Gameplay Advice Thread - We're here to help!

[Bears Armed]

I’m new. How do I increase population?

In addition to what Dexterra said in the preceding post _
Nothing that you do, not even choosing Issue options that look as though they should affect this, changes the rate or causes a reduction.
There's a "Zombie Plague" mini-game that usually runs for a couple of days around Halloween, during which your population appears to get reduced, but it's re-set back to the "proper" level when that ends.

[Almonaster Nuevo]

I’m new. How do I increase population?
And also, how do I leave a region?

You leave a region by moving to a new one. Your nation is always in one and only one region, it's part of the game structure.

[Free City of Rigia]

I have a question:
Is there a way to see how long a nation has been inactive? I've been trying to track a certain nation, but the in-depth log of gov't activity doesn't load.

[Comfed]

I have a question:
Is there a way to see how long a nation has been inactive? I've been trying to track a certain nation, but the in-depth log of gov't activity doesn't load.

Nations stop gaining influence after seven days of inactivity. If said nation is in a UCR (influence is more complicated in feeders and sinkers) then the day their influence graph plateaued was 7 days after they last logged in.

[Free City of Rigia]

I have a question:
Is there a way to see how long a nation has been inactive? I've been trying to track a certain nation, but the in-depth log of gov't activity doesn't load.

Nations stop gaining influence after seven days of inactivity. If said nation is in a UCR (influence is more complicated in feeders and sinkers) then the day their influence graph plateaued was 7 days after they last logged in.

Thank you, that gets me the info I need. Now its sadly just waiting for another 22 days by the looks of it.

[Almonaster Nuevo]

There should also be a message on their nation page like this...

National Happenings

Most Recent Government Activity: 3 hours ago

I'm not sure if it gets updated if they log in and do nothing, though.

[Comfed]

There should also be a message on their nation page like this...

National Happenings

Most Recent Government Activity: 3 hours ago

I'm not sure if it gets updated if they log in and do nothing, though.

I have found that to be generally unreliable, so I think that's the case.

[United Calanworie]

There should also be a message on their nation page like this...


I'm not sure if it gets updated if they log in and do nothing, though.

I have found that to be generally unreliable, so I think that's the case.

There is a LASTLOGIN shard in the Nation API that will return a Unix timestamp for the last login time of that nation.

[Orlesian States]

I know this will probably be a stupid question; But, I've constantly lowered my economy over and over, to the point where my economy is now struggling.

Is it possible to raise my economy back up? Or will issue rng not really allow me to raise it? (ie not getting the right issue to obtain meaningful change/issue only marginally raises econ/issue lowers econ even futher)

[Comfed]

I know this will probably be a stupid question; But, I've constantly lowered my economy over and over, to the point where my economy is now struggling.

Is it possible to raise my economy back up? Or will issue rng not really allow me to raise it? (ie not getting the right issue to obtain meaningful change/issue only marginally raises econ/issue lowers econ even futher)

It's always possible to significantly improve your stats over time. The economy is a special example. PS2 has a good dispatch:
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1636939

[Orlesian States]

I know this will probably be a stupid question; But, I've constantly lowered my economy over and over, to the point where my economy is now struggling.

Is it possible to raise my economy back up? Or will issue rng not really allow me to raise it? (ie not getting the right issue to obtain meaningful change/issue only marginally raises econ/issue lowers econ even futher)

It's always possible to significantly improve your stats over time. The economy is a special example. PS2 has a good dispatch:
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1636939

Thanks for your reply! I should've figured this myself, but I felt a little dejected after having my economy fall over and over and over, although I kept making choices that I feel would be *right* for my nation based on rp things, I think it's time I just use that guide and start raising economy to simply raise it.

/skipme, help given

[New The Prika]

Joined for my sociology college class and I'm in a bit over my head. i hope to find more threads like this and learn from others and the more I play. any beginner's advice is appreciated.

[Piehu]

What effect does removing courts n lawyers have on a nation? Does it lower freedom n rights or adds to them while increasing crime? I've lowered crime in my nation quite a bit over the time I don't wanna increase it but I'm also quite curious about effect removing court would have since I already removed prison and that's worked out fine.

[Dia Palm]

hey I just started and was looking for some tips for starter players.

[Bears Armed]

hey I just started and was looking for some tips for starter players.

Tips for any particular aspect of the game?
Here's something that I've just put together...

Some Tips For New Players

Read, and follow, the basic rules.
Be polite. If people are rude to you, or about somebody or something that matters to you, do not respond in kind because that could earn you official 'Warnings': The Mods do not accept "but HE started it" as a justification for bad behaviour. If you think that their rudeness is actually bad enough to be actionable then report them in the Moderation forum, instead (but note that the Mods do not appreciate "frivolous" reports, and making too many of those can also get you warned).
Complaints to the Mods about matters in the game outside the forums should be made by 'Getting Help Request' rather than in the forum.
Remember that the Mods are unpaid volunteers, rather than paid staff, so do not expect immediate responses to posts in Moderation or to GHRs: Also, note that they do not accept Moderation requests & complaints by TG.

Check the stickied threads at the heads of the forum's various sections: These not only tell you what sorts of posts should go in those sections, they also contain advice on the relevant aspects of the game.

If you're writing a long post for the forums, or a factbook or dispatch, it's advisable to do that in Word or some such programme rather than directly in the game, because the game is likely to log you out automatically if you spend too long writing without doing anything else and if it does that before you've posted your work then any writing that exists only on this site will be lost.

