by The Warzone Inquirer » Sat Nov 03, 2018 12:04 pm
All the news that's fit on a page
The Warzone Inquirer is the most respectable, as well as only, gameplay newspaper operated out of the Warzones, the forgotten GCRs! From our headquarters in Warzone Europe, we seek to bring hot scoops and hot takes on the goings-on of Nationstates gameplay, with an often underrepresented Warzone spin!
Want to slip a leak, or write a column for us? Residency isn't necessary! Just send a telegram to this account.
by The Warzone Inquirer » Sat Nov 03, 2018 3:05 pm
Issue I - The Prodigal Son
4th November 2018
Foreword by WZEU Duke Apulita
Warzone and Stability go together like oil and water. However, anyone who did cheap at-home science will know that if you use the right dish soap, oil and water will not separate. And I guess, in this metaphor, the dish soap is a strong community? Look, forget the oil and water thing. Warzones were designed, originally, to serve as purposeful battlegrounds over which gameplayers could fight without harming any natives. Since then of course, we've learned that fighting over a region specifically designed to be fought over, casualty-free, is not very exciting. This led to the Warzones quickly falling out of fashion for most raiders, starting a science experiment akin to leaving mold in a cupboard for ten years.
Wouldn't you know it, leave six GCRs out to dry for a decade with often very little outside attention other than the occasional tag, they'll start to develop a mind of their own. Those of us who don't know what's good for us figure Warzones are a neat unique sort of region, or eye up the challenge of a warzone delegacy record, or just decide to get away from the big political movers and shakers. Communities and cultures form, and in some rarer cases, functional governments. To my mind, I know of two golden ages of Warzone communities. The first, Codger's one year complete domination. The second, the 2014-2016 menagerie of independent Warzone communities, which at it's core included Warzone Europe.
Warzone Europe was big, for a Warzone. It had the endorsements to stave off small-time raids, and the protection of Astarial to stave off some of the bigger ones. Most importantly though, we had a strong community, with culture, spirit and values. From things as simple as adopting the color purple regionally, to our trend of happily making an absolute mockery of our own democracy, we shared some unique values. We were tightknit. In callous terms, this meant increased member retention. We kept our endorsements, and our activity, which came together to build a near untouchable Warzone. We got confident. Far too confident.
In all our worries about the dangers lurking outside our region, we paid little attention to the growing danger inside. That danger was stagnation. As long-time government members grew less active for a number of reasons, overall activity dropped significantly. Our numbers began to dwindle. We had built something so stable and unchanging that it had become boring. The Dominion of Warzone Europe decayed away, and eventually was in no position to defend itself, whereupon it was ended at last by foreign incursions.
I believe it's fair to liken Warzone Europe to the parable of the prodigal son. We were gifted with protection from powerful forces, and with a strong and friendly community. We confidently squandered these gifts until eventually, we ruined ourselves and collapsed. However, as in the parable, Warzone Europe will return, lessons learned, more ready than ever to make up for it's mistakes and face the dawn.
Duchy of Warzone Europe declared amid rapid growth
Author: Apulita
Warzone Europe, which recently re-established control of it's delegacy a week and a half ago, has certainly hit the ground running. The founding of a regional discord server, work on activities and games like a trivia league, and active diplomacy including interesting realpolitik involving embassies, have all underpinned the explosive week in which Warzone Europe rose from a region with two endorsements on it's delegate to seven, quickly becoming the Warzone with the highest endorsement count. The regional discord has gotten busy quickly, with residents and foreign representatives bumping shoulders and exchanging off-the-record conversation.
The difficulty for Warzone Europe now will be holding on to it's growth and activity, the two key factors which led to its downfall in the first iteration of the current government. Plans exist to create a regional map and hold International Incidents roleplays for interested members, and culture and activity thinktanks are cooking up a number of fun exercises, including a competition to design the regional flag Warzone Europe will adopt after the end of November (during the month of November Warzone Europe flies the purple ribbon for Epilepsy Awareness).
Just yesterday, delegate Apulita brought into effect a regional Constitution crowning himself Duke, a powerful constitutional autocrat. Apulita has said that this time around, the region won't pretend to be a democracy. It remains to be seen whether this new form of government will fare better or worse than the Dominion.
