The Almighty NationStates FAQ

[Kaboomlandia]

Mine also looks like that, I just don't have an account to post it.

[Sedgistan]

Mine also looks like that, I just don't have an account to post it.

Which makes your post utterly useless. Quit the post-whoring, or you'll get another warning on your account.

Why do I keep getting the same issues?
When the game started, there were only 30 different issues, and each nation only qualified for a few of them. Later, [violet] (in all her greatness) coded an interface which allows game mods to edit player-submitted issues.

New players still only get the first 30 for their first couple of weeks. There are now over 250, yet the older ones still seem to repeat more often. (The whole list of issues can be found here.)

Over 400!

How can I change my position on an issue?
All of the issues - except for Easter Eggs - can eventually be repeated. As mods have said before, just because you make a decision on an issue (or decide to dismiss an issue) doesn’t mean that your citizens won’t make you answer the issue again!

There are actually some other issues that aren't repeated.

What is a 'Issue Chain'?
A 'Issue Chain' is a story of sorts - It starts with a single issue you get, and the story can take several paths to completion; changing your nation along the way. While it offers a more 'intimate' (The hawwwwt issues editors ensured this) story, it is important not to "break the chain", as Issue Chains are only one-time, and failing to answer or dismissing any of the issues in the chain means you don't get it again. At the time of this posting, there is only one Issue Chain, 'Diamonds Are An Expat's Best Friend!', and it is 19 issues long.

That's how "the chain" (An International Incident) works, but there are other chained issues that are not one-offs. Also, it's not really "19 issues long" - there are 19 issues in the chain, but that's accounting for all the different routes; most people will answer around 5ish issues.

[Hobbesistan]

Over 400!

Woot, fixed.

There are actually some other issues that aren't repeated.

Any detail you can provide on this? Would fit better than 'there are some issues you can't repeat - you just won't know which...It's more fun that way ' (though I can put that lol)

That's how "the chain" (An International Incident) works, but there are other chained issues that are not one-offs. Also, it's not really "19 issues long" - there are 19 issues in the chain, but that's accounting for all the different routes; most people will answer around 5ish issues.

noted & fixed.

Took me a little while, but I got a hold of a friend with the proper criteria

(Image)

Enjoy.

Mucho gracias, throwing this in now. I've also fixed spoilers in WFE's.

[Luna Amore]

Why do I keep getting the same issues?
When the game started, there were only 30 different issues, and each nation only qualified for a few of them.

There are 31 original Max issues. His start at #000 and end at #030.

It's even wrong in the FAQ now that I look at it.

[Hobbesistan]

Why do I keep getting the same issues?
When the game started, there were only 30 different issues, and each nation only qualified for a few of them.

There are 31 original Max issues. His start at #000 and end at #030.

It's even wrong in the FAQ now that I look at it.

So I'm expected to properly count but Max isn't?

Pfft, double standards!

[Sedgistan]

There are actually some other issues that aren't repeated.

Any detail you can provide on this? Would fit better than 'there are some issues you can't repeat - you just won't know which...It's more fun that way ' (though I can put that lol)

There's about 5 of them, and they're for things like reviving the feather-bellied @@ANIMAL@@ that are really only one-offs, or special but not-quite-Easter-Eggs issues.

[Mousebumples]

Any detail you can provide on this? Would fit better than 'there are some issues you can't repeat - you just won't know which...It's more fun that way ' (though I can put that lol)

There's about 5 of them, and they're for things like reviving the feather-bellied @@ANIMAL@@ that are really only one-offs, or special but not-quite-Easter-Eggs issues.

You'd know better than I would, but I would expect that if you unlock the fields, the issues for National Leader, Capitol, and Religion aren't repeated. (of course, I know that if you don't unlock, the issue comes back time and time again, so mentioning that - specifically - may lead to more confusion from those who aren't fully understanding the "answer" and who think they can't have another shot at getting their XYZ-field unlocked.)

[Mousebumples]

Found another out of date section:

There's no active nation with the name [XYZ]. But the game won't let me create a new nation with that name. Why?
Believe it or not, NationStates has been around for a loooong time. Many MANY nations have both existed (and ceased to exist) before you tried to create your nation.

As such, many nation names are reserved. If you try to create a nation with that same name, you'll get the following message: RESERVED. That name was used by a former nation.

There has been talk about releasing some old nation names, but nothing has happened on that scene, as of yet. Further discussion on the topic can be found in this thread.

[Hobbesistan]

Found another out of date section:

There's no active nation with the name [XYZ]. But the game won't let me create a new nation with that name. Why?
Believe it or not, NationStates has been around for a loooong time. Many MANY nations have both existed (and ceased to exist) before you tried to create your nation.

As such, many nation names are reserved. If you try to create a nation with that same name, you'll get the following message: RESERVED. That name was used by a former nation.

There has been talk about releasing some old nation names, but nothing has happened on that scene, as of yet. Further discussion on the topic can be found in this thread.

gaaaaaah that out of dateness.

Fixed it to represent the current system:

There's no active nation with the name [XYZ]. But the game won't let me create a new nation with that name. Why?
Believe it or not, NationStates has been around for a loooong time. Many MANY nations have both existed (and ceased to exist) before you tried to create your nation.

