Neutral Ground - an Open Discussion Thread

[The Agnostic Collective]

Rach as Delegate for life? I'd support that.

[Pierconium]

Things certainly seem to have been "on hold" for quite a while now.

As an aside, have you filed a report or should I?

I know and I am sorry for that. We haven't had a good law system for a while, and writing the laws has taken an eternity due to people being very busy. We should be done by the end of this week as the Riksraadet has voted to approve the laws and now it will go to the citizens. I want this done more than anyone else and there are measures that I'm upset won't be part of it (like a NS-side portion of the (Parliament) but those are changes that can be pushed for later.

I should do it I suppose, but it kind of felt fitting considering how people seem to feel about me.

The Pacific supports your rights as Delegate to run the region as you see fit, including supporting whatever reforms you deem necessary.

[Cormac Stark]

The Pacific supports your rights as Delegate to run the region as you see fit, including supporting whatever reforms you deem necessary.

Really? Pandering to a GCR arguably even more dead than your own for relations? Good Lord.

Color me unsurprised that Balder remains a lawless, benevolent, inactive dictatorship. And they thought Osiris was bad.

[Shadoke]

Why do you hate Balder so much, Cormac?

[Luxdonia]

Oh, is it time for Balder bashing? Boo,down with the New Balder Order and Empress Rach.

[Shadoke]

Why? I won't support that mob mentality unless there is a reason behind it. Cormac seems to dislike certian balderites, and it seemingly shows in his comments as personnel, not for any particularly acceptable reason. This is frankly hypocritical coming from a player seemingly against toxicity in the game.

[Cormac Stark]

Why do you hate Balder so much, Cormac?

I quite like several people in Balder (several of whom probably don't like me, but c'est la vie). I strongly disagree with the current direction of Balder, in that it has become Rach's sandbox. Once upon a time, it was one of the most democratic, stable, and active of the Sinkers. It is being held back from that now for what appears to be ego.

[RiderSyl]

The amount of paragraphs of debating about pointless ideology wars is too damn high!

Also, careful expressing an opinion there, Cormac. It might count as spam or something.

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

The amount of paragraphs of debating about pointless ideology wars is too damn high!

Also, careful expressing an opinion there, Cormac. It might count as spam or something.

To be straightforward: We get it, you disagree with a few moderation decision. Does it really have to be the punchline of every other post, though? It gets old fast.

[Consular]

"Something something I hate mods." Yeah we get it Syl.

> Solorni uses fishing for sympathy
> It's super effective!

[Benevolent Thomas]

"Something something I hate mods." Yeah we get it Syl.

> Solorni uses fishing for sympathy
> It's super effective!

You're just trying to make me fall in love with you, aren't ya?

[Drop Your Pants]

I quite like several people in Balder (several of whom probably don't like me, but c'est la vie). I strongly disagree with the current direction of Balder, in that it has become Rach's sandbox. Once upon a time, it was one of the most democratic, stable, and active of the Sinkers. It is being held back from that now for what appears to be ego.

I find myself in that weird position of agreeing with everything Cormac said

[Pierconium]

The Pacific supports your rights as Delegate to run the region as you see fit, including supporting whatever reforms you deem necessary.

Really? Pandering to a GCR arguably even more dead than your own for relations? Good Lord.

Color me unsurprised that Balder remains a lawless, benevolent, inactive dictatorship. And they thought Osiris was bad.

We already have good relations with Balder.

As to the rest of your drivel, the Pacific is far from dead, unlike your political aspirations in most places.

[Shadoke]

Why do you hate Balder so much, Cormac?

I quite like several people in Balder (several of whom probably don't like me, but c'est la vie). I strongly disagree with the current direction of Balder, in that it has become Rach's sandbox. Once upon a time, it was one of the most democratic, stable, and active of the Sinkers. It is being held back from that now for what appears to be ego.

Ok, if Balder didnt want Rach, why arent they fighting her? And why don't you do something instead of uncivilly attacking her on the forum?

[Pollaetorian]

I get my RL news from Balder's forum tbh. Thanks for the guys who regularly post articles there.

[Solorni]

The Pacific supports your rights as Delegate to run the region as you see fit, including supporting whatever reforms you deem necessary.

Really? Pandering to a GCR arguably even more dead than your own for relations? Good Lord.

Color me unsurprised that Balder remains a lawless, benevolent, inactive dictatorship. And they thought Osiris was bad.

We're not lawless nor a dictatorship nor inactive. Well, not that active from our standpoint but there are a few regions that would die for our activity and I'm not sure what your claims about us being inactive says about them. I don't mean to try to lecture you (or quote wikipedia!), but:

"Dictatorship is a form of government where political authority is monopolized by a person (dictator) or political entity, and exercised through various mechanisms to ensure the entity's power remains strong.[1][2]

A dictatorship is a type of authoritarianism, in which politicians regulate nearly every aspect of the public and private behavior of normal people. Dictatorships and totalitarianism generally employ political propaganda to decrease the influence of proponents of alternative governing systems, as is the nature of nationalism of any governing system."
Firstly, political authority is not monopolized by me and I am trying to give up the remaining executive power I have. This is in stark contrast to the first bit. Secondly, as has been stated by yourself in "benevolence", we don't attempt to regulate aspects of public and private behaviour. In fact, Balder has been known, albeit sometimes disparagingly by regions that regulate behaviour far more as being more of a "cesspool" (direct quote) for allowing people to post nearly whatever they want as long as it is within the ToS. Balder prides itself on rarely resorting to moderator actions and punishments as we believe that effective community is nearly run by itself.

