Things About Gameplay | New Musical "Into the Forums"

[We Are Not the NSA]

From what I understand the Defenders used to be the dominant faction, however the rise of groups like The Black Riders who simply spammed raids on miniscule regions kinda drowned them out until they just gave up.
Then again, I am not a Gameplayer, so I am not the most reliable source.

TBR destroyed my original region consisting of literally me and nobody else. That's just a sad excuse for a "raid", and it makes me suspicious e'ermore of the numbers boasted by raider regions.

Basically, yeah. Plenty of raids of miniscule and worthless regions.

Can you define "destroyed"? You were most likely tag raided.

[Vrolondia]

1 Thing:

Defenders are far outnumbered by Raiders.
Defenders rarely win.

When will this game end up in a time where defenders win at relatively the same frequency as raiders?
I'm thinking: never. It'll probably take up too much time to recode the various conditions that have to do with WA Delegates to let Defenders have a fighting chance.

Right now, regions are regularly being taken over by raiders. They aren't regularly being defended. The most is a liberation. Nothing more.
I guess we should "Let NationStates 'be' and just make do with raiders" for now - possibly forever. Who knows?

I won't be surprised if this thread sinks to oblivion.

From what I understand the Defenders used to be the dominant faction, however the rise of groups like The Black Riders who simply spammed raids on miniscule regions kinda drowned them out until they just gave up.
Then again, I am not a Gameplayer, so I am not the most reliable source.

Actually, what killed Defenders was the use of illegal scripts by regions like The Black Riders, DEN, and their cross members in the other raiders orgs. The illegal scripts made it not only impossible to defend against due to the unfair advantage, but just not fun either. Eventually we all realized that there's no point playing a game against a cheating opponent, and it was obvious they were cheating, and the mods only got involved this year when it's been in circulation since 09. Killed morale for the defenders, defending became unfun, unfair, and almost impossible.

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

From what I understand the Defenders used to be the dominant faction, however the rise of groups like The Black Riders who simply spammed raids on miniscule regions kinda drowned them out until they just gave up.
Then again, I am not a Gameplayer, so I am not the most reliable source.

Actually, what killed Defenders was the use of illegal scripts by regions like The Black Riders, DEN, and their cross members in the other raiders orgs. The illegal scripts made it not only impossible to defend against due to the unfair advantage, but just not fun either. Eventually we all realized that there's no point playing a game against a cheating opponent, and it was obvious they were cheating, and the mods only got involved this year when it's been in circulation since 09. Killed morale for the defenders, defending became unfun, unfair, and almost impossible.

/le sigh

You can argue scripts, sure. However, it's been patently proven since early 20xx testing that the accuracy benefit gained by the illegal nature of Predator was at best 1-2 seconds, and minimally advantageous in practice. The increase in defensive stops since then is not due to the absence of illegal timing, but to a decrease in WA mobile raiders, an increase in active defenders, and the absence of predator's other, entirely legal function - an automated target-finder for tagging, that used a series of selection methods to churn out well-spaced targets for tag runs on the fly. Fun fact, that's a feature that Aurum plans to eventually bring back as a 20xx update, but hasn't gotten around to taking from mock code to real code yet.

Nice revisionist history though.

[Kshrlmnt]

Actually, what killed Defenders was the use of illegal scripts by regions like The Black Riders, DEN, and their cross members in the other raiders orgs. The illegal scripts made it not only impossible to defend against due to the unfair advantage, but just not fun either. Eventually we all realized that there's no point playing a game against a cheating opponent, and it was obvious they were cheating, and the mods only got involved this year when it's been in circulation since 09. Killed morale for the defenders, defending became unfun, unfair, and almost impossible.

I could be wrong, as I wasn't actually in any of those organizations, but as leader of another raiding region I did get copies of one or two of Halc's pre-script tools to play with the API. That was in 2010 or 2011, so I doubt Predator was a thing before 2012 or so.

Also, while you've got a point about tagging (I'd get fed up dealing with it, too), a number of us have always preferred to pull off larger raids and hold them, which is something that defenders pretty often do have a fighting chance at beating us in, either by preventing us from getting it or by taking it back from us after. I still fondly remember getting chased by Wordy and hiding my stealths from Fratt. From what I can tell, both these types of raids and the types of defenders who fight them are doing much better these days.

[Atagait Denral]

Actually, what killed Defenders was the use of illegal scripts by regions like The Black Riders, DEN, and their cross members in the other raiders orgs. The illegal scripts made it not only impossible to defend against due to the unfair advantage, but just not fun either. Eventually we all realized that there's no point playing a game against a cheating opponent, and it was obvious they were cheating, and the mods only got involved this year when it's been in circulation since 09. Killed morale for the defenders, defending became unfun, unfair, and almost impossible.

I made a completely legal and open source tool (linked in my sig) that was verified by at least 4 separate people. And before the update order was shuffled around, it was just as accurate as predator. The 'illegal scripts and cheating are all that make raiders good' myth has been stale since it started, and has always been laughably untrue, because a manual trigger can hit a region just as tight.

If you want to say that our scripts are demoralizing you, then I'll complain just as loudly that the NSA page, that the site provides and has no obligation to provide the source code to, is a tool that effortlessly allows defenders to beat raids.

EDIT: Did I mention that your fancy NSA page gets no delay, and our tools get a 28 second delay?