As such, many nations have long lived and died before you tried to claim that one nation. So, how do you get it? You can see if it's available in the Boneyard, where it has several possibilities once a nation CTE's:

• If the nation had under 500 million at the time of Ceasing to Exist, i.e Tails, the nation goes on a 5 year timer; if the original nation owner does not revive it before then, it becomes open to being claimed by anyone.
• If the nation had over 500 million at the time of Ceasing to Exist, i.e Iraq, the nation is no longer able to be claimed by anyone except the nation founder.

[Hobbesistan]

So, opinions people:

I have been debating the name here; naming it the 'Technical FAQ' I can see as being kind of confusing, because it's not a FAQ on the Technical FAQ moreso than it's a general FAQ on the entire game, so maybe just naming it 'The NationStates (extended) FAQ' or something among those lines would fit better while keeping it in the Technical forum.

Opinions?

[Frisbeeteria]

FAQ: How This Shit Works.

Well, maybe not.

[Hobbesistan]

FAQ: How This Shit Works.

Well, maybe not.

I think "READ THIS DAMN THREAD BEFORE YOU POST" works too.

But that would probably still wouldn't be direct enough for some people.

edit: @Fris/@Admins - I know theres a addon for VBulletin that forces users to view a thread when they click on a specific forum for the first time that could be useful here to delude the 'people not reading the obvious' thing, but I don't recall if it exists for phpBB

[Charlotte Ryberg]

I have successfully tracked down the NationDates survey page. The link is http://www.nationstates.net/page=nationdates_survey

As NSindex says from my reasearch, the page doesn't render well on Antiquity any more.

[Anglo-French Republic]

Can you merge nations?i have two(The Anglo French Republic and Macedonia propper)neither of which are in the WA.Could I merge?if I can't here's a suggestion if your looking into it:
Combine the nations Dispatches(Factbooks,Acounts Metas ect)Economies but average the Political/Civil rights(example:10+10=20 divided by 2(the numbers added)=10 or a more complex average like 87+100=187=93.5(round it to 94)and the rule is if it's 4,3,2,1 round down,5,6,7,8,8,9 round up.)You will need to Enter both nations passwords to do it(so no one can absorb your nation)and for the challenge stats and levels and points will be added together(except political and civil rights)and budget would be averaged.

[Frisbeeteria]

Can you merge nations?

No.

Consider the space bar, please. Spaces between sentences and after certain types of punctuation are useful.

[Indian Empire]

Hey Hobbes, I see people asking a lot how to put images in factbooks, perhaps it would be more handy to put the steps in this FAQ?

[Frisbeeteria]

perhaps it would be more handy to put the steps in this FAQ?

No amount of additional clarity will cause the people who post those questions to actually read the FAQ.

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

perhaps it would be more handy to put the steps in this FAQ?

No amount of additional clarity will cause the people who post those questions to actually read the FAQ.

Seconded. There's also several places besides past threads, including Testlandia's formatting dispatch, that describe how to do that already. If people search for it, they will find it, and if they don't search, then they won't see it here.

[Hobbesistan]

perhaps it would be more handy to put the steps in this FAQ?

No amount of additional clarity will cause the people who post those questions to actually read the FAQ.

this

I can put all of the need-to-knows in the world (and we already have a lot of them at ~70,000 words or so) and if people don't choose to read the thread, they'll never find anything.

Unfortunately there is no cure for ignorance.

[The Blaatschapen]

No amount of additional clarity will cause the people who post those questions to actually read the FAQ.

this

I can put all of the need-to-knows in the world (and we already have a lot of them at ~70,000 words or so) and if people don't choose to read the thread, they'll never find anything.

Unfortunately there is no cure for ignorance.

On the other hand, we don't see those who do use the FAQ to see if their question is there. The non-readers, with their topic creating, and asking, are much more visible than the readers, who see their answer in the FAQ and leave happily and above all, quietly.

The only metric in that regard that we kind of have is the amount of views, which is currently around 4000. And it's a very blurry metric, since mods and you also have lots of views here.

tl;dr: We have a bit of sampling bias here.

[Hobbesistan]

this

I can put all of the need-to-knows in the world (and we already have a lot of them at ~70,000 words or so) and if people don't choose to read the thread, they'll never find anything.

Unfortunately there is no cure for ignorance.

On the other hand, we don't see those who do use the FAQ to see if their question is there. The non-readers, with their topic creating, and asking, are much more visible than the readers, who see their answer in the FAQ and leave happily and above all, quietly.

The only metric in that regard that we kind of have is the amount of views, which is currently around 4000. And it's a very blurry metric, since mods and you also have lots of views here.

tl;dr: We have a bit of sampling bias here.

This actually inspired me to put up a (albeit lighthearted) poll to get into how the people who actually read it are doing. I'll give it a few days to get a good sample size then change the poll, probably to how people got linked the FAQ (immediately clicked it upon visiting technical / got linked to it from a other thread / asked a question here and got 'If only there was a thread for this'd', ect.)

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

This actually inspired me to put up a (albeit lighthearted) poll to get into how the people who actually read it are doing. I'll give it a few days to get a good sample size then change the poll, probably to how people got linked the FAQ (immediately clicked it upon visiting technical / got linked to it from a other thread / asked a question here and got 'If only there was a thread for this'd', ect.)

Where's the option for collaborative volunteer?

[Kekel My Shekel]

Where's the option for collaborative volunteer?

Free food.

[Hobbesistan]

Moar polling, for great justice!

Results from previous poll - http://wopr.airforce/polldodging.png

[Jeoate]

thanks this really helped