Embassy of The East Pacific: March Issue is Out Now!

[Eastern Pacific News Service]

The East Pacific News Service

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Editor's Note: This article was edited especially for NS forum readers. The original, unedited version may be seen here https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_east_pacific/epns-edition-22-t19665.html.

The East Pacific News Service
December 11, 2022

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Security Council De-Tagged of Ever-Wandering Souls: Prolific Raider Un-Condemned

FEATURE | BY: Albrook with editing assistance from TEP FA

On November 23, 2022, the authors Quebecshire and Writinglegend succeeded in repealing Condemn Ever-Wandering Souls, a Security Council Condemnation written in September 2020 by Refuge Isle. Quebec cites "Souls' legacy is one dogmatism, alienation, and liability. He is neither efficient nor fearsome, and therefore he is not condemnable."

The text of the resolution may be read here: https://www.nationstates.net/page=WA_pa ... /council=2

Ever-Wandering Souls's response to the proposal suggests he doesn't mind losing the Condemnation, as with or without it "[he] will still be out there raiding...with ease...badge or no badge". A later post from Souls suggests this proposal serves as a landmark referendum about the validity going forward of NationStates' Raiders being recognized in the Security Council.

Between substantial debate, where proponents of the repeal criticize the raiding community's abundance of responses for a condemnation the target doesn't even care about, Souls jokingly offers "the real [condemnation] badge [was] the friends we made along the way". Our reporter suggests the authors instead believe the authorship badges are the real badges that will stand the test of time.

Both sides, various WA blocs including the Modern Gameplay Compact and WALL vs the forces of raider unity, are campaigning via telegram and ally contact to seize a close victory. Public reports indicate WALL-allied WA leaders have chosen to override typically democratic structures to vote FOR after allied contact.

The East Pacific has chosen to stand with its allies and vote for the proposal.

In light of escalating Security Council politics, TEP insists that its WA vote shall remain sovereign and at the discretion of the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs democratic vote. All Hussars of the East are permitted to participate and vote along with the Ministry on the TEP Discord Server.

Happy Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Week Regional Flag Results

FEATURE | BY: Albrook

The East Pacific wishes all TEPers who celebrated Thanksgiving on the last full week of November a belated merry holiday.

For this festive week, The East Pacific officially celebrated the winner of the November 20-26 Regional Flag Contest, Distro-Spartica, featuring their below design. TEP thanks everyone for their contributions, voting, participation, and welcoming of our temporary regional flag!


Charity Across Spheres - NS Christmas Charity Fundraiser Unites All for Christmas Giving

FEATURE | BY: Albrook

The NationStates Christmas Charity Funraiser (NSCCF) aims to bring together regions and organizations, raiders and defenders, allies and enemies, gameplayers and casual players, in unity for a good cause each year. This year, participating parties wish to support The Trevor Project, an American nonprofit focused on preventing suicide amongst LGBTQIA+ youth.

NSCCF invites everyone to participate by spreading the word and enjoying the promotional festivities, including watching the livestreams, which last year included NSers being forced to sing during the broadcast and a live demonstration of R/D gameplay from the players' perspective.

The East Pacific has pledged its participation and will be holding a series of events on the TEP Discord Server. Stay tuned within for information on the festivities.

Do check out the official dispatch below for information about official Fundraiser events and livestreams, and information about the fundraiser itself: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1808991

Late November - December 2022 Regional Affairs Report

FEATURE | BY: Albrook

In response to Delegate Eastern Alksearia's request for input from the various ministries and Executive activities, the following is available for report from the Chief Ministry of Regional Affairs:

- Culture is focused on the planning of the Harry Potter & the Festival of Friends festival and has had great success in the latest Delegate and regional flag contests
- World Assembly Affairs is maintaining manual upkeep of proposal discussion and voting with the Emjay Bot's outage. This bot used to automatically share information and host votes for each proposal, and each proposal as it became the resolution at vote respectively, prior to its absence.
- Outreach is planning its strategy and dealing with internal technical issues. TEP Admin plans to consolidate the Concierge and Discord Masker roles into a Welcome Team for Outreach's continued operations
- News reports that authorship of EPNS issues has resumed, featuring more "headline news" than in-depth articles with the EPNS Lite label. The Minister cites that, lacking the staffing numbers from previous years, these articles are much more simply written, edited, and released in a timely manner than the larger previous issues.

Commentary from the Chief Ministry of Foreign Affairs was present, but not substantial in a way to warrant more inclusion than this mention and the premiere article of this issue.

TEP Haiku Contest in Review

FEATURE | BY: Albrook

The Ministry of Regional Affairs organized another TEP Haiku Contest, which took place between November 17, 2021, and December 5, 2022. This year’s contest was Autumn-themed, so all qualifying haikus for the contest were related to the season.

Upon conclusion of the contest, Halleyscomet08 (Loreintor) penned the winning haiku.

Fallen leaves adorn
The roots of the mighty trees
To prepare for cold

A special thanks to all participants for the very beautiful haikus!

[OPINION] Security Council Repeals are not political tools for escalation

FEATURE | BY: Aivintis | Edited by Albrook

Recently, as has been covered by EPNS in this very issue, the World Assembly Security Council voted to repeal “Condemn Ever-Wandering Souls”. Why? The resolution itself states that Souls is unworthy of a condemnation, and that the specifically cited clauses were not of significant condemnability. However, this coincides suspiciously with the Modern Gameplay Compact’s sanctions of the Brotherhood of Malice and The Black Hawks, two organizations which Souls is or was a significant part of. With the push to repeal coming mainly from BOM’s and TBH’s enemies, one wonders if it’s true Souls didn’t deserve a condemnation, or if the surge of Anti-Raider sentiment is targeting their enemies’ condemnations.

The point of a condemnation is that it is a badge of honor for being a widely-opposed raider. If opposing Raiderdom means repealing raider condemnations, then what value do condemnations have? The way the Security Council was designed was to play into the hero and villain narrative central to Raiding and Defending. If condemnations are not given to the villains because they are villains, then it undermines that very premise. It is this same sentiment seen in Raider opposition to my own failed attempt at a Security Resolution, a declaration which would declare regional destruction (griefing) a condemnable action.

Why, on both sides of the R/D spectrum, do people refuse to conform to the SC’s moralist ideas? Do raiders not want to be the villains? Do defenders not want to be the heroes? I don’t think it can be attributed to that, although I find that this becomes the possible perception when faced with this. No, I think the root of the problem is that the only way to further escalate this ideological conflict is to remove the separation between In-Character (IC) and Out-of-Character (OOC). This is the flaw with extreme moralism, which teaches that Raiding is an OOC evil action, but it applies to the Security Council as well.

It’s not that people see Commendations as a badge of OOC good and Condemnations as a badge of OOC evil, not at all. If you ask anyone in R/D or the World Assembly community, you’ll see that is very much not the case. But they’re becoming OOC tools of IC agendas. Repealing a condemnation becomes the default IC punishment for IC evil, rather than passing one. The natural evolution of this, then, is a Defender effort to repeal every military based condemnation and a Raider effort to repeal every military based commendation. This is the opposite of what the game mechanic is supposed to entail.

The Security Council is meant to be an arena for pushing political agendas, but it’s meant to punish IC evil with condemnations and reward IC good with commendations. It’s not meant to punish with repeals and reward with passed resolutions. Doing that goes against the separation of OOC and IC within the conflict, and risks inviting more OOC escalations of IC conflicts, which is a path that I believe no one should wish to walk.

[Jar Wattinree]

On November 23, 2022, the authors Quebecshire and Writinglegend succeeded in repealing Condemn Ever-Wandering Souls, a Security Council Condemnation written in September 2020 by Refuge Isle. Quebec cites "Souls' legacy is one dogmatism, alienation, and liability. He is neither efficient nor fearsome, and therefore he is not condemnable."

The text of the resolution may be read here: [link]

Error, link not found.

[Eastern Pacific News Service]

On November 23, 2022, the authors Quebecshire and Writinglegend succeeded in repealing Condemn Ever-Wandering Souls, a Security Council Condemnation written in September 2020 by Refuge Isle. Quebec cites "Souls' legacy is one dogmatism, alienation, and liability. He is neither efficient nor fearsome, and therefore he is not condemnable."

The text of the resolution may be read here: [link]

Error, link not found.

aaaaa Thanks

[Varanius]

The Security Council is meant to be an arena for pushing political agendas, but it’s meant to punish IC evil with condemnations and reward IC good with commendations. It’s not meant to punish with repeals and reward with passed resolutions

Ah, but you see. This is your mistake. You do not determine what the SC is and is not for. You are not the arbiter of the SC’s purpose. The only groups that determine what the SC is and isn’t for is the moderators, and the voters. It was ruled legal, and passed by quite some margin. The voters have spoken, and it is them who say what the SC is meant to be.

Doing that goes against the separation of OOC and IC within the conflict, and risks inviting more OOC escalations of IC conflicts, which is a path that I believe no one should wish to walk.

It’s highly concerning to see the East Pacific government publish an article repeating the very same narrative we typically only see from the people who just tried to raid FNR, opinion article or not. Surely this isn’t what TEP believes, right?

[Timiskrane]

The Security Council is meant to be an arena for pushing political agendas, but it’s meant to punish IC evil with condemnations and reward IC good with commendations. It’s not meant to punish with repeals and reward with passed resolutions

Ah, but you see. This is your mistake. You do not determine what the SC is and is not for. You are not the arbiter of the SC’s purpose. The only groups that determine what the SC is and isn’t for is the moderators, and the voters. It was ruled legal, and passed by quite some margin. The voters have spoken, and it is them who say what the SC is meant to be.

So? They are voters too. They get to have a say in what they believe the security council should be, and express that opinion.

Doing that goes against the separation of OOC and IC within the conflict, and risks inviting more OOC escalations of IC conflicts, which is a path that I believe no one should wish to walk.

It’s highly concerning to see the East Pacific government publish an article repeating the very same narrative we typically only see from the people who just tried to raid FNR, opinion article or not. Surely this isn’t what TEP believes, right?

That's literally the genetic fallacy. Could you at least try to address the argument if you wanna say anything about it?

[Varanius]

So? They are voters too. They get to have a say in what they believe the security council should be, and express that opinion.

They can certainly argue that they’d like that to be what the SC is for, but clearly, the rest of the SC disagrees. The voters have spoken, repeatedly. This type of play is legitimate, the best they can say is that they wish it weren’t.

That's literally the genetic fallacy. Could you at least try to address the argument if you wanna say anything about it?

I mean, I don’t particularly plan on arguing on that topic, because it’s blatantly false propaganda. To argue it like it’s a legitimate idea is nonsense. What I plan on doing instead, is questioning whether or not the East Pacific has bought into obvious TBH/BoM propaganda like Aivintis clearly has. And as for the comment about “genetic fallacy”…this is a political game. Where rhetorical lines originate, and what they aim to do, matters.

[The Universe World]

Great charity event, folks!

[RiderSyl]

What I plan on doing instead, is questioning whether or not the East Pacific has bought into obvious TBH/BoM propaganda like Aivintis clearly has.

McCarthyism but instead of the Red Scare it's the Raider Scare

[Reventus Koth]

Doing that goes against the separation of OOC and IC within the conflict, and risks inviting more OOC escalations of IC conflicts, which is a path that I believe no one should wish to walk.

It’s highly concerning to see the East Pacific government publish an article repeating the very same narrative we typically only see from the people who just tried to raid FNR, opinion article or not. Surely this isn’t what TEP believes, right?

Would you like to back up your assertion that "the people who just tried to raid FNR" are the ones typically making the SC conversation about IC/OOC? I've responded to the concept when it was brought up, but I don't think myself, Souls, or anyone else in that camp are the ones usually bringing that up. Not that I really have any idea what most Gameplayers think "in-character" means anymore, to be honest.

[Timiskrane]

I mean, I don’t particularly plan on arguing on that topic, because it’s blatantly false propaganda. To argue it like it’s a legitimate idea is nonsense. What I plan on doing instead, is questioning whether or not the East Pacific has bought into obvious TBH/BoM propaganda like Aivintis clearly has.

Kind of dismissive of you to assume that it's not at all possible for people to come to this conclusion and form this opinion themselves, but I assume that was the point.

And as for the comment about “genetic fallacy”…this is a political game. Where rhetorical lines originate, and what they aim to do, matters.

Also, yes, the argument that just because BoM/TBH said it, that makes it wrong is rhetorically weak. It's a appeal to people's partisan affiliations, and nothing more, while not addressing the content of the argument or providing any substantial rebuttal. It's funny that you mention the idea of "what [rhetorical lines] aim to do", because that would have been a potentially strong argument, but that's not what you did at all. You just went and said "did you know the argument you're saying has also been said by bad people? This is concerning."

[Serdequre]

Hiya Eastern Pacific News Service! There's some broken BBCode in the latest post. Two nation tags for Albrook and a missing link at the tail end of the charity section. Check out the spoiler below for the relevant sections should you want to fix 'em up :3

Charity Across Spheres - NS Christmas Charity Fundraiser Unites All for Christmas Giving

FEATURE | BY: Albrook

The NationStates Christmas Charity Funraiser (NSCCF) aims to bring together regions and organizations, raiders and defenders, allies and enemies, gameplayers and casual players, in unity for a good cause each year. This year, participating parties wish to support The Trevor Project, an American nonprofit focused on preventing suicide amongst LGBTQIA+ youth.

NSCCF invites everyone to participate by spreading the word and enjoying the promotional festivities, including watching the livestreams, which last year included NSers being forced to sing during the broadcast and a live demonstration of R/D gameplay from the players' perspective.

The East Pacific has pledged its participation and will be holding a series of events on the TEP Discord Server. Stay tuned within for information on the festivities.

