F&NI General Help Thread

[Maltropia]

How do you give a link to an italic text? I tried, but it only worked in the preview and looked weird in the actual factbook (see my Imperial Council factbook).

It looks like the problem is the apostrophe in the URL. It's one of those characters that is unusual to have in a link and can cause some issues; you'll notice that it often gets converted to %27. If you change the URL to be /Domino%27s_Pizza instead, it should work fine.

[A m e n r i a]

How do you give a link to an italic text? I tried, but it only worked in the preview and looked weird in the actual factbook (see my Imperial Council factbook).

It looks like the problem is the apostrophe in the URL. It's one of those characters that is unusual to have in a link and can cause some issues; you'll notice that it often gets converted to %27. If you change the URL to be /Domino%27s_Pizza instead, it should work fine.

Will try. Thanks.

[Libereco kaj Paco]

I dont know where to ask this but can someone help with dimensions of my seastead? Infos in spoiler.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasteading

I want LkP to have 100k people (size between smalltown and city). I looked at sizes of different neighborhoods and think that 10 km2 is a good size (dense but not crowded).

Timeline is nonspecific in 2010s-2020s with same technologies just more advanced. There is no technical or material limit to the size of the seastead and its location is nonspecific in northern hemisphere. Trade is stable and possible through 1 airport and many harbors (for some materials, medicines, foods, supplies). LkP is 70% self sufficient and chooses to be dependent on 30% trade instead of produce these products themselves.

• Most people will live in apartments with 20-30 m2 per person but they can also build own houses
• On average individual apartments have 1-4 people (generally 1-3 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom), apartment buildings in total have 20-40 people
• It takes 2-3 hours to walk from one end of LkP to the other
• Most people walk or cycle, cars are uncommon but there are buses
• There are 2 research universities each with 5k students and faculty (people come internationally to LkP to research), and smaller specialized universities and trade schools
• There are 2 main hospitals and smaller local clinics
• There are approx 5 large factories for international trade and smaller factories for domestic trade. They are automated with few employees but have large surface areas. The factories are in a different region/zone than the houses.
• There are 7 main neighborhoods/districts but also smaller neighborhoods/communities/streets with 200-500 people
• For each neighborhood there is a small shopping street with grocery stores, clothes stores, furniture/hardware stores, pharmacies, electronics stores, etc.
• In the center of LkP there are hotels, mall, tourist attractions. The center can accommodate 5k tourists but residents dont generally live there.
• There are farms and greenhouses that cover 70% of domestic food consumption (most people are vegetarian or vegan) Other 30% are imported "luxury" products
• There are many parks and green spaces (although LkP is a seastead, soil was added so that plants can grow)
• LkP relies on renewable energy from solar and water

Because it is a seastead (constructed platform in the sea) I dont want it to be large and I want the feeling of neighborhoods/districts within a city (you can do everything in your neighborhood but can also go outside and meet other people).

[A m e n r i a]

I've seen a certain player put links in pics. He's not active anymore though, so I can't ask him. How can I do this?

[Kylarnatia]

I've seen a certain player put links in pics. He's not active anymore though, so I can't ask him. How can I do this?

Code: Select all

[url=insert link here][img]image link here[/img][/url]

[A m e n r i a]

Wow, thanks

[Minoa]

If it is okay, may I ask which real-world country has less than 8 public holiday days? This is related to a NS factbook article that I am writing.

I ask this, because there are lots of articles that claim that a certain country has less than 8 holidays, when in reality some of them are multi-day holidays that result in them having more public holiday days than the UK, or the articles in question ignores regional holidays (as is the case with Germany and Spain).

I really hate those clickbait articles.

[Great Nortend]

Mexico, it seems, with 7. 8 on years when a new president is sworn in.

https://www.mercer.com/newsroom/public- ... ments.html

[Skualverga]

If I want to make a new topic in the forum about talkin about people's different religions in nation states which forum would I use for that.

[Yohannes]

If I want to make a new topic in the forum about talkin about people's different religions in nation states which forum would I use for that.

Hi Skualverga!

