Best GCR

[Ironicness]

While typing all my involved regions into a new signature, I realized with a sigh that I only have one region with more than 15 people under my belt, and that's TNP.

TNP works because it's a GCR, nothing more. While UCRs suffer on activity, GCRs are thriving. So, which one should I activate myself in, and why?

[Eist]

While typing all my involved regions into a new signature, I realized with a sigh that I only have one region with more than 15 people under my belt, and that's TNP.

TNP works because it's a GCR, nothing more. While UCRs suffer on activity, GCRs are thriving. So, which one should I activate myself in, and why?

I think it would be hard to argue against the two most active regions actually being two UCRs; 10000 Islands and Europeia.

[Klaus Devestatorie]

While typing all my involved regions into a new signature, I realized with a sigh that I only have one region with more than 15 people under my belt, and that's TNP.

TNP works because it's a GCR, nothing more. While UCRs suffer on activity, GCRs are thriving. So, which one should I activate myself in, and why?

I think it would be hard to argue against the two most active regions actually being two UCRs; 10000 Islands and Europeia.

Europeia is not outright second most active. TNP and Ainur are both right up there. I haven't even bothered trying to calculate anyone else.

[Eist]

I think it would be hard to argue against the two most active regions actually being two UCRs; 10000 Islands and Europeia.

...Ainur...

Sorry, I was only including regions more than three days old

[Klaus Devestatorie]

...Ainur...

Sorry, I was only including regions more than three days old

Try 8 months?

[Cerian Quilor]

Europeia is more active than Apollo's clusterhell.

[Klaus Devestatorie]

Europeia is more active than Apollo's clusterhell.

The size of the difference is small enough that it'll vary from day to day.

[Todd McCloud]

Ah. The correct answer would be TEP.

[The Bruce]

The question is more like, in which system created region is the imposed regional government-community making the most out of their opportunity to have such a large captive audience? Who is doing the most to engage people other than just their followers and foreign interlopers peddling influence? Who is actually making their feeder/sinker a better place than the other feeder/sinkers? Which of these feeder-sinkers are the most diplomatically active (not just shamelessly self-promoting themselves, but getting things done behind the scenes too).

Sheer numbers don't tell the story, because most of these nations are literally shoveled into whatever GCR you happen to look at. The feeder/sinker that is the big draw today might not be the big draw tomorrow. They all go through cycles of activity and inactivity. Over the long term, some have been a lot better at generating activity than others though. Even in the ones that seem active, it's often a case of a handful of players being active in a region that largely aren't even aware they have a regional government (with some participants not even being 'genuine' natives, but interlopers from elsewhere, who like to have a seat at every table). That or in some cases activity is only generated by external coup attempts, which only have temporary effects.

Long term, I'd have to say the East Pacific has done the best job in staying active, but we'll have to see how much staying power some of the recent, sweeping political movements have in the other feeder/sinkers.

[Mad Jack]

TNP is active because of the culture of conflict that exists there. TNPers, myself included, love nothing more than a good argument, but with that comes some of the problems TNP has, such as political apathy in more peaceful times, and an over-reliance on the court system to solve disputes.

Not only that but currently out of the 5 or 6 candidates in TNP's special election for delegate, only 1 has a campaign thread.

That's not to say that TNP is the only GCR with problems. TSP has a strange and unusual method for delegate selection and it wouldn't be inaccurate to call it an ideological R/D battleground.

My own Osiris has a more authoritarian system, and it's democracy suffers because of it. Only about half of our Pharaoh elections have been seriously contested and there's always been a top-down culture in Osiris.

Balder suffered through a series of largely apathetic and inactive delegates and governments, and in the early days it was very much a battleground between TNI/LKE/Euro and defending interests. The toxic culture of the time drove activity but when the former side triumphed activity dried up.

TWP I've found is largely seen as insular and aside from supporting projects like the NS Republic doesn't really seem to be as influential as the other Pacific's. Then again, they did negotiate a temporary peace and end of GGR badspam. Sadly this didn't last.