The Warzone-o-meter
In this regular column, the current situation in each of the six Game Created Warzones will be checked and summarized for your viewing pleasure. Here is the state of the Warzones!
Warzone Europe: Endorsements: 7, Activity: Significant, Notes: New Constitution, Verdict: Waxing
Warzone Australia: Endorsements: 5, Activity: Significant, Notes: Still a colony of Extalia, Verdict: Shows Potential
Warzone Africa: Endorsements: 5, Activity: Quiet, Notes: Also repairing an old government, Verdict: Needs Work
Warzone Sandbox: Endorsements: 5, Activity: Quiet, Notes: Longest-running current delegacy, Verdict: Needs Work
Warzone Airspace: Endorsements: 2, Activity: Quiet, Notes: Most total population of any warzones, Verdict: Waning
Warzone Asia: Endorsements: 0, Activity: None, Notes: They annoyed the NPO, Verdict: Wasteland
Faces from the Warzones
In this regular column, we sit down with an important face in the Warzones and get to know a little more about them. This week, I spoke to Malphe, a TNP citizen with a rich history of involvement in the Warzones.
This draws to a close the first issue of the Warzone Inquirer. Expect more to follow, touching on news both within and without the Warzone regions. Want to write a column for us, or want us to run a story on a subject you know about? Our telegrams are always open!
by Ashes Rising » Sat Nov 03, 2018 3:19 pm
by Galiantus III » Sat Nov 03, 2018 5:39 pm
by The United Vex Imperium » Sat Nov 03, 2018 7:52 pm
by The Church of Satan » Sat Nov 03, 2018 10:36 pm
by The NewsStand » Sun Nov 04, 2018 2:35 am
by Great Mutapa » Sun Nov 04, 2018 5:26 am
by Tanou » Sun Nov 04, 2018 11:54 am
by Jar Wattinree » Sun Nov 04, 2018 1:32 pm
by Saint Block » Sun Nov 04, 2018 1:59 pm
by Marilyn Manson Freaks » Tue Nov 06, 2018 6:12 am
by Apulita » Wed Nov 07, 2018 9:02 am
Ambrella wrote:I have often had the thought, "why would anyone try to form a community in the warzones," and this shed some light on that. Really interesting paper, please keep it up.
Armaros wrote:Nice read. I hope you make a nice community. I personally don't know why you would want to be in a warzone, but I hope the best for you.
The Church of Satan wrote:It's good to see some stability in the warzones. Maybe now there can be a long lasting government or two in them. I really appreciate Warzone Europe observing Epilepsy Awareness Month too! It really doesn't get much attention.
by Jar Wattinree » Wed Nov 07, 2018 9:58 am
by The Warzone Inquirer » Thu Nov 08, 2018 7:55 am
Issue II - Interesting Times
9th November 2018
Foreword by WZEU Duke Apulita
There is an expression that I'm quite fond of. Nominally it is a blessing, but the intended meaning behind it is often the exact opposite. This expression is "May you live in interesting times". The ironic implication, of course, being that non-interesting tranquility might be much preferable and safer than the reverse.
I'm not quite sure what I prefer for the Warzones. The quiet gives us space to build our regions in peace, developing culture, forums, governments, all those vital parts of a functional community. At the same time, Warzones have always thrived on action. A foreign incursion into the warzones has always linked with a significant uptick in native activity. Some kind of happy medium probably exists I suppose, but it is difficult to find. If I were to pick one above the other, I must admit I live in a Warzone for a reason.
For the time being, I am content to declare, may we all live in interesting times.
Warzone Asia's Week
Author: Apulita
It has been quite the week for a few of the Warzones, but none more than Warzone Asia, which has gone from a desolate wasteland, languishing in the aftereffects of an NPO incursion, into the Warzone with the highest delegate endorsement count, as well as most RMB activity. This growth is remarkable, and in many ways confusing to other parts of the Warzone community.
