Un-Official Guide to Nationstates Terms

[Solm]

The Unofficial Guide To Role-Playing Abbreviations

Roleplay*-[roll’-play]-v To act out a story, or play a role, on the NationSates forum. EX: If you want to start a war, you will not just say, “We are going to war, who will join me?” Instead, you could play the role of your leader, telling your nation that they are going to war. This makes the thread more interesting, and more people will be inclined to post there. A Roleplay n A story told through roleplaying.(-ing, roleplaying,-ed, roleplayed, RP, RPed, RPing)

Tech Level*-[tehk leh-vul]-n The level of technology that a nation’s military operates

Types of Tech Levels:
PT - PT is Past Technology, it can be anything from muskets to bow an arrows and swords. PT also includes machinery used as recently as the Korean War, WW2, or The Vietnam War.
MT - MT is Modern Technology, It is the current technology of earth, modern planes and weapons.
PMT - PMT is almost modern technology, technology that isn't out yet, but is in development. Technology in the 2030s, like New and improved missiles and airplanes.
FT - FT is Future Technology, it can be anything from space technology to plasma rays, it is anything in the future, usually involves space tech.
FTL = Faster Than Light, e.g Warp Speed
STL = Slower Than Light, e.g No warp speed, fast space transportation, but nothing moving faster than light
FTLi = Faster Than Light Inhibitor, (see here for more details)

Sticky* -(NationStates sticky)-[stih-kee]-n Useful threads that appear on each page of a certain forum, usually helpful with roleplaying certain things, such as wars or terrorism. They are placed there by the Moderators. (See Moderators) To Sticky-v The act of stickying a thread.

OPEN* -[oh-pehn]-adj. The tag on the title of a thread indicating that all NationStates members are welcome to participate.(See Tag)

CLOSED - Closed*-[klohsd]-adj. The tag on the title of a thread indicating that only invited members are allowed to post in-character posts inside.(See Tag 1.)

SEMI-OPEN/SEMI-CLOSED - SEMI-OPEN can vary, but usually means that you have to TG the starter to post or RP in the thread

ATTN - ATTN means Attention, it usually has a nations name directly after it, it means that the nation after it should read and it is about them.

Interest - Usually a thread where the OP (Opening Poster) asks the Nationstates players if they are interested in the specific Roleplay, and if there is enough interest to actually start the Roleplay. This is an Out-Of-Character thread and usually leads to an In-Character thread.

Storefront* - [stohr-frunt]-n An In-Character thread set up by a NationStates user, in which varying items are sold to other nations. EX: A nation could set up a storefront selling military items, and another could set up one selling torture devices.

Earth*-(NationStates)-[urth]- n 1. The planet in which all nations and people standardly function on in NationStates and in the Real World. 2. A series of projects used by NationStates members to claim certain areas of the Real World in NS. Earths include Earth II, Earth IV, Earth V, Earth VI, Earth X, and Earth DA.

Tag* -[tag]-interj. 1. An exclaimation used by a member expressing that he/she is interested in the thread, and will post later. 2.-n Added on letters to a post or thread title that expresses the way it should be interpreted. EX: A post with the Out-Of Character tag (OOC) at the beginning should not be read as a roleplay. (See roleplay) However, a post that has the In-Character tag, or no tag at all, should be read as a roleplay. EX2: A thread title with the “Open” tag indicates that the entire thread is open. But a thread title with “Closed” added on indicates the entire thread is closed.
[Mod Note] As a side note, with the move to the NS forums, you do not have to tag something to be able to subscribe to it. See: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8209

IC - ABBR: In-Character*-[ihn kayr-ahk-tur]-adj. Writing as a character, e.g. the president. In-character is how you roleplay. (See Roleplay)

OOC - ABBR: Out-Of-Character-[owt ov kayr-ahk-tur]-adj. A post as yourself, not as a character. Use out-of-character when asking a question while in an IC thread.

