RPing Questions? Ask Here!

[United Gordonopia]

After all, with everyone and their mothers

My mother's a saint Kyl

In all seriousness, as others have stated there isn't really an accepted standard of international law in II. Many, if not most, of the various II-focused RPing regions out there don't really recognize the WA as being a thing in the RPing universe, so the closest you'll get would be regional/interregional agreements, or the standards of various alliances.

Keep in mind, though, that it should also be acceptable to the people you're RPing with. A fair number of people might not want to RP with you if your standard operating procedure is, say, ripping every prisoner's head off even though there's no explicit 'international law' against it. So if you're going to do something that may be outside the bounds of what is acceptable in RL warfare, at least make sure your partners are aware of it. If they're fine with it, by all means go ahead and use exploding bullets and the like.

[Sunset]

My personal addendum to that would be that, while some things are just things that happen (FT weapons make people explode like chunky salsa. Wear your armor!) and while others happen for flavor (A particularly vicious Commander engages in the occasional summary execution) depending on where, when, and why things happen others will take notice. Setting aside the technical reasons why we don't use exploding (small arms) bullets, engaging in ghastly behavior is more likely to draw the ire of those of us Who Can Do Something About It (TM). There is a careful line to be drawn between military effectiveness and painting a target on your back for some coalition of do-gooders to come reorganize your government into a mid-afternoon tea party on the lawn.

A savvy conqueror who wants to keep being a conqueror instead of a footnote will engage in just the right amount of wanton violence until they have that unstoppable momentum. Since (there hasn't ever) been an absolute ruler of NS RP in any timeframe, but plenty of footnotes, I would suggest that the would-be conqueror study their history. This applies to good guys too, of course. As noted some things just happen but for the good guys, that one rogue commander or exploding bullet or other 'atrocity' would soon be seen as emblematic of the entire military, or government, or civilization given the way the media and the government in good guy nations often works.

[Perlinsia]

Could you create a nation of farmers and have a 1 million man army of farmers? Armed with pitchforks with canews as their navy?

[The Macabees]

Could you create a nation of farmers and have a 1 million man army of farmers? Armed with pitchforks with canews as their navy?

Yes, you can. On NationStates, your imagination is the limit.

[Rhodevus]

Could you create a nation of farmers and have a 1 million man army of farmers? Armed with pitchforks with canews as their navy?

I am not sure how successful it will be in the long run against nations with guns, but it sounds like it could be fun

[Mephistophilia]

What kind of overlap is usually practiced between topics when RPing here? Do people buy a tank in Global Economics and Trade and then go start a war with it in International Incidents?

EDIT: Just thinking of the...diplomatic repercussions of NukeMart

[Rhodevus]

What kind of overlap is usually practiced between topics when RPing here? Do people buy a tank in Global Economics and Trade and then go start a war with it in International Incidents?

you could, but it is not necessarily needed for you to buy the tank and use tanks in an RP. But, from my experience, if you want to use a tank designed by someone else, buy it first in global economics and trade, then use it.

[Roski]

Explosive ammunition does exist.

Its also banned by the Geneva Convention.

And if my nation has an incredibly different timeline to that?

Then you don't have to abide by it.

My nation technically takes place 30,000 years from now, so the Geneva Convention has been long since forgotten (We fled due to Chinese imperialism0

[Sunset]

What kind of overlap is usually practiced between topics when RPing here? Do people buy a tank in Global Economics and Trade and then go start a war with it in International Incidents?

you could, but it is not necessarily needed for you to buy the tank and use tanks in an RP. But, from my experience, if you want to use a tank designed by someone else, buy it first in global economics and trade, then use it.

It is very much up to the individual. Some people treat Global Economics and Trade as a place for them to 'sell', or at least post for people to appreciate, artwork that might be related to their Nation. Others view it as a sort of mini-game unto itself, though one without any kind of rules other than those in their own head. Some people just like to buy and sell. The same is true of roleplaying inside International Incidents and NationStates; You don't have to do one to do the other, and you can cross and not-cross them as you please.

The general rule for me is that if something happens within the Diplomacy Forum (F&NI, NS, II, GE&T, Sport) then it happens to my nation and is accounted for in my roleplay. Everything else - especially Portal to the Multiverse and Forum 7 - Doesn't Count Ever.

How you want to approach things is up to you, but I would encourage you to follow the simple rule of Communication and Consistency. Talk to your fellow roleplayers, and be consistent in what you do. You'll have a lot more fun and so will they!

[Mephistophilia]

As a followup with overlapping topics, this one is overlapping this one, which I find rather funny. Does this happen often?

[Arcadian Sovereignty]

Is it bad that I have ships over 15km long?
My entire fleet is about 1 to 2km long, I only have about 6 longer than that - not Inc. orbital defences
Tips? Suggestions?

[Vancon]

Is it bad that I have ships over 15km long?
My entire fleet is about 1 to 2km long, I only have about 6 longer than that - not Inc. orbital defences
Tips? Suggestions?

Is this a real-life ship on the water or in space?

[Rhodevus]

Is it bad that I have ships over 15km long?
My entire fleet is about 1 to 2km long, I only have about 6 longer than that - not Inc. orbital defences
Tips? Suggestions?

Is this a real-life ship on the water or in space?

I am going to guess, it is space, since navay vessels are usually 500-700 ft.

