The West Opens Up (All Embassy Requests Accepted)

by **Vancouvia** » Wed May 13, 2015 12:53 pm

Vision Statement

To have and maintain a world-renowned close-knit confederation of nations, in which the ideals of democracy, equality, fraternity, and happiness are upheld to their fullest degree.

What is the point of this thread?

Foremost, to recruit nations that may have heard of us but have not yet made the switch to join; secondly, to generate awareness for the Western Isles; and thirdly, to serve as an international hub for the sake of major news updates and embassy exchanges.

Where are you located?

West.

So what is the Western Isles?

We are:

Who are you looking for?

People who want to delve much deeper into a region, do things like debate, create laws, actively participate in different kinds of role-play events, and compete in heated elections.

What makes you different from other regions?

I took all the things I liked most from regions and combined them to create the Western Isles. The way our region was created and operates is completely unique to NationStates.

Offsite forums?

No, and there likely never will be. One of the things I most disliked about other regions was the fact that you have to separate your time between NationStates and another website with a completely different format. It's confusing for new players, it splits activity, and it serves to create obstacles for people to participate. There are no "citizen requirements" in the Western Isles. You can join immediately and do anything any other member can do. We've been operating smoothly without forums for months now.

Can I exchange embassies with the Western Isles?

Yes.

I'm interested in learning more about the Western Isles.

Feel free to telegram me, join the region, or post here with any questions and I'll get back to you ASAP.

I'm interested in joining.

Great! There is no membership application; simply move on in and we'll go from there.

by **Vancouvia** » Wed May 13, 2015 12:53 pm

Reserved

by **Vancouvia** » Wed May 13, 2015 12:53 pm

Reserved

by **Linaviar** » Mon May 18, 2015 10:41 pm

The Western Isles has been a great home to me over the past month, and I want to give it the attention that it deserves. I joined the region back when it was only home to about 20 nations and it has only grown better since those days. There are no inaccessible cliques and everyone has proved helpful and friendly. Had I not joined this region, I probably would have been one of those nations that joins, stays around for a week or two just answering issues, and then gets deleted due to inactivity. Instead, I have become an active RPer and even gained a seat on the regional government as a justice, something that would likely never have happened to a new player in any other region. This has given me the distinct pleasure of being intimately involved in the region's governmental process, a centerpiece of its distinctive character. This will be the main focus of my plea to any nations thinking about joining The Western Isles.

The Process Is Open to All

The regional constitution states that every nation is a member of the legislative branch, with the capability to submit and vote upon legislation. This is a point of pride, as it allows for those who truly wish to get involved in the region to do so with no bar to entry. If you wish to submit a piece of legislation, it is a mere matter of stopping by the judicial thread and providing a link to the text. It goes on the docket, no questions asked, until such a time that it is ready for debate, which brings us to the next point.

The Justices Want to Help You

We want your legislation to be the best that it can be, and will take the time to help it reach its potential. The submitter is allowed to freely interact with the court while their bill passes through it, meaning that recommended improvements and the reasons behind them are easily accessible. It is not uncommon for a bill to go through multiple drafts before it is either passed through or denied, and this has led to a great amount of strength in the pieces that have gone through the court successfully. This means that when a bill finally does come to a vote in the legislature, it will be enacted or rejected based upon the ideas behind it rather than minor wording choices, and this has led to a healthy voting and debate process in the RMB. Think of it as a mini WA, but much friendlier.

The Elections

Don't feel like an officer is doing their job, or disagree with the way that they're doing it? Challenge them! Despite only being around for around a month, I've already witnessed incumbents get voted out of office facing new challengers, and the government has grown stronger because of it. The discussion that occurs during an election can be intensive, and the friendliness and civility of everyone involved has been stellar. No smear campaigns, no trash talking, just an honest discussion on what the candidates think and intend to do. Loose? learn from your mistakes, find out why support for another candidate was higher, and you can attempt to run at a later date, either for a different post or the same one. And with new government positions being created as needs arise, I can see many more elections occurring in the near future.

The RMB

With no offsite forums, the RMB is our major point of discussion, and what a point it is! Daily a matter of respectful and intelligent yet laid back conversations take place there, and every nation is given the opportunity to join. Despite existing for over a month and playing home to a large number of active nations, the RMB has yet to see any combative feuds or mudslinging occur, and in all scenarios where it may have been seen as such the "offending" nation has stepped in to clarify and give apologies. The Western Isles is home to one of the friendliest communities that I've seen on the entire internet, and it has been my honour to be a part of it.