SIC - ABBR: Secret-In-Character [see-kret-ihn-kayr-ahk-tur] Writing as a character, to describe an event which the other members of the Roleplay can know OOCly but cannot use ICly, e.g two General's talking about an upcoming ambush.

Bump*-[bump]-interj. ABBR: Bring Up My Post; An expression used to bring up a thread to the top of the first page in the forums.

IGNORE Cannon* -[ihg-nohr can-nun]-n A weapon used against godmoders when they will not stop godmoding. IGNORE Cannons are invincible, never run out of ammunition or power, and cannot be used by godmoders.

Spam* -(NationStates spam)-[spam]-n Any degree of useless posts that are either in the wrong place or do not hold any real meaning. To Spam-v The act of spamming.(-er, spammer[n])

Flaming-[flaym-ing] -v To criticize one's ideas, values, and roleplay skills (See Roleplay), as well as out-of-character details (See Out-Of-Character(-er, flamer[n])

Godmod* - To, in any way, say what happens to your enemy’s forces. EX: “Your troops are dead, because I shot them with superguns.” It’s up to the opposition to determine their losses. 2. To avoid death. EX: “All of my troops have personal shields so none of them can get hurt.”(-er, godmoder[n.],-ing, godmoding[adj.,v.])

ORBAT - ABBR: ORder of BATtle; usually an extensive list of all troops/divisions/equipment that will or may be used in an upcoming battle. Used to show each side just how many troops are there to avoid confusion.

DEFCON - ABBR: DEFensive readiness CONdition; usually a scale from 5 to 1 to show if a nation is at war or peace and the corresponding level, 5 being peace, 4 being more intelligence, but no ongoing war, 3 being enhanced security, 2 being at war (but not full-out_, and 1 being a full-out war.

Czar -[zahr]-n A slavic emperor or king; autocrat. See Empire Czarina-n The feminine form of czar.

Junta -n A small group of military officers ruling after a seize of power.

Parliament -[pahr-lah-mehnt]-n A national representative body having supreme legislative powers within the state.

OP - ABBR: Opening Poster; The user who creates the thread, therefore called the Opening Poster, this person is the judge of everything in the thread and owns the thread (under the moderators).

Newb* -[newb]-n A NationStates player that is new to the game, and wishes to learn how to roleplay. (See Roleplay)

N00b* -[newb]-n A NationStates player who does not understand the concept of godmoding, and frequently does it. Usually perpetuated as an insult.(-ish, n00bish[adj.]) Orig.-Eng. New.

N00bspeak* -sometimes 1337-n The language that experienced members use to mock n00bs, and also to make a point to the n00b. EX: “1 fir3l> L00000000000000000))0000 n00ckz0rz a7 j00 an1) j00 dr3 d3ad!!!!!!1111!!!!one.”

Moderator;* informal Mod*- [Mahd]-n Members of NationStates who control the forums and the game; they watch over the forum, to look for spammers (see Spam) and threads that are full of spam. They have the ability to edit threads and posts made by other users, delete threads and posts, move threads to other forums, ban users, and other things.(-ing, modding[v.])