Do check out the official dispatch below for information about official Fundraiser events and livestreams, and information about the fundraiser itself: [link]

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Late November - December 2022 Regional Affairs Report

FEATURE | BY: [nation=]Albrook[/nation]

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TEP Haiku Contest in Review

FEATURE | BY: [nation=]Albrook[/nation]

Congrats to the haiku contest winner! I think I would have ventured to use less articles in that second line in an effort to find a more interesting syllabic allocation, but it's nice nonetheless.

[Albrook]

Hiya Eastern Pacific News Service! There's some broken BBCode in the latest post. Two nation tags for Albrook and a missing link at the tail end of the charity section. Check out the spoiler below for the relevant sections should you want to fix 'em up :3

Charity Across Spheres - NS Christmas Charity Fundraiser Unites All for Christmas Giving

FEATURE | BY: Albrook

The NationStates Christmas Charity Funraiser (NSCCF) aims to bring together regions and organizations, raiders and defenders, allies and enemies, gameplayers and casual players, in unity for a good cause each year. This year, participating parties wish to support The Trevor Project, an American nonprofit focused on preventing suicide amongst LGBTQIA+ youth.

NSCCF invites everyone to participate by spreading the word and enjoying the promotional festivities, including watching the livestreams, which last year included NSers being forced to sing during the broadcast and a live demonstration of R/D gameplay from the players' perspective.

The East Pacific has pledged its participation and will be holding a series of events on the TEP Discord Server. Stay tuned within for information on the festivities.

Do check out the official dispatch below for information about official Fundraiser events and livestreams, and information about the fundraiser itself: [link]

---

Late November - December 2022 Regional Affairs Report

FEATURE | BY: [nation=]Albrook[/nation]

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TEP Haiku Contest in Review

FEATURE | BY: [nation=]Albrook[/nation]

Congrats to the haiku contest winner! I think I would have ventured to use less articles in that second line in an effort to find a more interesting syllabic allocation, but it's nice nonetheless.

Fixed - thank you, friend! I'm realizing after trying to be quick on the draw within a few hours of my coming available after NSCCF's release I made more than a few mistakes. Here's hoping for better luck next time at the expense of maybe a little less speed on my end. xD

Articles are a bit easy yeah. A quick way to score a single syllable, but indeed filler. Then again, Halley's feels more conversational because of the articles - I think I still like it~

It’s highly concerning to see the East Pacific government publish an article repeating the very same narrative we typically only see from the people who just tried to raid FNR, opinion article or not. Surely this isn’t what TEP believes, right?

All articles labeled [OPINION] represent the opinion of the author. Previously EPNS has run opinion articles even opposing official directions of the region, such as Nociav's article in opposition of our resident = citizenship Concordat amendment. Official opinions are available upon request from our Delegate and TEP FA, or in articles like the first which I had edited by TEP FA for your consumption.

As far as TEP has indicated, you disagree with just Aivintis. You two don't agree much.

[RiderSyl]

All articles labeled [OPINION] represent the opinion of the author. Previously EPNS has run opinion articles even opposing official directions of the region, such as Nociav's article in opposition of our resident = citizenship Concordat amendment. Official opinions are available upon request from our Delegate and TEP FA, or in articles like the first which I had edited by TEP FA for your consumption.

As far as TEP has indicated, you disagree with just Aivintis. You two don't agree much.

Vara knew the difference. He just thought he'd be able to drive a wedge between Aivintis and TEP, because in the modern gameplay world, someone publically expressing an opinion that isn't the belief of their region is "supposed" to get you punished.

[Marrabuk]

We want a new EPNS!

[La Xinga]

We want a new EPNS!

Who runs it, my dele-horse?

Edit: Oh, Albrook.

[Eastern Pacific News Service]

Edition 23

Midnight Star Magazine: A Blast from the Past
Emjay Moon (East Malaysia)

A note from the editor

As I take up this edition, I decided to bring back a blast from the past from when I was the magazine editor. This is a limited-edition Midnight Star Magazine edition of EPNS. It will only feature the first three articles. You may view it here: EPNS Midnight Star Magazine Special Edition

Winning Spring Haiku
God-Emperor (The Fourth Imperium)

Yellow, the sun shines
Green, the trees shade from its light
Colors of the East

A TEP Legend: Free Pacific States
Matthew Terrus (Free Pacific States)

I think the sole bragging right that I could make is really helping Loop transform TEP into the major roleplay Pacific. But that was hardly just me -- Wachovia, Codex, Kelssek, EM, Kandarin, and later on, Pack, Vlad, etc., were all really important to it. I was "RP Mod", but I never actually had to do anything other than move threads around for people. The easiest mod job I've ever had. They are such a great group.

The funny thing is that despite my focus being on the RP side, I mostly think of the people when I think back to my days in the TEP. I've been playing in online communities for 20 years now, and TEP was by and far the friendliest place I've visited. I was 12 when I first joined TEP. But even though I was playing with a lot of older and way smarter people that surely realized I was a kid, I was always treated like an equal.

And when my parents quizzed me about what I was doing online, I always felt safe defending it because the community was so wholesome. There was none of the bickering or flaming or inappropriate stuff common elsewhere. It was probably the best roleplay in which I've ever participated, and that's because it was just the kindest online community that I've ever seen.

New Podcasts on the Block
Emjay Moon (East Malaysia)

The Ministry of News has launched a new podcast! Eastward Bound will focus on the region and NSGP-related discussions.

The ministry has also partnered with Urth roleplay to revive Urthcast which will focus on Urth and worldbuilding as it did in its original form.

Both podcasts have had their pilot episodes and they were met with success. Unfortunately, neither of the recordings was saved before they met their deletion with the recording service provider.

As best said by the podcast editor and Deputy Minister of News Ruben (Luminarum), “So, TEP Radio is gonna need some work with the organisation but I think we've largely learnt from our mistakes (of not backup downloading the damn files smdh) and to just output stuff instead of tediously editing unnecessary things”

Celebrating 20 Years of TEP: May 31st - June 6th
Emjay Moon (East Malaysia)

To bring in the 20th birthday of our community we have opted for a week of events to give everyone an opportunity to join in to have fun! We will be hosting games, voice chats, an agora and more.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will have events hosted by the Ministry of Culture. Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday, and Monday will be community open event days. Anyone can host anything they wish from a game to a voice chat.

There could also be a popup anniversary special episode of Eastward Bound and Urthcast on any of the days.

Not only will we have these events, but 10 lucky community members will have a chance by contest and/or giveaway to receive a physical regional flag sponsored by Pax (Packilvania). Stay tuned for more details.


Featured Urth Roleplays from Tepwiki
Emjay Moon (East Malaysia)

> The United Republic of Cappedore is dismantled in a coup d'état, reorganizing into the Provisional Wealdenite Republic.
> The Post Bank of Packilvania defaults on its contingent convertible bonds and asks the Packilvanian Central Bank for help, sending jitters throughout the banking sector.
> Shaman Iriko holds a press conference detailing Kuduk's possible future plans for its modernization.

Featured Valsora Dispatch: VALSORA
Emjay Moon (East Malaysia)

Take a look at the VALSORA dispatch to learn more about Valsora's roleplay universe and how to join. Valsora is set in a modern tech world with some fantasy and magic thrown in. From the vantage point of a reader, it is set 10 years in the future, and you can find roleplay posts on The East Pacific's very own Regional Message Board!

[Tinhampton]

New logo? Ooooooooooh, inordinately fancy!

[Ambrella]

Happy Birthday TEP!

[Eastern Pacific News Service]

EPNS June 2023 Edition

HOME | LATEST | ARCHIVES | STAFF

Editor Vussul thanks Merlovich for their exceptional redesign of EPNS.

Contents:

• June Elections: Altys Elected For A Second Term
  
• Delegate's Update
  
• A Changing World Assembly and A New Commendation
  
• What In The World Has Regional Affairs Been Up To?
  
• Vice-Delegate's Diary - July
  
• Amidst An Uncertain Future, Where To Next For RMB RP?
  
• Tales From Urth
  
• Conclave Business
  
• Legislative Activity
  
• Praesidium Report
  
• Regional Updates
  
• International Updates

June Elections: Altys Elected For A Second Term
By: Vussul | Edited By: The Fourth Imperium and Altys

The June elections for the Delegacy have concluded. Altys, the incumbent, retained their seat and will serve for another four months.

Nominations opened on the 2nd of June. There were two candidates by the end of the nomination period on the 9th of June. These two candidates were Altys and former Delegate and sitting Vizier Marrabuk. Cappedore, Dremaur, and Zukchiva were all nominated but declined and A mean old man, Catiania, Emjay, Libertanny, Mangegneithe, and SirShadow were nominated but did not accept.

Marrabuk's brief campaign featured an introduction about who they are and why they came out of retirement (believing the frontiers update to be dire for The East Pacific and his belief that there is a lack of unity in the region).

Marrabuk then proceeded to state their plans if they are elected as Delegate. These plans were a promise to run for a single term, the creation of a special team for recruitment that will publish regional news weekly or biweekly, scout regions for actives and get them to help build our region, creation of front regions that will serve to attract players to them and then onwards to TEP, mutually beneficial alliances, expansion to other games, and Ministry reshuffling. Marrabuk would also be personally involved in the recruitment and training of new members to create future leaders for The East Pacific. These broad goals had the aim of "[solidifying] and [strengthening] our region internally by uniting us back under one united front".

Altys' campaign started off by listing their achievements over their last term.

In Regional Affairs, this included making the Executive more accessible by moving the Regional Affairs and University of The East Pacific divisions into the main server. Recruitment was made easier through the welcome message being displayed in the main channel so anyone can welcome them and the expansion of the welcoming team. RMB welcome messages for new nations were also added. STEP and the regional index were updated. Altys also embarked upon being an active figure in the RMB RP and forum RP communities.

In World Assembly matters, REWARD (TEP's WA involvement program) was fixed. Regular endotarting had brought delegate endorsements to 65% of the regional WA population, still shy of the target of 70%. WA interest was re-ignited with consistent debates and medium to high turnout on proposals.

In Foreign Relations, relations with the Augustin-Alliance as a whole were opened alongside an embassy with the Conch Kingdom, and the legacy of the Consortium was formalised by signing the Second Convention of Lausanne alongside the Alstroemerian Commonwealths, the Free Nations Region, and Thaecia.

EPSA also saw an expansion of its ranks and consistent operations held throughout the term.

Their plans for the region were next.

In general matters, this involved the scrapping of Executive applications and moving the FA department into the main server in the name of increased accessibility. Minister positions in Regional Affairs are also not going to be introduced in favour of a project-based RA. The exception is the Chief Minister of Regional Affairs.

Recruitment and activity are a priority in Altys' campaign. He stated that he wishes to work in conjunction with the RMB RP and forum RP communities to find success. Smaller and more frequent cultural activities such as game nights were also stated as something he wanted for his second term. NDay, which will fall during the Delegate term, will feature TEP's participation with the Anime faction. EPSA's visibility will also be increased by better advertising army reports and EPSA will also participate in the "Tagging for Pride" event.

In World Assembly Affairs, Altys will continue to follow WAA votes held in the main server when voting on WA resolutions and will continue the region's current involvement in Heroes of Valhalla for Security Council authorship of resolutions.

The voting period opened on the 9th of June and concluded on the 16th. Altys won the election with 79.2% of the vote to Marrabuk's 8.3% with 12.5% abstaining. Altys will serve for another 4 months starting from the 15th of June.

Delegate's Update
By: Altys | Edited by: The Fourth Imperium and Vussul

Month of June

At the beginning of June, the Government hosted celebrations for TEP's 20th anniversary! Several activities were prepared for the occasion, from a scavenger hunt to a massive 36-tribute hunger game (won by Vice-Delegate Eunopiar)! Additionally, dozens of physical TEP flags were distributed in a giveaway and a video was posted on the TEP TV channel celebrating 20 years of regional history.

Running from early to mid-month were the Delegate elections which I once again won! While you can read my campaign here, I will detail below what I would like to see completed next month.

In the rest of June, the Government saw activity in Pride Month celebrations with a regional telegram detailing the experiences of one LGBT member of our community, Cappedore. Preparations for a new edition of EPNS were also underway with several citizens helping write articles and bringing them together!

Plans for July!

As the cabinet is aware, I'd like the early parts of my term to be focused on integration. This process started in my previous term by moving Regional Affairs and UTEP to the main TEP server; I'd like for Foreign Affairs (FA) to follow. Given the success shown in Executive participation, FA, which is in need of new blood, could benefit from such a move.

Past that, I'd like to increase the visibility of Government projects! While I have some ideas (like a "get-involved" channel where all new projects are announced and army reports posted), it's ultimately things we shall put to the test and see what works best. I also hope to pair these efforts for increased visibility with bringing more citizens to join EPSA (regional army), which has already seen an uptick in both membership and operations.

Additionally, there is the possibility that our dispatch network will be reworked to make editing and posting easier and the Vice-Delegate and myself have been discussing editing STEP dispatches (our guides for new players).

A Changing World Assembly And A New Commendation
By: Aivintis | Edited By: The Fourth Imperium

Note from editor Vussul: The author did not expect Commend New Leganes to come up before the publication of this article.

A Shifting Climate in the World Assembly

The East Pacific has not had great luck with the Security Council in recent times. The last commendation of a major TEPer was "Commend Marrabuk," a 2021 resolution authored by Thaecian high official Andusre. Since then, The North Pacific and The West Pacific have seen multiple Security Council resolutions honoring members of their communities.

It is the South Pacific that has dominated the WASC, with the Defender WA bloc "Partnership for Sovereignty" delivering many commendations of prominent Defender members. Indeed, in the current climate of the Security Council, most commendations being put forth are Defender nominees, and most Raider condemnations are shot down or repealed as part of the ongoing war between the extremist Brotherhood of Malice and similarly extremist Defender elements.

