The Almighty NationStates FAQ

[Authoritaria-Imperia]

Hi, is it common to have issues only affecting one trend? this is the fourth time this week

Yeah, I think that's pretty normal. The "Political Apathy" statistic in particular likes to go alone, from what I've seen…

[Solomons Land]

Sorry, I know this is probably listed in the history thread, but, out of curiosity, what was the 1st nation on Nation States?

[Luna Amore]

Sorry, I know this is probably listed in the history thread, but, out of curiosity, what was the 1st nation on Nation States?

The First Nation of NationStates

More seriously, probably Maxtopia. Maybe.

[Jutsa]

If trading card urls are any indication, the oldest nation still alive is Testlandia.
(note the first number to not work is 6 so they presumable CTE'd if I'm reading this right.)

[Luna Amore]

If trading card urls are any indication, the oldest nation still alive is Testlandia.
(note the first number to not work is 6 so they presumable CTE'd if I'm reading this right.)

Those DB numbers were added much later. I want to say around 2011 or 2013. So a low number does not necessarily mean a older nation.

Db 6 is Sedge oddly enough.

[Mathuvan Union]

If trading card urls are any indication, the oldest nation still alive is Testlandia.
(note the first number to not work is 6 so they presumable CTE'd if I'm reading this right.)

Those DB numbers were added much later. I want to say around 2011 or 2013. So a low number does not necessarily mean a older nation.

Db 6 is Sedge oddly enough.

That’s weird. Isn’t sedge relatively new in terms of moderators?

[Luna Amore]

Those DB numbers were added much later. I want to say around 2011 or 2013. So a low number does not necessarily mean a older nation.

Db 6 is Sedge oddly enough.

That’s weird. Isn’t sedge relatively new in terms of moderators?

Sedge was originally modded back in 2010.

[Atheris]

That’s weird. Isn’t sedge relatively new in terms of moderators?

Sedge was originally modded back in 2010.

Were they made mods twice?

[Sedgistan]

If trading card urls are any indication, the oldest nation still alive is Testlandia.
(note the first number to not work is 6 so they presumable CTE'd if I'm reading this right.)

Those DB numbers were added much later. I want to say around 2011 or 2013. So a low number does not necessarily mean a older nation.

Db 6 is Sedge oddly enough.

It's a result of site staff testing out a feature (I think the TG system overhaul) that came in at the same time as the DB IDs. That's why the early numbers tend to be staff members from back then, followed by those who next checked their TGs after the overhaul launched.

Sedge was originally modded back in 2010.

Were they made mods twice?

I left the site between mid 2017 and the end of 2019.

[Mathuvan Union]

That’s weird. Isn’t sedge relatively new in terms of moderators?

Sedge was originally modded back in 2010.

Huh. That makes sedge older than I thought (in the game)

[Kaeyoku]

Hey, I have a question or two about subforums. Firstly: How do I make one? Speaking of which, is an ordinary nation supposed to do such a thing? Finally, If I can, where do I make it?

[Merni]

Hey, I have a question or two about subforums. Firstly: How do I make one? Speaking of which, is an ordinary nation supposed to do such a thing? Finally, If I can, where do I make it?

You can't. The forum admins can, but they don't, except for April fool's events and new minigames (such as cards).

[Drasnia]

Game Mechanics

[...]

When do the updates run? What do they do? How long do they take to complete?
There are two update times, which are frequently referred to as the Major Update and the Minor Update. During both updates, any issue choices made by your nation are processed and for nations set to two issues per day, one new issue is presented per update.

This is outdated by several years now. It can be deleted from the post without needing any replacement, IMO.

FORUMS

[...]

Free image hosting sites include:

• Imgur
• Picasa
• Flickr

Picasa's dead and Google Photos has taken its place.

ISSUES

Why do I keep getting the same issues?
When the game started, there were only 30 different issues, and each nation only qualified for a few of them. Later, [violet] (in all her greatness) coded an interface which allows game mods to edit player-submitted issues.

New players still only get the first 30 for their first couple of weeks. There are now over 400, yet the older ones still seem to repeat more often. (The whole list of issues can be found here.)

How many issues can I have per day?
The game only permits a maximum of two issues per nation per day; If you want more, you can use multiple nations. However, you also can have less.

There is the option to have only one issue per day, and enabling 'Vacation Mode' disables issues entirely for that nation (as well as extending its CTE date by 60 days).

How can I change my position on an issue?
All of the issues - except for Easter Eggs - can eventually be repeated. As mods have said before, just because you make a decision on an issue (or decide to dismiss an issue) doesn’t mean that your citizens won’t make you answer the issue again!

What on EARTH is an Easter Egg?
It's a specific kind of issue - and each Easter Egg issue can only be answered one time per nation. If you want to know what the Easter Egg issues are, I'd suggest checking out this thread. If you want to know what the requirements are for each Easter Egg issue (as best as we can figure out, anyhow, since the mods aren't telling), this thread is more what you're looking for.

What is a 'Issue Chain'?
A 'Issue Chain' is a story of sorts - It starts with a single issue you get, and the story can take several paths to completion; changing your nation along the way. While it offers a more 'intimate' (The hawwwwt issues editors ensured this) story, it is important not to "break the chain", as Issue Chains are only one-time, and failing to answer or dismissing any of the issues in the chain means you don't get it again. At the time of this posting, there is one major issue chain, 'Diamonds Are An Expat's Best Friend!', with multiple paths to take (a average being of 5 issues depending on how you chart it) and serveral other one-off chains you can find in your NSing experience.

