Benefits of Joining a Large Reigon vs. a Small Reigon/None

[Isles of Flames]

Just curious about the Pros and Cons of each.

[The Whispers]

Pros of big ones: whatever
Cons: too many fucking tedious TGs about "oh no please gief UN" and similar

Pros of small ones: sometimes a tight community
Cons: like all village life, unpleasant if you piss off the wrong person, mainly boring

[Evil Lord Sauron]

Large Regions.

Pros: Active, established, diverse, if you 'make it' in said region usually known across NS, large community. Will receive (usually) global NS attention.

Cons: Hard to get noticed and stand out. Sometimes harder to create a community and get to know fellow players.

Small region.

Pros: Can become close knit community. Often easier to get noticed by fellow region mates, easier to 'make friends'.

Cons: Often overlooked globally. Can very quickly become inactive. Dependent on one or two people to supply activity and direction. Less diverse, so less to do.

[PrussianEmpire]

Large Regions.

Pros: Active, established, diverse, if you 'make it' in said region usually known across NS, large community. Will receive (usually) global NS attention.

Cons: Hard to get noticed and stand out. Sometimes harder to create a community and get to know fellow players.

Small region.

Pros: Can become close knit community. Often easier to get noticed by fellow region mates, easier to 'make friends'.

Cons: Often overlooked globally. Can very quickly become inactive. Dependent on one or two people to supply activity and direction. Less diverse, so less to do.

Nailed it.

[Gun-Toting Animals]

I sort of agree with what you've said about large regions but you're tilting your views towards the gameplay aspect of NS and it's unclear if that is what the OP has in mind. I would consider my region to be large, at least comparative to many of the other regions and we can offer a fairly large tight knit RP community that I would assume smaller regions can't offer. The biggest pro of larger regions, in my opinion, is that these communities are interested in engaging their members in some form or another. You can't become a large region without effort (or an auto-recruit TG system) unless you are a GCR. The con of large regions would be it's sometimes hard to jump right in and become an active participant but regions, at least mine, try to do all they can to assist with that transition.

[Cerian Quilor]

Sauron has it right,

[Icamera]

Sauron's answer is probably sufficient, but I'll write my own (without looking) just to add on:

Large regions are far more active, although small regions with a solid core can be quite active as well, provided that none leave or disappear. It's far easier to rise in the ranks in a smaller region, but many lack the regional governments present in most large regions. Large regions are nearly always more politically stable than small ones as a result of that organized-government legitimacy and having a Founder who's proven himself to be benevolent (since most large regions have been around for a moderately long time), compared to the risk of a few bad apples -- especially a tyrannical founder -- ruining the entire community in a small region.

There are always exceptions, of course; for instance, my region's extremely large but very close-knit and not too huge a player in global affairs.

[Evil Lord Sauron]

I sort of agree with what you've said about large regions but you're tilting your views towards the gameplay aspect of NS and it's unclear if that is what the OP has in mind.

Well considering it is posted in gameplay, I believe so. Regardless most, if not all modern Gameplay regions now have an element of RP or specific RP areas where the region can participate. The same is true for RP, the more people equals activity and ultimately is more diverse, but again harder to stand out. And everything mentioned in the original post can also be applied to RP specific regions.

As Icamera further notes smaller regions can have an active core of nations which can do all of the above including RP. But as I mentioned, it only takes one or two to drop out and the region/RP can collapse.

I can't imagine it is too much fun RPing on your own, just like in a gameplay environment.

[The Bruce]

Size does not necessarily mean anything at all, other than size.

You can have a close knit community in a large region or not. You can have a close knit community in a small region or not. Because activity in a region is driven by individual players and the activity cycles of individual players vary, it’s a hard thing to keep on an even keel. The best way to make a regional community is with a bunch of friends you know offline (or from some other online community) and go from there. Actual friendship is the best possible foundation to build from.

If you’re getting involved with a small, vibrant region at the ground floor, where there is plenty of enthusiasm and activity, it can be a rewarding experience. If that enthusiasm isn't focused and there's no actual sense of community, it can be very frustrating and things will fall apart as quickly as they formed.

Joining a larger, older region, there’s the chance you might have to contend with an established regional clique that block you from doing anything. You might feel you have to take classes to catch up to years of regional history, if there is any. That can also happen in a smaller, older region, where you have all the history and cliques, but none of the opportunities.

Most regions that are larger and older, will be happy to have someone energetic join their ranks, so long as they’re not everything the region stands against (say an anti-Semitic joining an Israeli region or someone with rational views joins a white supremacist region). When it comes right down to it, active players enjoy the company of active players (right up until the personality conflicts inevitably occur, in which case the active hating begins).

The other thing to consider is just how actually important the region is to you. If you're a hardcore, hermit lurker or your focus is primarily on the NS forums, you're just as well served hiding out in your own password protected region of your own creation as in an active one. The exception for NS forumites would be the WA resolution writers, who benefit from the backing of a strong region to help get their proposals backed.