Investigative journalism has identified the many-puppeted player choosing to identify with the moniker of Ballpit as behind the occurrences in the region. Bringing large numbers of IRL friends and in-game allies, he has decided to commit his efforts to building a Warzone community. For the curious, more information can be found in the Faces from the Warzones column, where I spoke with Ballpit personally on these matters.
OPINION: Can a Warzone have Natives?
Author: Apulita
All too often I've seen a few ideas of NS Gameplay erroneously combined, when in relation to the Warzones. As the argument goes, a Warzone is intended for raiding, and thus those who choose to reside there have no right not to be raided. This logic, I agree with. To make the decision to reside in a Warzone is to implicitly opt-in to gameplay, whether it will be beneficial to you or not. Where we run into trouble is when this logic is extended to make the claim that a Warzone can not have "natives". Even long-term Warzone residents have been known to make the claim that there are no Warzone natives, only semi-permanent guests.
I suppose this might be a difference in definition. To me, a native to a region is someone who classifies that region as their home on Nationstates, above all else. Perhaps instead, it is an ideological difference. To declare the concept of a Warzone native as non-existent gives moral and ethical permission to those seeking to conduct hostile operations against a Warzone, whose otherwise stated goals are the protection of natively-held regions. Many a defender organization has been known to hit Warzone regions exclusively for their practice, after all.
At the end of the day, my main account and WA nation have been committed to Warzone Europe since early 2014. When I found I had the time to return to NS Gameplay and refounded this nation, I didn't have to spend any time at all considering where I would end up, I just went home to Warzone Europe and went from there. I don't know what others would classify this as, but I know what I would call it. I make no claim to have a "right" to my region, nor do I pretend that raiding my community is immoral in any way. What I do say though is, for better or worse, I am a native here.
What are Warzones anyway?
There is an ongoing discussion about what Warzones really are, in gameplay terms. The common trend nowadays is to divide the regions of Nationstates into UCR and GCR, a division in which the Warzones technically fall in the latter category. However, it's no secret that while the term "Game-Created Region" explicitly means a region built into the game, the term carries with it a number of implications around size and relevance to gameplay, thanks to the natural population generation of Feeders, Sinkers, and Catchers. The term GCR implies a sort of importance that Warzones are simply without.
To further the discussion on this subject, the Warzone Inquirer has sponsored a very short questionnaire, available at this link, where our readers may share their opinion on the subject. Our next issue will go over the results of this, and discuss what it means for the Warzones.
The Warzone-o-meter
In this regular column, the current situation in each of the six Game Created Warzones will be checked and summarized for your viewing pleasure. Here is the state of the Warzones!
Warzone Europe: Endorsements: 9 (+2), Activity: Significant, Notes: Continuing construction of community, Verdict: Waxing
Warzone Australia: Endorsements: 6 (+1), Activity: Significant, Notes: Still a colony of Extalia, Verdict: Waxing
Warzone Africa: Endorsements: 3 (-2), Activity: Quiet, Notes: Most activity coming from foreigners, Verdict: Waning
Warzone Sandbox: Endorsements: 5 (+0), Activity: Quiet, Notes: They like the quiet, Verdict: Stagnant
Warzone Airspace: Endorsements: 2 (+0), Activity: Quiet, Notes: Looking for Senators, Verdict: Stagnant
Warzone Asia: Endorsements: 17 (+17), Activity: Booming, Notes: Significant involvement of non-native powers, Verdict: Waxing
Faces from the Warzones
In this regular column, we sit down with an important face in the Warzones and get to know a little more about them. This time, I spoke to Ballpit, a new rising star in the Warzone community and the engineer behind the explosive occurrences in Warzone Asia in the past week.
What's on?
There are always an abundance of fun and interesting activities going on. Below for your convenience, we've listed a few Warzone happenings this week!
-Warzone Europe Trivia League
-Warzone Europe Flag Design Competition
Want us to link your activities in this column? Get in touch with this account via telegram.