If you want your nation to look less like a newbie's, and the default flag isn't especially relevant to your nation's theme anyway, get a customised flag instead: There are threads in this section of the forums where you can get advice on possible designs and ask for help in getting those designs made into flags for use.

When answering an Issue, read the small print of the options and consider carefully what they might do: Some are misleading at first sight. If in doubt, 'Dismiss'.

If answering Issues makes major unforeseen & unwanted changes to your nation, do not panic: All changes due to Issues can be reversed, by answering further issues, sooner or later, Note that effects on new nations are generally proportionately greater than effects (of the same choices) on older & therefore larger nations, and that as you approach either end of the scale progressing further becomes harder.

If you are in the W.A. then the passage of any G.A. resolution, even a 'Repeal' one, will also affect your nation's stats: These effects will be a bit greater than those for most Issue options, but not excessively so.

Do not try to start a new region unless you either (1) intend it to contain only your own nations, (2) have RL friends coming to join you in it, or (3) have been playing for long enough to make a name for yourself so that you have a chance of attracting some already-existing nations to it: Recruitment nowadays is very difficult otherwise. If you do found a region, set it up to keep 'executive authority' for the Founder and deny this to the Delegate, as a precaution against hostile takeovers (which otherwise are, alas, allowed by the game).
If you are in a region that could get invaded (i.e any one that has an executive Delegate, no matter how firmly the current one's hold on that position seems...) then it might be a good idea to keep backup copies of anything there that matters to you (e.g. regional flags, RMB posts, offsite forum urls; maybe even a copy of the current 'World Factbook' entry, & list of current embassies) stored offside as well in case the raiders delete the copies that are in the region itself.


Before becoming more deeply involved in any other aspect of the game, spend some time reading threads in the forum's relevant section to get a better idea of how that aspect works.

If you want to create new Issues, read the guidelines in a stickied thread at the top of the 'Got Issues?' section of the forums. Post drafts of your ideas in that forum too, one thread per potential Issue, so that you can get feedback from more experienced players and even from Issue Editors: This greatly improves your chances of getting those Issues accepted into the game.

If you want to create WA Resolutions, again start by reading the posted rules & guidelines in the relevant sections of the forums too, and post your drafts in those sections (one thread per proposal, generally) so that you can get feedback from more experienced players: This greatly improves your chances of getting those WA proposals ruled as legal & reaching a vote.

If your nation's football ('soccer') team is entering the NS World Cup's qualifiers for the first time, sign up for the preliminary 'Baptism of Fire' contest as well: You're still very unlikely to qualify for the World Cup itself on your first time out, but you can earn some 'KPB Points' that improve your team's chances of winning games in the qualifiers.

Posts in 'Forum 7' are not included in your official post-count, and inactive threads in that section of the forums are automatically deleted seven days after their last post.

Hr'rmm... I think that this is worth posting as a Dispatch, too, and will do so shortly.
EDIT: And have done so.. https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1756582

[Sangang]

I'm not new, but I do need help. Do you know how to mention factbooks in rmb messages?

[Comfed]

I'm not new, but I do need help. Do you know how to mention factbooks in rmb messages?

Just post a raw link to them in the message.

[Kingdom of Intermaria]

I'm not new, but I do need help. Do you know how to mention factbooks in rmb messages?

Hi! You can send an url of the dispatch, for example [url]nationstates/dispatch=[random id]/.com[/url]

[Verdant Field]

Does anyone know how to remove a policy? I accidentaly banned the internet and i want to unban it.

If you know how to remove a policy then please tell me.

[Jar Wattinree]

Does anyone know how to remove a policy? I accidentaly banned the internet and i want to unban it.

If you know how to remove a policy then please tell me.

You'll have to wait for an issue to come along to remove it. Usually one will come along in a day or seven that'll give you the opportunity to undo the ban.

[Verdant Field]

Does anyone know how to remove a policy? I accidentaly banned the internet and i want to unban it.

If you know how to remove a policy then please tell me.

You'll have to wait for an issue to come along to remove it. Usually one will come along in a day or seven that'll give you the opportunity to undo the ban.

Thank you, Very appreciated.

[Dexterra]

Does anyone know how to remove a policy? I accidentaly banned the internet and i want to unban it.

If you know how to remove a policy then please tell me.

If you would still like it, there's a list of issues that could remove that policy available here - best of luck

[Verdant Field]

Does anyone know how to remove a policy? I accidentaly banned the internet and i want to unban it.

If you know how to remove a policy then please tell me.

If you would still like it, there's a list of issues that could remove that policy available here - best of luck

Thanks, that will make it easier to remove the policy.

[Il Sonno della Ragione Genera Mostri]

Hello.
I just wanted to ask what affects mostly the "Social Policy" in government page.

The other ones are pretty simple to understand:
- Welfare is Welfare,
- Public Transport is Public Transport,
- Law & Order is Law Enforcement,
- Healthcare is Public Healthcare,
- Enviroment is Ecology,
- Education is Public Education,
- Defence is Defence,
- Foreign Aid is Foreign Aid,
- Industry should be mostly affected by Business Subsidization,
- Administration should be mostly affected by Government Size,
- Spirituality, I think there are some issues to unlock it and then if follows Spirituality,
- Social Policy ?

I'm not sure what increases or decreases the Social Policy area. Someone have ideas?

[Nevertopia]

How do I get an ending for the game?