[Sunset]

Is it bad that I have ships over 15km long?
My entire fleet is about 1 to 2km long, I only have about 6 longer than that - not Inc. orbital defences
Tips? Suggestions?

Personal Perspective? Yes.

Mentor Perspective? Possibly.

Forum Perspective? Possibly.

On the forums, you are who you say you are. If you want your nation to be composed entirely of technicolor ponies then so be it! If you want to model your nation after the Imperium of Man? So be it! However...

Just because you want your (Now 3-Day Old) Nation to be an enormous super-power doesn't make it so. There is a complex mix of give-and-take that goes on with Nations, their claimed power, their actual power, how old they are, how young they are, how much they post, how often they post, how good their posts are, what their source material is... I could go on. Suffice to say that, from my perspective and in general, you will have a hard time trying to convince anyone that you are a galactic super-power given the combination of current factors.

Based on that, I would then say that claiming one, if not multiple, multi-kilometer warships is going to be generally ignored with any and all attempts to justify their existence through 'Advanced Robotics', 'Super Science', or any other similar contrivances similarly ignored. There is however a 'However!'

If you want to have these giant warships, if you want the galactic empire, if you want to play with the 'Big Dogs', then as this is a written role-play forum I would suggest you write like a Big Dog. People will want to read your posts, participate in your threads, and interact with you as a nation if you give them some meat to chew on (Continuing the Dog Theme...). A good six-to-nine paragraph post with some character interaction, some good visual descriptions of the world around them, a minimum of explaining for the audience, and one can overcome small size, a low post count, and a derivative source material.

That is the 'However!'

So, is it bad? No, not as a single question.

There is, however, another 'However'.

Start small. Develop your Nation. Do something new with it. You do not need multi-kilometer warships to interact with the Big Dogs, or even the Medium or Regular Dogs. You need a Character and a little imagination. Want to participate in that international conflict? Send a spy. Send a diplomat. Write about two young lovers caught in the middle by happenstance or design. When people want to read your posts and interact with you, no one will care when you start slipping a sixteen kilometer dreadnought in.

[Mereon]

Not sure if this falls under the right catagory, but do any of you remember the CYOA thread in F7 about 'Jenny'? Do you know if it was deleted or if it was archived, my current nation wasn't around back then, but my previous nations were.

[Sunset]

I can't find anything like that in the Archives. If the topic limited-out, it may have then been auto-pruned and deleted. The same would apply if general interest was lost. I might suggest asking in F7 instead though, since you're more likely to find someone who has the same history as you do and might know.

[Irav]

I've been thinking about this for some time now.

My navy is pretty important for my nation since I am an archipelago.
So I spent a lot of money on it around 800 billion if I have to believe NStracker.

Would it be possible for a nation like mine to support 17 aircraft carriers, without crippling the whole economy (Economy is 98/100).
And would this be realistic to use in roleplaying (If I use around 5/6 in big conflicts.)

[Sunset]

Assuming some (missing) details, I'm going to say 'yes'. The United States operates... 14? Somewhere around that... Carrier groups (1 carrier plus support ships) with a 'Powerhouse' economy (Arguing that no modern nation truly has an all-consuming or frightening economy due to various reasons which boil down to 'politics') and a population of 4/10ths of your own.

Please note that this is no indication of the effectiveness of your navy! My opinion is purely based on your NS stats rather than any kind of detailed knowledge of your RP history, your head-canon, or your declared status. But based on just your stats, that is reasonable.

The big 'But' being 'what else do you have?' Not that I particularly want to know, but is this (reasonable for your size) navy complimented by an army of tens of millions? An air force with many tens of thousands of aircraft? A civil guard that is constantly putting down insurgencies and civil insurrections? If your navy is your 'big hammer', then I'd say it is reasonable.

[Roski]

Is it ok to use a population that is high, but below my NS population, and use the GDP per capita of another real world country (like Germany), to determine my GDP?

[Vancon]

Is it ok to use a population that is high, but below my NS population, and use the GDP per capita of another real world country (like Germany), to determine my GDP?

Your nation, your universe, your rules.
It isn't interfering with anyone, so ya, it's fine.

[Roski]

Is it ok to use a population that is high, but below my NS population, and use the GDP per capita of another real world country (like Germany), to determine my GDP?

Your nation, your universe, your rules.
It isn't interfering with anyone, so ya, it's fine.

Would that be acceptable in a RP?

[Vancon]

Your nation, your universe, your rules.
It isn't interfering with anyone, so ya, it's fine.

Would that be acceptable in a RP?

Ask whomever is in your RP then. I would say yes in one of my RPs, but that's just me being open to other peoples ideas. It depends on the OP.

[Rhodevus]

Your nation, your universe, your rules.
It isn't interfering with anyone, so ya, it's fine.

Would that be acceptable in a RP?

sure, why not?
It all depends on who you RP with. Just communicate with your fellow RPers on what you all believe would be a good population to use in that particular RP.

[The Macabees]

I think it's reasonable. In theory, average income increases with population growth because the division of labor can further specialize (internal economies of scale). Edit: All else being equal, of course.

[Roski]

I think it's reasonable. In theory, average income increases with population growth because the division of labor can further specialize (internal economies of scale). Edit: All else being equal, of course.

So, say, having a population of 958 million (Significantly smaller than 1.7 billion), and having Germany's GDP per capita, resulting in a GDP that's over 40 trillion, is reasonable?