The Independent and Unaligned regions, however, have found their break with the Heroes of Valhalla (HoV) project, an Executive policy agreement made between Balder, Europeia, The East Pacific, and The North Pacific. HoV is a Discord server, where authors may come together to draft commendations of nominees from participant regions with the assistance and support of experienced authors and some beta readers.

So far, the driving force of HoV has been the almost robotic efficiency of experienced WA author Westinor, but more can be done. Within The East Pacific, six nominees have been discussed, most being former Delegates. This includes Albrook, East Malaysia, Libertanny, New Leganes, The Atlae Isles, and Zukchiva. The most recent HoV submission, however, is New Leganes.

The Commendation Itself

New Leganes (Sammy) is a major figure within The East Pacific. His accomplishments can be divided into two areas of influence - regional government and roleplay.

Following a quick preamble clause, achievements within the regional government make up three clauses of the commendation. Immediately afterwards, four clauses are dedicated to achievements in TEP's forum roleplay community, TEP Evolved, and the world of Urth. Finally, a conclusion clause wraps up the commendation.

Within the regional government, Sammy has held many positions. Within the University of The East Pacific, they served first as a Dean of the University and Deputy Minister of Education. Then as the Chancellor of the University and Minister of Education for one year. Within the area of recruitment and integration, he has been staff, Deputy Minister, and Minister under the variously named Ministries of Immigration, Manpower, Outreach, and Hospitality. Moreover, in positions not discussed in the commendation, Sammy has been a Vizier, Eastern Pacific Police Service Commissioner, Magister, and Deputy Provost.

Work within UTEP covers two clauses of the commendation. As Dean and Chancellor, Sammy was the mastermind behind the modern structure of the University and the massive revival that followed. Every attempted revival ended in smoke until Sammy put his mind to it, and, with the assistance of some staffers, built UTEP into a powerhouse of activity. For as long as they headed the University, it brought about a lot of activity and created a lot of jobs in the regional government. Thus, the two clauses addressing his UTEP era are divided into UTEP's structure and activity.

In the third government clause, I write about Sammy's unprecedented dedication to the realm of recruitment. I first saw this when I became a citizen in The East Pacific. Sammy himself recruited me to the government in a follow-up telegram. But I wasn't the only one. As I noted in the clause, a large number of individuals who went on to become major figures in the RP and/or the government were recruited by Sammy, including Delegate Eastern Alksearia. His work was most prominent during the Drewpocalypse, where he handled the gigantic workload by helping to integrate and mentor the large number of new residents.

The roleplay clauses, or "documentation of national events" as I used to fit the rules of the World Assembly, are divided into three categories: Urthvision with two clauses, the Cukish language with one clause, and the RPs "From Ashes to Eternity" (FATE) and "Narilethal" with one clause. The first clause of Urthvision regards the insane levels of activity generated by Sammy's organization of Urthvision events. Repeatedly, Sammy has set records on activity with ever-increasing numbers. The record has only ever been broken again by Sammy, and this has happened three times. No other nation has even won/hosted more than one Urthvision. Thus, this clause refers to the musical prowess of New Leganes and the success of his hosting.

The second Urthvision clause refers to the most recent edition of Urthvision. In a stunning first for the competition, Sammy edited hours of video for the two semifinals and then the final, which strung together the video performances, drone footage of the countryside, presentation by the nation's chosen host, and commentary spoken by Sammy himself. Including the detailed graphics creating flying kiwis in the colors of all participating nations, this video was the pinnacle of Urthvision and is honored as such.

New Leganes flag with his trademark flying kiwis

The Cukish language comes next. Cukish is a constructed language (conlang), created by Sammy himself, with the complexity and depth of a real-life language. Conlanging is no easy feat, and Sammy has brought linguistic expertise which puts other conlangs to shame. The consideration of history and culture in the evolution of words, as well as the phonological pronunciations of each letter and word is the result of years of effort put into developing the Cukish language. It's seriously impressive and well worth its inclusion in the commendation. Coming to the clause's defense, East Malaysia and Eastern Alksearia explained just to what level this complexity has been achieved within the commendation thread on the WA forums.

The clause about FATE and Narilethal noted both the length and development of the RPs themselves, as well as the unique themes and setting. RPs set in the distant past are rarely, if ever, covered by other nations of Urth, and TEP as a whole, but Sammy brings his real-life expertise with history, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, into crafting an interesting and unique narrative. While trying to bring that point across, I use the clause to highlight the literary themes at play in these RPs: love, war, and community.

This commendation is the result of many months of researching, note-taking, leaving the doc on hold, drafting through HoV, refining the draft, and creating something worthy of truly honoring all that New Leganes has done for this region. It would not be possible without the help of the Heroes of Valhalla and the commenters on both my original draft and the later forum thread, including Varanius and Bhang Bhang Duc, despite TEP's sordid history with their region, the West Pacific. Now, with its final development being submitted, there's hope for a positive response from the allies of TEP and the WA powerhouses of the world. I'm hoping we can all agree that New Leganes truly deserves this commendation.

What In The World Has Regional Affairs Been Up To?
By: East Malaysia

Regional Affairs (RA) is one of the main gears that keeps The East Pacific and its regional government on the run.

This past month we celebrated 20 years as not only a region in NationStates, but as a community. We had games, contests, shared some recipe,s and even had a giveaway of real life TEP flags.

We also did a pilot launch of Eastward Bound and a relaunch of Urthcast a little more than a month ago. I think we should plan more of them soon as they’re amazing opportunities to showcase our community internally and externally to the world.

While it may seem like RA is bustling with activity based on all the great things we have going on but I will be the first to say “all that glitters is not gold.” We have opportunities to reach out to new players of NationStates since our community outside of the government has so much more to offer with Urth and Valsora being additional roleplay options.

RA in my opinion is one of the most enjoyable parts of regional gameplay. It’s unfortunate that many do not join to participate when you could help the region/community grow with outreach, write articles like this one, plan a game night, or host a podcast.

Let’s go meta, what other games allow you to do all of that plus more? I can tell you it’s not many so I hope you join!

Vice-Delegate's Diary - July
By: Eunopiar | Edited By: Vussul

It is perhaps one of the greatest honours of my career on NationStates to have been appointed as Vice-Delegate. I have been around, in one form or another, for just under five years now, and I've been in the East for around three of those years, joining at the height of the pandemic. Here (and in other venues on the game!), I found healthy opportunities to grow as a player, mentored by various people in the Executive. I am also thankful that everyone still has this chance. If you, like me three years ago, want to join the executive to gain valuable experience, serve the region, or just have fun, please read this dispatch or shoot me, Eunopiar, a telegram.

The past few weeks have been busy internally, so this is going to serve as a general, overarching summary of things that have happened.

Altys Re-Elected as Delegate

Our French friend and comrade Altys has been re-elected as Delegate of the East Pacific for four more months. Altys, busy as ever, sprung to action quickly, assembling a new cabinet, which you can view here.

Culture & Events

Pictured: The East Pacific's cultural organisers.

TEP Celebrates Pride: Media Consumption Journal

Happy Pride Month everyone! TEP recently ran a pride media suggestions dispatch. For five days, we crowdsourced suggestions for poets, musicians, and more to include, so thank you so much if you decided to come forward with a suggestion! You can view our dispatch here.

TEP Turns 20

The East Pacific celebrated its 20th Birthday in June! Yes, we're really that old. Throughout the festivities, we ran multiple events including minigames, giveaways, and more. We've also had a mentor tree, found here, run by the wonderful Zukchiva.

This is a short one from me today but I hope that for July I'll have a lot more to talk about, both in terms of my own experience as VD and as a member of the region participating in events that the Executive organizes. Needless to say, keep your eyes peeled for telegrams and other details about what we'll be doing for you next. We have a lot in the pipelines right now but if there is anything you'd like to see, don't be shy! Feel free to ping me on the RMB, shoot me a telegram, or ping me on our Discord server.

Amidst An Uncertain Future, Where To Next For RMB RP?
By: Merlovich

At first glance, the last few months have seemed fairly normal on The East Pacific's regional message board. Each day goes by, buried by the avalanche of posts and conversations we've come to accept. The usual faces remain present, arguably even more so with the return of some familiar faces to Valsora. However, behind closed doors, things may not be so routine.

The F/S update brought and continues to bring a significant challenge to the region. With spawn rates slashed in half overnight, The East Pacific has lost a massive chunk of its new player influx. This presents of course a difficult task to the region's governance. The government has already acted to bring down the endorsement cap to retain regional security. However, I feel this loss will be felt most in the RP community, specifically on the RMB.

Valsora is coming up on her 5th anniversary this October, and it's no secret her longevity has been due to a constant cycle of new users. The map thrives on activity, and each new nation comes along with the potential of one day becoming a respected veteran roleplayer. At least 40% of Valsora's ongoing population of around 100 nations consists of newcomers and fledglings. This moving forward may no longer be the case. With the region now receiving only half of its existing spawn rates, Valsora and the wider RMB RP community face the difficult task of maintaining user intake with a much slimmer pool of candidates.

Alongside this, Valsora must pay heed to the case of user retention. With fewer and fewer recruits to join the ranks, Valsora must retain its veterans who play a vital role in the maps continuing activity and the raising of new generations of RP'ers.

The Cartography Council has in recent weeks begun an extensive campaign to further modernize and index the maps of many nations, species, and languages, and has relaxed its administrative stance on magic and fantasy elements to ensure the map is both welcoming and accepting of all forms of RP.

Acknowledging this, we must still ask the question of whether it will be enough to maintain course, or whether this will have more long-term impacts on the community. In a time like this, which in many ways is more dire than it might appear, the community must work together to ensure its ongoing success.

So this call goes out to you, fellow Citizen. Do your part, if you see a new nation appear on the RMB, give them a warm welcome and point them in the right direction. We were all there once, and a guiding hand is invaluable to a new user discovering NationStates for the first time. You never know, that fledgling may evolve to be in our shoes one day, and we'd want them to do the same.

Tales From Urth
By: Eastern Alksearia | Edited by: Vussul

TEP hosts an RP community on the forums where events happen in the fictional world of Urth. Here is a list of some notable events that have happened this month:

• The nation of Aivintis finally welcomes democracy into their nation. You can read about it here.
• Kasran is'Vaara, after crashing into one of the leading contenders for the Series 1 Championship, Matthieu Soyer, has been fired from Novia Racing. You can read and catch up on all the exciting action of Series 1 here.
• Group Play in the WIHC has concluded! You can see the leaderboards in this post.
• Kuduk, in their modernization efforts, has made a groundbreaking deal with New Leganes! You can read about it here.
• Norgsveldet has been rocked by terroristic actions. You can read about it and it's sequel here.
• Tawuse has new news posts out! you can listen and read about it here.

And there is literally so so much more. It's hard to include all of it when there's a lot that happens every day!

Conclave Business
By: Eastern Alksearia | Edited by: Vussul

As a new Conclave term has begun, it's worth reflecting on the current state and current plans for the Conclave.

First, the Conclave recently voted for Eastern Alksearia to be the new Viceroy after the resignation of Albrook.

The Conclave is also now made up of Bachtendekuppen, Zukchiva, and it did have this parrot called Libertanny(Serge) in there too, but he wasn't a Registered Voter so he couldn't serve. Now that he is, his reconfirmation is going through the Magisterium.

The Conclave is dedicated to doing a refresh of their pinned 3 topics and performing the arduous task of updating the Library of the Conclave to include references to all decisions made by the Conclave.

Until then, the Conclave is still hosting internal discussions on the re-introduction of AMOM's request on the question of the constitutionality of the Conclave Act.

For now, that is all the Conclave is up to. By the next update, there should be more updates on the introduction to the Conclave and any rulings that come out.

Legislative Activity
By: Vussul | Edited By: The Fourth Imperium

According to Provost CyberiumShadow, the Magisterium has been relatively quiet this month compared to the last.

Three new Magisters have been admitted: Silvae, Brotherland, and Vussul. Silvae had their WA nation outside of The East Pacific so a vote was held for their admittance. Vussul and Brotherland were accepted immediately as their WA nations are within The East Pacific. Brotherland is an old face in the Magisterium and is also a Vizier. Vussul is new to the Magisterium.

A few votes were held. Chronologically, Zukchiva was admitted into the Conclave as an arbiter, taking Wallenburg's seat. After this, an amendment to the Voter Registration Act proposed by Arbiter Zukchiva was passed. This amendment intends to clarify that Voter Registrations are only invalidated after 48 hours has elapsed from violating one of the registration requirements. Magister Vussul's amendment proposal to make disclosure of government positions and aliases a legal requirement in the Public Official Disclosure Act was also passed. A proposed amendment to the Concordat by Magister Silvae that intended to introduce a no-confidence system was voted down by the Magisterium. Lastly, a rewrite of the Standing Orders of the Magisterium drafted by Magister Vussul to simplify and clarify the text has passed the Magisterium.

A few new discussions were created this month and a few old discussions continue. In chronological order, the discussion surrounding Conclave reform initiated by Vizier Aivintis continues into its second month after a near-four week lull. A discussion surrounding a few Magisterial reforms proposed by Provost CyberiumShadow also continues into its second month after a month-long lull. Arbiter Zukchiva started a discussion this month on the topic of Voter Registration. He created four polls: One asking if the current system is too bureaucratic (54% voting yes, 46% no), one asking if Voters should be required to disclose their WA nation (58% yes, 42% no), one if Citizen and Registered Voter be renamed into Resident and Citizen respectively (58% yes, 42% no), and lastly if Voters should have to telegram an official from both nations (83% yes, 17% no). The discussion on this continues. Magister Vussul started a discussion on shortening the voting period from seven days to three or four. This discussion was tabled after a significant number of Magisters fundamentally disagreed with the idea. Lastly, Arbiter Zukchiva proposed an amendment that intends to declare prohibitions legal in the Concordat and it is currently at discussion.