The Pacific is basically a dictatorship. What Krull says goes. Krull is the Pacific at this point, and in recent times the NPO has swung between an outward looking somewhat interfering regime and a supposedly insular behind the scenes player. That said, it was the Pacific who were the driving force behind getting the GCR delegate's together to address the Nazi Problem, and their war against GGR back last year triggered a number of copycat declarations.

Lazarus doesn't seem that active but has talented players behind it. There's potential there to be one of the more influential regions in NS, and Feux being the public face of the Liberate Nazi Europe campaign shows that.

The Rejected Realms simultaneously isn't active and suffers because the RRA isn't TRR's army. Any attempt to actually make a TRR army would be opposed by self-interested defenders who wouldn't want their monopoly on TRR WAs erased.That said, I do respect a lot of the TRR players, which is also probably the region to have contributed more moderators to NS than any other.

TEP has an image of being Planet Todd but that's not a bad thing. There are fewer people in NS more able to run a region. TEP is also about the only GCR with a credible RP scene which is good, and it's building an army and picking a stance in R/D.

Edit: Flemingovia of TNP was kind enough to point out that I missed a few things in my evaluation of TNP (i've likely done similar with the rest of the regions), here's what he said:

(11:24:20)<flemingovia>I would say that key in TNP's activity is two things: The quality of players who gravitate there is key
(11:25:09)<flemingovia>Also, there is a fairly inclusive spirit in TNP that means that everyone gets a shot at acceptance, and some players who have been rejected elsewhere can find a home in TNP>
(11:27:10)<flemingovia>I do not think conflict is the key defining feature (any more)

[Hungry]

Warzone Asia, just cause.

[Johz]

Warzone Asia, just cause.

Nah, WZE is best GCR. Although I'm surprised Codger hasn't turned up yet to trumpet warzones. Does this mean they really have died?

[Cerian Quilor]

Please, god, let them finally have died.

[Johz]

Please, god, let them finally have died.

But then who will the defenders raid when you guys aren't doing anything? *Real* regions?

[Cerian Quilor]

Sounds good to me. Then maybe we'd even start defending.

Tell you what, if Unibot leads five successful raids against real regions, I'll defend with you guys five times.

[Belschaft]

I think George covered the GCR's pretty fairly, though I'm sure we can all nitpick in favor of our own home regions.

I wouldn't say TSP is anymore of a R/D battleground than say TNP, or any other GCR with a substantial number of players of both raider and defender alignment and a sufficiently democratic system that one or the other side doesn't get shut down. For example neither TRR, Osiris or Balder have major R/D conflict; in TRR due to the democratic deficit of the region (traditionally - I understand CrazySedge is less overbearing than previously) preventing any challenge to the pro-defender status-quo whilst Osiris and Balder have such dominant majorities (respectively defender and raider) that there is no serious conflict. Of course, Balder has largely been purged of defenders and is now firmly part of the 'Eurosphere'.

FYI, we've recently chanced our 'unusual' system of Delegate selection

If I was to describe TSP I wouldn't say we had major problems. Rather I'd say that our defining characteristics are an emphasis on Regional consensus and cohesion, rather than adversarial politics, and a wacky laid back nature - we are considered the crazy feeder

Also, communism.

[Die Volkes Lebensraum]

All of the feeders and sinkers are bad because they supress my recruitment posts, warzone europe is probably best because people there talk on the RMB but yet they dont suppress the RMB.

My opinion.

[Cerian Quilor]

You could just recruit by telegram, like sane people.

[Eldarion Telcontar]

Europeia is more active than Apollo's clusterhell.

Love you too? Lol. I don't think Ava said Ainur was more active, he just said it was up there.