Government Types And Ideology Beliefs
Socialism-[soh-shall-ihs-um]-n Any of the various systems of organization in which the producing and distributing of goods is controled by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.(-ist, socialist[n, adj.])
Fascism-[Fash-ihz-um]-n The system of government under the extreme authority of a dictator, and supression under terror and censorship, typically under the policy of hostile racism.(-ist, fascist)
Communism -[Calm-you-nihs-um]-n The economic system under the theory of common advantage to all citizens.(-ist, communist[adj.])
Capitalism** -[Ca-pih-tall-ihs-um]-n an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations; In more blunt terms: an economic system, where citizens are free to create, own, and manage businesses freely not having competition and government influence from the government and having a free market (-ist, capitalist[adj.])
Theocracy-n A government ruled by, or subject to, religious authority.
Republic-[ree-puhb-lick]-n A political order that is not under the authority of a monarch of any kind, usually under the leadership of a president.(-ic, republican[n])
Direct Democracy -[deh-mohk-rah-see]-n Government by the people, directly e.g. through voting(-ic, democratic[adj.], -at, democrat)
Republic or Indirect Democracy - [ree-pub-lik]-n A Government by the people, indirectly e.g through voting for officials (elected officials) who will then vote for laws, propose them, and enforce them. They will govern the nation.
Federation -[fehd-ehr-ay-shun]-n A joint league or nation of different states joined together.(-al, federal[adj.], -ate, federate[v.])
Empire -[ehm-py-ehr]-n A politcal unit comprising of extensive territory or nations, ruled by a supreme authority.(Emperor, Empress[Ruler of an empire], Imperial[adj.],-ist, imperialist[n.], -ism, imperialism)
Monarchy - [mon-ark-ee] a form of government in which one individual is the head of state for life or until abdication, and may or may not pass down said power to his/her heirs. Usually involves a king or a queen. Similar to an Emperor.
Anarchy* -[an-ark-ee]-n The national order of no centralized government at all.(ist, anarchist) Origin: Greek. AN=none, ARCH=leadership.
Protectorate** - [pro-tek-to-rat]A relationship of protection and partial control assumed by a superior power over a dependent country or region.







Key
NOTE: Many of the Definitions were taken from Present Day Comatica's "The Complete Dictionary of Nationstates Terms"
* - Parts were provided by The American Heritage® Dictionay of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
** - Parts were provided by dictionary.reference.com
Red Color - Definitions in Red Are Tech Levels
Blue Color - Definitions in Blue Are Things That A Thread Can Be
Orange Color - Definitions in Orange Are Things That You Can Post
Green Color - Definitions in Green Are What People or Groups can be in A Roleplay
Peach Color - Definitions in Peach Are Thing either dealing with new players, mods, or types of players.

[Solm]

updates added

[Layarteb]

PMT = Post Modern Tech

From what I understand, it's technology that's already in development or close to being in development but won't be ready for a decade or more. It could go as far out as 2050ish or wherever FT begins.

[Solm]

PMT = Post Modern Tech

From what I understand, it's technology that's already in development or close to being in development but won't be ready for a decade or more. It could go as far out as 2050ish or wherever FT begins.

Thank You,

[Layarteb]

You should just post this all in Euro's OOC thread for the main II sticky.

[Solm]

You should just post this all in Euro's OOC thread for the main II sticky.

What?

[Layarteb]

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12508

[Solm]

After receiving information from Euroslavia, about a jackpot of definitions and abbreviations in the old Jolt Forum, we immediately ran to the scene of the crime to find the extensive list, after the Unjoltifiying Team was done cleaning the documents, we securely ran them over here and added them to glorious list. This list is now completely redone and much, much more extensive.

[Ozymos]

Nice. Definetly needs to be stickied.

[Euroslavia]

After receiving information from Euroslavia, about a jackpot of definitions and abbreviations in the old Jolt Forum, we immediately ran to the scene of the crime to find the extensive list, after the Unjoltifiying Team was done cleaning the documents, we securely ran them over here and added them to glorious list. This list is now completely redone and much, much more extensive.

Very awesome list. The only thing that I'd suggest is to remove the pink color in place of something darker, because it can be a pain to see for some people. Other than that, love it. I'm going to temporarily sticky it to make it's existence known, then toss it into the Information Desk.

[Morningstar Coalition]

Folks, I'd like to toss out a voice of dissent about the definition of Godmod as presented here.

Please see my arguments here.
The short version is that I don't believe that definition number two is at all accurate.

2. To roleplay troop numbers, or any force for that matter, that are unrealistic. EX: A new nation with a population of 7 million says that he/she has “8 million troops and 10,000 fighter jets, with 100,000 nuclear weapons.” That is unrealistic.