The Provost elections for the 58th Magisterium were also held and concluded. Incumbent CyberiumShadow was elected. The candidates were Magisters Vussul and The Ambis and Provost CyberiumShadow. Other Magisters were nominated but did not accept.

You can find specifics in the Magisterium thread found here and if you want to participate in our legislative discussions, you can apply to the Magisterium here.

Praesidium Report
By: Altys

This month the Praesidium is seeing internal elections for both the Grand Vizier (GV) and East Pacific Police Service Commissioner (EPPSC)! Both positions will see new faces taking over as Grand Vizier Dragons Blood and EPPS Commissioner Todd McCloud not standing for re-election.

The elections are running into early July, leaving their results for the next edition of EPNS. We, however, thank both the exiting GV and EPPSC for their dedication and service to the East, especially Dragons Blood with his long (one year and a half) tenure as Grand Vizier.

You may also see the table below tracking Delegate (in bold green) and Vizier endorsements. Since this is the first month EPNS will be tracking these numbers, all "past" and "changes" columns show new as there is a lack of data.

Regional Updates
By: Vussul and Altys

• Libertanny launched a second edition of the NationStates Politics Survey which TEPers can fill here if they haven't already!
  
• The East Pacific has formed a consulate with Carcassonne, a Bonapartist influenced region.
  
• The East Pacific has also re-opened embassies with The Black Hawks, a raider military, with whom TEP has had a strained relationship in the past.

International Updates
By: Vussul and Altys

• Presidential elections concluded in Europeia with Pland Adanna elected as President. The East Pacific congratulates them for their election!
  
• The Augustin Alliance regions have decided to appoint new Governors, bidding farewell to their original founder, August, after whom the Alliance is named.
  
• After years of service as Refugia's World Assembly Delegate, Sylh Alanor resigned and Typica has taken over. The East Pacific congratulates them for their ascension!

[Vussul]

EPNS is revived at long last!

[Eastern Pacific News Service]

EPNS July 2023 Edition

HOME | LATEST | ARCHIVES | STAFF

Guest Editor: Eunopiar

Contents:

• Guest Editor's Foreword
  
• The Language of Dreams: A Decade and a Commendation
  
• Community Spotlight: Gonggong
  
• Delegate's Update
  
• Vice-Delegate's Diary - July
  
• A Note from the New Minister
  
• Updates from Valsora
  
• Praesidium Report
  

Foreword
By: Eunopiar

Before we get around to the meat of this edition, I'd like to thank all of our contributors to this edition. It is great to see a revival of the Eastern Pacific News Service, and a return to monthly output has been very encouraging to see. Currently, I am filling in for the talented Vussul, who will take on the mantle of editing the News Service from the next edition. He has written about his vision for the EPNS below, and I cannot wait to see what he will do. Beside that, we lead with New Leganes's article on their commendation, reflecting on their history within the game. I am also excited to see our first community spotlight on one of Urth's icons, Gonggong. Beside that you'll get updates from Delegate Altys, Cartographer Merlovich, Grand Vizier Aivintis and a column from yours truly, The East Pacific's Vice Delegate.

I hope you enjoy this edition!

"The Language of Dreams" - A Decade and a Commendation of the Land Where Kiwis Fly

By: Sammy (owner of New Leganes) | Edited by Eunopiar

The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real ... for a moment at least ... that long magic moment before we wake.

- George R. R. Martin

I’ve always been told that I dream too much. I take a lot of time to write RPs and worldbuild, both due to real life and to my usual writer’s block. However, ideas don’t stop appearing and floating around in my mind, distracting me or, considered from another point of view, making me focus on what I can potentially create. This is how it always has been: the unavoidable desire to create something beautiful and the dilemma between having ideas and being able to voice and share them, which is a sentiment I know many RPers share. I guess a whole decade is enough time to overcome that. I’m very, very glad that my voice, after so much time and effort, has been heard and appreciated and, after being suggested to write these lines, I accept the offer very happily. This is the story of New Leganes, the country where kiwis fly and people speak weirdly. The story of a new commendation for TEP and its community.

Aivintis dedicates the first paragraph of the commendation to my work in the University of The East Pacific, a topic I’ll cover in a more technical manner than the rest given its different nature from my RP and recruitment work. It covered a full year between 2020 and 2021, a period quite blurry in my mind due to the pandemic, so I’ll now seek for the proper files inside the archives of my brain. When Serge/Libertanny was elected Delegate, his cabinet and, specifically, East Malaysia (Chief Minister of Regional Affairs) and Wonderess, appointed Chancellor of UTEP, took the task to revive a UTEP which had struggled, to my knowledge, for years. I was soon appointed as Deputy and Dean, and I could witness how the works were evolving. The concept was great: a place where RL and NS academic talks could happen, while keeping a professor/student learning structure inherited from the previous UTEP periods. The talks part was progressing slowly but greatly, but it wasn’t the case with the teaching side, around which the old UTEPs were based.

In November 2020, when I was appointed Chancellor, I had detected the issue UTEP had carried for such a long time, and my first policy was to get rid of the teaching concept and make it all more fluid, so learning processes would happen through discussion and not through rigid structures. In order to boost discussion, I created a role per knowledge area: each UTEP member would get the topics they wanted to be pinged about, and would be up to date with each discussion. I combined this with some major advertising both on servers and individually, and in less than a month, the new UTEP was having around three debates per day. There was so much activity that it was hard to moderate so much in such a short time, but I and my fellow Deans at the time (Nuswa, Jutomi and, later on, Aivintis) did an awesome job and helped a lot in this regard. I also opened up suggestions for agoras (slow-paced and well-structured debates) and we got three of them, if I recall correctly, all of which were a success and attracted the attention of many people from TEP and abroad; and I opened a permanent call for papers which brought many articles of all kinds to UTEP, up until this day, including several NSCards articles, “History of TEP” by Nuswa or “The Puffin Papers” by Bachtendekuppen. Later on, when all of this was well established and about the last of my terms, I was contacted to advise on the creation of the Free Nations Region University. While, due to the post-pandemic low activity, UTEP’s activity has significantly decreased two years later, the FNRU still holds periodical activity in a very similar way to the UTEP I created, and that fills me with pride, to have extended a vision that worked and that still works. To have an impact I never thought I would have.

It was my first time as Minister in TEP and in the game as a whole, and I accomplished most of the above in just a single term, four months: some people claimed that I had created a whole sub-community. I feel very proud of my work during those days and the good it would bring to the region until even these days. I’ve been told by fellow NSers that NS Universities are difficult to carry: I won’t lie, they are in certain ways, but what I did was purely due to love for TEP and to the community and it resulted in the success of an area over its failures in the past. I really wanted to serve as Minister in order to create something good, and I’m glad it still is perceived with those lenses two years later.

Then, the commendation goes into my recruitment work, one I have spoken about many times, but it always brings sweet memories: also my first job in the Executive, right after Fedele’s coup in autumn 2019. It was a slow-paced job, first as Deputy Minister of Manpower, then as staffer in Immigration, in which I had to contact every new citizenship applicant via telegrams and inform them about each of the ministries/RPs they had shown interest in, as well as guide them to our Discord servers. First I got many returning people after the coup: I can recall AMOM or Atlae among them; then there was a chill time, during which nonetheless I remember contacting newcomers as Acronis or Aivintis.

When Covid hit in March 2020, we used to stay in voice chats for whole days on the Urth RP server. In the midst of the whole situation and the hard times that came after it, TEP was the way to evade reality for many of us, to stay in the world we had created while the world that had created us had turned suffocating; to stay within the boundaries of dreams in the middle of a nightmare. One of those days, around late April, I think it was Asendavia who told us that a relatively famous YouTuber, Drew Durnil, had made a video about NationStates. A few minutes later, several people started appearing all at once on both TEP and Urth’s servers.

Newcomers often need to be closely guided and don’t have much idea of what the game is about: Drew is a good proof of that, he didn’t exit the Matrix of issue-gaming and his nation died, as I did in 2014 after my first months in NS. These people, however, showed themselves incredibly active and interested from their very arrival. I coordinated myself with VW53a, Minister of Immigration, and with people as Asendavia or Dylan, and we came up with a system along these lines: community guidance on Discord, via answering questions and leading them to citizen applications, and when the latter happened, VW would accept their applications and then I would direct them where they wanted. I was fully engaged with this task, spending afternoons telegramming up to 50 countries.

People such as Shadow/Eastern Alksearia, mentioned in the commend and with such an impact on the region that doesn’t need any presentation, together with many other fellow RPers and friends, first joined the voice chats before anything else. Voice chats helped a lot in many ways: the first of them being providing social connections and evasion moments with hilarious games, conversations about each and every topic, all of which elements many of us and I needed personally in very difficult times, but that way they also helped in other matters, such as getting to know what every RPer’s nations and stories were like, staying up to date with every happening on Urth, and providing personalised guidance and making additions and connections in the community that have been kept through the years, and in whose making I have the immense honour of having taken a key part as recruiter during the first pandemic times and during and after Drew.

Recruitment wasn’t limited to just telegrams. When I became Chancellor, I used other tools to boost engagement and connection between the different subcommunities of TEP. When I needed new Deans, I opened applications and gave priority to newer members of the community who would show enthusiasm and fresh ideas. Nuswa was the perfect case of that, and so was Patchorisu later on, and this was the first of his many positions and contributions. The same applied to Professors, a position that worked as a third tier of UTEP leadership. Shadow also became one, together with people such as Sokala/Art, also mentioned on the commend. Sokala contributed actively to UTEP, to EPSA and to Urth, becoming later a great Forum RP Officer. Pledonia/Gio arrived after the Drewpocalypse, but with an equally quick rise: he became a great and long-standing MoFA in just a couple of months, and lately has been organising Urth’s World Cup and Aldanics (Urth’s Olympics). To be part of building integral parts of our community, and with people who have become integral to our community on themselves, is another work I would carry again for a thousand times, and I’m glad it’s been immortalised in such a way in a commendation that carries the name of New Leganes.

The Urthvision Songfestival, to my joy, also carries the name of New Leganes with it. It began in 2017, a time when I was not very involved with the RP community. After New Leganes was added to Urth in 2016, my work had been silent and focused more on my own worldbuilding of NL’s language, politics or geography than on interacting. I was shy, and my knowledge of English had only recently improved enough in order to not depend on Google Translate, as I had done since the creation of New Leganes back in 2013. I did interact a bit, though, which was enough for Blueacia to invite me to Urthvision III after I had shown a bit of Eurovision knowledge (I’ve been an eurofan since 2012, but I was embarrassed to show it at the time). NL ended 8th out of 18 on its debut and got some 12 points, and I remember being very excited about it, like being part of Eurovision in some way. I missed the deadline on the fourth edition, but this would get much bigger when on Urthvision V, NL ended second, only a few points from the winner, East Cerdani. I became obsessed with winning Urthvision from that point, and only two editions later, NL won its first edition, tied with Blueacia. We both hosted the next edition, Urthvision VIII, which took place ICly in Privétia Tauríllien, NL’s capital, and I had a time of my life roleplaying as Pétra Méde, the unsurprising Cukish¹ version of RL Petra Mede.

Aside from some brief embassy RPs back in 2016 (Oan still remembers them!!), Urthvision was the first time I took part in and hosted a major RP, involving most of the community. Urthvision VIII equaled the previous record of 18 countries, and had such a reach that even people not quite active on RP, as Fedele, joined it. But I wasn’t done with it. I had such a fun time that I wanted to win again. And it is so that I searched for successful Eurovision and non-Eurovision songs that people could broadly like. NL then earned two second places and two third places, until the second victory arrived on Urthvision XIII, the first time any country had won more than once. After being so close to winning for two whole years, I remember celebrating that victory even more than the first one.

And that’s when my host craziness began. I dreamed of hosting a contest as similar as posisble to a real Eurovision, so I contacted everyone I knew on TEP to get them to join Urthvision, even telling some people who weren’t on Urth and telling them to apply. After reforming the rules in order that people would be able to submit two countries instead of one, Urthvision XIV again hit the participation record, with 38 countries. Hosted again in Privétia Tauríllien, I wrote a Eurovision-like structure based on the Stockholm 2016 edition, with intervals and comments from the presenters; even some IC Urthvision memes! It was the first time with semi-finals: 10 countries would qualify from each semi-final and 6 were directly qualified to the final, including the previous edition’s top 5 and a special invitee. I announced the semi qualifiers and the special invitee by editing Eurovision 2016’s introduction, which we all watched together, and jumped out of excitement when revealing that the special invitee was no other than 1 Infinite Loop, who had just returned briefly from his retirement. I felt like I had completed a circle when I had included on one of my RPs like 75% of Urth and the founder of TEP himself, 1 Infinite Loop. I don’t know how I was able to keep that secret for about two months.

Urthvision XIV went awesomely, and it changed forever the way Urthvision was done. Kyrla won that edition with Kyrloth (breaking that way Kyrloth’s Urthvision Curse, a long-lasting meme on Urth) and edited a whole video to introduce the next edition, with a full render of the skyline of Azmarin/Zlovskaar, the host city, together with each country’s flags. Urthvision is equally valid with just the RP text, but I’m so glad to be followed in my mess and in such an epic way. Ever since Urthvision XIV, the contest’s numbers haven’t dropped from 25 participants, and all of the editions have had something special and remarkable. I was very happy with this outcome, and my Urthvision hunger was satisfied.