This one (that is, Factbooks and National Information). Also, required reading: [ click me ]

Have a good one and see you round the National and International Roleplaying forums!

[Kylarnatia]

If I want to make a new topic in the forum about talkin about people's different religions in nation states which forum would I use for that.

Hi Skualverga!

This one (that is, Factbooks and National Information). Also, required reading: [ click me ]

Have a good one and see you round the National and International Roleplaying forums!

To add to this, it's also worth keeping in mind what threads are already out there in regards to the topic. In this case, I came across this thread not too long ago on the topic of religion in F&NI.

[United States of Natan]

So, I've got 131 States in my country. That's obviously a lot of states, but I'm trying to develop each state a little more, in terms of facts about them, like their state governments, their cultures, their values, and their political views. I'd like some help doing that from the NS community! If you get some ideas for the state, just post here!

Some quick general facts about the USN:
-the most populated (and most densely populated) areas are the far eastern region, the eastern area of the larger mainland, and the southwestern area. Many of the islands are as well. Those are generally the most liberal regions of the country.
-The least populous areas include the northwest, Central, and South-Central areas of the country, which are also generally the most conservative.
-The State of Sholoma contains the largest city in the nation, Sholoma City.
-More will be added if necessary

Here's a map of the nation:

https://imgur.com/I7H7EyR

here's each state's name and abbreviation (warning, long list):

1. Sholoma (SH)
2. Rorikshire (RS)
3. Georgeland (GL)
4. Knope (KP)
5. Yalgros (YG)
6. Freeland (FL)
7. Thalos (TL)
8. Rutgand (RG)
9. Delfort (DF)
10. Wyatten (WY)
11. Bayland (BL)
12. Coastland (CL)
13. Goreland (GD)
14. Warton (WT)
15. Grossland (GR)
16. Willsylvania (WA)
17. Hilland (HL)
18. Clinton (CL)
19. Rodham (RH)
20. Meagle (MG)
21. North Hatton (NH)
22. South Hatton (SH)
23. Capeland (CL)
24. New Dalton (ND)
25. New Connecticut (NC)
26. Hilton (HT)
27. Burdis (BS)
28. Natan (NA)
29. New Hamden (NM)
30. Gallston (GN)
31. Malton (MN)
32. Harvis (HS)
33. Creek Island (CI)
34. Dervas (DS)
35. West Dervas (WD)
36. Garton (GT)
37. New Trumbull (NT)
38. Natan Straits (NS)
39. Farreach (FR)
40. Malloy (MY)
41. Miston (MT)
42. Techton (TN)
43. Eastown (ET)
44. Bulbaland (BL)
45. Mardon (MR)
46. North Louton (NL)
47. South Louton (SL)
48. Nicola (NI)
49. Chesapeake (CP)
50. Barton (BT)
51. Paxton (PX)
52. New Paxton (NP)
53. Fallas (FS)
54. Youngel (YL)
55. Roma (RA)
56. Dorpin (DP)
57. Setton (ST)
58. Hadron (HD)
59. Zallon (ZL)
60. New Yisrael (NY)
61. South Keaton (SK)
62. North Keaton (NK)
63. West Keaton (WK)
64. Janeton (JT)
65. North Janeton (NJ)
66. Natan Bay (NB)
67. Obama (OB)
68. Biden (BD)
69. Cardin (CD)
70. Central Cardin (CC)
71. Seaport (SP)
72. Eastport (EP)
73. West Bay (WB)
74. Eastland (EL)
75. New Rhodes (NR)
76. Shurland (SA)
77. Centraland (CL)
78. Eastmarch (EM)
79. Westmarch (WM)
80. Septimus (SM)
81. Ulata Cove (UC)
82. Swanson (SW)
83. Rutis (RT)
84. New Udala (NU)
85. Longton (LT)
86. Seward (SE)
87. South Point (SN)
88. Ingard (IG)
89. Judea (JA)
90. Calson (CL)
91. Jewport (JP)
92. Ornega (OA)
93. Jespen (JE)
94. Arkosa (AK)
95. Kentona (KE)
96. Iogia (IO)
97. Camotta (CT)
98. Hashoah (HO)
99. Domesta (DO)
100. Westbrook (WK)
101. Faustia (FA)
102. Morehallow (MH)
103. Quetas (QS)
104. Adama (AM)
105. Riverland (RV)
106. Seathome (SO)
107. Virgalin (VN)
108. North Gillard (NG)
109. South Gillard (SG)
110. Xeltaw (XW)
111. Hopeli (HI)
112. Pawton (PA)
113. Brookton (BT)
114. Haverford (HA)
115. Joston (JO)
116. Greendale (GD)
117. Alston (AL)
118. Dorchester (DH)
119. Harchester (HC)
120. Tippon (TI)
121. Pewsach (PH)
122. Korsach (KH)
123. Marshton (MT)
124. Sevetta (SV)
125. Wardigan (WR)
126. Bortusa (BU)
127. Yuskan (YK)
128. Jewcrest (JC)
129. Volkhaven (VH)
130. Instola (IL)
131. Marlough (ML)