[Ballotonia]

That was never possible. No web browser holds more than one of the same session cookie at a time, full stop. If you need to be logged into multiple nations at once, you have to use multiple profiles or browsers, or use custom software instead of a web browser.

That's simply not true, I remember this quite clearly. It's how I was able to WA/UN clear so quickly, because all I needed to do was apply, close tab, apply, close tab, etc.

I don't exactly remember when the change came about, but at some point that became impossible. But don't say it never happened, Eluvatar, because I did it and I know I'm not mis-remembering it.

Let me clarify / correct a bit on what Elu is saying.

It is not possible to be fully logged into the game with multiple nations at the same time. However, over time the game has handled maintaining a login differently. As a result it may have been possible at some time to perform certain actions as if one was still logged in as the 'prior' nation one used to be logged in as, and then your scenario would've worked for a limited number of specific actions. But you would've run into problems if you for instance tried to endorse a nation using such a 'prior login'. Since I'm guessing you always closed the window after applying UN/WA, and then logged into it again using the Join WA link, your session would've been reset and you'd be nicely logged into the newly WA/UN member nation.

But, that's not how it's supposed to work. Over time we've become more strict on how we maintain logins, and then odd usecases like these stop working. That's intentional.

Ballotonia

[Eluvatar]

Actually, what killed Defenders was the use of illegal scripts by regions like The Black Riders, DEN, and their cross members in the other raiders orgs. The illegal scripts made it not only impossible to defend against due to the unfair advantage, but just not fun either. Eventually we all realized that there's no point playing a game against a cheating opponent, and it was obvious they were cheating, and the mods only got involved this year when it's been in circulation since 09. Killed morale for the defenders, defending became unfun, unfair, and almost impossible.

I made a completely legal and open source tool (linked in my sig) that was verified by at least 4 separate people. And before the update order was shuffled around, it was just as accurate as predator. The 'illegal scripts and cheating are all that make raiders good' myth has been stale since it started, and has always been laughably untrue, because a manual trigger can hit a region just as tight.

If you want to say that our scripts are demoralizing you, then I'll complain just as loudly that the NSA page, that the site provides and has no obligation to provide the source code to, is a tool that effortlessly allows defenders to beat raids.

EDIT: Did I mention that your fancy NSA page gets no delay, and our tools get a 28 second delay?

Without commenting on whether illegal or legal script use significantly impacted people's interest in or willingness to defend[ing], I feel I need to note some facts regarding Predator/Update tool.

Predator/Update tool avoided the 28 second delay in the API by effectively scraping the Activity (NationStates Activity) page. It did this much more frequently than the permitted 10 times per minute for HTML scraping outside the API.

I have seen no evidence that 20XX was exactly as accurate as Predator/Update tool, whether as things worked in April 2016 or before February 2016 and as has been acknowledged even a 1 second difference in accuracy can be a significant advantage. (Significant does not mean 100%, obviously. It was possible to defend against and to raid without it, etc.)

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

I made a completely legal and open source tool (linked in my sig) that was verified by at least 4 separate people. And before the update order was shuffled around, it was just as accurate as predator. The 'illegal scripts and cheating are all that make raiders good' myth has been stale since it started, and has always been laughably untrue, because a manual trigger can hit a region just as tight.

If you want to say that our scripts are demoralizing you, then I'll complain just as loudly that the NSA page, that the site provides and has no obligation to provide the source code to, is a tool that effortlessly allows defenders to beat raids.

EDIT: Did I mention that your fancy NSA page gets no delay, and our tools get a 28 second delay?

Without commenting on whether illegal or legal script use significantly impacted people's interest in or willingness to defend[ing], I feel I need to note some facts regarding Predator/Update tool.

Predator/Update tool avoided the 28 second delay in the API by effectively scraping the Activity (NationStates Activity) page. It did this much more frequently than the permitted 10 times per minute for HTML scraping outside the API.

I have seen no evidence that 20XX was exactly as accurate as Predator/Update tool, whether as things worked in April 2016 or before February 2016 and as has been acknowledged even a 1 second difference in accuracy can be a significant advantage. (Significant does not mean 100%, obviously. It was possible to defend against and to raid without it, etc.)

The difference in tool accuracy is negligible in practice, especially considering other variables including but not limited to the trigger's internet speeds, the updater's internet speeds, the timing of the trigger calling go, the speed of the updaters in moving, and update variation. The only one refined by predator's illegal aspects was the last - it had about 28 seconds to further correct it's time. The difference made in those 28 seconds is minimal. So minimal, we confirmed in testing, that it wasn't worth legally adding - as you said, the limit is 10/min. It'd be quite possible, given that hits are generally at least a minute apart due to needed time for members to switch, to allocate 10 (or 5 if you wanted to be able to run more than one hit a minute, i.e. in a subteam situation) calls to be made in the final few seconds before a target, for one last correction.

So yes, there's a minor accuracy difference, but it is one of the lesser ones in practice. Look at any large operation - given the same GO, you'll see people move in across a span of 4-5+ seconds, and that's only considering the factors on the updater's end of things, not those on the trigger's. The difference in accuracy created by Predator is, in reality, about as effective in making a raid harder or easier to stop as whether or not I'm downloading a game update on steam while triggering. I have and will continue to argue that what made a difference wasn't at all it's illegal function, so much as it was the automatic target finder that encouraged massive numbers of tags in a single update - a function that could be replicated entirely legally if anyone ever gets around to it.