This draws to a close the second issue of the Warzone Inquirer. Expect more to follow, touching on news both within and without the Warzone regions. Want to write a column for us, or want us to run a story on a subject you know about? Our telegrams are always open!
by Bears Armed » Thu Nov 08, 2018 11:02 am
by Milozoldyck » Fri Nov 09, 2018 12:59 am
Can a Warzone have Natives?
by The Warzone Inquirer » Sun Dec 02, 2018 7:42 pm
Issue III - Meadows in Metropolis
2nd December 2018
Foreword by Malphe
Sometimes I can't help but feel like NS as a whole is a little chartered, with so many various programs and guides and people around for over a decade who have regionbuilding and raiding or defending down to a precise science with all their own terminology and bots. If you found a UCR you can more or less go through a few old paths so trodden they've become canyons and you'll have a thriving community, and the GCRs are so monolithic that change usually happens slowly or, when they do move fast, painfully for those involved. NS has reached a point that mapping out the game would be a near impossible task, as it moves so fast and has so many little cogs that it would be a similar task as trying to understand all technology in the modern world. It's impossible.
I think this is why I, as well as some other people I'm guessing, are so attracted to the warzones. They're in a very unique position, they're irrelevant enough to have only a few eyes on them at any point but they're still GCRs; the warzones will never fade into total obscurity. Since they're rarely taken at all seriously what you can and can't do in a Warzone is up in the air, it's a small world and there's so much that hasn't been tried- I do think that if NS were a tiny game with only a few dozen or maybe a few hundred active members I think the landscape of gameplay would look a little like the Warzones, with so little mapped out and people not entirely sure what they can and can't do with what they have. A little like early youtube, before anybody got a hang of the algorithm and just did what they thought might work.
So I guess when I put time to developing the Warzones, whether through a news service or trying to establish a government in one of them, I'm just trying to map it out a little bit. See what I can and can't get away with, and know that the ground I'm treading is at least mostly untouched. The Warzones are a meadow in a metropolis, though I'll always have sight of the skyscrapers it's nice to have a little peace and quiet once in a while.
Warzone Federation Declared
Shock and awe rumbled throughout the Warzones recently, when the announcement went public that the governments of Warzones Airspace, Asia, and Europe, had jointly negotiated the formation of a federation of their three communities. The idea of Warzone community unification is nothing new, but the Warzone Federation is unique in it's far-reaching consequences. Where many other attempts have resulted in half-measures or sputtering collapses, the federation has immediately begun with the radical move of full community unification. Groups from all three Warzones have moved to Warzone Europe, where a provisional government was formed, and a constitution signed into law. [ED: Constitution available here.]
Sources indicate that attempts were made to reach out to the native communities of Warzones Australia, Africa, and Sandbox, though in the former's case the government at the time was unsupportive of the idea, and the latter two were unable to participate in active negotiations. Notable, however, is the Federation's constitution which includes a section legally allowing future Warzone native communities to annex themselves into the federation, and receive the same representative rights as the founding communities. This would seem to indicate that the federation has not completely abandoned its attempt to involve the entirety of the native Warzoner movement.
NPO Delenda Est, the Warzone Perspective
Warzones have always had to take a pragmatic approach to interregional politics. With their uniquely unstable mechanics, there has been little room for ideology or pride. However, this long pattern of attempted quiet and undisturbed isolationism is sometimes broken when events are of sufficient significance. In terms of the diplomatic fallout surrounding the New Pacific Order, this seems to be one of those events.
The occupiers of Warzone Australia, Amestris, are in open war with the NPO. The same was true of the former occupants of Warzone Asia, a group of raiders from Extalia. After this group was ousted, the new occupiers maintained the closure of the TP embassy after "re-assessing the situation, as well as the ideology of The Pacific in relations to UCRs & other GCRs". While not going so far as to declare war, the native governments in Warzones Europe, Africa, Airspace, and Sandbox, have all also expressed their displeasure with the exposed actions of the NPO in the form of embassy closure.
The following image, captured on the 27th of November, is indicative of what the Inquirer's in-house political theorists are calling the Solid Six, a term describing the foreign policy decisions of the native Warzones, which more often than not follow very similar trends.
