[Proper National Message/Response]

[Zykorinov]

In regards to the amount of people who do not know how to make a good response to a declaration of war (or make a declaration themselves), or how to simply inform a nation that you will help them out (provide assistance), I have decided to come up with a nifty little example of a proper National Message and/or response:

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Alignment! -- In a good National Message, alignment is a very important factor. Try using the
[ align=center ]text[ /align ] tags (but don't include the spaces within) to center your text, and make it seem more official. This beats left-justified text.

Nation Seal! -- You can't go wrong with a national seal. It makes the message look decisively more official. If you don't have a national seal, try to create your own! Or, you can ask someone (politely) to make you one, or just rip off a Real-Life nation's seal, like I did. Also, you can go to this site to make your own!

TO: Addressed Nation's Name, Group Being Addressed
FROM: Your Nation's Name, Ministry/Department/Leader of Your Nation

The To/From Lines! -- This is also a very important aspect of your message. It delegates who you are sending the message to (the "TO" line), and who/what department is sending it (the "FROM" line).

Greetings from The Republic of Zykorinov. It has come to our government's attention that your Nation has
<insert problem here, if there is one>. We request that you <insert request/demand here, if there is one>. Failure to comply with our demands, failure to respond to this message, or failure to seek an agreement regarding our demands, will result in <insert consequences here>.

The Body! -- The body is where the real business begins. Here, you list your grievances, requests, et cetera; basically whatever you are making your message for. This is, perhaps, the most important part of your message. Failure to write a good body can result in your requests being ignored.

Signed,

Leader of Zykorinov

Closing Lines! -- The closing of your message is not extremely important, but it is where you the target Nation will look last. I, personally, include bold and italics tags to my closing lines, to give it a more official look. Normally, you should put a salutation (Signed, Regards, Thank You, et cetera), your Nation's leader (or the head of the Ministry/Department that is sending the message), and their position within your government. Also, you can obtain a signature (like mine) here

**So, there you have it. A workable format for any official message you desire. Whether it be a declaration of war, alliance, or some other matter. I hope this will help anyone new to NationStates, or curious about the RP etiquette that we have here. Thank you.**

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Format #2 -- The Email...
[This one will be short and sweet.]

To: Recipient Nation
From: Your Nation

Encryption Status Check .... Loading Encryption .... Encryption Activated.

The body of the email should go here. Please see the "Formal" format, above, for tips on what to put in it.

Yours,
Your Nation

[Zykorinov]

Hope you guys like this!

[Ozymos]

Hope you guys like this!

Is good!

I may use this in the upcoming RP between myself and someone else to show the n00bs on this forum just how to RP a war without using nukes or one line posts.

[Daemonicai]

Hope you guys like this!

Is good!

I may use this in the upcoming RP between myself and someone else to show the n00bs on this forum just how to RP a war without using nukes or one line posts.

I'll do that with you if you want. Non-canon though.

[Ozymos]

Hope you guys like this!

Is good!

I may use this in the upcoming RP between myself and someone else to show the n00bs on this forum just how to RP a war without using nukes or one line posts.

I'll do that with you if you want. Non-canon though.

It's ok, i'm currently working on it with said other person. Probably going to put up an OOC thread too, so anyone can comment and ask questions and whatnot.

[Mordegrad]

It is very good, however, I couldn't help noticing it's similarity to Stoklomovi's 'Proper Communique' thread...

[Zykorinov]

It is very good, however, I couldn't help noticing it's similarity to Stoklomovi's 'Proper Communique' thread...

Oh... umm... I haven't seen that... I haven't seen a thread showing proper message structure. But.. sorry if it's a rip-off. I was just trying to post a template that people can follow.

[New Greston]

Nope mate, your fine. Stoklomolvi's thing is more surrounded about how noobs curse and don't act as a real government would in proper messages. Where as yours is a template of how to make one, his was what to write. Great pair, actually.

[Zykorinov]

Nope mate, your fine. Stoklomolvi's thing is more surrounded about how noobs curse and don't act as a real government would in proper messages. Where as yours is a template of how to make one, his was what to write. Great pair, actually.

Oh! Thanks!