How do I submit a new issue?
After you have over 500 million citizens, you can Submit an Issue. You’ll find the link at the bottom of your Issues page.

Here are my suggestions:

ISSUES

Why do I keep getting the same issues?
When the game started, there were only 31 different issues, and each nation only qualified for a few of them. Later, [violet] (in all her greatness) coded an interface which allows game mods to edit player-submitted issues.

New players receive four issues when creating a nation. Three of these issues will be an original Max Barry issue and one will be a player-submitted issue. There are now over 1,300 issues in the game. (The full list of issues can be found here.)

How many issues can I have per day?
The game only permits a maximum of four issues per nation per day; If you want more, you can use multiple nations. However, you also can choose to receive fewer.

There are options to only receive an issue once every 12 hours, 24 hours, or 48 hours, and enabling 'Vacation Mode' disables issues entirely for that nation (as well as extending its CTE date to 60 days).

How can I change my position on an issue?
All of the issues - except for Easter Eggs and Issue Chains- can eventually be repeated. As mods have said before, just because you make a decision on an issue (or decide to dismiss an issue) doesn’t mean that your citizens won’t make you answer the issue again!

What on EARTH is an Easter Egg?
It's a specific kind of issue - and each Easter Egg issue can only be answered one time per nation. If you want to know what the Easter Egg issues are, I'd suggest checking out this thread. BTW, the link is also changed to the most recent thread on it. The link in the FAQ is two OP's old at this point

What is a 'Issue Chain'?
A 'Issue Chain' is a story of sorts - It starts with a single issue you get, and the story can take several paths to completion; changing your nation along the way. While it offers a more 'intimate' (The hawwwwt issues editors ensured this) story, it is important not to "break the chain", as Issue Chains are only one-time, and failing to answer or dismissing any of the issues in the chain means you don't get it again. At the time of this posting, there are three major issue chains, 'Diamonds Are An Expat's Best Friend!', 'A Day In The Life', and '@@CAPITAL@@gate' with multiple paths to take (a average being of 5 issues depending on how you chart it). Personally, I'd change the issue names to the names of the chains - "An International Incident", "The Enemy Within", and "@@CAPITAL@@gate" respectively.

How do I submit a new issue?
After you have over 500 million citizens, you can Submit an Issue. You’ll find the link at the bottom of your Issues page.

TROPHIES

[...]

What on EARTH is an Easter Egg?
It's a specific kind of issue - and each Easter Egg issue can only be answered one time per nation. If you want to know what the Easter Egg issues are, I'd suggest checking out this thread. If you want to know what the requirements are for each Easter Egg issue (as best as we can figure out, anyhow, since the mods aren't telling), this thread is more what you're looking for.

This is duplicated from the issues section and can be deleted.

[Sedgistan]

With the exception of one post (2018) the thread hasn't been updated since 2015, and Hobbes doesn't look to be active.

It may be time to look for a new custodian of this thread.

[Drasnia]

With the exception of one post (2018) the thread hasn't been updated since 2015, and Hobbes doesn't look to be active.

It may be time to look for a new custodian of this thread.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Thought I'd give it a try and see what happened if I posted.

[Sedgistan]

I've dropped him a TG; we'll see what the outcome of that is.

[Mathuvan Union]

With the exception of one post (2018) the thread hasn't been updated since 2015, and Hobbes doesn't look to be active.

It may be time to look for a new custodian of this thread.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Thought I'd give it a try and see what happened if I posted.

Your thing about issues was wrong, I’m pretty sure you can hold up to 5 issues before you don’t receive anymore.
Also, if you wanted the title changed to @@CAPITALgate@@ I doubt that would work because it breaks the macro that would show the capital of the country.
Also, if you’re gonna suggest Google Photos overs Picasa, that will confuse lots of new players, because I believe I saw on the mod forums once that Sedge said they had banned it and discord images. You should be suggesting Ibb.co.
I also have a super complicated method I use but it would confuse them entirely and make it pointless

[Comfed]

Just a suggestion for photo uploading software, I recommend postimages.org.

[Free Ravensburg]

WHEN'S SEASON 3 COMING OUT?!

[Drasnia]

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Thought I'd give it a try and see what happened if I posted.

Your thing about issues was wrong, I’m pretty sure you can hold up to 5 issues before you don’t receive anymore.

You are correct that you can hold a max of 5 issues, but the section specifically was how many new issues can you receive per day - which is 4.

Also, if you wanted the title changed to @@CAPITALgate@@ I doubt that would work because it breaks the macro that would show the capital of the country.

What? @@CAPITALGATE@@ is the name of both the chain and the first issue of the chain. I don't understand what you mean about the macro breaking.

Also, if you’re gonna suggest Google Photos overs Picasa, that will confuse lots of new players, because I believe I saw on the mod forums once that Sedge said they had banned it and discord images. You should be suggesting Ibb.co.

I was going for minimal edits when possible. I'm certain there are better suggestions than Google Photos, but I'm not super knowledgeable in that since I use exclusively imgur for image hosting.

[Boda]

WHEN'S SEASON 3 COMING OUT?!

Soon™ or whenever the admins wish to release it. Although, it's likely to be released in Nov-Dec altho this is just a guess.

[The New Nordic Union]

There used to be a thread in which one could propose new currency plurals to be added; not wanting to gravedig, where should I post another suggestion? Here? Open a new thread?

[Sedgistan]

Do you have a link to the thread in question?

[The New Nordic Union]

Do you have a link to the thread in question?

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=429211

This is the one I found.

[Sedgistan]

Thanks. I'd suggest posting a new thread in the Technical forum, but include a link to that old one so admins can see Violet's comments.