Before NL’s first victory, I had written a list of songs I would send to Urthvision. That list was very long, but my own taste and Urthvision style had changed from 2018 to 2022, so I felt like I needed a new list. Before that, I would send the jewel of the crown: a song, I thought, that wouldn’t be able to win from how famous it is, especially among Eurovision fans. That song was “Euphoria” by Loreen, one of my favourite songs of all time, if not the most: a song that means a lot to me personally and the one that made an Eurovision fan out of me. I don’t know why 2022 Sammy was thinking it wouldn’t win: of course, it did. The third Urthvision victory was one I did not expect, and so I thought this was the time to provide the definitive service to Urthvision and to Urth RP: to edit the whole edition into video format, finally achieving full resemblance with RL Eurovision. Additionally, by editing it all on video, I had the chance to show, beyond the black and white Discord/Forum/Wiki texts what New Leganes looks like in all colours and meanings: with the excuse of intro and interval acts, as well as each entry’s postcards, I decided to grab the opportunity to show NL’s main features on different areas. Those include displaying peiri² chanting or several kinds of kóltar (Cukish bagpipes) from around several countries on the globe, regarding the traditional sphere; showcasing the Cukish geography, touristic landmarks and cultural aspects on each country’s postcard, taking care to cover all the different islands, archipelagos and cities of the country; acts about NL’s relation with water and the ocean, about its present pop industry, with the return of previous Urthvision artists, or even about the incoming Cukish space programs as a metaphor of Nepámir and Káril’s adventures in Nárilethál, the country’s foundational myth.

I began working on Urthvision XVIII on August 2022, and finished on March 2023, more than half a year that I spent on, first, designing a kiwi-butterfly logo that would be simple enough to be personalised per each country’s flag, a motto in Cukish (as in XIV), and gathering the most people possible, more than XIV if possible. And so I did: 41 countries joined the contest that time. I had to run against my time availability, against my lack of video-editing knowledge, and against my 11 y/o laptop’s issues, in order to edit a total of 7 hours of video, including intros, recorded commentary, country and song signs, postcards, intervals, semi-final qualifiers announcements, recaps, an interview with Kyrla and even writing Cukish lyrics for a song originally in Montenegrin. I wrote those lyrics on a train, and I remember the lady next to me looking at me weirdly, wondering what the hell I was writing; I don’t blame her, I think the same. I wanted to represent New Leganes in the most perfect way possible, to create the most complex RP Urth had seen, and to make everyone involved, by which I (with Kyrla’s help, given my laptop’s state) streamed both semi-finals, their qualifiers, the final and the winner announcement.

The result was 100% exactly what I had in mind, and these months I’ve returned several times to watch the videos again out of the pleasure it gives me to see everything so perfectly done. Every inch of Urthvision XVIII is full of meaning, both from a New Leganes perspective and from myself as RPer through all these years, and every time I describe what I’ve made inside those 7 hours of video (which actually were several whole days of editing), I’m truly staying short and saying very little. Urthvision XVIII is a portrait of New Leganes and of what I always dreamed about it: I’m so glad Aivintis and so many other people have considered this so well and that my feelings are shared. Sayyed, owned by Jess, was the winner of the edition, and she’s working on a similar format for Urthvision XIX: once again, Urthvision has changed forever, now becoming the biggest and most complex RP of Urth, and many great editions await us thanks to a dream that came true.

With Urthvision I’ve closed a RP chapter which must now be followed by another project which, actually, encapsulates all of my RP work: Qáhwia, which I like to call “my own multiverse”. The same term I now have on my Discord name, which would come to mean something like “the Kiwisphere” in Cukish. It refers to New Leganes and western-central areas of the Urth continent of Arcturia, inhabited by flying kiwis, the Cukish national animal. One of the first elements I built in those regards was the Cukish language itself, which I began building back in 2016, as the commend mentions, all by myself, without any online, offline, grammar or vocabulary help of any kind. I already covered the topic in a previous article, but it’s essentially based on my own phonaesthetic and my playfulness with mixing certain phonetic and grammar elements I liked from several RL languages, ranging from conscious and unconscious inspirations in Greek, Arabic, Akkadian or even Russian and Turkish to some other elements that just come into my mind and I decide to take, all to make a unique language with a recognisable sonority and structures that would be pleasant to be heard, to be talked and to be read. I finished its essential grammar in late 2020, and have since continued building its vocabulary. I’m very satisfied with my work here too: it has inspired multiple Urth people, such as EM, SocDyl, Gonggong, Shadow or Oan³, to make their own conlangs, many of which I have also helped on their making. I’m afraid I’ve made Cukish too recognisable: Oan has already built a couple of Cukish names all by himself! The Cukish language feels like a child that has grown enough to not being able to control it anymore: by the past October I was contacted by conlang collector Janko Gorenc to include the Cukish numerals into his collection⁴: that made me very happy, it felt as if Cukish had officially been declared a language on its own. Janko also asked me for the numerals in each Cukish dialect: when I get the dialects figured out, I'll send him the numerals again.

Ending with the commend, Aivintis mentions From Ashes to Eternity (FATE) and Nárilethál, my two epics for Qáhwia. FATE covers the story of Impelanta and her founding of the Impelanzan empire and of Tunseism, while Nárilethál (“The Song of the Forgotten One”⁵ in Old Cukish) is the story of Nepámir and the arrival of the Cukish people to the New Leganes archipelago. As a very inconsistent writer, it is a great thing to have their endings already publicly known and figured out, so there’s a lot of space for the big surprises that will certainly come out of these stories. If Urthvision and Cukish are already developed, mostly at least, these two epics are the project I have left to complete on Urth, and also the biggest, the most complex and the one that will encapsulate every single element I’ve built on this decade in NationStates. It requires a lot of effort, and will probably take a lot of time to make, but now I can fully dedicate my Urth time to them.

Nárilethál was born in 2018, when I was beginning to get more involved in Urth, and its original version was discarded, keeping only certain names and concepts as Nepámir himself, Káril, Tunsé or the Toré volcano. From these foundations, some time later, Toré became the marker between Urth’s Ancient and Middle Ages, by an eruption that ended with several civilizations; the goddess Tunsé I mentioned on this version would become the central entity of Tunseism, while Káril, who was the main character initially, would give this place to Nepámir.

While this version is not canon anymore, it gave me a bunch of ideas to work on when, suddenly, Tuva would DM me one afternoon in 2019 and tell me about making New Leganes and one of his countries, Puntalia, be part of an ancient empire called Impelanza. The name suggested to me the presence of a legendary founder or empress, Impelanta, and my brain began to work immediately. She would be born in a city called Arsal, in the region of Peragen Exterior, and she would overcome a tragedy in order to found the empire that would extend the Tunseist faith to New Leganes. I developed the whole first part during that year’s summer, and the lore I had created required the foundation of a new country in Arcturia. I called it “South Peragen”, then renamed it to just “Peragen”. I had no idea what these "Arsal" or "Peragen" names meant at the time, but I would end up deciding that Impelanzan, the language spoken there, would be some playful personal variation of Spanish and Latin, by which, as an example, Arsal would be derived from “altar” (‘shrine’) and “sal” (‘salt’), while Peragen would be originally a river with a name meaning ‘to carry constantly’ and "Impelanta" would mean something like 'Impel's image'. Peragen was, then, created by need, but I’ve been slowly building it, and it has become a well-developed entity, as well as the focus of most of my myths.

What about FATE itself? The acronym was not intentional at all, I swear. I was astonished when I found out that From Ashes to Eternity could be shortened to FATE, especially given that its main topic is Impelanta’s fate and her legacy’s one. Impelanta’s story is (and will be) about justice, about chosen families, about wanting to do good to your loved ones, and the price it carries for everyone, beginning by oneself. About power, the lust for it, and its consequences, including hate and war. How her compromise with everyone, from her family to her position as ruler, brought a legacy still alive on current-day Urth, but destroyed the person behind the queen. She’ll begin a journey seeking for the broken pieces of herself, and I’m wanting so much to reveal as soon as possible if she’ll achieve it. The RP has been temporarily halted in order to work on Nárilethál, but their shared lore will bring me back to FATE sooner than later.

Nárilethál, now the second and definitive version, covers a similar topic of “the people behind the legends”, but in very different ways from FATE. In Nárilethál, the journey is not as much of finding oneself, but about finding one’s place in the world, both geographically and personally. Nepámir will visit many different lands, in which he and his friends will get to meet different and diverse people, and consider whether they fit within his goals, his conceptions of the good, the bad, the greys in between, as well as within his community’s well being. He’ll discover that there’s secrets to either be revealed or better to remain hidden, and a universe which works a magic sometimes more logical than people can ever be.

Founding myths or epics, as Aivintis explained well, haven’t been covered on Urth previously, and I want these to have as awesome of an impact as Urthvision or Cukish have had. I want to show what Urth is capable of creating: Todd’s commendation already mentions his Urth work, which has become his very own books. It’s such an immense honour that the second time Urth has been mentioned on a NS commendation is with New Leganes’s one, and it has boosted me a lot to continue working on what I have left to complete. Nárilethál and FATE will complete Qáhwia and expand it in ways none can expect yet. I wish I could tell them, but I want to keep the surprise and enjoy the moment when you’re all revealed with it. I’d dare to say nothing like it has been seen yet on TEP nor on NS, and this commendation, after a decade in this game, is just the start of everything. And it would be nothing without the community that has embraced me, inspired me, allowed me to provide all of this and taken part of it all in different ways. I hope this commendation serves as an example and makes visible the hidden talent this game has, so that New Leganes inspires recognition of worldbuilding, creativity, story-writing and community-making.

I never thought New Leganes would get commended. For many years, I was keen on the idea of becoming Delegate as the biggest service I could give to TEP. But a commendation falls over any of my previous aspirations, one I thought unreachable (one I didn’t even think of!), and one I will honour by continuing to work in the same language George R. R. Martin mentioned, the language of dreams, the language all I do is written in and the language our community is built upon. I wanted to write an article for NL’s 10th anniversary, but Aiv has already written it in the form of this commendation. He’s worked for months on this, and I feel very humbled by such a task. He knows me well, we’ve worked together in a million Executive and RP places, and I’m really happy that he has now authored his first resolution with no other than my country’s name. I hope he gets his own commendation one day, and I thank him eternally for this and for everything. Thanks to everyone who has worked with him, and thanks to EPNS’s editors for the goodwill and the help in publishing this.

So this has been a decade on TEP. There’s many reasons for me to have stayed in this place for such a long time, many of which have been explained above. If I can find a common factor in everything, it is that this place allows us to be whatever we want to be: it is in this community where ideas of any kind can happen, from intellectual debates or administration and law-making, to creating your whole universe on your own fashion and sharing it with everyone, or simply having a fun time with friends. I insist: this region is written in the language of dreams, the same language I will continue writing in for as long as it may be possible.

Congratulations TEP for another commendation: this is not just mine, this is ours.

<sup>1. “Cukish” shall be understood as New Leganes’s demonym.

2. Peiri chanting is originally a feature of the Taurílliener, the elven ethnic group that inhabited the New Leganes archipelago before the arrival of the Cukish. Peiri, together with the kóltar’s sound, holds a special place in the whole Cukish Tunseist beliefs, since it’s meant to be so loud that “the whole world comes together to its sound”. Very appropriate for a big international song contest.

3. Special mention is needed of Oan’s Packilvanian language, which has now reached incredible levels of complexity.

4. You can read more about Janko Gorenc and his collection here.

5. The etymology of this word is a bit tricky: nári, adjectivisation of ‘oblivion’, + archaic genitive -let (‘of’), + hál, ‘song’. It shall be pronounced “narilet hal” as two different words.</sup>

Community Spotlight : Gonggong
By: Eastern Alksearia | Editor: Eunopiar

When it comes to Urth, it’s great to talk about what is going on, but it’s also great to sit down and talk with someone who is involved in Urth RP. I had the pleasure of sitting down and speaking with gonggong about their Urth nations and overall their experiences with Urth

[The interview was conducted over discord, but was reformatted to fit a more traditional interview style. Spelling mistakes were also corrected in editing.]

Shadow: So first, What is your name and your NS nation in TEP?

Gong: My name is Gonggong and my NS nation in TEP is Star Flowers!

Shadow: Awesome! How long have you been a part of Urth RP?

Gong: Ooo, that’s a good question! I think it’s been just under a year since I came to Urth!

Shadow: Wow, it has almost been a year already. What nations do you have on Urth?

Gong: Yeee! I joined Urth last summearound August I think! I own three nations! Kuduk, Nisserige, and Reijia! There’s one more nation called Jiduan, but that one is waiting for the acceptance of the cartographers to become official!

Shadow: Nice! Why don't you tell us a little bit about each nation?

Gong: Okie! Kuduk was my very first nation on Urth and it stayed my only one for a super long time! When I first created Kuduk, I wanted to make a country inspired off of the Tlingit in Alaska! Over time though, it’s drifted away from that concept to become something more unique!

My second nation is Nisserige! I created Nisserige to be a nation of gnomes! I never really see gnomes in fantasy settings all that often, nor did any exist on Urth, so I decided one day to make a nation with them as the main focus! I researched a lot on gnomes to decide things like Nisserige’s history, economy, and culture!

My last country is Reijia. Reijia is different from the other two, as I didn’t create Reijia initially! Reijia was a nation I adopted from Ben after he gave up ownership of a bunch of his countries. Reijia hasn’t changed since I adopted it from Ben, but one day I hope to develop it a ton!

Shadow: These are definitely some interesting countries! Can you tell us more about Kuduk and the changes you've made with it and some of the future plans you have?

Gong: Yee! Kuduk at first was just meant to be culturally homogenous and there were only meant to be 6 tribes! Overtime, the tribes multiplied to 36 and each of the regions of Kuduk became more and more culturally distinct from one another! The Hey and Anana Tribes retained a lot of the Tlingit influence that Kuduk started with, but the other 34 slowly shifted away from it to become something else!

I have a lot of future plans for Kuduk! The main thing I want to oversee is Kuduk's attempts at increasing the quality of life of the country by trying to prop it up economically! Recently, Kuduk had its first national election and elected its first Prime Minister! I also want the nation to participate in more international affairs and hopefully make more allies!

Shadow: ooo, I hope Kuduk's modernization goes well! Can you share more about Nisserge and Reija? What plans do you have for Reijia following your adoption?

