Nation name release!

[British Accia]

Why not just have a set time? Like a nation after 20 years becomes free for all nations including soiled ones. Bar those that founded living regions and made issues or whatever. After 20 years I think it is safe to say the players are gone.

I know the site isn't that old but for once it reaches that age.

20 years is a long time, but it's a bit odd to realise were actually halfway through, NS is an old game...

[Southern Patriots]

In the OP I notice there was mention of possibly loosening restrictions on making certain nations available sooner. Is this a topic we can reopen?

I've been waiting 4 years for one nation in particular and still have 1 year and 72 days left on it, and it existed for only a month.

[Gest]

In the OP I notice there was mention of possibly loosening restrictions on making certain nations available sooner. Is this a topic we can reopen?

I've been waiting 4 years for one nation in particular and still have 1 year and 72 days left on it, and it existed for only a month.

You can try but all the powers that be have ever said is that they're considering it and it's a low priority. Judging by how fast anything gets done in NS, expect a change an 1hr before you die at a ripe old age.

[Mousebumples]

In the OP I notice there was mention of possibly loosening restrictions on making certain nations available sooner. Is this a topic we can reopen?

I've been waiting 4 years for one nation in particular and still have 1 year and 72 days left on it, and it existed for only a month.

I'm not a techie, but I doubt that the 5 year window will be changed. (sorry) I believe the "loosening restrictions" was more about possibly increasing the population limit, to make nations that are currently too big to "claim" available.

[Southern Patriots]

I'm not a techie, but I doubt that the 5 year window will be changed. (sorry) I believe the "loosening restrictions" was more about possibly increasing the population limit, to make nations that are currently too big to "claim" available.

I see. I saw [violet] had mentioned the five year question and hoped for the best. Thanks for you kind reply.

Admittedly you're probably right, but is there anyone or anywhere in particular I could ask about discussing a change in the system, or is this pretty much where the buck stops? I apologize for appearing melodramatic but after four years another one more seems excessive.

[Mousebumples]

I'm not a techie, but I doubt that the 5 year window will be changed. (sorry) I believe the "loosening restrictions" was more about possibly increasing the population limit, to make nations that are currently too big to "claim" available.

I see. I saw [violet] had mentioned the five year question and hoped for the best. Thanks for you kind reply.

Admittedly you're probably right, but is there anyone or anywhere in particular I could ask about discussing a change in the system, or is this pretty much where the buck stops? I apologize for appearing melodramatic but after four years another one more seems excessive.

This is the place to post it. If admin is interested in making any such changes, this is where it would be.

And, the thing you have to remember is that while - for you - it's about this one specific nation, changes wouldn't be made for Just One Nation. It would presumably be for all CTEd nations, or all CTEd nations under [XYZ] popuulation or whatever. It's easy to get tunnel vision and only think about your one nation that you REALLY REALLY want. However, as the various Reddit booms have demonstrated this year, there are players that come back after their nations have been CTEd for well over the 5 year time period that revive their nations and (perhaps) become active, contributing NS members. (I say "perhaps" because while the Reddit links often have people celebrating finding nations from years ago, they don't usually mention the nation name. And deciding that after, say, 6 months a nation is an "active, contributing NS member" might be making such a determination a bit too quickly.)

Just some food for thought.

[Southern Patriots]

I think I understand. Just frustrated it existed for only 28 days. Maybe it is tunnel vision, but I feel I would recommend changing the waiting period for one-month wonders. C'est la vie, eh?

[Rhodesia]

I'm not a techie, but I doubt that the 5 year window will be changed. (sorry) I believe the "loosening restrictions" was more about possibly increasing the population limit, to make nations that are currently too big to "claim" available.

I see. I saw [violet] had mentioned the five year question and hoped for the best. Thanks for you kind reply.

Admittedly you're probably right, but is there anyone or anywhere in particular I could ask about discussing a change in the system, or is this pretty much where the buck stops? I apologize for appearing melodramatic but after four years another one more seems excessive.

I would see that the other way around: if you've already waited ~4 years, what's ~1 more?

[Tarsonis Survivors]

I think I understand. Just frustrated it existed for only 28 days. Maybe it is tunnel vision, but I feel I would recommend changing the waiting period for one-month wonders. C'est la vie, eh?

I would have to agree, the latest iteration of Tarsonis didn't even last a month, the other lasted 2 months but was revived at one point 2 years later.


