NS History: You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers!

[Twins of Hearts]

So, going way, way back, what are the very first group of Defenders, and the very first group of Invaders?

I had an encounter with HYDRA when they raided my region, but that was back in 2015, which was relatively young and recent.

The first group of organized WA members looking to grab regions were the farkers.

The first group of defenders I ever ran into, that gave me any issue, was the RLA.

[The Notorious Mad Jack]

So, going way, way back, what are the very first group of Defenders, and the very first group of Invaders?

I had an encounter with HYDRA when they raided my region, but that was back in 2015, which was relatively young and recent.

The first group of organized WA members looking to grab regions were the farkers.

The first group of defenders I ever ran into, that gave me any issue, was the RLA.

I don't think the Farkers were first:

Evil (the original region, not the more recently created regions by that name) was probably the earliest invader group, very early in 2003. They knocked over the delegates of four small regions and then quickly lapsed into inactivity. Then came the Driftwood Gang and soon afterwards the Farkers. 100 Nations of Conquest were also around during this time, but their biggest impact in the raider community was as posers; pretending to be responsible for Farker raids (because nobody else took the blame) and reaped a lot of griefing from Farker victim regions because of it. As invaders the 100 Nations of Conquest actually did very little.

[All Wild Things]

These may have been posted before, but they're new to me:

https://nationstates.ermarian.net/jolt/1223/297680

https://nationstates.ermarian.net/jolt/

Courtesy of Ermarian, apparently.

[Lyrical International Brigade]

Who's the worst spammer you've ever had?

Worst: Probably the guy that got all of New Zealand banned.

Most Annoying: The guy that spams the entire script of Bee Movie. He comes back once in a while and hits up a few GCRs with the entire script verbatim. Just suppressing the post requires scrolling all the way to the bottom of the post and that takes forever!

There's not a limit on RMB post length?

[The Church of Satan]

Worst: Probably the guy that got all of New Zealand banned.

Most Annoying: The guy that spams the entire script of Bee Movie. He comes back once in a while and hits up a few GCRs with the entire script verbatim. Just suppressing the post requires scrolling all the way to the bottom of the post and that takes forever!

There's not a limit on RMB post length?

Apparently not. I think half the script at the least is a reasonable limit, heh.

[Ghost Land]

These may have been posted before, but they're new to me:

https://nationstates.ermarian.net/jolt/1223/297680

https://nationstates.ermarian.net/jolt/

Courtesy of Ermarian, apparently.

Oh my gosh, I love that site! Just be warned that some content, such as the first link here, is well over a decade old and a lot of the links to other sites don't work anymore.

[Numero Capitan]

Does anyone know what “the Last Kingdom” was? I have seen it mentioned occasionally in regards to both imperialism and the FRA as a member region, but can find very little about it. Anyone have any clue?

Thanks in advance.

Others might be able to give more insight but TLK was one of the largest regions in the game (top 20) around 2008. They were a monarchy who were largely led by Brommanikha until he faked his own death or something (yep). Their main enemy was the Eastern Roman Empire, and they were part of a wider military alliance with The New Inquisition, LKE, Great Britain and Ireland that took different forms including one which was called SRATO (Lone Wolves United and Gatesville were both members at different points if I remember correctly). They took part in the Lewis and Clark coup in The North Pacific amongst other things.

In terms of their relationship with the FRA they were an invader region for most their history. It was my first proper assignment in FRA intel, and even after I gained access to their Royal Council (or whatever it was called) as their Chief Justice we carried on sending spies in so I could observe them and see if they were any good. They spent a lot of time looking for the FRA 'spy' and ignoring the fact that we could have more than one. Hadisthe, who led the military, used to leave messages for me in their Armed Forces forum (which was split into three battalions who could only see their own area) to see which post I'd mention them in our conversations on MSN (or when we were playing Age of Empires III ), but after he realised we could see everything they basically gave up on trying to fight us and eventually turned defender as part of Equinox (as did a lot of others, including Brom and Wopruthien).

A large number of natives split of into the Kodiak Republic for political reasons (Rykkland, Graz, Wop some of the more notable ones) and the region began to fade. FRA membership was really just about getting a few of their ex-members into the FRA Rangers and watching over the region after it stopped really existing as a genuine entity. Most of their ex-members carried on playing through the Kodiak Republic or Equinox, a few did other things, a couple ended up in the Black Hawks intelligence sector which was known as 'the Hidden Ones' (which weirdly included spying on Gatesville as well as 10KI and FRA regions like Hethrum and GRA).

