NationStates Jolt Archive

As the thread title says...
I'm looking for basic information about the world of NationStates. I've read the FAQ, with no luck. In particular, I'm looking for answers to the following questions...

Geography. Is this Earth? If not Earth, what is the general layout of the planet's geography. Is there a map anywhere other than that highly incomplete region map? How big are our countries, and is there uncolonised land they could expand into?

Politics. Are the only nations in the world those in NationStates? Are we to accept all nations as existing (even those that are obviously not interested in RP)? Who are the major players in the world, and who is allied/hostile/etc. with whom? How powerful and unified of a body is the UN?

Population. What is the average population of a nation? 5 million seems to be the smallest, but that's not particularly tiny. Many modern states have fewer. Even large states like Germany and the UK have between 50 and 100 million--I see nations here with billions of inhabbitants.

Global problems. Any world Wars, pressing ecological issues, etc. that I should know about?

Time. What is the date, approximately? It must be in the future for to have so large a population.

Technology. At what level is the world? Does the nuclear bomb still rule the battlefield? Do guns shoot bullets...magic rays...? Should I be building my imagined defence around missile defence systems, border fortifications, Star Trek-esque shield generators, (or, as I am currently planning) military-run coastal and border patrols...

Weapons tech. What is the latest and greatest in blowing stuff up, or maneuvering to a position to better blow stuff up? What doesn't work anymore due to improvements in countermeasures? (for instance, if you have discovered some sort of uber automatic rifle that'll punch through a decimeter of titanium, you're not going to see body armor or armored vehicles)

Space. What is the ability of nations here to send things into space. Have nearby spacial bodies been colonised? How far has humanity gone?

Science. Have there been any important breakthroughs?

Continuity. Does everybody go by the same standards? If I roleplay a modern nation and start throwing my weight around, am I going to have somebody try to steamrole me with their 25th century ray guns and antimatter bombs?

Connection of your rp nation with the nation you make with your decisions on issues. If I misunderstand a question and do something my character wouldn't have done, which do I roleplay? The country that answered the question the way it did, or the country I would have if I had really been there?

Rules of RP conduct, especially with regards to military size.

At the moment, I want to have a nation that is surrounded by potential enemies, has a large standing army based on compulsory active service (4 years--ages 18-21--for men, and 3 years--ages 18-20--for women) with a reserve of every able-bodied person between ages of 17 and 55. This would produce a military with a third its population able to be brought to combat readiness in a weak in the case of invasion. I'm compensating by planning to spend 18% of my GDP on the military. This is NOT undercompensation: Israel, for instance, is in a similar position to that which I want to play my nation as being in, and has a population of ~6.5 million, with all individuals being in reserve status for most of their lives, and a pool of ~2 million able-bodied men and women, trained for military service, from which to draw their military, but spends only 9% of its GDP on its military.

I don't want my nation to be unrealistically uber, but I do want it to be an unpleasant one to pick a fight with. Furthermore, I want to be expansionistic.

Other things you think are of importance. Self-explanatory.

Thanks in advance for any information or links to information.

Howdy. Welcome to NationStates.

I'm looking for basic information about the world of NationStates. I've read the FAQ, with no luck. In particular, I'm looking for answers to the following questions...
Check out the stickies in the International Incidents and NationStates forums. Everything you could ever want is in there.


Geography. Is this Earth? If not Earth, what is the general layout of the planet's geography. Is there a map anywhere other than that highly incomplete region map? How big are our countries, and is there uncolonised land they could expand into?
It's NS Earth. There is no map, I'm affraid. There are no real earth continents, but people refer to real oceans to get a sense of where you are. Some people roleplay real Earths to have a world to play in, some people ignore them. Roleplay is very open ended here. Your nation is as big as you want it to be. If you want to expand, as I said there are Earths you can get into (the threads are floating around in the International Incidents forum), you can make a puppet nation, and invade it, perhaps some players have some land you can colonize. It's up to your imagination.


Politics. Are the only nations in the world those in NationStates? Are we to accept all nations as existing (even those that are obviously not interested in RP)? Who are the major players in the world, and who is allied/hostile/etc. with whom? How powerful and unified of a body is the UN?
The only nations in the world are the different players of NationStates. You might as well accept all nations, of course, nations that do not roleplay really don't get in the way of roleplay. The UN doesn't pop up in roleplay, it is a function of the game engine.


Population. What is the average population of a nation? 5 million seems to be the smallest, but that's not particularly tiny. Many modern states have fewer. Even large states like Germany and the UK have between 50 and 100 million--I see nations here with billions of inhabbitants.
Your nation will grow at a pace of 1 million a day then 2 million etc. and will finally settle on 5-8 million per day. There is nothing you can do to effect this. It only stops if your nation is deleted.