[Saq]

I have and will continue to argue that what made a difference wasn't at all it's illegal function, so much as it was the automatic target finder that encouraged massive numbers of tags in a single update - a function that could be replicated entirely legally if anyone ever gets around to it.

This is absolutely the truth and anyone claiming otherwise doesn't truly understand what the convenience of Predator really was.

[La Navasse]

Predicting, not just watching

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1 Thing About R/D Gameplay:

Personal thoughts on the status of Gameplay, especially between Raiders and Defenders, in the wake of the Predator scandal.

By Cassett Navasse

---

1 Thing:

Defenders are far outnumbered by Raiders.
Defenders rarely win.

When will this game end up in a time where defenders win at relatively the same frequency as raiders?
I'm thinking: never. It'll probably take up too much time to recode the various conditions that have to do with WA Delegates to let Defenders have a fighting chance.

Right now, regions are regularly being taken over by raiders. They aren't regularly being defended. The most is a liberation. Nothing more.
I guess we should "Let NationStates 'be' and just make do with raiders" for now - possibly forever. Who knows?

I won't be surprised if this thread sinks to oblivion.

EDIT 1: I wonder when raiders will regain the advantage.

Originally Published July 12, 2016

See the OP for more information on this new semi-regular publication.

[Borovan entered the region as he]

1 Thing about R/D Gameplay:

1 Thing:

Defenders are far outnumbered by Raiders.
Defenders rarely win.

When will this game end up in a time where defenders win at relatively the same frequency as raiders?
I'm thinking: never. It'll probably take up too much time to recode the various conditions that have to do with WA Delegates to let Defenders have a fighting chance.

Right now, regions are regularly being taken over by raiders. They aren't regularly being defended. The most is a liberation. Nothing more.
I guess we should "Let NationStates 'be' and just make do with raiders" for now - possibly forever. Who knows?

I won't be surprised if this thread sinks to oblivion.

EDIT 1: I wonder when raiders will regain the advantage.

Originally Published July 12, 2016

See the OP for more information on this new semi-regular publication.

Defending used to be able to be competitively close with raiding during the year I have been here successful liberations are very close just by one or two updaters but it's inactive as of late excluding hitting smaller numbers. There's probably reasons why and it's echoed by Vincent Drake reaction towards Souls. Any few defenders short or absence of of a lead can make a liberation more likely to be unsuccessful or untried.

To give examples:
Philippines in December 2017: very close
Iran in Spring 2018: close had Tito jumped
Middle Earth: close with the point failing to eject
Communist alliance: close by one
Japan summer 2018: close by one
Monarchist entente: close or won had native delegate had influence
Keep in mind defending is complicated and more effort than raiding. You are reacting to them jumping and avoiding banjection and you need to have enough online to have skills and time to react.
And there's others where's one side or the other won easily

But it's incorrect that defenders rarely win although frustrating when there are times defenders are outnumbered.

[Yokiria]

Why did you repost your 2016 observations about NSGP to bump your thread, instead of making new observations?

[La Navasse]

Why did you repost your 2016 observations about NSGP to bump your thread, instead of making new observations?

I believe it's both a time capsule to times back then, and also a statement on how Gameplay has changed since then.

Plus, I needed to make space in the OP for a proper beginning post, so I decided to repost the original Thing About Gameplay in a separate post within the same thread.

From now on, I will be posting these Things using the nation Things About Gameplay, but replying to the posts whenever I'm the author.

[Saint Block]

Seems to me that defenders have lost their original purpose for defending.

[Things About Gameplay]

Predicting, not just watching

---

A Study in Toxicity

Two potential analyses of toxicity in NationStates Gameplay and proposals on combating it.

By Cassett Navasse

---

“Ultimately, in the end, if you play the game the way you want to play, and you aren't breaking rules doing it, then I think that's success, regardless of longevity. I think part of what leads to the ‘toxicity’ (*even if I think that word is widely overused as a catchall) is the fact that we try to project our own definition of success or our own determination of how to play the game onto others.” - Ultimate Sacrifice in “The Dojo” (March 2016)

“As you can see, everyone here agrees on the definition of OOC toxicity. If you disagree with someone, they’re clearly toxic. If you agree with someone, the people criticizing them are toxic. What we learned here today is that everyone has a point of view and the situation is exactly what they claim it is, no matter what the full situation actually was that led to any given controversial event.” - The Independent Post in “Always Dependable News: You Heard It Here First!” (Sept. 2018)

Introduction

As an active Gameplayer on the forums, I have been engaged in and been the subject of toxicity, with many avenues of origin. From the beginning of my Gameplay career, I have encountered it firsthand by natives opposing piles by DEN, then by raiders when DEN was dissolved, by nearly everyone during the Dank Memes fiasco, from many World Assembly authors during my Neoliberation spree, and now in my second incoming wave of World Assembly proposals along with the tragedy that was the Pacific Restoration Coalition. No seasoned Gameplayer can ever be said to be a stranger to this seemingly omnipresent force, and new Gameplayers may find themselves at the center of it if they are not lucky. Toxicity seems to permeate throughout Gameplay and all of its associated offshoots, and as a result, many have taken it as a necessary evil, a byproduct of Gameplay that cannot be eliminated.