I've been Tarsonis X for over 10 years now, I'd like to finally secure the name Tarsonis for myself without waiting 2 years and 22 days, especially when it's never existed at anytime longer than a month.

[Southern Patriots]

I would see that the other way around: if you've already waited ~4 years, what's ~1 more?

Right? haha

I would have to agree, the latest iteration of Tarsonis didn't even last a month, the other lasted 2 months but was revived at one point 2 years later.


I've been Tarsonis X for over 10 years now, I'd like to finally secure the name Tarsonis for myself without waiting 2 years and 22 days, especially when it's never existed at anytime longer than a month.

When I noticed [violet] mentioning in the OP that the restrictions might be loosened, I had some hope. Five years for a nation that lasted a month or two seems excessive.

[The German Iron Lands]

I must say, all of this is quite stupid. If a nation is banned, why can't the original user be IP banned and the name opened up for use?

[Jute]

I must say, all of this is quite stupid. If a nation is banned, why can't the original user be IP banned and the name opened up for use?

IP bans can be avoided.

[Frisbeeteria]

I must say, all of this is quite stupid. If a nation is banned, why can't the original user be IP banned and the name opened up for use?

IPs are not like Social Security numbers or drivers licence numbers. You don't get one permanently assigned to you at birth.

A lot of our active nations use devices in the home, office, school and mobile. It's quite normal for a nation to have 50 or more IP addresses (which oddly enough describes The German Iron Lands), some of which are shared with other users.

[Midal]

why dont you just email the maker of that former nation too know if they will ever use it and mods should not be given special treatment and what does it mater the population its fake so i see no point in saying that because the population of this nation that doesnot exist anymore thats why you cant use the name and mods should not be a select few it should be every one that plays the game

[Frisbeeteria]

why dont you just email the maker of that former nation too know if they will ever use it

Do you realize that we have close to FOUR MILLION ex nations? Do you realize that most of them don't have attached email addresses? Do you realize that even when an email address is included, that people fake/move/change/abandon their emails?

As for the rest of your missive, I have no idea what you're trying to say about mods and special treatment, except that we don't want new players impersonating ex-moderators. Or ex-players with large nations. Or ex-nations who authored issues or WA proposals. Or ex-anything else on the list in the OP.

[Phydios]

why dont you just email the maker of that former nation too know if they will ever use it

Do you realize that we have close to FOUR MILLION ex nations? Do you realize that most of them don't have attached email addresses? Do you realize that even when an email address is included, that people fake/move/change/abandon their emails?

As for the rest of your missive, I have no idea what you're trying to say about mods and special treatment, except that we don't want new players impersonating ex-moderators. Or ex-players with large nations. Or ex-nations who authored issues or WA proposals. Or ex-anything else on the list in the OP.

Midal is mad that a small group of players (the moderators and possibly the admins) have powers that a normal player doesn't have. (I said "possibly the admins" because I don't know whether or not they're also volunteers. I'd think that Max pays at least some of the high-ranking staff, making them more than a NS player with special duties, but I don't know any real information on that.) They think that it's wrong for mod and admin powers to be restricted to a "select few", and that all players should be mods. *shudders violently at the thought*

[Mousebumples]

I'd think that Max pays at least some of the high-ranking staff, making them more than a NS player with special duties, but I don't know any real information on that.) They think that it's wrong for mod and admin powers to be restricted to a "select few", and that all players should be mods. *shudders violently at the thought*

If any mods or admins get paid, this is the first I'm hearing about it. It's a common misconception that mods (and admins) are paid, but it is definitely fiction.

[Phydios]

I'd think that Max pays at least some of the high-ranking staff, making them more than a NS player with special duties, but I don't know any real information on that.) They think that it's wrong for mod and admin powers to be restricted to a "select few", and that all players should be mods. *shudders violently at the thought*

If any mods or admins get paid, this is the first I'm hearing about it. It's a common misconception that mods (and admins) are paid, but it is definitely fiction.

Even [violet] is an unpaid volunteer? Wow. That makes me admire every member of the NS staff even more. All of you do an incredible job, and it's even more incredible if it's not your primary job.

[Tarsonis Survivors]

Any chance we can drop the wait time to two years? I mean this site just barely passed 10 year and as Freez said there's over 4 million nations. I think if a nation hasn't logged in for 2 years and doesn't meet the other criteria, that they're not expected back.