[Yohannes]

Hi United States of Natan,

I was experiencing the same thing as you are back then. We were returning to the NationStates website, but I ended up having to build many in-character things in our nation from ground up (while still leaving a lot things intact for other players that we used to share storylines with). In the end I experimented with a few things and decided to just write what I had in my mind (while also reading up real life historical/contemporary political systems from some class/lecture books from my uni staff library)

I started with a nation maintenance style kind of thread that kinda evolved to become a political system thread which detailed what my nation is like inside the beltway. I also did not restrict myself. I drew inspiration from many things (from fantasy books to our childhood favourite video game), but I molded them into the core essence/building block of my fictional nation's political (and economic) system to keep the realism flavour of my nation intact (if realism is not your style, you can switch the 'realism' bit to anything; the point is to keep your nation's core essence/building block intact)

I did not start out with Wikia style factbook. From my experience (that said, of course this will not be the case for many other NationStates worldbuilders) Wiki style factbook was a wee bit unhelpful; it ruined my imagination and it was boring to write (and read). Maybe back in 2012-2013 (or 2011? Going by memory) when Violet first made the whole in-game dispatch wikia style factbook they were fun to write and read - but nowadays they are uninspiring to make (for me), and I couldn't see them helping me worldbuild my nation to storytelling success. Once you've written what's happening in your nation (your political system, your nation's characters interacting with the "world" in your storyline, culture, economy, anything really), you'll eventually start to write (and think) about your nation's overall situation (the entire political system and culture or other things)

The point was for me to do it bit by bit (gradually) as I wrote about things in my nation. If you stick to writing about political things (about your nation or what's happening in your nation) no matter how small bit by bit, eventually you'll achieved your end goal: coming up with the entire political system and overall culture of your nation (and all your states) from the ground up (and with record of in-character writing by then, which can be helpful for future applications to new RP regions/for others to judge your worldbuilding/creative writing ability). This was however my experience on this website (NationStates) and this may well not work as well for you (for instance, we don't have the same real life education/work/social background) but hope this helps!

P.S. Stick to your fictional nation's in-character core essence and don't worry about what other people think about your writing ability (we all have to start somewhere). Stick to in-character goal and try to avoid out-of-character things as much as you can do and you should be fine!

[Ekamijan]

There are many states in your nation, you can reduce its size by integrating very small states. I don't have an idea about facts and cultures because that is your own

[United States of Natan]

Hi United States of Natan,

I was experiencing the same thing as you are back then. We were returning to the NationStates website, but I ended up having to build many in-character things in our nation from ground up (while still leaving a lot things intact for other players that we used to share storylines with). In the end I experimented with a few things and decided to just write what I had in my mind (while also reading up real life historical/contemporary political systems from some class/lecture books from my uni staff library)

I started with a nation maintenance style kind of thread that kinda evolved to become a political system thread which detailed what my nation is like inside the beltway. I also did not restrict myself. I drew inspiration from many things (from fantasy books to our childhood favourite video game), but I molded them into the core essence/building block of my fictional nation's political (and economic) system to keep the realism flavour of my nation intact (if realism is not your style, you can switch the 'realism' bit to anything; the point is to keep your nation's core essence/building block intact)