However, toxicity is most definitely not adding to Gameplay, but rather is subtracting from it. Toxicity alone is perhaps the #1 cause of players leaving the Gameplay for Roleplay, or even leaving NationStates altogether; This just shows to demonstrate its immense power as a self-selecting force allowing only certain individuals to prevail. This toxicity is only compounded by certain individuals who tend to intertwine their IC and OOC personas, thus always interacting with other individuals as themselves, and taking every offense to them or their reputations personally. This only causes them to respond in kind, creating further toxicity. Additionally, online predators and manipulative characters also do not aid in reducing toxicity, especially on off-site venues. However, although many Gameplayers disapprove of toxicity and wish for its dispersal, the origin of this toxicity has never been able to be conclusively agreed on, and thus no solid solution been proposed either due to the lack of such a conclusion.

Although toxicity may occasionally have productive origins, it should be argued that in the majority of cases it originates more out of misinterpretation and subsequent misunderstanding. As a result of this devilish duo, a player may have a permanently warped view of another by any event that initially brought that other player to the player’s attention. Widespread warping of multiple players in one’s eyes only leads to a radicalization of one’s thoughts in regards to the NS Community, which only hampers any potential reduction of toxicity. Unfortunately, as Gameplay (and real life news cycles in general) tends to favor negative news, it is much more common to remember one for their faults rather than their successes. Add this to an unclear distinction between In-Character and Out-of-Character attitudes and you have the toxic cesspool of Gameplay today.

Two Potential Definitions of Toxicity ¹

What exactly is this much bemoaned monster, who seemingly tears us apart? Unfortunately, toxicity has never been conclusively defined before in a publication, although it has been approached by varying angles. Before we begin, it is of the utmost importance to know that there are two methods to define a word; A positive definition of toxicity would define exactly what toxicity is and identify everything else as not toxic, while a negative definition of toxicity would first define what toxicity is not and then identify toxicity as everything else that is not toxic (using “toxicity” as a catch-all phrase). These two different methods of definition also tend to favor either the individual or the community, respectively. Both Ultimate Sacrifice and The Independent Post, as illustrated in the opening quotes, leaned towards a catch-all (and thus a negative definition) of toxicity; Ultimate Sacrifice stated that the term was the result of “trying to project our own definition of success… onto others” while The Independent Post satrically described it as “If you disagree with someone, they’re clearly toxic.” Effectively, toxicity can be best generalized (but not defined) as cognitive dissonance with one’s social environment.

Toxicity can be positively defined in NationStates as the extent that the social environment in which players interact and operate in is poisonous, in the sense that it contains serious threats to identity, moral reasoning, trust, and hope, especially for those who are still relatively young. ² This definition thus excludes everything in NationStates that does not cause a poisonous social environment as not toxic, essentially allowing the remainder of content not caught by its definition to be “catch-all” under not toxic. However, this definition has serious problems as how one may define “serious threats to identity, moral reasoning, trust, and hope” can vary widely across different people, depending upon their different life experiences. Due to natural biological variance, some people have a higher threshold for manipulation that may be conducted by others, while others may be more sensitive to any sort of social deception occurring, and the same piece of content can be interpreted very differently. Although this definition is most accurate for a single individual, it rapidly diminishes in value when more people are added to the mix.

Toxicity can also be negatively defined in NationStates as anything that does not positively contribute to the social environment, and if negatively contributing, does not encourage or advocate for the subject of toxicity to move towards a moral and/or commonly agreed community principle. This definition takes the opposite route of the positively defined one as a “catch-all” for everything that doesn’t apply to its definition of non-toxic behavior/content, but has the opposite problem; Instead of hinging on a factor that is usually individually decided, it defines toxicity relative to the social environment and commonly agreed community/moral principles. Although this is a much easier definition to moderate upon as it essentially averages out what is a “serious threat to identity, moral reasoning, trust, and hope” across the community, thus allowing for more (but not entirely) distinct line to be drawn between what is and what is not toxic, it results in the alienation of those who are already being affected by what they consider to be a “serious threat,” and an inadvertent isolationary effect from individuals who have a higher threshold to such activity. Being the most accurate definition for a community, it has the potential to essentially ignore a large plurality of individuals who are not close to the community average.

Associated Problems with Toxicity & Their Solutions

What is most fundamentally at odds with suppressing toxicity is the idea that playing NationStates is meant to let go of real life stress; Different people detoxify themselves from real life in different ways, and for some, this can mean having a detrimental impact to others around them online. Unfortunately, this unhealthy manner of destressing can manifest itself in various ways that are all too visible in our community, including rants, spamming, psychological manipulation, and even Munchausen by Internet (“where those affected offer false stories of personal illness or crisis for reasons such as garnering attention, mobilizing sympathy, acting out anger, or controlling others”)*. ³ However, it is likely that most cases of unhealthy destressing simply manifest themselves as unabated, unwavering irritable behavior. This does not mean that all toxicity definitely originates from unhealthy destressing, but it is likely one factor of toxicity on NationStates. A solution to this lies within the relationship between one’s In-Character and Out-of-Character personas in game.

