NS History: You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers!

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

Has anyone else here ever thought about the future of NS?

I have seen (am looking at it right now, neener neener mod privilege! ) and it is very shiny!

EDIT TO ADD: And spurred on by chatter on the NSGP server and the fact the teaser image forever ago before the International Incident issues chain debuted is (by design) completely unreadable, I went back and got the full-size images, since 1) The chain has been out for ages now, and 2) The original set of notes only bear superficial resemblance to the finished chain anyway.

So, for posterity's sake, here's the full-size original notes for what eventually became the International Incident chain thanks to the exceptional hard work of the editing team:
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
... And apologies for the generally illegible state of my handwriting. It's bad enough normally, and about three times worse when brainstorming an idea.

Not engineering paper, barely legible, use your drafting pencil so you can erase rather than scribble, and simplify flow. Content is good. Just fix drafting format. 7/10.

[Pax Nerdvana]

Has anyone else here ever thought about the future of NS?

I have seen (am looking at it right now, neener neener mod privilege! ) and it is very shiny!

EDIT TO ADD: And spurred on by chatter on the NSGP server and the fact the teaser image forever ago before the International Incident issues chain debuted is (by design) completely unreadable, I went back and got the full-size images, since 1) The chain has been out for ages now, and 2) The original set of notes only bear superficial resemblance to the finished chain anyway.

So, for posterity's sake, here's the full-size original notes for what eventually became the International Incident chain thanks to the exceptional hard work of the editing team:
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
... And apologies for the generally illegible state of my handwriting. It's bad enough normally, and about three times worse when brainstorming an idea.

I too have terrible handwriting. I'venever made physical notesfor any NS projects or RPs or whatever.

[Jutsa]

Same. I've made lots of notes for things outside of NS (whatever that means), though.

Then again, I've never exactly made anything that large for NS.

[Tinhampton]

Was there anything of note that happened on this day in NS History?

[Pax Nerdvana]

Was there anything of note that happened on this day in NS History?

I don't know, but Reppy and Unibot might.

[Unibot III]

Was there anything of note that happened on this day in NS History?

Jan 25, 2004 - Francos Spain returned to the delegacy of the Pacific for the last time.

I did pretty good to remember that off the top of my head.

[Pax Nerdvana]

Was there anything of note that happened on this day in NS History?

Jan 25, 2004 - Francos Spain returned to the delegacy of the Pacific for the last time.

I did pretty good to remember that off the top of my head.

Congrats on your memory. That's a pretty interesting fact.

[USS Monitor]

I did pretty good to remember that off the top of my head.

That's scary.

[Pax Nerdvana]

I did pretty good to remember that off the top of my head.

That's scary.

It's cool and scary.

[Northwest Kalactin]

What was the first topic ever made

[Jar Wattinree]

What was the first topic ever made

On this website or the Jolt forums?

[Marilyn Manson Freaks]

Interesting.

[Conservative Values]

What was the first topic ever made

On this website or the Jolt forums?

NationStates didn't move to Jolt until May of 2004. So the first topic ever would have been on the horribly buggy first self-hosted forum.

As for this forum:

Theoretically this is the first post. But I can't see that.

This is the first post I can find that I can see.

[USS Monitor]

On this website or the Jolt forums?

NationStates didn't move to Jolt until May of 2004. So the first topic ever would have been on the horribly buggy first self-hosted forum.

As for this forum:

Theoretically this is the first post. But I can't see that.

It's in the Sekrit Mod Forum.

[Marilyn Manson Freaks]

Who was the first famous/infamous independent/non-partisan/Bi-gameplayer?

[Nightkill]

Who was the first famous/infamous independent/non-partisan/Bi-gameplayer?

Obviously Francos Spain

But for real, no idea. Could've been one of the Farkers?

[Kavagrad]

I remember being vaguely aware of Milograd's rule in one of the Pacifics (TSP, I think?) during my time with an old nation.

Can anyone give me a more comprehensive explanation of what occurred there? I wasn't actually in the region at the time, although the region I was in did declare for him in the conflict that followed.

[Mallorea and Riva]

I remember being vaguely aware of Milograd's rule in one of the Pacifics (TSP, I think?) during my time with an old nation.

Can anyone give me a more comprehensive explanation of what occurred there? I wasn't actually in the region at the time, although the region I was in did declare for him in the conflict that followed.

Cheers for that. I'm on my phone now, but when I get to my laptop I can give some details about the Glorious Revolution.

[Unibot III]

Who was the first famous/infamous independent/non-partisan/Bi-gameplayer?

I would say the Atlantic Alliance and later, the Meritocracy. Thomasia / Accelsior fits that bill probably as close as you can get: (1) one of the 'oldest' players in the game, (2) Commander of the AA, (3) Senator of the Meritocracy. I think he always wanted something more complicated from the game's geo-dynamics.

It's difficult to describe Atlantic Alliance because the usual way people describe it - imperialist - conjures up images of TNI, LKE, Kantrias, UIAF etc. who worked alongside invaders. The AA didn't have much in common with those group. More accurately, some historians call AA, "proto-imperialist." I would call it expansionist. They were a military force at the dawn of NationStates who regarded many regions of 'significance' (GCRs, regions with RL names etc.) as not living up to their potential. They weren't interested in raiding backwater regions for no reason or raiding regions that were well established. In a case like Iran that's emerging right now, AA would be all over that if they were still around - they would probably seek to make Iran one of their forward or satellite bases.

The 'administrations' in the GCRs were at this point in 2003 basically embryonic - it's hard to call them administrations. There was probably not even a Yahoo group, let alone a constitution. Atlantic Alliance controlled the West Pacific, the Rejected Realms, and the East Pacific (prior to becoming a GCR.) It targeted the South Pacific and the Pacific. One Pacific delegate, Jell-O, was described as AA sympathetic.