To anyone who is interested, I ask that you come join The Western Isles, I guarantee that you will love it here.

by **Vancouvia** » Wed May 20, 2015 2:06 pm

We are pleased to have completed our second Vice Presidential election. We will likely be going through some major changes in the weeks to come as our Constitution is reworked.

by **Vancouvia** » Sun May 24, 2015 3:59 pm

Today we have reached our 300th nation! In approximately two months we've grown to 300! In three years total time we should have 5400 nations : )

by **Valrifell** » Sun May 24, 2015 4:01 pm

Vancouvia wrote:Today we have reached our 300th nation! In approximately two months we've grown to 300! In three years total time we should have 5400 nations : )

But do you see decade old regions with 10000 members? No. 300-500 is normally the ceiling.

by **Vancouvia** » Sun May 24, 2015 4:03 pm

Valrifell wrote:
Vancouvia wrote:Today we have reached our 300th nation! In approximately two months we've grown to 300! In three years total time we should have 5400 nations : )

But do you see decade old regions with 10000 members? No. 300-500 is normally the ceiling.

You will eat your hat in 2018 when we have passed the Pacifics and now dominate the NationStates landscape

by **Valrifell** » Sun May 24, 2015 4:07 pm

Vancouvia wrote:
Valrifell wrote:
But do you see decade old regions with 10000 members? No. 300-500 is normally the ceiling.

You will eat your hat in 2018 when we have passed the Pacifics and now dominate the NationStates landscape

You'd most likely have literally every active nation with 5400.

by **Jute** » Mon Jun 01, 2015 5:08 am

Vancouvia wrote:Today we have reached our 300th nation! In approximately two months we've grown to 300! In three years total time we should have 5400 nations : )

Darn, that is definitely a success story.

by **Vancouvia** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 4:08 pm

Vancouvia wrote:Today we have reached our 300th nation! In approximately two months we've grown to 300! In three years total time we should have 5400 nations : )

I'm pleased to announce that today we had our 400th nation enter our borders!

by **Kaboomlandia** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 4:38 pm

I must say, and no offense, but growing a region this quickly is definitely the exception rather than the norm=. You were founded 11 weeks ago and already have 402 nations.

by **Valrifell** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 4:42 pm

Kaboomlandia wrote:I must say, and no offense, but growing a region this quickly is definitely the exception rather than the norm=. You were founded 11 weeks ago and already have 402 nations.

NS history has shown us this past year, it is incredibly hard for nations that grow this exponentially to hang onto their population should something happen to their founder or their precious recruitment. A few examples would have to be: TBR, LKE, and CoF + AoI.

by **Vancouvia** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 4:50 pm

Kaboomlandia wrote:I must say, and no offense, but growing a region this quickly is definitely the exception rather than the norm=. You were founded 11 weeks ago and already have 402 nations.

We are an exceptional region.

by **Kaboomlandia** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 4:59 pm

Not to mince words here, but I kind of think you put a bit too much emphasis on the RMB and polls. Why not get a forum?

by **Vancouvia** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:00 pm

Kaboomlandia wrote:Not to mince words here, but I kind of think you put a bit too much emphasis on the RMB and polls. Why not get a forum?

One of the things I most disliked about other regions was the fact that you have to separate your time between NationStates and another website with a completely different format. It's confusing for new players, it splits activity, and it serves to create obstacles for people to participate. There are no "citizen requirements" in the Western Isles. You can join immediately and do anything any other member can do. We've been operating smoothly without forums for over two months now.

by **Jute** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:15 pm

Vancouvia wrote:
Kaboomlandia wrote:Not to mince words here, but I kind of think you put a bit too much emphasis on the RMB and polls. Why not get a forum?

One of the things I most disliked about other regions was the fact that you have to separate your time between NationStates and another website with a completely different format. It's confusing for new players, it splits activity, and it serves to create obstacles for people to participate. There are no "citizen requirements" in the Western Isles. You can join immediately and do anything any other member can do. We've been operating smoothly without forums for over two months now.

I keep getting flak in my region for neglecting the forum (and for the same reasons, too: I'm reluctant to use something completely separate from this site), and the recurrent suggestions to move rps to it can be annoying as well.

This issue actually caused so many arguments that it ultimately lead to a dozen nation or so leaving. So I can certainly see why a region wouldn't want any forums. A lot of people might like them, but to some, they're just a nuisance and get in the way of having fun uncomplicated.

Vancouvia wrote:
Kaboomlandia wrote:I must say, and no offense, but growing a region this quickly is definitely the exception rather than the norm=. You were founded 11 weeks ago and already have 402 nations.

We are an exceptional region.

Your way of recruiting as well as your recruitment telegram must play a part in this. At least the latter seems to stand out from a lot of other ones, I never saw someone using a joke as an "ice-breaker" before

Maybe it'll encourage more regions to become creative?

by **Valrifell** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:16 pm

Vancouvia wrote:
Kaboomlandia wrote:Not to mince words here, but I kind of think you put a bit too much emphasis on the RMB and polls. Why not get a forum?