[Armaros]

Thank you, Numero. Wop actually reached out to me about this, but thanks for the detailed summary.

[Johanneslanden]

I'd be interested to know about the Rahls
Who are they, how did they start, what they were originally aimed at, how long have they been a thing that sort of stuff

[Unibot III]

I'd be interested to know about the Rahls
Who are they, how did they start, what they were originally aimed at, how long have they been a thing that sort of stuff

The Rahls are a 'roleplayed' NS Family originating first from a select group of Gameplayers in Osiris, The Empire, who had an extensive history of undermining, influencing, and destabilizing Game-Created Regions. Players in Osiris (2012-2013 ish) who were close/friendly with the core of the Empire (Biyah, Dali, NK, Neenee) at that time would adopt the Rahl surname - the name Rahl comes from the Sword of Truth series.

Incidentally, the Rahl surname outlived the Empire for the most part. The Empire was banished from Osiris in Early 2014, but the Rahl family continued to grow exponentially by 2016 - especially into the West Pacific, the East Pacific, and Lazarus. Today that diaspora denies direct associations with the Empire and its ambitions of global domination, characterizing themselves as a roleplay rather than political faction. But others accuse the family as harbouring those same imperialistic intentions as the Empire of old - the difference between the Empire's Rahls and the contemporary Rahls being that the latter was a surname appropriated mostly by raiders/invaders, while the former were a more eclectic group of disenchanted ex-defenders, anti-establishment types, and political misfits looking to cause trouble, sow divisions and misinformation, and assume political control.

Someone who was more active in 2016, especially in the West Pacific, would be able to describe the growth and appropriation of the surname.

I think this marks a serious change from my time in NationStates however. The Rahl family has grown into a major political institution with a foothold in a number of Game-Created Regions. The 'geopolitical infrastructure' of the Cold War was cannibalized in 2016 after imperialists were banned from recruiting, NPO crept back into political isolation, and defenders -- disorganized, leaderless, and without a moral imperative -- floundered. Today, the game is politically and intellectually comatose - invaders are abusing the powers of office against marginalized residents and flouting constitutional norms and yet nobody seems interested in doing anything about it or investing any time into stopping this phenomenon.

[Numero Capitan]

I'd be interested to know about the Rahls
Who are they, how did they start, what they were originally aimed at, how long have they been a thing that sort of stuff

The non-wordwank version is that Lord Rahl was the name of one of the Empire coupers in The East Pacific nearly ten years ago that was revealed to be the nation Biyah. It’s turned into one of these weird RP family House names that is now apparently an acceptable association in TEP and others.

[King HEM]

Does anyone know what “the Last Kingdom” was? I have seen it mentioned occasionally in regards to both imperialism and the FRA as a member region, but can find very little about it. Anyone have any clue?

Thanks in advance.

Others might be able to give more insight but TLK was one of the largest regions in the game (top 20) around 2008. They were a monarchy who were largely led by Brommanikha until he faked his own death or something (yep). Their main enemy was the Eastern Roman Empire, and they were part of a wider military alliance with The New Inquisition, LKE, Great Britain and Ireland that took different forms including one which was called SRATO (Lone Wolves United and Gatesville were both members at different points if I remember correctly). They took part in the Lewis and Clark coup in The North Pacific amongst other things.

In terms of their relationship with the FRA they were an invader region for most their history. It was my first proper assignment in FRA intel, and even after I gained access to their Royal Council (or whatever it was called) as their Chief Justice we carried on sending spies in so I could observe them and see if they were any good. They spent a lot of time looking for the FRA 'spy' and ignoring the fact that we could have more than one. Hadisthe, who led the military, used to leave messages for me in their Armed Forces forum (which was split into three battalions who could only see their own area) to see which post I'd mention them in our conversations on MSN (or when we were playing Age of Empires III ), but after he realised we could see everything they basically gave up on trying to fight us and eventually turned defender as part of Equinox (as did a lot of others, including Brom and Wopruthien).

A large number of natives split of into the Kodiak Republic for political reasons (Rykkland, Graz, Wop some of the more notable ones) and the region began to fade. FRA membership was really just about getting a few of their ex-members into the FRA Rangers and watching over the region after it stopped really existing as a genuine entity. Most of their ex-members carried on playing through the Kodiak Republic or Equinox, a few did other things, a couple ended up in the Black Hawks intelligence sector which was known as 'the Hidden Ones' (which weirdly included spying on Gatesville as well as 10KI and FRA regions like Hethrum and GRA).