Gong: Ooo those are harder ones! I definitely want to do more with Nisserige in terms of its neighbors! Kaldrbuth and East Atlalandr are both nations that Nisserige could do interesting things with, both in the present and historically!

For Reijia however, I don't have any concrete plans! I did wish Reijia was in less of an awkward spot (because it's nearly completely surrounded by another country, but at the time that I adopted it that country didn't exist)! In the near future, I want to develop Reijia further and give it as much depth as Kuduk and Nisserige have!

Shadow: Can you tell us about the new nation you are creating and what inspired you to make it?

Gong: Places like India and Bangladesh inspired Jiduan! Though like Kkuduk, I expect it to slowly morph into something unique as time goes on! Jiduan is a super population-dense country and, if accepted by the cartographers, would become the country with the 4th biggest population on Urth!

Just before creating Jiduan, there was a conversation in the discord server about how Oan wished he had more active neighbors for Packilvania, so I decided to make one there! I made Jiduan be neutral toward Packilvania since I don't think Packilvania has any bordering nations that are officially neutral toward it! I really hope it gets accepted so I can do interesting RP stuff with Oan and everyone else too!

Shadow: Ooo, sounds interesting to add to that part of the world. What do you enjoy the most about Urth RP?

Gong: The community!! Everyone is very friendly and they were super helpful when I first joined last year! If I had to pick something other than community though, I would say making wikis! It's just super nice to spend a lot of time working on the wiki and then be able to sit back and admire the page you created!

Shadow: I also love the wiki pages. Do you have any that you would recommend to a reader?

Gong: Yeee! If you like conlanging, I would super recommend the Packilvanian Language wiki page! It's super in-depth and a good reference to look at when trying to make a language yourself!

Shadow: Awesome!!! Is there anything else you would like to share before this interview ends?

Gong: Yee! I hope everyone who reads this has a good day/night!

Update from the Delegate
By: Altys | Edited by Eunopiar

Month of July


At the beginning of July we were invited to and attended Raidercon’s 2023 edition, where we joined and ultimately took over the antifascist occupation of NATO 2022 Frontier, for which a report which can be viewed here.! Related to this event, Vice Delegate Aga and myself recommissioned the civilian militia structure, which you can read more about here. Both these happenings saw the first use of the new #executive-updates discord channel, teased in the previous edition as the “get involved” channel.

During the entire month the cabinet and several citizens endeavoured to rework both the region’s welcome guide (called STEP) and parts of its dispatch network, both of which needed an update. While some dispatches still need to be uploaded, most of the work related to this has been completed already.

When it comes to events, we hosted a gaming weekend with our friends from Carcassone on July 22nd and 23rd which culminated in a Hunger Games where our precious regional goose Zukchiva won! This edition of the games saw a tornado kill a third of the tributes on its first day, which itself totalled 18 deaths out of 36 tributes, half of the total; quite the death toll! We also theorised that big farma was sponsoring the Games due to the suspicious amount of medical supplies tributes received from sponsors. That and some people called me bloodthirsty for being annoyed at some tributes holding hands instead of killing each others.

One week later a Stellaris multiplayer game was hosted on Saturday 29th! The highlights of the game include the “Fallen Empire Scare” where all players panicked at the sight of the Aeternum (a modded uber powerful Fallen Empire sitting at the centre of the galaxy) awakening when none of them were ready to fight it, the “energy tax” where I (Altys) taxed every player’s energy credits to try and delay the impending doom, which failed. Though it did not matter as once the Aeternum started attacking, the other Fallen Empires bitchslapped the Aeternum into nothingness.

For transparency’s sake, the goal I stated last EPNS of moving Foreign Affairs to main server was put on hold until further notice. Ongoing talks with and future plans from the community being the reason behind this.

That concludes big Government happenings for this month! Now onwards to my plans for August!


Plans for August!

For August I’d like to finish the Integration push started in July. Our one last major project in relation to this is reforming REWARD (our WA development program). As it stands discussions on the project tend towards modernising existing and adding new automated features to REWARD related to endorsements. Some QoL changes to the discord bot (ie adding a command directly telling us if X nation is a Hussar [endorsing the Delegate and all Viziers]) linked to REWARD were also discussed.

Past that I’d like us to work on standardising EPSA imagery and working on some propaganda for operation reports or for recruitment of new soldiers. Both with the aim to better advertise the army and make it easier to recruit new people to it, or to the civilian militias.

Finally I’d like for us to dedicate parts of our time this month to recruit newer members to the executive, be it for culture or regional affairs projects, to join the FA department to discuss interregional happenings, or help with UTEP! Getting new blood and ensuring new generations of leaders is something I’d like to see more of next month.

Vice Delegate Diaries

By: Eunopiar

S Summer has once again been upon us again, meaning that a lot of the past month has been accompanied by somewhat of a lull as people enjoyed their vacations. Despite this, the East Pacific never stops moving, and nor does the Vice Delegate’s office. So, what have I overseen in July?

The Launch of the NEW, PRO-LEVEL Civilian Piler Corps

A lot of the past month has been focused on unifying military branding - the military has the potential to be an engaging subcommunity - NationStates, after all, lacks a war mechanism, so making people feel like they are participating in a military is often a good way to get them hooked into the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army and the Executive by extension. The first prong of our strategy here is the Eastern Expeditionary Forces, the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army’s civilian militia. Members will go on expeditions and receive stamps for going on expeditions as a little souvenir. You can view more about the Expeditionary Forces here: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1911261

Besides this, we’ve “minted” our first stamp, which I am really proud to have designed. You’ll be able to see it in the report linked in Altys’s article.

GAMER WEDNESDAYS!!

I am really happy to announce that one of our up-and-coming staffers, Chaos, is now running a new thing called gamer Wednesdays on Discord. Every Wednesday we hope to play a new mini-game. This week it’s Gartic Phone - you can view the event here.

Dispatch and REWARD Re-Dos

Dispatch redos, thanks to the help of Vussul, Merlovich and others are now very close to completion, with full launch expected within a week of this edition’s release. Having a clean dispatch system means we have a clean way for citizens to interface with the region and the government, and this dispatch system is the cleanest we have ever had. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this possible.

I suppose this is where the “diaries” bit comes in: A lot of my role as Vice Delegate has lately been about stepping in for people when they are on Leave of Absence or otherwise cannot perform their role for personal reasons. Administrations with fallbacks are successful ones, and I am always proud to play my small part in making the government work. Executive duties can be rewarding, fun and important - if you want to join the executive, check out our #join-the-executive application form in our discord.

A Note from the New Minister

By: Vussul | Editor: Eunopiar

Last month I took up the reins of our newspaper, the Eastern Pacific Newspaper Service (EPNS). EPNS is a difficult project to work with. It depends on the contributions of generous Citizens. As such, its fortunes are fickle. Some issues become extraordinary, others suffer from mediocrity. I recently gave an interview in Thaecia's "The Reflection" reboot. Upvote it here. I want to expand on some of what I said there in regard to EPNS.

My vision for EPNS has three components.

Firstly, EPNS should inform the Citizenry and cast away the veil of obscurity that exists on government activities. It is difficult to discover what each branch is doing, what each subsection is doing, and what they plan on doing. To do so, you would have to contact the respective heads and ask directly. This is bad and inefficient. EPNS, if the heads of the government branches come together, can become a government broadsheet. This is what I want to see and what I effected in the last month's edition.

Secondly, that it entertains its readers. Simply so those reading want to continue reading. To achieve this, I have a few ideas. It would be well for EPNS if it can get contributions for poetry, literature, science, and so forth. Poetry can include unique poetry or analyses of poetry from other authors. Literature could include analyses of specific characters, worlds, quotes, etc. And science could include recent scientific advancements and what the author thinks of them, their impact, and so on. I imagine UTEP and the Culture department would take a keen interest in these ideas.

Thirdly, that it promotes TEP. I mean this quite broadly. Not only is EPNS a way to promote TEP abroad, we can also use it to promote individual TEPers who have deserved recognition in a particular sphere. We can also send region-wide telegrams for every issue to promote regional activity. If the other two are done well, telegrams would be a natural progression. Through these, we can encourage recruitment and promote meritocracy in our region.

That is all I have to say about my plan for EPNS. I thought about this well before I took over the June edition and it worked exceptionally. If all goes well, these plans will bring EPNS to its former splendour; an age where EPNS communicated the government's actions and incited activity.

WHAT’S ON IN VALSORA THIS JULY?

By: Merlovich | Editor: Eunopiar

G’day folks, welcome to your monthly RMB RP installment. This month I thought I’d keep it simple: no existential crises, just a good old recap of the last month in the world of Valsora.

So, let’s get to work, we’ll start in the far east. The dissolution of Association for the Development and Security of Oriental Nations (ADSON) was the month's first major event, with the alliance crumbling to rubble within a mere 48 hours. The swift collapse was spurred on by human rights atrocities in Maneiras, which saw the massacre of Islamists and the establishment of martial law and political suppression in her newly integrated regions. This prompted harsh backlash from all members of the alliance and the wider global community and prompted a motion for Maneiras’ removal from the organization, led by Liaozhu. This motion, while initially entirely endorsed by ADSON’s members, soon turned into a fierce debate with Kianhua changing their vote overnight to defend Maneiras’ position, due to fears her dismissal would bring on the alliance’s collapse. With no middle ground immediately available, the Kianese made the sudden decision to abandon the organization, and immediately tendered their resignation, soon followed by a bitter resignation from Liaozhu, essentially dooming the alliance. In the following weeks, a diplomatic fallout has erupted between Kianhua and Liaozhu, with Liaozhuan diplomats summoning the Kianese ambassador to demand an immediate apology.

In lighter news from the east, another former ADSON member, Myehn has recently hosted the highly anticipated Shukumei Airshow! The event has welcomed 9 nations to its presentations this year, with stunning demonstrations and performances no doubt wowing crowds, alongside several corporations looking to put their products on the market. The Airshow is currently on its fourth day, with more action to come!



In arguably the month's biggest news, the long-held aspirations of many Usnistani’s finally blossomed into reality last week. One of the map's most influential nations, the Islamic Republic of Dabiristan, along with the allied states of Urattobristan, Savarastan and TRP merged to form the Islamic Federation of the Lafari. The new superstate spans much of North-Western Usnistan and stands as one of the most important players on a rapidly evolving global stage. While there will no doubt be teething problems for any such federation, it remains evident that the old era of colonialism on Valsora is well and truly at an end.

Back in Orientalis, yet another conflict looms on the horizon of Valsora with recent border clashes between the rival states of Liaozhu and Kamorye. The Liaozhuans, having recently claimed a vast array of territory stretching to the Kamoryean border in the west were met by gunfire in a misunderstanding at a border checkpoint in the town of Baoguan. With neither side willing to back down, the loss of lives in Baoguan has proven to be the spark to a wider conflict, which threatens to wreak havoc across the region. A Liaozhuan battalion was able to repel the Kamoryean’s at the border, but is likely to be repelled back into Liaozhu by a Kamoryean counter-offensive.

In Nonscio, a long-forgotten name has again sparked global attention. The ICJ (International Court of Justice) formerly headed by Volinovia (now Heimaeyja) has returned to Valsora. The organization has retained its lofty goals, seemingly continuing to challenge the notion that Valsora is ill-suited for large multinational diplomatic bodies. The ICJ comprises several elements, hosting economic, human rights, peace and justice councils. The ICJ isn’t the only thing Heimaeyja is cooking up, however. The VIFA Nations League officially kicked off this week, showcasing the best football Valsora has to offer. Voli has a continued legacy of creating great sporting content in Valsora, and it’s wonderful to see it continue into today, being one of the only things that can truly bring every nation on the map together.



Minor Events:

• Liaozhu hosts several diplomatic visits as the LDP announces a shift from an oriental-centric foreign policy.
• Rhouevelle looks to export Avant-Gardism to global relevance.
• Kampfia finally returns to the fray with a new RP post.
• The NDO has been founded in Atrocha, seeking to preserve international neutrality and pursue greater economic cooperation.
• A dispute regarding oil rights in contested waters has broken out between Kurikia and Belekria
• Yucanoa celebrates its bicentennial anniversary, 200 years since gaining her independence.
• Pangasinan prepares for the coronation of Felipe I
• Widespread anti-government protests break out in Atrocha
• Paeola enters the world stage with a whopping 2500-word introductory RP post.

Updates from the Praesidium

By: Aivintis | Editor: Eunopiar

After unanimously being elected Grand Vizier and Eastern Pacific Police Commissioner, respectively, on July 6, Aivintis and Marrabuk declared big plans for the positions, and a desire to bring new life to the Praesidium branch. On 9 July, Aivintis designated East Malaysia (EM) and VW53aland (VW) as the Vizier Regional Officers to be appointed by law. EM was chosen due to his status as one of the oldest and most trusted citizens of TEP. VW was chosen due to his own high endorsement and influence count, and his constant reliability when acting as Delegate Pro Tempore during Delegate transitions.

Immediately afterwards, GV Aivintis began discussion on a new amendment to the Standing Orders. The face of the Praesidium, its own public forum, is largely inactive, whereas closed chambers discussions remain highly secretive, leaving the populace uninformed on Praesidium activity. As such, the Grand Vizier introduced discussion on the idea of amending the Standing Orders of the Praesidium — the governing legal procedures which bind the branch — to hold discussion on SO amendments in the public Praesidium forum. Upon discussion by the Viziers, the branch as a collective decided that maintaining privacy in all matters was preferable, provided controlled transparency reports on disclosable subjects would be posted. This being in line with the goals of the Eastern Pacific News Service, which had introduced branch reports into the monthly news update in June, the Grand Vizier accepted this outcome.