[Justorica]

Don't forget to tell them a REAL signature looks more official, such as my national leader's signature:





Signatures like the one above can be made HERE

[Zykorinov]

Don't forget to tell them a REAL signature looks more official, such as my national leader's signature:





Signatures like the one above can be made HERE

That's really nice. I think I'll make one and update it onto the post.

[Mordegrad]

Nope mate, your fine. Stoklomolvi's thing is more surrounded about how noobs curse and don't act as a real government would in proper messages. Where as yours is a template of how to make one, his was what to write. Great pair, actually.

Yep, what he said

[Justorica]

I also have a great place to make nation seals, like mine:

Although the site used to make it is supposed to make family crests, I made it work. You may notice that it says Justorica at the little banner down there. I added it via Microsoft Paint.

The site is: Click Here

[Ozymos]

Don't forget to tell them a REAL signature looks more official, such as my national leader's signature:





Signatures like the one above can be made HERE

Now that is very handy, thanks!

[Zykorinov]

+Template edited twice: 1 for the signature & link, 1 for the crest link.

[Justorica]

Don't forget to tell them a REAL signature looks more official, such as my national leader's signature:





Signatures like the one above can be made HERE

Now that is very handy, thanks!

No problem, I am here to help new nations get better. If you are a new nation that need's help with anything, just telegram me. P.S. I also help new nations to get a realistically sized military.

[Justorica]

+Template edited twice: 1 for the signature & link, 1 for the crest link.

& one for the "Sites for signature and crest/seal courtesy of Justorica"

Only if you want to though....

[Ozymos]

Don't forget to tell them a REAL signature looks more official, such as my national leader's signature:





Signatures like the one above can be made HERE

Now that is very handy, thanks!

No problem, I am here to help new nations get better. If you are a new nation that need's help with anything, just telegram me. P.S. I also help new nations to get a realistically sized military.

Well thanks, but despite the '09 join date under my post count, i've been on NS for some time now. Thanks anyways though

[Justorica]

Don't forget to tell them a REAL signature looks more official, such as my national leader's signature:





Signatures like the one above can be made HERE

Now that is very handy, thanks!

No problem, I am here to help new nations get better. If you are a new nation that need's help with anything, just telegram me. P.S. I also help new nations to get a realistically sized military.

Well thanks, but despite the '09 join date under my post count, i've been on NS for some time now. Thanks anyways though

Sorry.

[Zykorinov]

Bump for Knowledge!

[Toopoxia]

I don't see what's wrong with a very simple Message. I mean ideally I'd have my Heads of State/Foreign Ministers whatever, contact people by phone rather than the now totally obselete hard copy telegram, or if not via E-Mail, unfortunantly the nature of Play by Post makes two conversing characters abstract at best and shoddy looking at worst, so E-mail is generally the way to go, in which case it won't have seals and signatures.

To: Whoever
From: Whoever

Encryption .... .... .... activated

body of message

Yours,
Whoever

I find this arrangement is just as acceptable if not more acceptable than the above.

[Zykorinov]

But, the example I posted is more traditional that an "email" format. I guess you can do it whichever way you desire, but I was just trying to make a benchmark/guideline for one of the more common, proper formats.

[Brutland and Norden]

Nation Seal! -- You can't go wrong with a national seal. It makes the message look decisively more official. If you don't have a national seal, try to create your own! Or, you can ask someone (politely) to make you one, or just rip off a Real-Life nation's seal, like I did. Also, you can go to this site to make your own!

Additional resources to make your pictures:
Coat of Arms Visual Designer - though it has some sort of learning curve, it has more ordinaries/divisions than the earlier website, typical of coats-of-arms. However, you can't have too many messages/text, though.
Official Seal Maker

EDIT: Also, Photoshop or any photo-editing program works wonders.

[Jeraddo]

Very nice, Very Helpful.

[Fatatatutti]

I tend to agree with Toopoxia that email-style messages are more appropriate in a modern context. Garish crests are mostly good for scrolling past and center-aligned text is best left to wedding invitations.

Personally, I would suggest a simple content-oriented style for everyday communications and a letterhead with a small crest to represent hard-copy documents. The calligraphy-on-parchment style described here, I would reserve for.... Well, I can't think of an appropriate example, but there may be some.

However (and there's always a however), I'm all about diversity and if people want to do that style of message, this is a good template for them.