Yes, it is unrealistic. Yes, it is unfair. No, it is not a God Mode action.
As I state in my thread On the Nature of Godmode, the above is a violation of an often held convention or tradition that ones In Character forces are limited in some fashion by one's NationStates profile population number. This tradition is not strictly defined, and it is not a rule. Furthermore, I have seen a number of instances where this tradition was either poorly defined, or simply not used at all by a group of players.

I quote the following from the Moderator's One Stop Rules Shop:

Godmoding, Godmodding, and Wanking: The general idea behind godmoding, as its name makes evident, is making yourself or your nation godlike in power and unable to die. It is commonly used by first-time roleplayers, and is frequently accompanied by Smilie Spam (see below). Under most circumstances, godmoddery is not a moderation offense unless it turns to spam. At that point, godmode n00b wars will often be locked or moved to the spam forum. Note that flaming in response to n00bish behavior is still forbidden. For more information, see this thread.

Nowhere in the rules is Godmod (Godmode, God-Mode) explicitly defined. I posit to you all here that the only rules are those handed down by Max Barry, site Administrators [violet] and SalusaSecondus, and the site and forum Moderators. Anything else which is commonly accepted by the players is tradition, convention, and good/bad form.

Just to reiterate my position here. I take umbrage at the misconceptions which have led to rampant claims of Godmod for:
1. Using excessive In Character military forces, far beyond what tradition states your NS-pop allows.
2. Mixing MT and FT. This is not even a clear-cut tradition, unless it is used to gain an unfair advantage in a particular thread.

Neither of these should be considered as part of the definition of Godmod (Godmode, God-Mode) behavior.

[Solm]

After receiving information from Euroslavia, about a jackpot of definitions and abbreviations in the old Jolt Forum, we immediately ran to the scene of the crime to find the extensive list, after the Unjoltifiying Team was done cleaning the documents, we securely ran them over here and added them to glorious list. This list is now completely redone and much, much more extensive.

Very awesome list. The only thing that I'd suggest is to remove the pink color in place of something darker, because it can be a pain to see for some people. Other than that, love it. I'm going to temporarily sticky it to make it's existence known, then toss it into the Information Desk.

Thank You, yes, I noticed that too, I have now switched it to a more "peach" color, to make it much easier to read. And Thank You, I think a temporarily sticky is perfect and I would love to see it tossed into the mix of the International Incidents Information Desk.

[Solm]

url=http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=25431]here[/url].
The short version is that I don't believe that definition number two is at all accurate.

2. To roleplay troop numbers, or any force for that matter, that are unrealistic. EX: A new nation with a population of 7 million says that he/she has “8 million troops and 10,000 fighter jets, with 100,000 nuclear weapons.” That is unrealistic.

Yes, it is unrealistic. Yes, it is unfair. No, it is not a God Mode action.

snip

As you argued out, that the second definition for godmod is inaccurate, and I agree. Knowing that many nations RP happily and with great style. They can create great RPs not using accurate population markers that correspond with their NS Populations. But, others will get extremely annoyed by the fact that nations do so. So therefore, I will remove that definition. Because although it is an annoyance to some players and a great thing for others, it is not, as you put it so neatly, godmodding.

Thank You For Bringing This To My Attention!

[Ozymos]

Key
NOTE: Many of the Definitions were taken from Present Day Comatica's "The Complete Dictionary of Nationstates Terms"
* - Parts were provided by The American Heritage® Dictionay of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Red Color - Definitions in Red Our Tech Levels
Blue Color - Definitions in Blue Our Things That A Thread Can Be
Orange Color - Definitions in Orange Our Things That You Can Post
Green Color - Definitions in Green Our What People or Groups can be in A Roleplay
Peach Color - Definitions in Peach Our Thing either dealing with new players or mods.