The Eastern Pacific Police Service has been busy as well. Commissioner Marrabuk has brought new energy to the Service, introducing a ranking system and announcing a call for citizens to apply for the Service and assist in the maintenance of TEP security. As of this report, EPPS members include Eunopiar, ArenaC, Vussul, and Distro-Spartica. With two pending applicants and a vision which encourages organizational growth, EPPS has been off to a strong start. Current ranks include, from highest to lowest:

• Assistant Commissioner (AC)
• Superintendent (SUP)
• Assistant Superintendent (ASP)
• Inspector (ISP)
• Sergeant (SGT)
• Corporal (CPL)
• Special Constable (SC)

The next item on the Grand Vizier’s agenda was rewriting the Standing Orders of the Praesidium, streamlining it to ensure that it is now more coherent and organized, making the Praesidium’s duties clear to the citizens of TEP. The contents of the rewrite are currently being debated in the Citadel, the private subforum for Praesidium debate.

Endorsement Tracker
You may also see the table below tracking Delegate (in bold green) and Vizier endorsements. As this is the second month such table is made, we can now see month-on-month changes!

^{Data collected July 31st}

[Pichtonia]

Looking great as always, my compliments to the new minister as well!

[Pauline Bonaparte]

A very interesting and thorough read! I like to see regions talking about their RP communities in their monthly updates.

[Eastern Pacific News Service]

EPNS August 2023 Edition

HOME | LATEST | ARCHIVES | STAFF

Contents:

• It’s been four years since Fedele. Is it time to move on?
• GAMER WEDNESDAYS NOW OPEN
• How The East Pacific's Opinion has Changed
• TEP's UTEP and Culture Trouble
• Delegate’s Update
• Vice Delegate Diaries: August
• Praesidium August Update

It’s been four years since Fedele. Is it time to move on?
By: Merlovich | Edited By: Vussul

I’ve found myself stuck in a train of thought this week. Amidst my work in the Ministry of Outreach, I’ve been mulling over thoughts on how to make TEP more whole, a single community as opposed to the more tight-knit subcommunities that exist today.

It’s led me to an understanding.

It’s been four years since the coup, an event that has no doubt shaped our region into what it is today, an elaborate plan to overthrow our democracy and our institutions. Months upon months of sowing distrust, widening rifts, and complicating relationships. No one can stand here today and argue the coup did not change us.

The problems that Fedele and his band of thugs sowed have been a complicated matter to resolve, especially in the RMB community. Many of us will remember the many problems of 2019, whether it be the constant infighting between different groups, the erosion of trust in our institutions, or the hostile takeovers of our community hubs.

This has been especially prevalent in our RMB Cafeteria, where Fedele and Co. attempted to take over the Discord, presumably in an attempt to control the narrative and minimize rebellion when the coup eventually commenced. While they had some success in this endeavor, they ultimately failed. However, their actions continue to leave a lasting scar on our community to this day.

It’s been four years since then. It’s now September 2023 and, my friends, we need to finally move on. We don’t talk often about the coup, that isn’t what I’m eluding to, much of its history has been forgotten with each new wave of fledglings. It is with our elders, our veterans, our bastions of the community. Those of us who have been part of the RMB community for years now. We need to step back and let go of our manufactured grievances.

The coup made us wary and uncomfortable with authority. It made us distrustful of our institutions and our government, and fostered a subconscious belief that the RMB was always better off in its own corner. We trusted one another and we thrived and made friends in our bubbles. It is time we step out of the darkness and begin to rebuild those bridges. We’ve overseen several governments since the coup and we’ve seen Delegate after Delegate, each working hard to rebuild the region and make it a better place. It’s time the RMB stepped up and played its part in our region again.

Our community is one of the largest, if not the largest sub-community in the region. We make up so much of TEP, yet we have so little say in it. So few of us are involved in the decision-making of the region, whether it be working in the halls of the executive, enrolling to vote, or enlisting in our defense. We have so much more strength than we realize, it’s high time we step up and play our part again. Things have changed for the better, and all we need to do is see the light.

I ask that in the coming months, we make a conscious effort to ensure our RMB community holds itself high again. Enrol yourself to vote, make your voice heard in discussions, and tell people what you want to see in the region. Enlist in the EPSA, and stand up for our region in a time of great need. I know many of you who would make fine members of the executive, and while it seems so daunting at first, we are so much more alike than we think across the region. Every person here is an East Pacifican, we are brothers and sisters and everything in between. Let’s work together, not apart.

GAMER WEDNESDAYS NOW OPEN
By: Distro-Spartica | Edited By: Vussul

Hey you, yeah you, the reader. You should hop on The East Pacific’s discord server and join me for GAMER WEDNESDAY©™® (hosted every Saturday) at 5:00 PM EST (9:00 PM UTC). It’s loads of fun, we draw crude depictions of Bulgarian kiwis on Gartic Phone or make t-shirts that say poetic lines such as “poo poo pee pee” and “haha piss” in Jackbox and pin them on the Discord’s starboard!

Why is GAMER WEDNESDAY on a Saturday, you ask? Well, that’s quite a long story. If you really insist, I suppose I could grant you the lore of GAMER WEDNESDAY. So take a seat, get comfortable, and prepare to relish the grand history of the GAMER WEDNESDAY.

It all started on a sweltering July afternoon. I was summoned by our one and only Vice-Delegate, Eunopiar, to help get some events going. Immediately, I said yes. It was an amazing opportunity to try and make my own fun quirky weekly event, and centering the events around video games was doubly amazing .

A plethora of ideas came to mind, but Eunopiar wisely advised that I start small, and get people used to the consistent events I would be hosting. Thus I settled for a simple game of Gartic Phone. I also thought about hosting the event every Wednesday, my thought process being that it would be a fun little break in the middle of a long week. And so it was settled. Eunopiar provided me with the necessary role to make announcements to everyone on The East Pacific discord server.

The 9th of August would be the first of many GAMER WEDNESDAYs; the beginning of many glorious sessions of gameplay and goofy activities. I counted the days and kept everyone who had the @Gamer or @Notifications roles updated. Until the day finally arrived. When the day finally arrived, I set up the event on the Discord server and waited for the people to flock in. And I waited… and waited… and waited… and then a friendly Vussul came along, and so we waited. And waited… until 30 minutes had passed with only the two of us in the voice chat. At this point I figured no one else was gonna show up. I kept giving it that “one more minute” until I had lost all hope.

Just as I was about to disconnect from the voice chat, a certain New Leganes had appeared! He had seen our itty bitty turnout and decided to ping those who he thought would be interested in gaming. And so more people showed up! What looked like a failure was an absolute success thanks to Vussul, New Leganes, and everyone else who was there for the first GAMER WEDNESDAY. It was clear to me now that Wednesday was an awkward day to host games, especially at 5:00 p.m. So I moved it to Saturday while still keeping the fabulous name. Since then, we’ve had a decent turnout each GAMER WEDNESDAY, and the rest is history.

So there you have it. The origin of GAMER WEDNESDAY, an adventure of epic proportions, most definitely. Since you’re still reading this, I figured I should let you in on a little secret. You see, one of those ideas in my plethora of ideas may or may not have involved a large tournament… a chess tournament in the future. Sound like something you’d be interested in? Well, whether it is or isn’t, there’s no shortage of party games to play until this hypothetical tournament. So come on over to The East Pacific's discord server and join us every Saturday at 5:00 PM EST (9:00 PM UTC) for GAMER WEDNESDAY(trademarked)(c) for some rad gaming!!

How The East Pacific's Opinion has Changed
By: Libertanny | Edited By: Vussul

Back in 2020, we went through a poll determining political views within The East Pacific. We’ve seen a presence of defender and defender-leaning ideologies, followed by an even stronger presence of cosmopolitanism and support for forms of government different than the meritocratic republic The East Pacific is. Today we are presenting a comparison between The East Pacific’s ideological landscape in 2020 and 2023 alongside statistics from both years and quotes from supporters of given views from this year's survey.


Regional Stance

Regional Stances Explained:
Jingoism - extreme regionalism
Regionalism - loyal to one particular region
Cosmopolitanism Major - cosmopolitanism with TEP as main region
Cosmopolitanism Minor - cosmopolitanism with TEP as minor region


Starting with one of the most popular categories of political views, regionalism and cosmopolitanism, we also start in one of the biggest changes that happened in the course of almost three years. In 2023 we can see a huge increase in regionalism (2023: 48%; 2020: 17.24%) and a minor increase in jingoism (2023: 12%; 2020: 10.34%) at the cost of both forms of cosmopolitanisms - major experiencing a decrease (2023: 12%; 2020: 17.24%) and minor experiencing on a full decline (2023: 24.14%; 2020: 0%). Lastly, centrist ideology went through a minor decrease (2023: 16%; 2020: 20.69%).

“As a contingency plan, I joined TEP shortly before getting expelled from TCB. One of the main reasons was that TEP was known for being a 'chill' feeder with a vibe I appreciated in the region. However, the region's heavy focus on RP, which isn't my cup of tea, made me less active in TEP, except for its FA ministry.” - A surveyee on their cosmopolitanism.

“I firmly believe TEP is superior to all other regions. This just has to be realized. All it needs is a strong leader to go in the right direction to ascend it to its natural place, above all other regions.” - A surveyee on their jingoism.


R/D Alignment

Next, we dive into the spectrum of military ideologies. Whilst overall indie ideologies have remained in the hearts of almost half of our population (2023: 44%; 2020: 44.83%), we have experienced a strong increase in raider moods - raider-leaning (semi-raider) receiving a minor increase (2023: 8%, 2020: 3.45%) and raider building a strong presence starting from zero (2023: 12%; 2020: 0%). These mood changes happen at the cost of support for defenderism - defender-leaning (semi-defender) went through a decrease (2023: 16%; 2020: 20.69%), whilst defender views lost over fifty percent of its supporters (2023: 8%; 2020: 17.24%). Lastly, we’ve seen a complete abscence in imperialism (2023: 0%; 2020: 3.45%). It’s also worth noting that both defender and raider views are represented heavily by native East Pacificans, often due to current political events, as evidenced in a quote below:

“It's been more of a gradual pull. The Mainstream Defenders have shown their true colors. They want nothing to do with Indies/unaligned and they refuse to acknowledge that Raiders can exist too.” - A surveyee on their support for raider ideologies.

“I tend to avoid the R/D sphere, as plainly speaking, it isn't my cup of tea - however, I consider myself to lean towards the defender end of the scale as my belief in the preservation of regions' cultural identities and history inherently puts me at odds with most raider operations, whether they be tagging or refoundings. I'm motivated to preserve this history/identity that can be lost during raider operations, as I see it as essential to maintain a record of a region's past to fully appreciate its unique journey, regardless of the brevity of the region's existence or its perceived lack of contributions.” - A surveyee on their support for defender ideologies.


Forms of Government

Forms of Government Explained:
Empire - ruled by one individual controlling TEP and puppet regions
Monarchy/Dictatorship - ruled by one individual
Noble Authoritarian Republic - a total leader who has executive, legislative, and judicial powers elected by high-status TEPers (i.e. only TEPers that have been in TEP for X years, who have contributed to the region, or WA Citizens)
Noble Republic - executive leader elected by high-status TEPers (e.g. only TEPers that have been in TEP for X years, have contributed to the region, or WA Citizens)
Authoritarian Republic - an elected total leader with Ministers appointed by such leader, without separation of powers (elected leader has executive, legislative, and judicial powers)
Meritocratic Republic - elected executive leader and Ministers appointed by such leader with separation of powers (current government system)
Parliamentary Monarchy - ruled by one individual and an elected body (e.g. Emperor and Elected Senate)
Democratic Republic - an elected leader and elected Ministers and legislators
Direct Democracy - elected representatives where final decisions are taken by Citizenry in referendums
Anarchy - no actual government


As we head to support for various forms of government, we can see that in 2023, support for a meritocratic republic (the current form of government) seems more unanimous than it was back in 2020 (2023: 60%, 2020:34.48%). Support for a democratic republic has scored the greatest decrease (2023: 12%; 2020: 31.03%) and was followed by a decrease in support for a direct democracy (2023: 4%; 2020: 20.69%). Whilst likely irrelevant due to minimal support, in 2023 we have seen the appearance of support for anarchy (4%) and empire (8%), where both scored a perfect 0% in 2020.

“Well for that one, personally I've found that Monarchy regions are just better run - at least to me, of course I'm sure others will disagree. However, I'm not a fan of the absolute kind, I think constitutional or even semi-constitutional monarchy regions allow for this sort of removed figure of balance to exist outside of the political sphere. Also, I'm not a big Republic guy.” - A surveyee on support for monarchy.

“I definitely think the ideas of open accountability in government guide that sentiment, but I think it’s also a matter of engagement. If we look at Thaecia, they have an elected legislature and they’re one of the most active political regions I’ve ever seen. In Thaecia, newcomers run for office all the time. Even in TEP we see newcomers sometimes running for Delegate, and we can see that elections can be stronger for engagement than doing without them. [...] It also ensures that the goals of the Ministers align with the goals of the people. [...] Also, I think the choice just stemmed from a desire for change. I think we could benefit from a more exciting, different system.” - A surveyee on support for a democratic republic.

“You know what they say, for a safer and securer society, but I will admit I actually thought more on that question that some of the others. Initially I went for the status quo because it's comfortable but then I decided to go with something that is different. As you know, I've been playing in TEP for a long time, and I think it is okay to reinvent oneself over having the same stagnancy. I'm not saying the current system is at this moment but it wouldn't hurt to keep an open mind.” - A surveyee on support for a parliamentary republic.

“Democracies, despite their flaws, are effective systems of governance. I believe that meritocracies, for example, can lead to a hierarchical society where a small group of popular individuals monopolizes decision-making. In contrast, direct democracies allow newcomers to be immediately involved in regional governance through legislation, which aligns with the purpose of such a system – writing and approving laws. While certain government matters like FA might not involve the citizenry, treaties, laws, and similar documents should always be open to their participation.” - A surveyee on support for a direct democracy.