Certain players tend to take NationStates exceedingly seriously, or in essence blend their In-Character and Out-of-Character personas together, which can pose an immense problem in which any negativity the player receives could potentially be interpreted as a personal attack, and thus an attack on their real selves. This is only somewhat abated by only attacking their argument rather than the individual, but it’s all too easy to insert snide remarks towards such an individual that may only hurt and insult him/her even more. The likeliest reason why this has occurred to such an extent on NationStates is its unusual immersivity as an online text-based political simulator, where groups of individuals build entire communities from the sandbox that only consists of nations and regions, and with there being no real graphic-based war function, animosity and personal attacks tend to be transferred through the medium that NationStates was built upon with the utmost precision and bite. This can best be combated by reducing one’s immersion in the NationStates sphere; in other words, taking periodic breaks from the highly engaging social framework that is NationStates. Allowing for other in-person social spheres to play a larger role in one’s social life can reduce the impact and longevity of anything thrown at you in forums or Discord.

A topic that is closely related to toxicity is the often mentioned phrase “constructive criticism,” which is supposed to aid an individual with a task in progress. Constructive criticism can most definitely degenerate into toxicity given that those who criticize often do not know when to stop, while those who invite it often anticipate less criticism then what they receive. However, the line between “constructive criticism” and toxicity can be exceedingly blurry, especially considering that different people perceive toxicity differently, and communities may have different standards on what exactly is helpful and what is toxic, especially in certain cases. Although there is likely no one clear-cut solution on how to avoid stepping over the fuzzy boundary that separates constructive criticism and toxicity, a good guideline is to criticize as much as you believe is necessary until you are certain that you have gotten your point across. Adding more criticism after doing so simply overwhelms the criticized individual and prevents them from actual constructive work.

A Potential Unified Solution

“In regard to the overall topic of this thread, the way to stop toxicity in gameplay is to a) stop engaging in it, b) stop tolerating the worst offenders. No one is going to do that, as has been demonstrated again and again over the course of years, so this thread is pointless.” - WolfMac, aka Cormac Stark, in “On the Toxicity of Gameplay | Nice Players League” (June 2015)

Toxicity is clearly a multifaceted problem that has many interconnected factors, a poisonous and convoluted web that appears near-impossible to unravel. However, it is pertinent in any concerted attempt to eliminate toxicity that one does not succumb to a nihilist or pessimistic worldview, and lose motivation to do so. Although toxicity may never completely go away, continually attempting to do away with toxicity would create an overall more inclusive community that would be able to sustain more members and invite more cerebral dialogue, allowing an enlightening of knowledge and wisdom along with political skill that would be lacking in a toxic environment where personal & emotional attacks rule supreme over slow but sure logical progression, which is what we need.

A step in the right direction that would help reduce toxicity in the community could be directly labeling every social venue where we interact as In-Character or Out-of-Character, and highly reinforce this division, so that intermixing between everyone’s two personas rarely occurs, and immersion is reduced. Regarding every player as two people would be the ultimate goal of such an effort, which would aid in locking away any potentially damaging or negative political arguments in the In-Character social sphere. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that some Out-of-Character views will result in In-Character actions, but these instances must be treated with caution, for Gameplay is not sustainable if this is freely applied everywhere by everyone. A true solution to toxicity on NationStates could likely be found by the reconciliation of its positive and negative definitions, and thus a fully unified solution that would both be flexible for the individual while convenient for the community to enforce. However, such a solution would likely not have any solid background, in the sense that both individual and community would have to constantly implore themselves to balance between the two solid definitions in the medium between them. Although such a possibility appears unlikely now, it is my hope that we are able to grow ever closer to that potentially perfect medium.

About the Author

Navasse often spends too much time on NationStates engaging in political discussions and the creation of law in the World Assembly while procrastinating on real life schoolwork. He has undergone a turbulent history on NationStates, drawing the ire of many individuals while gaining the appreciation of very few. When not on NationStates, Navasse can likely be found sitting at a wooden log or bench with his mountain bike next to a dirt trail, watching either a sunrise or a sunset, and contemplating topics inevitably drawing him into an existential crisis.

Notes

1. This section’s framework is partially drawn from Unibot’s “Two Fundamental Conceptions of Nativeness,” Essay: The Polysemes of Nativeness

2. Directly inspired by Dr. Jim Garbarino’s definition of social toxicity in regards to families: Garbarino takes on social toxicity

3. Quoted from Dr. Marc D. Feldman’s article Munchausen by Internet: Detecting Factitious Illness and Crisis on the Internet

*Psychological manipulation can occur with or without the presence of Munchausen by Internet. Please remember that the information provided in this paper is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider.

Thank you to Imperium of Josh for your OOC proof-reading efforts; they are greatly appreciated.

[Imperium of Josh]

Obligatory "this is an interesting article that could provoke some good discussion" from the proof-reader.

But seriously, I feel like there's been a need to properly codify an approach to this for a while...

[RiderSyl]

This is essentially the sentence "Don't mix your IC and OOC personas", only as an essay.

[Escade]

Obligatory "this is an interesting article that could provoke some good discussion" from the proof-reader.

But seriously, I feel like there's been a need to properly codify an approach to this for a while...

While I think the topic is one that continues to rebound like a boomerang every so often in NS (although there seems to be an increase in nasty players using toxicity as a weapon recently) - any solution will likely come from a sea change. That is the long-term players, particularly those that have maintained the respect and sanctity of administration positions, to begin a dialogue and conversation and then codify standards for the community.

Honestly, considering the recent shitshow of OOC issues it would behoove the community to make clear and better standards for all. Transparent standards would also help stop the issue of players using OOC (real or imaginary or exxagerated) to try to destroy players IC or otherwise "get rid" of players from the community.

This is essentially the sentence "Don't mix your IC and OOC personas", only as an essay.