I did not start out with Wikia style factbook. From my experience (that said, of course this will not be the case for many other NationStates worldbuilders) Wiki style factbook was a wee bit unhelpful; it ruined my imagination and it was boring to write (and read). Maybe back in 2012-2013 (or 2011? Going by memory) when Violet first made the whole in-game dispatch wikia style factbook they were fun to write and read - but nowadays they are uninspiring to make (for me), and I couldn't see them helping me worldbuild my nation to storytelling success. Once you've written what's happening in your nation (your political system, your nation's characters interacting with the "world" in your storyline, culture, economy, anything really), you'll eventually start to write (and think) about your nation's overall situation (the entire political system and culture or other things)

The point was for me to do it bit by bit (gradually) as I wrote about things in my nation. If you stick to writing about political things (about your nation or what's happening in your nation) no matter how small bit by bit, eventually you'll achieved your end goal: coming up with the entire political system and overall culture of your nation (and all your states) from the ground up (and with record of in-character writing by then, which can be helpful for future applications to new RP regions/for others to judge your worldbuilding/creative writing ability). This was however my experience on this website (NationStates) and this may well not work as well for you (for instance, we don't have the same real life education/work/social background) but hope this helps!

P.S. Stick to your fictional nation's in-character core essence and don't worry about what other people think about your writing ability (we all have to start somewhere). Stick to in-character goal and try to avoid out-of-character things as much as you can do and you should be fine!

Dude, you seem to have completely misinterpreted my goal here. For starters, I'm not doing this because of my "writing ability". I'm doing it because I thought it would be fun to make this a community project; to have others suggest ideas for my states.

As for the wiki-style factbook, its irrelevant to this; although it certainly helps me bring my nation to life and boosts my creative abilities. Trust me, I've been on this site for years, I'm more than capable of worldbuilding.

Point is, I'm not looking for creative assistance. I'm just looking for people to suggest their ideas, because I thought it would be fun.

There are many states in your nation, you can reduce its size by integrating very small states. I don't have an idea about facts and cultures because that is your own

Not looking to reduce the size. I'm just looking for suggestions for facts and culture because I thought it would be fun.

[Foxfound]

I might try to come up with some ideas if I have time.

[Orostan]

Having Russia-tier ethnic diversity might make sense, for that number of states.

[Yohannes]

Dude, you seem to have completely misinterpreted my goal here. For starters, I'm not doing this because of my "writing ability". I'm doing it because I thought it would be fun to make this a community project; to have others suggest ideas for my states.

As for the wiki-style factbook, its irrelevant to this; although it certainly helps me bring my nation to life and boosts my creative abilities. Trust me, I've been on this site for years, I'm more than capable of worldbuilding.

Point is, I'm not looking for creative assistance. I'm just looking for people to suggest their ideas, because I thought it would be fun.

Hi United States of Natan,

Oh sorry! I'll try to help you out with creative ideas in future then if you're up for it - would it be okay if I TG you in future with some RP ideas I have in mind? I think it'd be fun!

And yes, I know you've been on NationStates for years! I think my nation did interact with yours back in 2012 or 2013 (going by memory) through my old version of VMK storefront. Anyway, if you wanna chat more about this, again, I'd be interested to talk by TG about an interesting idea (for your nation) that I have in mind

Not looking to reduce the size. I'm just looking for suggestions for facts and culture because I thought it would be fun.

German culture?

I've been trying to read your factbook to find how large is your RP population (from looking at no. of your fictional states) but I couldn't find any. Are you RPing with real life scale population or NationStates (account) population? Because I agree with the above poster (Orostan), your nation should def be a Russia style ethnic diversity (and geography) nation with that many states

Once again, my apologies for my prev. post - I hope that I've not offended you!

[United States of Natan]

Dude, you seem to have completely misinterpreted my goal here. For starters, I'm not doing this because of my "writing ability". I'm doing it because I thought it would be fun to make this a community project; to have others suggest ideas for my states.

