I'm still waiting on Ino to post in Mont Rouge...we keep finding ourselves in this predicament
I still think that, with so few of us left, we need an open RP to draw the attention of more players. For it to be really open, it would almost have to be a character RP (though if someone comes up with a way to make an open, national-scale RP that could still be open, that would be lovely), but it could still be canon, depending on how we spin the story.
Just a suggestion: Before Vapor came along, I had a sort of unofficial RP group (far less-organized than Vapor) but there was a small group of fairly like-minded nations who RP'd together in the same (or at least similar) world fairly often. We actually all met at a character RP hosted by a nation new to NS, which was a ball to celebrate the crowning of a new queen. We could do something very similar -- a formal event not unlike our original conference on the International Railroad or like the coronation of a monarch or inauguration of an elected leader. We could make it an open event, even a part of our canon, and invite pretty much anyone and everyone. There's the potential that it could get messy with inexperienced players, but it could serve as an opportunity to weed them out and extend formal group invitations to all of those who impress us. In fact, as I've mentioned before, Queen Alice will eventually abdicate the throne and a republic will be established for the first time in Fanaglia. That's as much a cause for celebration as any, no?