While the sentiment of "Don't mix IC and OOC" seems simple - on a practical level it's fairly impossible for many players\regions\etc.

[Things About Gameplay]

Predicting, not just watching

---

New Musical “Into the Forums” Premieres Pt. 1


A semi-satirical take on this year's crazy December as a classic musical number.


By Cassett Navasse

---

NSGP Theatre, Metaverse - A new musical produced by Navasse Productions has premiered on the last day of 2018! Featuring a widely known and controversial cast, along with the popular Reploid Productions as Narrator and the Cacophony of Gameplay as the pit orchestra, the musical explores deep themes of subversion, loyalty, and history while hinging on how the actions of a magical bogeyman (or bogeywoman?) affect nearly everything in Gameplay. The cast provided an overly generous sample of their opening number, which is shown in three installments. *This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.*

Note: Multiple definitions of peace are used, such as the ones used in “peace of mind” and “peace and quiet.” Also, Pacific should be pronounced as PAH-ci-FIC to fit with the rhyme scheme.

Read/singalong with this lyrical version of "Prologue" from Into the Woods!

PROLOGUE: INTO THE FORUMS LYRICS

[NARREPPY, spoken]
Once upon a time
In a far-off website
There lay some many players
At the edge of the forums

[EASTDURTHELLA]
I wish

[NARREPPY, spoken]
And in this website

[EASTDURTHELLA]
More than anything

[NARREPPY, spoken]
Lived a new player

[EASTDURTHELLA]
More than life
More than intel

[NARREPPY, spoken]
A carefree fishmonger

[MILO]
I wish
More than life

[NARREPPY, spoken]
And a poor WA Author

[LANAV & QUEEN YUNO]
I wish

[NARREPPY, spoken]
With his friend

[LANAV]
More than anything

[QUEEN]
More than Discord

[QUEEN YUNO]
I wish

[EASTDURTHELLA]
Barry is giving the Pacific

[LANAV & QUEEN YUNO]
More than life

[MILO]
I wish

[EASTDURTHELLA]
I wish to go get the Pacific

[LANAV & QUEEN YUNO]
More than riches

[EASTDURTHELLA]
And some peace

[MILO]
I wish some states would
Join my RP

[EASTDURTHELLA & QUEEN YUNO]
More than anything

[LANAV]
I wish I had respect

[MILO]
Please, join

[QUEEN YUNO]
I want respect

[MILO]
Come, join

[EASTDURTHELLA]
I wish to go get the Pacific

[MILO]
I wish you'd come join just
Twice or even once
I wish

[LANAV & QUEEN YUNO]
I wish we might have respect
I wish

[SOULSMOTHER]
You wish to go get the Pacific?

[NARREPPY, spoken]
Eastdurthang's forbear resigned.

[SOULSMOTHER]
You, EASTDURTHELLA, the Pacific?
You wish to go get the Pacific?

[CORMACDA]
What, you, EASTDURTHELLA, the Pacific?
The Pacific?!

[GALINDA]
What, you wish to go get the Pacific?

[ALL THREE]
The Pacific?
The first Pacific?

[NARREPPY, spoken]
And now he lived with his Soulsmother

[SOULSMOTHER, spoken]
The Pacific?
Ha!

[NARREPPY, spoken]
Who had two offspring of her own

[CORMACDA]
Look at the forums!

[GALINDA]
Look at endos!

[SOULSMOTHER]
People would laugh at you

[EASTDURTHELLA]
Nevertheless
I still want to go get the Pacific
And become Delegate

[SOULSMOTHER & STEPSISTERS]
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

[NARREPPY, spoken]
All three were beautiful of face, but vile and black of heart
The fishmonger had no mother and his father

[FEUX]
I wish

[NARREPPY, spoken]
Well, he was at his wit's end

[FEUX]
I wish my son were not a fool
I wish I hadn't talked to Block
I wish RP was full of posts
I wish I was unbanned from home
I wish a lot of things
(spoken)
What in heaven's name are you doing
Joke proposing with Azhukali?

[MILO, spoken]
I thought if I sent telegrams
It might recruit nations

[FEUX, spoken]
The rules
How many times do I have to tell you
That it breaks all the rules?

[NARREPPY, spoken]
And then there was some sketchy writing done
By someone no nation knows

[SECRETIVE ANDERITE]
I wish
It's not for me
It's for my ally in the forums
A pound of peace, please
To bring my poor secretive
Ally in the forums
Just a pound of peace, please

[SOULSMOTHER, spoken]
EASTDURTHELLA, if you can pick up more endos
And become the Delegate
Then you may go get the peace with us
Come along ladies

[STEPSISTERS, spoken]
Yes, Mother

[GALINDA, spoken]
See you New Year’s Eve!