Okay off topic but have we reached a statute of limitations where you can finally reveal the "true" story of FRA espionage in Europeia?

[Drop Your Pants]

Okay off topic but have we reached a statute of limitations where you can finally reveal the "true" story of FRA espionage in Europeia?

We were trying to dump Falc on you but it didn't work.

[Numero Capitan]

Okay off topic but have we reached a statute of limitations where you can finally reveal the "true" story of FRA espionage in Europeia?

Sorry not at liberty to discuss details of ongoing operations

[Valentine Z]

I don't really go to NSGP, but I still like to watch it from afar, so... here's one!

What was the most successful raid ever done, and how many nations were ejected as a result? And how long was the occupation?

[Numero Capitan]

I don't really go to NSGP, but I still like to watch it from afar, so... here's one!

What was the most successful raid ever done, and how many nations were ejected as a result? And how long was the occupation?

"TEP"

[Lord Dominator]

I don't really go to NSGP, but I still like to watch it from afar, so... here's one!

What was the most successful raid ever done, and how many nations were ejected as a result? And how long was the occupation?

"TEP"

Could also cite Francos Spain in TP, which I believe stands up in regards to being relatively outside/foreign (relative to the time), or the subsequent NPO adventure in TNP. Both seem to me to reasonably qualify as an invasion, even if the latter presumably also counts as a coup.

[Sycar]

Is Max Barry an active NS'er?

[Lord Dominator]

Is Max Barry an active NS'er?

He is known to have nations, though which ones are his is unknown, and is in fairly regular contact with at least admins & mods.

[Numero Capitan]

I don't really go to NSGP, but I still like to watch it from afar, so... here's one!

What was the most successful raid ever done, and how many nations were ejected as a result? And how long was the occupation?

One genuine answer could be Feudal Japan, which was under raider control before nearly two years (November 2007 to August 2009) with the natives forced to set up camp in an alternative region all that time until the WA Security Council was introduced. Catlandatopia, Fox Rite, The Cathedral, and Blades of Conquest were responsible.

Seem to remember DEN holding onto Central Eastern Europe for a long time too, repelling numerous liberation attempts (think Meri was delegate for that one)

[Valentine Z]

I don't really go to NSGP, but I still like to watch it from afar, so... here's one!

What was the most successful raid ever done, and how many nations were ejected as a result? And how long was the occupation?

One genuine answer could be Feudal Japan, which was under raider control before nearly two years (November 2007 to August 2009) with the natives forced to set up camp in an alternative region all that time until the WA Security Council was introduced. Catlandatopia, Fox Rite, The Cathedral, and Blades of Conquest were responsible.

Seem to remember DEN holding onto Central Eastern Europe for a long time too, repelling numerous liberation attempts (think Meri was delegate for that one)

Thanks for the answer! ^^ I'm a relatively new guy to this game, so... I am curious about anything before 2015 and the like, and how they're like.

[Lord Dominator]

Of course, there are also successful occupations to think of - TBH has some trophies, Macedon has a appreciably massive collection, MT Army/Antifa have a yet larger collection, there are supposedly former Farkers who still retain some of those regions, etc.

[Valentine Z]

Of course, there are also successful occupations to think of - TBH has some trophies, Macedon has a appreciably massive collection, MT Army/Antifa have a yet larger collection, there are supposedly former Farkers who still retain some of those regions, etc.

Were the occupations slated to be permanent, or were they always liberated no matter that? I think this might be suited with me asking in NSGP itself, but ah wells. ^^;

Or are there permanent occupations that eventually turn from "Occupied by Raiders" to "Occupied by people that we actually like and would love them here"?

[Numero Capitan]

This might also be of interest*, including some of the Invasion/Operations of the year. Most are (understandably) defender operations but Red Kagran and Taijitu's invasion of TRR stands out in that I believe they were the first people to eject their invader lead and the entire 'raiding' force (mostly unsuspecting members of Taijitu) into TRR: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1268967


*in the process of getting it up-to-date

[Valentine Z]

This might also be of interest*, including some of the Invasion/Operations of the year. Most are (understandably) defender operations but Red Kagran and Taijitu's invasion of TRR stands out in that I believe they were the first people to eject their invader lead and the entire 'raiding' force (mostly unsuspecting members of Taijitu) into TRR: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1268967


*in the process of getting it up-to-date

Pretty awesome, thanks for this! ^^

(Did my questions inspire this?)