By the way, "Our" should be "Are"

And remember that PT could potentially include technology last used in the Korean War, WW2 or WW1

[Solm]

Key
NOTE: Many of the Definitions were taken from Present Day Comatica's "The Complete Dictionary of Nationstates Terms"
* - Parts were provided by The American Heritage® Dictionay of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Red Color - Definitions in Red Our Tech Levels
Blue Color - Definitions in Blue Our Things That A Thread Can Be
Orange Color - Definitions in Orange Our Things That You Can Post
Green Color - Definitions in Green Our What People or Groups can be in A Roleplay
Peach Color - Definitions in Peach Our Thing either dealing with new players or mods.

By the way, "Our" should be "Are"

And remember that PT could potentially include technology last used in the Korean War, WW2 or WW1

Have changed the Our to Are, and have extended the PT Definition to include what you said. Thank You!

[Meldaria]

Wrong Forum.... :/

[Euroslavia]

Wrong Forum.... :/

It's in the right forum.


Also, another reason why I had stickied it is for the awesome advice and critique that the players within II offer. That almost always works out any kinks in helpful threads.

[Meldaria]

Wrong Forum.... :/

It's in the right forum.


Also, another reason why I had stickied it is for the awesome advice and critique that the players within II offer. That almost always works out any kinks in helpful threads.

How is this an international incident?

[Meldaria]

Wrong Forum.... :/

It's in the right forum.


Also, another reason why I had stickied it is for the awesome advice and critique that the players within II offer. That almost always works out any kinks in helpful threads.

Also this isn't in-character the staging of a war or a diplomatic event... :/

[Euroslavia]

Wrong Forum.... :/

It's in the right forum.


Also, another reason why I had stickied it is for the awesome advice and critique that the players within II offer. That almost always works out any kinks in helpful threads.

How is this an international incident?

It doesn't have to be an 'international incident'. It's a help thread for the forum. It identifies a lot of terms used here.

Edit: Note how all of the stickies at the top of this specific forum are not international incidents, but helpful threads so that you might understand what goes on here.

[Meldaria]

Wrong Forum.... :/

It's in the right forum.


Also, another reason why I had stickied it is for the awesome advice and critique that the players within II offer. That almost always works out any kinks in helpful threads.

How is this an international incident?

It doesn't have to be an 'international incident'. It's a help thread for the forum. It identifies a lot of terms used here.

Edit: Note how all of the stickies at the top of this specific forum are not international incidents, but helpful threads so that you might understand what goes on here.

Perhaps a new forum labeled, "Stickies" and all of these being moved to it would make it much simpler...

[Euroslavia]

Wrong Forum.... :/

It's in the right forum.


Also, another reason why I had stickied it is for the awesome advice and critique that the players within II offer. That almost always works out any kinks in helpful threads.

How is this an international incident?

It doesn't have to be an 'international incident'. It's a help thread for the forum. It identifies a lot of terms used here.

Edit: Note how all of the stickies at the top of this specific forum are not international incidents, but helpful threads so that you might understand what goes on here.

Perhaps a new forum labeled, "Stickies" and all of these being moved to it would make it much simpler...

That defeats the purpose of having helpful threads at the top of each forum. Having one forum dedicated to it would not only be overwhelming, as to what information you'd find helpful for specific forums, it'd just be very inefficient. When newer players join nationstates and browse each forum, they can see specific stickies dedicated to help that person understand that specific forum rather than a massive clump of helpful threads in one forum and not associated with their respective forums.

[Morningstar Coalition]

Perhaps a new forum labeled, "Stickies" and all of these being moved to it would make it much simpler...

Perhaps editing your quotes to prevent quote pyramids would be helpful.
Perhaps not arguing with the Moderator who stickied this thread, and even included an explanation of why he did so, would be wise.

[Solm]

Added ORBAT

[Antemyst]

"Anarchy" is spelled wrong.

Also, you might wish to add that "bump" stands for "bring up my post."

Otherwise, outstanding job.