What are Warzones anyway? - Part 2
Author: Lyrasan
Last issue we brought up a discussion that still goes on today: What are the Warzones? While officially they are Game Created Regions (GCRs) they do not convey the same mental image that one expects when they think of GCRs. The Warzones do not carry anywhere near the same sort of name recognition nor influence as the other GCRs. We sponsored a questionnaire asking respondents to classify the Warzones under one of four options. The results are fairly straightforward with 2/3 of the responses (4 out of 6) stating that they believed the Warzones were equally qualified to be called GCRs as the more prominent ones. 1/3 (2 of 4) of the responses classify the Warzones as being purely their own thing, no other clarification needed.
Now, from a technical standpoint the majority would be correct. No GCR is greater than another, and therefore the Warzones are as equal to the other GCRs as they are to one another. However, stepping away from the technical perspective it can be said that differences amongst the GCRs start to form. The Warzones have always been a tumultuous place with only a handful of them having governments that last more than a year. Because of this they may not garner the same respect as the other GCRs whose governments can last the better part of a decade or more. As it stands perhaps the minority are correct: perhaps the Warzones should be considered just their own thing. Separate from the other GCRs, as separate as the Feeders are from the Sinkers.
See the full results of our survey here.
The Warzone-o-meter
In this regular column, the current situation in each of the six Game Created Warzones will be checked and summarized for your viewing pleasure. Here is the state of the Warzones!
Warzone Europe: Endorsements: 18 (+9), Activity: Booming, Notes: Home of the Federation, Verdict: Waxing
Warzone Australia: Endorsements: 6 (+0), Activity: Significant, Notes: Occupied by forces of Amestris, Verdict: Stagnant
Warzone Africa: Endorsements: 4 (+1), Activity: Quiet, Notes: Natives restored after temporary occupation, Verdict: Stagnant
Warzone Sandbox: Endorsements: 6 (+1), Activity: Quiet, Notes: N/A, Verdict: Stagnant
Warzone Airspace: Endorsements: 2 (+0), Activity: Quiet, Notes: Lost significant activity to the Federation, Verdict: Waning
Warzone Asia: Endorsements: 5 (-12), Activity: Significant, Notes: Numerous changings of hands, all support closing NPO Embassy, Verdict: Waning
Faces from the Warzones
In this regular column, we sit down with an important face in the Warzones and get to know a little more about them. This week, I had a chat with Lyrasan, a titan of Warzone nativehood and the recently assumed provisional delegate of the Warzone Federation.
What's on?
There are always an abundance of fun and interesting activities going on. Below for your convenience, we've listed a few happenings this week!
-Warzone Europe Trivia League
-Warzone Federation General Elections
Want us to link your activities in this column? Get in touch with this account via telegram.
This draws to a close the third issue of the Warzone Inquirer. Expect more to follow, touching on news both within and without the Warzone regions. Our telegram box is always open to those looking to contribute a foreword or column, or sit for an interview.
Special thanks to Malphe and Lyrasan for contributing to this issue of the Warzone Inquirer.
by Apulita » Sun Dec 02, 2018 7:44 pm
by The Warzone Inquirer » Sun Dec 02, 2018 8:51 pm
Unaffiliated Article 1 - Special Correction
3rd December 2018
Warzone Australia swaps hands
We apologize to our readers for an inconsistent fact in our previous publication. During our regular Warzone-O-Meter column, often the state of the warzones is checked days in advance of the publication of the issue. In this instance, this has led to a lack of coverage of a notable occurrence in Warzone Australia. After the withdrawal of Extalian forces ordered by Domais, the region had come under the purview of Amestris, who held it as some sort of vanity project.
One and a half days ago, at the time of writing, forces of the North Pacific Army and the South Pacific Special Forces worked on a cooperative operation in which they seized control of the region and ejected forces from Amestris. Questions about the instigation of this attack were quickly answered when occupying forces made hints in the WZAU World Factbook Entry at their disapproval of the leader of Amestris, Bradley or Saint Block, and his past actions.
Warzone Australia has struggled for a long time to properly establish a native presence, though since the pullout of Extalia little movement has been seen, so our expert analysts predict that this exchange of control has done little damage to the region's prospects. It is rare for the larger GCR cousins of the Warzones to care enough to launch a military operation within them, so all natives will be paying close attention to recent events in Warzone Australia. More importantly, this may lead to changes in policy among native governments who hope to avoid becoming the next target of a more Warzone-aware GCR military.
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