As for the wiki-style factbook, its irrelevant to this; although it certainly helps me bring my nation to life and boosts my creative abilities. Trust me, I've been on this site for years, I'm more than capable of worldbuilding.

Point is, I'm not looking for creative assistance. I'm just looking for people to suggest their ideas, because I thought it would be fun.

Hi United States of Natan,

Oh sorry! I'll try to help you out with creative ideas in future then if you're up for it - would it be okay if I TG you in future with some RP ideas I have in mind? I think it'd be fun!

And yes, I know you've been on NationStates for years! I think my nation did interact with yours back in 2012 or 2013 (going by memory) through my old version of VMK storefront. Anyway, if you wanna chat more about this, again, I'd be interested to talk by TG about an interesting idea (for your nation) that I have in mind

Not looking to reduce the size. I'm just looking for suggestions for facts and culture because I thought it would be fun.

German culture?

I've been trying to read your factbook to find how large is your RP population (from looking at no. of your fictional states) but I couldn't find any. Are you RPing with real life scale population or NationStates (account) population? Because I agree with the above poster (Orostan), your nation should def be a Russia style ethnic diversity (and geography) nation with that many states

Once again, my apologies for my prev. post - I hope that I've not offended you!

Yes, you can TG me. And yes, my nation is diverse, although I'm trying to avoid using real-life ethnicities and nationalities for the most part, if I can.

[Palins]

I don't think I have much to add, but looking at the map, maybe some things about seafood and fishing should be involved. There can be political issues with that, cultural issues, etc., and water tansportation/ferries could also be a thing in some places.

[A m e n r i a]

My advice would be simple: look up the civilization you base your nation on. There's nothing wrong with borrowing elements from their real life counterparts. Heck, most of the nations here are probably an alternate version of a real life nation.

[United States of Natan]

I don't think I have much to add, but looking at the map, maybe some things about seafood and fishing should be involved. There can be political issues with that, cultural issues, etc., and water tansportation/ferries could also be a thing in some places.

My advice would be simple: look up the civilization you base your nation on. There's nothing wrong with borrowing elements from their real life counterparts. Heck, most of the nations here are probably an alternate version of a real life nation.

Wow, people really seem to be misunderstanding what I'm asking for here. I'm not looking for advice. I'm more than capable of coming up with my own ideas. The goal of this thread is to have a fun, community project, not to get advice that I already know. If people aren't understanding the point of this thread, I may just close it instead.

[A m e n r i a]

Oh..sorry.

[Foxfound]

I don't think I have much to add, but looking at the map, maybe some things about seafood and fishing should be involved. There can be political issues with that, cultural issues, etc., and water tansportation/ferries could also be a thing in some places.

My advice would be simple: look up the civilization you base your nation on. There's nothing wrong with borrowing elements from their real life counterparts. Heck, most of the nations here are probably an alternate version of a real life nation.

Wow, people really seem to be misunderstanding what I'm asking for here. I'm not looking for advice. I'm more than capable of coming up with my own ideas. The goal of this thread is to have a fun, community project, not to get advice that I already know. If people aren't understanding the point of this thread, I may just close it instead.

No no don't. I might be able to come up with some interesting things.

[Radiatia]

I don't think I have much to add, but looking at the map, maybe some things about seafood and fishing should be involved. There can be political issues with that, cultural issues, etc., and water tansportation/ferries could also be a thing in some places.

My advice would be simple: look up the civilization you base your nation on. There's nothing wrong with borrowing elements from their real life counterparts. Heck, most of the nations here are probably an alternate version of a real life nation.

Wow, people really seem to be misunderstanding what I'm asking for here. I'm not looking for advice. I'm more than capable of coming up with my own ideas. The goal of this thread is to have a fun, community project, not to get advice that I already know. If people aren't understanding the point of this thread, I may just close it instead.

I'll be honest, I was going to come on here and give you some pointers and suggestions but having seen the quite rude and dismissive way that you respond to other people who genuinely try to help you, I won't be bothering.

Good luck, you're on your own.