[EASTDURTHELLA]
Come, pilers
Down from the games
Politics
An-nd War
Out of CyberNations

[MILO]
Now, join, please

[EASTDURTHELLA]
Ahhhhhhhhhh
Quick, pilers
Search through the region
Point and click, but swiftly
Find through the nations
Come endorse me

[FEUX, spoken]
Now listen to me well, son

Azhukali will soon go founderless

[MILO, spoken]
But, father, no it's the region of my life

[FEUX, spoken]
Was
You’ve been rulebreaking weeks now
With no help or money
We've got no choice but to leave it
Look at it

[MILO, spoken]
But, Azhukali's my only home

[FEUX]
Look at it
There are haters of you
Soulsmother is angry
There's an army of hawks
Big enough to come invade

[MILO, spoken]
But

[FEUX]
We've no time to make a stand
While it drowns by modly wrath and
Gets conquered by the mad APC!
(spoken)
Sometimes I wonder what's going on in that head of yours

[SECRETIVE ANDERITE]
Into the forums
It's time to go
I hate to leave
I have to go
Into the forums
It's time, and so
I must begin my posting
Into the forums
And through the threads
To where I am
Expected ma'am
Into the forums
To burn all the peace
Into the forums
To burn all the peace

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Now you're certain of your way?

[Things About Gameplay]

Predicting, not just watching

---

New Musical “Into the Forums” Premieres Pt. 2


A semi-satirical take on this year's crazy December as a classic musical number.


By Cassett Navasse

---

[SECRETIVE ANDERITE]
The way is clear
My plan is good
I have no fear
Nor no one should
The forums are just posts
The posts are just forums
I sort of hate to ask it
But can you start an uproar?

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Yes, I can

[LANAV, spoken]
I don't suppose you're planning on smearing anyone's peace

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Oh, shhhh
Now, don't stray and be late, alright?

[LANAV, spoken]
You might give some of my peace back to me?
Oh my

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Just, leave it

[LANAV, spoken]
He's a thief!

[SECRETIVE ANDERITE]
Into the forums
And down the threads
Gameplay is calm
I know it well
Into the forums
And who can tell
What's waiting in my posting?
Into the forums
To burn the peace
To rile up
This boring game
Never can tell
What lies ahead
For all that I know
It's already dead
But into the forums
Into the forums
Into the forums
To burn all the peace
And help my ally

[CORMACDA, spoken]
EASTDURTHELLA!

[GALINDA, spoken]
Get up here!

[EASTDURTHELLA]
Comrades
Back to the cloud

[CORMACDA, spoken]
We're waiting!

[EASTDURTHELLA]
Back to the games
Politics
An-nd War
And Cyber-

[CORMACDA]
Hurry up and check the forums, EASTDURTHELLA!
Are you really posting that?

[GALINDA]
Here, I made the PRC, EASTDURTHELLA
Can't you fight it with respect?

[EASTDURTHELLA]
You’re doing great

[CORMACDA]
I know

[GALINDA]
She means me

[CORMACDA]
No she didn't

[EASTDURTHELLA]
Francos said be good
Aleisyr said be nice
That was always their advice
So be nice, EASTDURTHELLA
Good, EASTDURTHELLA
Nice good good nice

[CORMACDA]
Toxic!

[EASTDURTHELLA]
What's the good of being good
If everyone is blind
Never thinking peacefully?
Never mind, EASTDURTHELLA
Kind EASTDURTHELLA
Nice good nice kind good nice

[CORMACDA, spoken]
Ow! Not that toxic!
God!

[LANAV, spoken]
Who might that be?

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
We've sold our last pound of peace!

[LANAV, spoken]
It's the witch from next-door

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
We have no peace

[WITCH, spoken]
I don't want your peace

[LANAV, spoken]
Then what is it you wish?

[WITCH, spoken]
It's not what I wish
It's what you wish
Nothing helping your respect now is there?
And there will never be
Unless you do exactly as I say
In three weeks time redemption could arrive
Only then can the curse be, undone

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
What curse?

[WITCH, spoken]
The one I placed on you both

[LANAV, spoken]
What are you talking about?

[WITCH, spoken]
In the past, when you were no more than a kid
Gest went to found his new DEN
And grew it with Kknight (Block, & Knot)
They were a lovely couple
But not lovely raiders
You see
Your Founder was with Halcones
And he developed an unusual appetite
He admired the fine API
And he told Hal privately
What he wanted more than anything
In the world, was
Tools, tools, nothing but tools:
Scraping info constantly and secretly
Anonymously updating and
Calculating triggers
He said, "All right,"
But it wasn't, quite
Cause I caught him during April
With his program one night!
He was robbing me
Raping me
Rooting through world happenings and
Raiding my own puppet dump and
Ramping up the server load
My champion! My favorite!
I should have infiltrated him
Right there
I could have made him a pariah
Or a disgrace...
Or blacklisted...
But I let him up the server load-
I'd little to care
In return, however
I said, "Fair is fair:
You can let me have the power
To cause DEN to tear
And we'll call it square."

[LANAV, spoken]
DEN was blackmailed?

[WITCH, spoken]
No. But, some DENizens were

[LANAV, spoken]
Who were they?

[WITCH, spoken]
They’re mine now!
And you'll never find out
Small price to pay for what
Else your Founder stole from me
It cost me my strength, my image
My mentor warned me
It would punish me
With the curse of massive leaks
If I ever showed any of them

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Showed what?

[WITCH, spoken]
The spies

[LANAV & QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Spies?

[WITCH, spoken]
The special spies
I'd let him go, I didn't know
He'd seen I had spies
I was watching update
Speed to the end
Then bang! Crash!
A lightning dash!
Well, that's another story
Never mind-
Anyway, at last
The big day came
And I made my claim
"Oh, don't take away the region,"
They shrieked and screeched
But I did
And reported
And now it'll never come back
And your Founder cried
And your region died
When for extra measure-
I admit it was a pleasure-
I said, "Sorry
I'm still not mollified."
And I laid a little spell on DENizens-
You, too, son-
That your ultimate fate
Would always be a pointless one

[LANAV, spoken]
How could you do that?