[Petyr]

Being more active than some regions that have to recruit to get new members is a pretty low bar for success for a permanent region. Would you deny Balder is the least active of the permanent regions?

Having said that, not sure why everyone is so obsessed with the inner workings of Balder and The Pacific. There are already some really similar democratic permanent regions. If someone wants to join a region like that there are many options. So what if The Pacific and Balder are less active; if there is a market for monarchist or dictatorial permanent regions then it is better to have a couple around to serve that group. There is plenty of regions for those that want to do it your way, no one is missing an opportunity to play as a permanent region politician for lack of opportunity would you not agree?

Perhaps I'm not thinking about it the right way, just the way I look at it.

[Drop Your Pants]

Who's this? ^

[Luxdonia]

Who's this ^


Really, does every new nation posting in Gameplay have to be questioned because they are not one of the old crew. You wouldn't find that in II.

[Valrifell]

Who's this? ^

Who's this ^


Really, does every new nation posting in Gameplay have to be questioned because they are not one of the old crew. You wouldn't find that in II.

Ugh, they really should. The place can be absolutely terrible from time to time. I, for one, can't stand the amount of one-liner OPs that spawn hourly and are maintained regularly with equally-cringe worthy one-liners. Though they do have the capacity to make some interesting stories. Still, NS and P2TM are the superior subforums in terms of RP.

[Tano]

Who's this ^


Really, does every new nation posting in Gameplay have to be questioned because they are not one of the old crew. You wouldn't find that in II.

Yes they do have to be questioned.

[Valrifell]

Who's this ^


Really, does every new nation posting in Gameplay have to be questioned because they are not one of the old crew. You wouldn't find that in II.

Yes they do have to be questioned.

They could be trying to corrupt the Senate forums with their Communist beliefs n00bism! All nations are guilty until proven innocent by the NS Committee of Un-GP Actions.

[Drop Your Pants]

Who's this ^


Really, does every new nation posting in Gameplay have to be questioned because they are not one of the old crew. You wouldn't find that in II.

Was only wondering since its a common mistake to forget to logout of a puppet before posting with your main.

[Petyr]

Who's this ^


Really, does every new nation posting in Gameplay have to be questioned because they are not one of the old crew. You wouldn't find that in II.

Was only wondering since its a common mistake to forget to logout of a puppet before posting with your main.

No, Petyr is my main.

[Cormac Stark]

We're not lawless nor a dictatorship nor inactive. Well, not that active from our standpoint but there are a few regions that would die for our activity and I'm not sure what your claims about us being inactive says about them.

Balder has laws currently in force, then? Which ones? Regarding your activity, there is no question that Balder is far less active than at most other points in its history, and also no question that it is one of the least active among its fellow Feeders and Sinkers. Even the NPO appears to be more active at the moment.

I don't mean to try to lecture you (or quote wikipedia!), but:

"Dictatorship is a form of government where political authority is monopolized by a person (dictator) or political entity, and exercised through various mechanisms to ensure the entity's power remains strong.[1][2]

A dictatorship is a type of authoritarianism, in which politicians regulate nearly every aspect of the public and private behavior of normal people. Dictatorships and totalitarianism generally employ political propaganda to decrease the influence of proponents of alternative governing systems, as is the nature of nationalism of any governing system."
Firstly, political authority is not monopolized by me and I am trying to give up the remaining executive power I have. This is in stark contrast to the first bit. Secondly, as has been stated by yourself in "benevolence", we don't attempt to regulate aspects of public and private behaviour. In fact, Balder has been known, albeit sometimes disparagingly by regions that regulate behaviour far more as being more of a "cesspool" (direct quote) for allowing people to post nearly whatever they want as long as it is within the ToS. Balder prides itself on rarely resorting to moderator actions and punishments as we believe that effective community is nearly run by itself.

I meant that Balder is currently an autocracy, and it is -- you currently hold all of the power, even if you are trying to change that. I would also question how hard you're trying to change that given that it's been months since you announced that there would be sweeping changes to Balder's political system and none of them have yet materialized. That said, I know you're only one person, albeit the person in charge, so I'm not saying the state of Balder is solely your fault. The entire community, or what's left of it, seems far too comfortable with the status quo.

What you should do is give Solorni to me. The status quo will disappear within a week and Balder will be back on the path to activity and relevance.

In all seriousness, though, let's not quibble about various terms and get bogged down in arguments over semantics. My point is that the current state of Balder is a shadow of its former self, and that it's sad to see the region in such a state because both you and the rest of the community are not doing enough to get it back on track. You're not going to want to hear this, but it's time for you to step aside and let someone else have the Delegacy, someone active who has either never had it before or who would return to leadership of the region with enthusiasm and renewed energy. You've done great service to Balder in the past but you are doing neither Balder nor yourself any service with this stagnation and fear of what will happen if someone else is put in charge. Even a coup would be better than the status quo.