FA Approach

FA Approaches explained:
Isolationist - not participating in interregional affairs at all
Semi-isolationist - participating in interregional affairs only if it means profit for The East Pacific
Neutral - participating in interregional affairs only if it means profit for The East Pacific or its allies
Semi-interventionist - participating in interregional affairs for the sake of The East Pacific and all of its diplomatic relations (e.g. having our Embassy's back; protecting friendly UCRs from raids, etc.)
Interventionist - participating in interregional affairs for both profit purposes and ideological values


In a changing world of regional stances, military views, and support for various forms of government, we can see one constant - preferred FA approach. No ideology went through a major increase or decrease - however, we’ve seen a slight increase in support for semi-interventionism (2023: 48%; 2020: 44.83%) and interventionism (2023: 20%; 2020: 17.24%). Semi-interventionism has been on the lead for almost three years now - with 48% support in 2023 and 44.83% support in 2020. Second place has been taken by the neutral approach (2023: 24%; 2020: 24.14%). Both isolationism and semi-isolationism scored 4% in 2023 and 3.45% in 2020. Lastly, and surprisingly, key differences have been seen in the undecided chunk of the population - the FA approach stands as the only category without an undecided population in 2023.

“My support for the interventionism lies in the current very situation of The East Pacific and other unaligned regions. Being somewhere outside of current political cold (and not so cold) wars, but also constantly being dragged by both alignments to support their cause, I simply think it is the time The East Pacific stands up for its own cause, it is the time The East Pacific establishes its own sphere and it is the time The East Pacific defends and protects both unaligned regions and their interest - at any cost.” - A surveyee on support for interventionism.

“I hold my own opinions on the ideological side of NS, but in the current climate of the game the imposition of ideals on other regions is impractical, putting aside moral concerns about it. In addition, involving ourselves too heavily in the interregional scene can alienate regions we'd rather keep as friends. For these reasons I can't really consider myself an interventionist, with some specific exceptions. At the same time, though, even I have to admit that total isolation is just as bad. Our motto has always been, "let entropy take the UCRs", but without active participation of some kind it will come for us as well. And when our treatied allies, or those who we hope will become so, request our assistance, it would be unnecessarily damaging to refuse.
But before we intervene in favor of a friend, we need commitment. That's really why I didn't move up to Semi-Interventionist.” - A surveyee on support for a neutral approach.


FA Style

FA Styles explained:
Determined - do whatever TEP believes in, regardless of the opinions of other entities
Thoughtful - do whatever TEP believes in, as long as it does not anger allies
Careful - carefully take all decisions that may have consequences in PR or FA
Mainstream - fit with the mainstream to ensure good PR and a lot of friends/allies


Lastly, this comparison will cover the preferred FA style. Following a variety of events within NSGP such as, but not limited to, the appearance of MGC and BoM, TBH’s violation of FNR’s (a Lausanne’s signatory) sovereignty, mainstream regions’ approach towards Anime Nations Against Liberals, and the overall poor situation of unaligned and neutral regions, we’ve seen a huge increase of a determined approach (2023: 60%; 2020: 34.48%), becoming the leading stance at the cost of every other approach. At the same time the greatest decrease was seen in support for a thoughtful approach (2023: 8%; 2020: 20.69%). A minimal decrease was noted in support for the careful approach (2023: 28%; 2020: 31.03%) and mainstream approach (2023: 4%; 2020: 6.90%)

“TEP does what TEP wants [the rest of the message was redacted]” - A surveyee on support for determined style.

“I think it’s a mix of the current climate and my FA style. Based on my experiences, I believe that the only way to project FA presence and power is to build strong bonds with a small group of regions and have some sort of mutual understanding with the most powerful regions. Especially as an unaligned region, I feel like pissing off major defenders or raiders could end up damaging our FA greatly. It could lead to us losing ties with one side of the aisle, isolating us partially and really removing our biggest FA/military/cultural advantage, which is that we work with every region regardless of ideology. [...] BOM is making raiderdom difficult to work with and pushing most unaligned/independent regions towards defenderdom. Defenderdom, meanwhile, is emboldened by their new power and the new mechanical changes in the game, becoming more extremist and testing out the limits of their position. TEP stands unmoved by these changes, still resolute in our unalignment and our diversity of FA. I’d like us to keep that, I think it’s a great strength.” - A surveyee on support for careful style.

“I've always been a pragmatist when it comes to FA - I very much believe in doing what is right for us when it is right for us (as do all FA teams across NS), so in that sense I have a determined "TEP First approach". It is, however, important to be clear and communicative, making sure that allies can approach our government to frankly discuss issues and, if possible and mutually beneficial, work towards a mutual understanding. Our FA is and should continue to be both thoughtful and determined.” - A surveyee on support for determined and thoughtful style.

“It has always been my stance. TEP is not a flavor gameplay likes because we already do what we want and don't cower to their toxicity. In my point of view TEP does not seek power, even when that power would be nice, because we seek something more meaningful with other regions: friendship.” - A surveyee on determined style.

“It might sound mainstream, but TEP genuinely needs to change. With one of the largest delegates in the game, we possess significant political influence that could be advantageous if we adapt some aspects of the region's culture. Realizing and leveraging our immense political weight can lead to positive transformations.” - A surveyee on mainstream style.


Bonus


As an additional part of the survey, which cannot be compared with 2020 results due to the lack of these specific questions in 2020, we’ve asked Citizens of The East Pacific which region (based on ideology) would they support if “both regions were equally right”. Unaligned regions were supported by the majority of surveyees in 3 out of 3 times against independents, defenders, and raiders, independent regions 2 out of 3 times, defender regions 1 out of 3 times, and raider regions 0 out of 3 times.

“I get quite emotional about R/D, mainly because I used to have a region myself until it was subsequently raided; I asked for help from a region I thought was friendly, they gave up and left. As a result, I have become very hostile toward the idea of R/D. Therefore, I believe that if we are going to partake, we shouldn't be - to use a local expression - daft as brushes about it. We should do it for good. Raiding, as I've stated and implied, does no good.” - A surveyee on support for defender and unaligned regions.

“I have no sympathy for the majority of Defender regions. Some of them we have extremely good relations with (UDS or FNF), but other than those two that I can think of, I have no sympathy” - A surveyee on support for raider and unaligned regions.

TEP's UTEP and Culture Trouble
By: Vussul

The East Pacific has four active Ministries and one active pseudo-Ministry; Mine, the Ministry of News, the Ministry of Outreach, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army.

Culture and the University of The East Pacific (UTEP) (also known as the Ministry of Education) are the Ministries that have been forgotten. Culture promotes regional activity primarily and UTEP is supposed to be the academic center of the East in the broadest sense of the term.

Culture's revival is an absolute necessity. The role of a Culture or Culture-like system in any region is non-negotiable. That it has been left in such a state is a disappointment. TEP holds few cultural activities. The few cultural activities it does have good turnout. The desire for more is there. I applaud Chaos for his GAMER WEDNESDAYs and Delegate Altys for the Hunger Games he runs, but this isn't enough. These are ad hoc. A more permanent Ministry needs to be created to run festivals, flag contests, game side polls, game nights, and the rest of the Culture repertoire.

UTEP's revival would be significantly more difficult. The broad goal means that it could be many things and not everyone works well with such a large scope. The most successful iteration of UTEP was under Sam, who turned it into a place for regular debates, similar to what exists in #debates-and-politics now and #in-real-life before. It existed as a separate community in its own right. This all evaporated when it was merged into the Uniexec, which in hindsight was a major mistake. A revival, in my opinion, would have to start by recreating UTEP in the main server, open to all by default, with minimal staff whilst taking advantage of the existing appetite for debates.

These are just my opinions. Culture-wise, we only currently have Chaos who runs things and has ideas. His article is included in this issue. UTEP-wise, we have y0 who occasionally runs weekly questions for UTEP and God-Emperor who has ideas about creating courses for UTEP. I hope each person here has the ambition to take over their respective fields and succeed in them. I give them my full backing.

Delegate’s Update
By: Altys | Edited By: Vussul

Month of August

At the beginning of August Vussul was appointed as the new Minister of News. As I’ve stated in my appointment post, he had done a great job for EPNS June 2023 where he effectively revived this long-form version of EPNS displayed in previous years, and has shown similar qualities in the leadup to this edition of the paper!

During the entire month, the new/updated dispatches of the region’s dispatch networks were implemented, while a lot of new RA projects popped up. The rewriting of our WA Tech (REWARD Program) began with the aim to add several more features aimed at better incentivizing a WA culture. We also revived some old tech related to API telegrams (i.e. sending telegrams after X day a nation has spent in the region) and began drafting the telegram templates for those. Minister of Outreach Merlovich also ran a poll surveying appetite for a weekly news update posted on the RMB covering what the Government is doing, a project which is also in the works. Finally, the rebranding and restructuring of EPSA was finished and advertised to the region.

When it comes to events, we hosted our monthly Hunger Games on August 27th, inviting Community for the occasion! This time Myehn won the Games, also ending with the most kills (5). As usual, this edition featured many tributes teaming with each other, to the point each night ended up being the “wholesome time” of the Games, with almost no tributes dying at night. Of course this was counterbalanced by an absurd amount of double kills throughout the event, as well as the arena’s borders rapidly contracting on the tributes and killing many of them.

That concludes big Government happenings for this month! Now onwards to my plans for September!

Plans for September!

For September I want us to focus on finishing ongoing projects. REWARD expansion, the Weekly RMB updates, the API telegrams, and other ongoing discussions related to Outreach (regional awards, recruitment, making a more regular usage of onsite polls and regional telegrams, etc.) are all already a lot to take care of.

Past that I’m also going to be at the forefront of preparations for N-Day (hype!!) as leader of our faction, with planning for the event taking a chunk of my and Vice-Delegate Eunopiar’s time. More information on that soon!

Finally, in September I’d like to see the Government attempt to get more people interested in becoming registered voters in anticipation of the Delegate Elections in October. With many recent Government projects turned towards groups with low voter registration rates, I believe it’s fair to expect those will also pop up in the next election campaigns, and this will mark the continuation of my government's commitment to outreach.

Vice Delegate Diaries: August
By: Eunopiar | Edited By: Vussul

So, we’ve reached the second last installment of my Vice Delegate Diaries. Perhaps unbelievably, this term is now only a month away from closing. As usual, I have the laundry list of updates about what the executive has been working on this past month, alongside a few other notes.

Military Re-Brands: Done

In a rare Aga win, I have managed to complete all of the military rebranding work and have fully launched the new Eastern Expeditionary Forces! Our military consists of two branches: the Trailblazers, our updater corps, and the Eastern Pacific Expeditionary Forces, which I’ve plugged in a separate dispatch. Join them HERE!

Weekly Updates: EPNS Lite

We’re running weekly updates again! Our wonderful Ministers of Outreach and News, Merlovich and Vussul, have coordinated EPNS lite, a new frequent installment of the Eastern Pacific News Service, which we will start releasing regularly in September. You can read our pilot edition here.

Polling: Let’s Do More of It

You like polls, I deliver. This may be an inconsequential, minor footnote in TEP history, but we’re making an effort to do more for our RMB and gameside integration, polling will play a part in this. If you have any ideas for polls, feel free to telegram me (Eunopiar, and I can see if it’s included - you’ll be credited in the poll description!

Welcome Telegrams: We’re Doing More of It

Before a series of internal things happened and we stopped doing it, we used to send telegrams to every nation after they joined to make sure they were happy and up to date with everything the East Pacific has to offer. We’re really glad to be restarting this service, sending telegrams to nations to make sure they’re settling in correctly. The start date for the service is, as of yet, unconfirmed, but the telegrams have been written and it will be rolled out soon.

Praesidium August Update
By: Aivintis | Edited By: Vussul

To continue the Grand Vizier’s agenda, the rewrite of the Standing Orders of the Praesidium has experienced more discussion. Originally, GV Aivintis aimed to pass the rewrite by 20th August. After extending the deadline to 27th August, which passed without further discussion, Aivintis motioned the Standing Orders’ overhaul to a vote on 28th August. On 4th September, the vote ended, and the comprehensive Amendment was passed with a ¾ majority of voting Viziers.

On 10th August, Grand Vizier Aivintis spoke with the Administration and finalized his previously discussed proposal for regular notification to ensure that Viziers log into their nations (keeping them from ceasing to exist) and endotart to keep their endorsements high. Carl-bot now delivers such notifications in the Praesidium channel, courtesy of East Malaysia.

The next item on the Grand Vizier’s agenda was a system for proscription. Instead of a purely action-based system, as was originally conceived, Aivintis drew up plans for a watchlist-esque system instead. Based on the information noted in the watchlist, security threats might be barred from voting or citizenship to protect the region, but being placed on the watchlist itself would bear no inherent associated proscription. To this end, a discussion in the private Citadel subforum has been initiated. The System of Early Warning for Emerging Risks, or SEWER, designates threat levels based on the severity and likelihood of potential threats, so informed action can be considered by the Praesidium.

Noticing a discrepancy in the on-site dispatch of Viziers on 18th August, Grand Vizier Aivintis petitioned the Executive government to list him as the Grand Vizier in line with the July elections, rather than former Grand Vizier Dragons Blood. With this minor correction, it was soon discovered that the currently distributed Viziers dispatch was an old edition that was no longer being maintained by the Executive. To maintain compliance with the Standing Orders of the Praesidium, Section 2, Clause 2.2.6, the Grand Vizier pinned the current Praesidium dispatch in-game. The link in the WFE was also replaced in favor of the current dispatch.

Endorsement Tracker

The Delegate notes the decline in endorsements is partially due to ongoing piling efforts.

[Unibot III]

"How The East Pacific's Opinion has Changed" article is my jam. Such a cool visualization of data!