If you could start NS again, what would you do differently?

[Intelligeneria]

If you could restart your NationStates career, with all the knowledge you have now, what would you do differently? Would you make different decisions, join different regions, etc.? Or are you happy with how your NS life has gone so far, and don't wish anything had gone differently?

[Guyohkohnyo]

Generally, I'm happy with my course. I started as a specialist in dystopias, got drawn into a tight-knit group of roleplayers. Started branching out to explore other forms of storytelling, and am currently on trying to weave a good story around a democracy (a lot of work to do! Just founded!) now.

Only thing I really regret is how little I knew about how the stats would affect some of my countries, especially as seriously as I take NS stats and use them as the main inspiration for the direction I take in incidents.

[Pollaetorian]

Become the delegate of TRR and Lazarus.

[Pergamon]

Join NPO earlier.

[UKCS]

Make sure my nation isn't stuck with a god-awful, inaccurate, name.

[Arthropol]

My nation would be around the same. I would have started my own region earlier, and tried to get more of my friends to play, and some of my puppet nations would be named differently. Also, I would have started in GE&T a lot faster, and used F7 less.

[Todd McCloud]

Probably just stick to roleplay, and maybe RP on the main forums, too. Gameplay ended up being rather stressful for me the last few years.

[Free Republics]

If I could restart NS from scratch, I'd make sure the nation name isn't a primary key in the gameside database... Oh wait, that's not the question you're asking.

The main thing I wish I'd done differently was avoiding off-site political arguments altogether. Its sad that people can't hold different views on RL politics and still get along but that's the world we now live in (thank the news media and the comedians for that). Everybody already knows where they stand on that stuff these days and the only thing talking about it seems to do is make people dislike each other (and sometimes make other bad decisions when angry).

[Nova Roma et agros captos]

i'd have a shorter name

[Coalition of North American States]

i'd have a shorter name

I know what you mean. I wish I had added "The" to the beginning of my name. Other than that, I wouldn't change much.

[Antarctic Commonwealth of Equality]

i'd have a shorter name

Same for me. It's a pain to log in.

[United States of Vietnam]

- Don't use a real-life country name as nation's name
- Make my nation anime-themed
- Become a raider

[Southern Bellz]

nothing, I had fun the entire time

[Lenlyvit]

Despite all the friends I've made, I would've just answered issues and not get involved in R/D or regional politics. I would've avoided both like they were the plague.

[Ransium]

I would have spent more than 0.3 seconds coming up with a name. I would also have gotten involved on the forums/GI from the get-go.

[Zitravgrad]

I would write a clearer history and leader bio from the start...

[Jar Wattinree]

So far there's nothing I've done to regret anything in NS. GP, I'm still a sideliner, where I'm perfectly happy to stay at. Only thing that could possibly count is keeping my FB friends here but they found the game boring. But I suppose it's not for everyone.

[Gig em Aggies]

I would have probably would have kept two of my nations alive instead of dying then rebounding them; they would have been my oldest and biggest since I created them in 2007 & 2008

[Tim-Opolis]

I would have spent more than 0.3 seconds coming up with a name.

100% this

Additionally, I'd probably have posted way less on the forums my first couple years. Those early posts from 13/14 year old Tim are cringe as fuck.

[Destructive Government Economic System]

I would completely isolate myself from the actual game and strictly immerse myself in the forums, since it's so hellishly addicting. I would also rename myself "The Everlasting Burden of Atlas" while changing my flag to this:

[Nunavutialand]

Not get stuck with Nunavut in my name.

[Reventus Koth]

I would have never...

• Ever let Biyah into Osiris again, no matter what anyone else wanted.
• Touched the Predator tool.
• Given the password to the first region I ever joined to a long-term native.
• Let the first region I founded get hawked by Nazis.
• Let Funkadelia hawk the Sekhmet Legion's first refound.
• Treated my friend Rinamir like shit for founding his own region...I was such a dumb noob.

Hard to think of any other major regrets I have. My other screwups have worked out okay in the end, and I wouldn't have done those differently. I can't think of anything positive that came from any of the things above, except having to come up with a new nation name (Reventus Koth) when I was deleted helped me flesh out my RP world and led to a D&D campaign based around it.

[Cormactopia Prime]

I wouldn't have started, lol.

[Todd McCloud]

Yeah I wish I would've thought up a better name too, lol. I just liked Starfox and it was the first thing I thought of.

[Stellar Colonies]

I'd make less puppet nations or none at all, focusing completely on a single nation.