One of the things I most disliked about other regions was the fact that you have to separate your time between NationStates and another website with a completely different format. It's confusing for new players, it splits activity, and it serves to create obstacles for people to participate. There are no "citizen requirements" in the Western Isles. You can join immediately and do anything any other member can do. We've been operating smoothly without forums for over two months now.

Except there are many more regions with 500+ members and offsites too.
Also, there aren't any citizenship requirements to do things in a majority of these regions, just participate in government. Because, well now, we wouldn't want a series of puppets spamming polls for elections now, do we?

by **Vancouvia** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:20 pm

Jute wrote:
Vancouvia wrote:
One of the things I most disliked about other regions was the fact that you have to separate your time between NationStates and another website with a completely different format. It's confusing for new players, it splits activity, and it serves to create obstacles for people to participate. There are no "citizen requirements" in the Western Isles. You can join immediately and do anything any other member can do. We've been operating smoothly without forums for over two months now.

I keep getting flak in my region for neglecting the forum (and for the same reasons, too: I'm reluctant to use something completely separate from this site), and the recurrent suggestions to move rps to it can be annoying as well. This issue actually caused so many arguments that it ultimately lead to a dozen nation or so leaving. So I can certainly see why a region wouldn't want any forums. A lot of people might like them, but to some, they're just a nuisance and get in the way of having fun uncomplicated.

Yeah, there's several reasons pro having forums, but in my mind, and the majority of the minds of my regionmates, the cons outweigh them.

by **Jute** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:38 pm

Valrifell wrote:
Vancouvia wrote:
One of the things I most disliked about other regions was the fact that you have to separate your time between NationStates and another website with a completely different format. It's confusing for new players, it splits activity, and it serves to create obstacles for people to participate. There are no "citizen requirements" in the Western Isles. You can join immediately and do anything any other member can do. We've been operating smoothly without forums for over two months now.

Except there are many more regions with 500+ members and offsites too.
Also, there aren't any citizenship requirements to do things in a majority of these regions, just participate in government. Because, well now, we wouldn't want a series of puppets spamming polls for elections now, do we?

Well, you could register multiple accounts as different citizens even if you have off-site forums, couldn't you?

by **Valrifell** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:54 pm

Jute wrote:
Valrifell wrote:
Except there are many more regions with 500+ members and offsites too.
Also, there aren't any citizenship requirements to do things in a majority of these regions, just participate in government. Because, well now, we wouldn't want a series of puppets spamming polls for elections now, do we?

Well, you could register multiple accounts as different citizens even if you have off-site forums, couldn't you?

But that's soo much harder than making a bunch of puppets using a magical script.

by **Jute** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:56 pm

Valrifell wrote:
Jute wrote:Well, you could register multiple accounts as different citizens even if you have off-site forums, couldn't you?

But that's soo much harder than making a bunch of puppets using a magical script.

True, I guess. But you might also get caught if you do that.

by **Vancouvia** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:56 pm

Valrifell wrote:
Jute wrote:Well, you could register multiple accounts as different citizens even if you have off-site forums, couldn't you?

But that's soo much harder than making a bunch of puppets using a magical script.

That kind of blatant voter fraud is easy to detect. We've had two instances of voter fraud but both were swiftly found out and dealt with.

by **Valrifell** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 5:59 pm

Vancouvia wrote:
Valrifell wrote:
But that's soo much harder than making a bunch of puppets using a magical script.

That kind of blatant voter fraud is easy to detect. We've had two instances of voter fraud but both were swiftly found out and dealt with.

Not if you do it right.
Puppet wanking is of course easy to detect if it's within one update, a few carefully placed puppets each active with distinct traits and personalities can easily sway a vote. It's much harder to maintain the illusion of a person when you have to go offsite to continue it, and people have your IPs and email address.

by **Vancouvia** » Sun Jun 07, 2015 6:01 pm

Valrifell wrote:
Vancouvia wrote:
That kind of blatant voter fraud is easy to detect. We've had two instances of voter fraud but both were swiftly found out and dealt with.

Not if you do it right.
Puppet wanking is of course easy to detect if it's within one update, a few carefully placed puppets each active with distinct traits and personalities can easily sway a vote. It's much harder to maintain the illusion of a person when you have to go offsite to continue it, and people have your IPs and email address.

True, it's easier on forums to detect fraud. That's a pro for having them and one I will bring up if we ever have a discussion on the possibility of switching over.

The West Opens Up (All Embassy Requests Accepted)

The West Opens Up (All Embassy Requests Accepted)

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