[Reploid Productions]

Any chance we can drop the wait time to two years? I mean this site just barely passed 10 year and as Freez said there's over 4 million nations. I think if a nation hasn't logged in for 2 years and doesn't meet the other criteria, that they're not expected back.

You'd be surprised. I've seen instances (albeit fairly rare) of somebody upwards of 8 years gone coming back.

Also, the site is well past 10 years old, it turns 13 this November. (OMG, the site will be old enough to post on the forums! ... And holy shit, we're coming up on an age where we'll start seeing players younger than the game is on the forums. )

[NOrTh pAcIfiC spY]

I think the population needed to reserve a name forever should be one billion. If a nation reaches one billion pop, the name cannot be reused. If a nation doesn't reach one billion, and CTE's, a timer until the name is reusable starts. The time until the name is reusable is directly in proportion to the nations population. For every million the nation has, the time until the name is reusable is pushed back another update. This would mean a nation that has been created, and never looked at again, would have a very short waiting period, while nations which have been used for a while, would have a much longer waiting period.

The problems with this idea is that new nations will be disadvantaged if they join for a single update to reserve a name - although that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

A second problem with this would be that it requires coding, and given we're down to one part time coder who has a busy life and has to maintain the site, and a ton of other projects that probably take priority of this, it makes this unlikely, and more of a nice to have.

[TestIsland]

I think the value of a nation should not be set just by looking at logins (population), but by how involved it was in the game when it was active.

For example, if someone made a nation, joined and voted in the WA, answered two issues each day, made a few factbooks and posted in the forums, that nation should be more valuable than something made simply to reserve a nation name, which only got logged in once every month (or two, if in vacation mode) until it reached 500 million+ population.

I know there is no easy way to quantify a nation's overall value, but some things should matter more than an arbitrary population threshold.

[The Liberated Territories]

I think the value of a nation should not be set just by looking at logins (population), but by how involved it was in the game when it was active.

For example, if someone made a nation, joined and voted in the WA, answered two issues each day, made a few factbooks and posted in the forums, that nation should be more valuable than something made simply to reserve a nation name, which only got logged in once every month (or two, if in vacation mode) until it reached 500 million+ population.

I know there is no easy way to quantify a nation's overall value, but some things should matter more than an arbitrary population threshold.

Too complex to implement, probably. Although I do agree that the mountains of nations that have been around for only ~1 month or so should be freed up fairly quick, and not in 5 years.

Any chance we can drop the wait time to two years? I mean this site just barely passed 10 year and as Freez said there's over 4 million nations. I think if a nation hasn't logged in for 2 years and doesn't meet the other criteria, that they're not expected back.

You'd be surprised. I've seen instances (albeit fairly rare) of somebody upwards of 8 years gone coming back.

Also, the site is well past 10 years old, it turns 13 this November. (OMG, the site will be old enough to post on the forums! ... And holy shit, we're coming up on an age where we'll start seeing players younger than the game is on the forums. )

I don't get this argument. One person comes back...wooo! Great. Still doesn't justify the huge net loss of enjoyment other people could have if names were freed quickly and efficiently, proportional and not the arbitrary 5 years.

[Chrinthanium]

I think the thing to remember is, those nations with half a billion people could have been played by people who weren't the most well liked. If there are any NSers around that remember when that name was in use, they may lump on you, quite unfairly, all the issues they had with that player. And no, I'm not talking about nation names that have been soiled, but those that managed to say in the rules but still left a bad taste in people's mouths.

Perhaps the best thing to do is, rather than stress about not having the nation name you want, you work with what you have. There's plenty of RPers out there who don't even use their NS nation name as their RP nation name. There's ways around not having the exact name you want.

Besides, the 5-year limit gives people who might return a chance to pick up their old nation name. If they're not back in 5 years and the nation didn't achieve a large population, then it probably wasn't something that was all that important to the player. I think that's the general idea. To get to 1 billion takes a while. At that point, you've probably made some sort of a name for yourself if only in a small circle.

Just my two cents. It's not like this nation name is sought after. It is one only a mother could love.

[Bears Armed]

Still doesn't justify the huge net loss of enjoyment other people could have if names were freed quickly and efficiently

and a small number of players didn't keep watch to grab the "good" names as soon as those were free...