Global problems. Any world Wars, pressing ecological issues, etc. that I should know about?
mmmm... Not really. Just check out the International Incidents forums and the NationStates forums, and you'll get a gist for what's going on.


Time. What is the date, approximately? It must be in the future for to have so large a population.
It can be what ever time you want it to be. It's best not to think of the tens of thousands of nations that have billion plus populations. How time progresses is also up to you. Some people use 1 day = 1 NS year. Some people use 1 week = 1 NS year. I use 4 days = 1 NS year. We call time "fluid", however. If you are in a roleplay, say a diplomatic dinner, and one roleplayed night takes 1 real life to do, you don't have to say the night went on for years. NS time has just slowed down for that roleplay.


Technology. At what level is the world? Does the nuclear bomb still rule the battlefield? Do guns shoot bullets...magic rays...? Should I be building my imagined defence around missile defence systems, border fortifications, Star Trek-esque shield generators, (or, as I am currently planning) military-run coastal and border patrols...
Once again, it's up to you. There are a lot of future tech nations. A lot of people are modern tech. Heck, there are probably some people running around with spears, trying to figure out the mysteries of fire. Check out the sticky on ignoring. If you don't want to roleplay with future tech, or magic bullets, you don't have to. Roleplaying is co-operative, and you don't have to be forced to play with people you'd rather not.


Weapons tech. What is the latest and greatest in blowing stuff up, or maneuvering to a position to better blow stuff up? What doesn't work anymore due to improvements in countermeasures? (for instance, if you have discovered some sort of uber automatic rifle that'll punch through a decimeter of titanium, you're not going to see body armor or armored vehicles)
People come up with some pretty unique stuff. For example, the seas have 3,000 plus foot long super dreadnaughts. Some Modern tech nations have ETC gunned tanks. As long as it's somehow realistic technology / fits in a tech level you agree with, it's usually accepted.


Space. What is the ability of nations here to send things into space. Have nearby spacial bodies been colonised? How far has humanity gone?
There are people on the moon, mars, planets they just made up. If you have an idea for a roleplay, just go for it.


Science. Have there been any important breakthroughs?
Not really. Often, there are threads started where people come up with some new scientific breakthrough.


Continuity. Does everybody go by the same standards? If I roleplay a modern nation and start throwing my weight around, am I going to have somebody try to steamrole me with their 25th century ray guns and antimatter bombs?
Again, read the sticky on ignoring. You don't have to play with people you don't want too if they have tech you don't want to play with. Of course, given the size of some nations, If you start throwing your weight around, remember some players have militaries larger then your nation.


Connection of your rp nation with the nation you make with your decisions on issues. If I misunderstand a question and do something my character wouldn't have done, which do I roleplay? The country that answered the question the way it did, or the country I would have if I had really been there?
Your answer to the question is not permanate. The way you answer issues will change your nation. The issues were just to sell a book. They are rather silly, and you have some leeway on how you roleplay your nation. That said, you probably shouldn't roleplay completely differently from how you've answered issues. When I started NationStates, I had a fairly left wing nation, with a less then steller economy, and roleplayed it that way. Now I have a leftish libertarian government with a great economy, and I'd role play it that way.


Rules of RP conduct, especially with regards to military size.
As per conduct, just play nice, and have fun. Check out the sticky in International Incidents on Godmoding for roleplay ettiquite. In regards to size, check out this (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=297064) thread and this (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=275828) thread on militaries.


At the moment, I want to have a nation that is surrounded by potential enemies, has a large standing army based on compulsory active service (4 years--ages 18-21--for men, and 3 years--ages 18-20--for women) with a reserve of every able-bodied person between ages of 17 and 55. This would produce a military with a third its population able to be brought to combat readiness in a weak in the case of invasion. I'm compensating by planning to spend 18% of my GDP on the military. This is NOT undercompensation: Israel, for instance, is in a similar position to that which I want to play my nation as being in, and has a population of ~6.5 million, with all individuals being in reserve status for most of their lives, and a pool of ~2 million able-bodied men and women, trained for military service, from which to draw their military, but spends only 9% of its GDP on its military.
You're in luck. NationStates has several players who are well versed in military matters. One of them, Clan Smoke Jaguar, has detailed how you can replicate the Israeli armed forces here (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=7289797&postcount=39), and here (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=7289820&postcount=40).


I don't want my nation to be unrealistically uber, but I do want it to be an unpleasant one to pick a fight with. Furthermore, I want to be expansionistic.
Well, as a smaller nation, you may not want to step on any toes. Look at making some alliances with other nations.

Thankyou, Tiborita. Very helpfull; I'll read the topics you suggested.

I forgot to mention--Feil is coming out of a civil war. The military is likely to shrink in size and budget as things stabalise, though it will still stay fairly large in comparison to many nations. Things aren't quite so insane as they seem.