NationStates Jolt Archive

I know that it's against the game rules to impersonate a nation by making a name that's similar to theirs. However, what's the rule for region names? I just discovered that someone has created a region bearing my exact nation name, and I've been getting messages asking if I'm leaving my home region (I'm not).

I'm not a mod, but I do have some personal experience with this subject.

I believe if the region was created for malicious purposes, or to directly impersonate you, it's against the rules. I also don't think it's illegal to make impersonation puppets, unless you are doing so to trick other players into thinking that you are actually that person (or, of course, to break other game rules with the nation). These are both things I've been told in the past.

I hope this helps. Is the region being used in a malicious way towards you, or is it possibly a coincidence?

Honestly, I have no idea whether it's malicious or not, but I wanted to get moderator clarification either way.

The only thing I *do* know is that the activities going on in the region are being attributed to me, regardless of the fact that I don't even have a puppet there, much less a contributing hand in the creation of the place, and I'm starting to get messages about things that are happening in the *region* Slackervania which I don't even know about. It's incredibly confusing and more than a little annoying, so I wanted to get a moderator ruling on what the *exact* rules are regarding creating a region using the name of an existing player.

I believe it is not against game rules to create nations which sound like other nations, provided it was not done to provoke, or if it does not break any rules. You'll need mod confirmation though.

This is one of those things that we tend to deal with on a purely case-by-case basis. If the player in question [in this case, you] wants to complain about it, we'll examine the situation and come to a conclusion based on the nation's postings and perceived intent. If we conclude that they did this to generate confusion or to defame the original user, then we'll take action. Sometimes, though, its a genuine case of two users having very similar ideas.