[Charles Cerebella]

I object strongly to the assertion that Balder has at all been 'purged'. Anyone and everyone are welcome pretty much and that has been reflected in Solm's membership of the Riksdag last term and DYP's membership of the Council of State too before he went inactive. Topid too was in my Council of State before real life forced him to take a step back. DYP would be in the Council again if he ever responds positively to my offer of a position Indeed my current CoS is made of a majority of people who can hardly be called Europeians in outlook: Myself, Zander, Liberty, by Night, NES and Cold Ice. NES is the only Europeian citizen there. Libetarian Republics has just got elected to the Riksdag too and I'm not sure he could be classed as in the 'Eurosphere'.

In my two terms in charge I can't really recall a single significant argument down R/D lines and, indeed, I had thought that we had moved well beyond that label. And while activity has been down the last few weeks with two Ministers going MIA, (including the Culture Minister... ) the region is still 3,000 posts ahead of Osiris and since my election last year we've seen some of the most consistent high activity since the first few months of the region.

[Unibot III]

Georgie's list is fairly comprehensive, but I think that there is TNI/Native dynamic in Lazarus, similar to what occurred in Balder. Look at the last election in Lazarus -- Viktoria Gryfynn runs for delegate. Her votes? All TNI citizens (NES, Apollo, Charles Cerebella). Feux won by one vote.

[Cerian Quilor]

Apollo is as much a TNI citizen as you were a Europeian Citizen, back when you had citizenship.

[Todd McCloud]

I've contacted the greatest fictional detective ever to have been written: Hercule Poirot. We shall see if he can get to the bottom of this.

Oh! Here he is right now! Well, what's the verdict, Herc?



Well, there you have it. Undeniable proof right there.

[Lyanna Stark]

I wouldn't say TSP is anymore of a R/D battleground than say TNP, or any other GCR with a substantial number of players of both raider and defender alignment and a sufficiently democratic system that one or the other side doesn't get shut down. For example neither TRR, Osiris or Balder have major R/D conflict; in TRR due to the democratic deficit of the region (traditionally - I understand CrazySedge is less overbearing than previously) preventing any challenge to the pro-defender status-quo whilst Osiris and Balder have such dominant majorities (respectively defender and raider) that there is no serious conflict.

I honestly would disagree with you here. TRR most certainly is not run by the CG/Sedge Duo and hasn't been for..well, at least a year easily. If you still think that is the dominate force you have not been in TRR at all recently. You could argue we have a democratic deficit for sure or a government that is so simple it doesn't lead to 'legislative conflict' or have any way of removing the Delegate besides for someone challenging for the position. Which means that if someone is mad but not mad enough to want to be Delegate...the status quo can live on.

Also the idea that Osiris is defender is really preposterous. We -still- are one of (if not the) only GCRs to even raid non-Nazi regions in like the last..what..year? It's more just anyone that comes in with that mentality gets shut down pretty damn fast because the community's really well, settled I guess, nor is that at all like the main point of the region or anything near that. We've more just done what we've wanted since the beginning and Georgie is right about the more top-down approach that keeps us from the huge TNP-esque fights.

Overall, I certainly wouldn't say there's a "best GCR". There isn't, frankly--there's one that's best for you as an individual possibly, but not one that's a solve-all for everyone. For instance, I like TNP and enjoy being a citizen there but have no plans on running for anything in Government there as it's a bit too quick-paced and yelly for me. I'm not going into TWP as it seems like a hard community to break into when you've been elsewhere, at least. Osiris and TRR both work well for me--they're a bit laid back but have their hotspots sometimes and things proceed at a pace that I can manage with well and Osiris at least historically has focused a lot on it's own history.

I certainly wouldn't say that GCRs are, by default, faster paced than UCRs--I remember when TRR's forum was literally just dead, nor would I say GCRs are the best places for everyone. It's it's own outlook too. I certainly enjoyed my time in the "broker" regions and smaller "niche" regions and found that they were also fast-paced which is what I wanted at the time.

[Cerian Quilor]

It seems to me (from what little I've seen) that when GCRs are in inactive periods, they are in inactive periods. Much more so than similar times in UCRs. But when they're active, they have comparable levels of activity to leading UCRs.