Those that take this route generally make their own storefront too, so check out Chapter 3 for more information.

Buying from a storefront
This is the easiest route, as all you have to do is go to a storefront and order a collection of vehicles from them. Make sure you know what your budget is beforehand, and make sure to tell them if you've got a large order, or again you'll be IGNORED. Most storefronts will allow for payment over a couple of NS years.

NS Timeline
In NS, time flys by, literally. As the population of your nation increases much more quickly than in RL, most players adopt the 1RL day = 1NS year. This helps with keeping to your budget, and gets things done quickly. With this sort of timeline, most nations do not keep track of which year their in - they stay in a permament state of one year. There is also a timeline where 1RL day = 1NS month, 1RL month = 1NS year

As conditions change, players use different timelines to aid their RPing - for instance if your RPing a hostage situation, one RL day is not going to equal one NS year; more likely you'll just RP as you get on, and keep it going until the end, at which point maybe one week RL has passed, but in RP terms only a few days have gone by.

Chapter 3
Further delving in to the NS world

Now you have the jist of how to play well in NS, the following is a few pointers on the more advanced parts of playing NS.

Designing your own vehicles
Generally, when you create your own vehicle or piece of equipment, it should have some sort of roots in a RL vehicle or piece of equipment. This is especially important when making your first few designs, as at this point you won't have much idea of whats right, and whats wrong.

There are certain limits for various vehicles, that if exceeded will render you design inoperable, or will draw fire from IGNORE cannons. If in doubt, ask someone with a storefront to look at your designs, and make sure their realistic. Also, you can post your design up in the Research section here in the TKoE forums where someone will evaluate it and offer some suggestions. TKoE has a few members that are truly geniuses when it comes to this sort of thing.

Using the RL equipment as a guide, you can increase some of the stats on it but don't do it by stupid amounts. This is based off of common sense - don't take a Mach 1.2 aircraft, and then make it capable of Mach 4 speeds. Same thing goes with ships, you can't have an aircraf carrier zoom along the ocean like a speedboat.

Storefronts
When you create your own storefront, you'll probably only have a couple of designs ready to put in - don't worry, you'll soon create more to add since it's an ongoing process. When trying to work out the pricing of your designs, try and compare it with a RL version, or one that someone has created in NS. Then add or subtract from that price depending on whether your design has more or less features.

You can put your storefront in the NS forums, typically the Internation Incidents forum, where it will get a fair amount of attention. Another good place to put your storefront is in the International Mall (http://s6.invisionfree.com/International_Mall/index.php). You can also put it up in the Bazar here. Wherever you put it though - ensure that you have a good structure, as this will keep people coming, and most importantly, USE PICTURES! This is very important as people are drawn towards something with a picture, over a 100% written storefront. Most people use RL pictures but some artistic people do design their own pictures.

Region Crashing
You may of heard this term around NS. It refers to nations that make war within the NS site, without going into the forums. What they do is become members of the UN, then move to the target region. Once there they all place their endorsments with their allocated delegate. They will then attempt to become the UN Delegate for that region and claim it for themselves.

However, some people will become delegate and will eject all the native nations and put up a password and let the region die. That is called griefing and is outlawed by the moderators and WILL get your nation deleted.

Alliances
In NS, there are hundreds of alliances that nations can join. Some have strict membership entry guidelines, while others will allow anyone to join. There are several large alliances that have hundreds of members while others only have a few nations in them. Generally, people join these alliances to have something more to put in their signatures, but some do join them with express purpose of helping others.

While joining an alliance may be prudent at the beginning to prevent being attacked by a larger nation and being beaten, once you get larger, you'll find that allies won't help you, or you get dragged into wars that you have no real purpose other than to leand military support. You need to be careful about who you ally with and who you become enemies with.

Chapter 4
Forums, and how to use them

The forums for NS and the NC use the same basic coding for various effects on the words like italics, underlining, bold etc. Below, I shall list the main coding tags you will most likely need at some point.

Bold
The coding for this is simple: simply put the word needing to be made bold between the following tags, removing the spaces withing the square brackets:

text
Bold text

Italics
Again the coding is very simple, so just follow the instructions for bold writing:

text
Italic text

Underlining
I think you should have caught on by now, but here:

text
Underlined text

Images
Right, now for inserting pictures. Simply follow the previous instructions, but between the tags put the url of the pictures address on the internet:

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/phoenixius.jpg
http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/phoenixius.jpg

Url links
Okay, now for putting in url address links. Again, same procedure as for images:

http://www.nationstates.net
http://www.nationstates.net/

Url links on a word
Right, if you want a link to be on a word, rather than on the address, then use the following tags, except put the address after the =, and the word between the tags:

NationStates (http://www.nationstates.net/)
NationStates (http://www.nationstates.net/)

Color
If you want color, then use the same procedure, with the following tags. After the =, you can place the name of a colour, or the colour's number, and it will colour the word for you:

Colored text
Colored text

Changing the size
You can also change the size of the text, by again using the following tags. After the =, you may place a number from 1 upwards:

Size 4 text
Size 4 text

Quotes
You can quote others, and is really useful for when you are refering to a iece of text that happened earlier in the thread. Same procedure as always:

text
Hello

Alignment
You can also change where you want your text to appear on the screen. After the = you can add left, right, or center.

Text
Text

Subscripts and Superscripts

Hello Again
Hello Again

Code
If you notice above, you can see the bbCode when it's inside of the code box. In RPs, nations tend to put secret messages inside of the code box but it's really used when posting code and you don't want it screwed up.

Welcome to The Kingdom of Elendor

Linking tags
You can link tags so that you can get a word, both underlined, italiced and bold. Just use the same procedure as always, but put mulitple tags around the word - remember to keep the tags in the same order:

text

Emoticons
Emoticons, also known as smilies, are used to dispay emotion and feeling on the forums. Here on the TKoE forums, you'll see a box with available smilies when ever you reply or create a new thread. On the NS forum, you'll need to input them by hand. You can find a list of them here, [clicky, clicky] (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/misc.php?s=&action=faq)

Appendix

Terms
Below is a list of the more commonly used terms used in NS, and its various player-made forums. They are listed in alphabetical order for ease of use:

Active - These are nations that are on the forums frequently
BUMP - Bring Up My Post. It is commonly used to bring a thread up to the top of the forum, so that players will see it when they enter the forum section. It's needed as with the large number of players, threads are constantly dropping
FT - Future Tech - just a short hand way of writing it.
IC: - This is a term meaning 'In Character'. It is used after the OOC: part is finished to indicate that the following text is part of the RP
I.I. or II - International Incidents. Refers to the NS foum of the same name
Inactive - These are nations that haven't logged in for a long time
Mods - They are the people who enforce game rules.
MT - Modern Tech - just a short hand way of writing it.
NS - NationStates. The game you are currently playing
OOC: - This is a term meaning 'Out Of Character'. It is used to indicate a section of text that is giving information that other players need to know, but within the RP only the writing player knows this information
RP - Role-Playing. This is what we all do when we enter into a thread and post a reply thats in the context of the story.


Useful websites
Below are some websites you may find useful for various reasons:

Global Security (http://www.globalsecurity.org/) - A website that holds information on most RL military vehicles
Above Top Secret (http://www.abovetopsecret.com/) - A website that deals with possible secret governmental projects
Guide to NS (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=357975) - A guide inside the NS forums
What is Godmoding (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=274470) - Describing all about Godmoding
Guide to Terrorism (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366018) - A guide to RPing terrorism