[WITCH, spoken]
And when your region died
Your Founder deserted you
Your Founder had no purpose so why should you have?
So there's no more fuss
And there's no more scenes
And my forces thrive-
You should see my puppets reign!
But I'm telling you the same
I tell kings and queens:
Don't ever never ever
Mess around with your tools!
Especially in raids.

[Things About Gameplay]

Predicting, not just watching

---

New Musical “Into the Forums” Premieres Pt. 3


A semi-satirical take on this year's crazy December as a classic musical number.


By Cassett Navasse

---

[MILO, spoken]
Yeah, but why do we have to go to the next website?

[FEUX, spoken]
Because, everyone in this website
Knows that you will be given a DoS in days

[MILO, spoken]
That's boring!

[FEUX, spoken]
We're worthless, MILO!
Don't you understand that?
Now, you're not to accept more than five days for it
Are you listening to me?

[MILO, spoken]
Yes

[FEUX, spoken]
How much are you to think?

[MILO, spoken]
No less than five days

[FEUX, spoken]
More than five!

[MILO, spoken]
Than five!

[FEUX]
Into the forums
The time is now
You have to leave
I don't care how
Into the forums to leave RP
You must begin the posting!
Straight to the forums
And don't delay
We have to face
The gameplayers
Into the forums to posting's end

[MILO]
Into the forums to leave a friend

[WITCH, spoken]
You wish to have
The curse reversed?
I'll need a certain
Potion first
Go to the forums and bring me back
One: the peace of Pacific
Two: the real Vacatio
Three: the plans of every last Rahl
Four: the end of the fishmongers
Bring me these
Before the chime
Of midnight
In three week's time
Tis' then redemption could be here
Which comes but once each hundred years
Just bring them and
I guarantee
A treatise as perfect
As treaties can be
Go to the forum!

[SOULSMOTHER, spoken]
Ladies
Our update waits

[EASTDURTHELLA, spoken]
Now may I go get the Pacific?

[SOULSMOTHER]
The Pacific?
(sung)
Darling, those plans!
Darling, those posts!
Endos are one thing but
Darling, with those
You'd make us the fools of the Pacific
And scare off Max Barry!

[EASTDURTHELLA, spoken]
The Pacific transitions for three weeks
Surely, you could let me be there for one of them

[SOULSMOTHER, spoken]
Barry is trying to find regions a LEADER!
Not a scullery maid!
We must be gone!
Go!

[EASTDURTHELLA]
I wish

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Spies?
These must be the witch's spies!
We'll take them with us

[LANAV, spoken]
We?

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Yes!

[LANAV, spoken]
We?
You're not coming
It's not safe out there

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
I can help you!

[LANAV, spoken]
No!
I can do this on my own
(sung)
The spell is on myself
Only I can lift the spell
The spell is on myself

[QUEEN YUNO]
No, no, the spell is on ourselves
We must lift the spell together
The spell is on ourselves!

[LANAV, spoken]
Now tell me what am I to return with?

[QUEEN YUNO, spoken]
Ugh, You don't remember?
(sung)
The peace of Pacific
The real Vacatio
The plans of every last Rahl
The end of the fishmongers

[LANAV]
The peace of Pacific
The real Vacatio
The plans of every last Rahl
The end of the fishmongers

[EASTDURTHELLA]
I still wish to go get the Pacific
But how am I ever to go get the Pacific?

[LANAV]
The peace of Pacific
The real Vacatio
The plans of every last Rahl

[EASTDURTHELLA]
I know!
I'll visit Aleisyr's house
The door at the willow tree
And tell him I just want to
Go to the Max's Pacific

[LANAV]
The end of the fishmongers
The peace, the real
The end of the fishmongers

[QUEEN YUNO]
The plans!

[EASTDURTHELLA & LANAV]
Into the forums
It's time to go
It may be all
In vain, you/I know
Into the forums-
But even so
I have to read the posting

[EASTDURTHELLA, LANAV & QUEEN YUNO]
Into the forums
The path is straight
You know it well
But who can tell

[LANAV & QUEEN YUNO]
Into the forums to lift the spell

[EASTDURTHELLA]
Into the forums to visit Aleisyr

[FEUX]
Into the forums to leave RP!

[MILO]
To get out of here!

[EASTDURTHELLA]
To go get the Pacific!

[SECRETIVE ANDERITE]
Into the forums to burn all the peace!

[ALL]
The way is clear
My plan is good
I have no fear
Nor no one should
The forums are just posts
The posts are just forums
No need to be afraid there

[LANAV]
There's something in the thread there

[ALL]
Into the forums
Without delay
But careful not
To lose the way
Into the forums
Who knows what may
Be lurking in the posting?
Into the forums
To get the thing
That makes it worth
The planninging
Into the forums

[SOULSMOTHER & STEPSISTERS]
To see Barry

[MILO & FEUX]
To leave Azhu

[LANAV & QUEEN YUNO]
To make the potion

[ALL]
To see
To leave
To get
To help
To make
To lift
To go get the Pacific!
Into the forums!
Into the forums!
Into the forums
Then out of the forums
And chat in Discord!

OOC: Special thanks to McMannia for helping me clarify DEN history.

[United Massachusetts]

This is golden. I did this play back in high school.