Can anyone give me a more comprehensive explanation of what occurred there?

Milograd was elected delegate of the South Pacific. He had been a contributive and trusted member. On April 20, 2013, he betrayed the South Pacific and announced the creation of 'the South Pacific Socialist Republic' (SPSR). The coup lasted ten days before he was ousted from the delegacy.

Roavin has done a bang-up good historical essay on that coup here.

[Mallorea and Riva]

I would contest the idea that Fudgetopia had any impact whatsoever on the coup. We were certainly talking to Fudge, but iirc we never actually thought Fudge had turned. Fudge was just a massive influence pile that we couldn't ban anyways. The largest factors that led to our ultimate loss of the region were the inability of JAL/Milo/myself to be on at the update where we lost the region, the banjections which wiped our influence prior to me ever accessing the nation, and also the lack of cooperation from imperialist forces who chose to honor their treaty obligations rather than back the SPSR.

[Nightkill]

I've seen it said that Loop and Krul had long reigns, so how long were they? I'm curious because the NS history pages don't list them in full, and only lists Krul as having a reign of 1200 days or so.

[Petyr]

I've seen it said that Loop and Krul had long reigns, so how long were they? I'm curious because the NS history pages don't list them in full, and only lists Krul as having a reign of 1200 days or so.

By my memory Loop was June of 03 - May 06. BUT if I also recall correctly his reign was interrupted by a glitch that made endorsements not count - so in game it didn't reflect his full rule.

Kandy was from sometime in 2003 to 2011. However toward the end he had given his nation over to Nai so it wasn't really him. He was also knocked over a couple times by people mass-ejecting nations from a userite/warzone to TRR before update. Since ejecting nations doesn't remove endorsements - if a nation with 90 endorsements is ejected along with all 90 nations endorsing him then you can knock over the delegate of TRR. Hasn't happened in a while but it was something that used to happen.

I'd reckon a guess that for those two reasons Rachel actually is the second longest delegacy in the GCRs. (*hides from Unibot*)

[Unibot III]

I've seen it said that Loop and Krul had long reigns, so how long were they? I'm curious because the NS history pages don't list them in full, and only lists Krul as having a reign of 1200 days or so.

By my memory Loop was June of 03 - May 06. BUT if I also recall correctly his reign was interrupted by a glitch that made endorsements not count - so in game it didn't reflect his full rule.

Kandy was from sometime in 2003 to 2011. However toward the end he had given his nation over to Nai so it wasn't really him. He was also knocked over a couple times by people mass-ejecting nations from a userite/warzone to TRR before update. Since ejecting nations doesn't remove endorsements - if a nation with 90 endorsements is ejected along with all 90 nations endorsing him then you can knock over the delegate of TRR. Hasn't happened in a while but it was something that used to happen.

I'd reckon a guess that for those two reasons Rachel actually is the second longest delegacy in the GCRs. (*hides from Unibot*)

Loop's reign is hard to date due to him citing a new, wrong date every time he was asked. EVERY TIME. Loop wasn't delegate for longer than Rachel though, if that's what is being asked.

By my reckoning he was delegate, May 29-31 2003 to May 12, 2006 (1079-81 days.)

Kandarin was delegate, June 18, 2003 - October 3, 2010 (2665 days.)

I just think the question of "delegate reigns" is so pedantic, disingenuous, and even misleading. Yes, Loop and Kandy had their delegacies interrupted for a few days by spammers, server glitches and brief coupers. But I think recognizing those interruptions makes their reigns seem far, far less long then they were. The substantive takeaway is that Kandy and Loop presided over TRR/TEP for very long stretches of time and became, essentially, synonymous with the regions themselves and when you're focusing on the delegate clock, you're missing that larger narrative that a non-consecutive approach tells.

[Petyr]

By my memory Loop was June of 03 - May 06. BUT if I also recall correctly his reign was interrupted by a glitch that made endorsements not count - so in game it didn't reflect his full rule.

Kandy was from sometime in 2003 to 2011. However toward the end he had given his nation over to Nai so it wasn't really him. He was also knocked over a couple times by people mass-ejecting nations from a userite/warzone to TRR before update. Since ejecting nations doesn't remove endorsements - if a nation with 90 endorsements is ejected along with all 90 nations endorsing him then you can knock over the delegate of TRR. Hasn't happened in a while but it was something that used to happen.

I'd reckon a guess that for those two reasons Rachel actually is the second longest delegacy in the GCRs. (*hides from Unibot*)

Loop's reign is hard to date due to him citing a new, wrong date every time he was asked. EVERY TIME. Loop wasn't delegate for longer than Rachel though, if that's what is being asked.

By my reckoning he was delegate, May 29-31 2003 to May 12, 2006 (1079-81 days.)

Kandarin was delegate, June 18, 2003 - October 3, 2010 (2665 days.)

I just think the question of "delegate reigns" is so pedantic, disingenuous, and even misleading. Yes, Loop and Kandy had their delegacies interrupted for a few days by spammers, server glitches and brief coupers. But I think recognizing those interruptions makes their reigns seem far, far less long then they were. The substantive takeaway is that Kandy and Loop presided over TRR/TEP for very long stretches of time and became, essentially, synonymous with the regions themselves and when you're focusing on the delegate clock, you're missing that larger narrative that a non-consecutive approach tells.

I agree somewhat, however I don't think that really takes away from someone's ability to be proud about being the 'longest continuous serving delegate' of a sinker. The qualification might be necessary, but since they made it I see no reason why they shouldn't brag. I mean if we have a problem with limiting it to continuous reigns why not also complain that they limited it to GCR delegates - which is a total affront to Mike.

[Feux]

Anyone have any good Ivan stories?