Factbooks & National Information Consultation Thread

[Tiami]

This thread will serve as grounds to come together as a community to express opinions and desires for changes in the F&NI forum. This will encompass whether or not additional rules/guidelines should be implemented on certain topics, what can and cannot be posted in the forums, and any QoL of additions that are able to be implemented. As this is a public thread intended to community discussion, posts are expected to be made in good faith.

First addition:

Updated: October 21, 2025

1. Q&A threads will be substantive - threads will be locked if not.

• One thread per nation - you may have several Q&A threads for varying nations, but no more than one per nation.
• Responses should be thoughtful - remember that these threads are about developing lore.
• Three-word responses are not thoughtful - see next bullet.
• Be detailed - the idea is to expand lore, not just scratch the surface.
• OP should provide background and/or factbook - provide a link to lore if possible.
• No excessive bumping - it is liable to be actioned as spam per the F&NI general guidelines and the OSRS.
• Thread revivals may occur - significant time delay between revival and last post should be inquired about in moderation first.
• As they are lore-building threads, a month or two between post is not inherently gravedigging but ask (in moderation) if unsure.

2. Q&A threads are to be IC/lore-focused

• No OOC/Personal Q&A threads.
• The player asking questions does not need to ask in-character, but the question shall be about IC topics.
• The OP, when answering a question, does not need to answer in-character, but the answer should be related to the IC topic.
• Questions not adhering to the above can and will be actioned.

3. Moderation of F&NI

• The M/A team will be more proactive in moderating the F&NI forum.
• Coinciding with the above bullet, M/A will also be more active as players in the F&NI forum.
• These rules do not apply to Q&As in other forums.
• There will not be a discontinuation of the F&NI forum as a whole.

4. Expectations:

• To foster a closer-knit community.
• Improve player ability to construct lore.
• Develop a healthier RPing community.
• Emphasize community importance.

A few examples of Q&A threads that meet the guidelines, and at times, surpass the minimum requirement are linked below as example to players wishing to start their own Q&A thread:

Norlandic Inquiry [Norlanda & Royal House Q&A]
Greater Deutsche's Q&A
Ask TheHouseOfSilly
Indian Empire Q&A

The M/A team is looking for player feedback on the state of Factbooks & National Incident forum and its future. When the forum was originally created, it was used to host factbooks that contained detailed information about a player's nation... their IC canon and lore. Since the launch of the Factbooks feature in 2012 and then its expansion with Dispatches in 2014, players have gradually migrated away from hosting their factbooks on F&NI. Factbooks hosted on a nation are notable in that they allow for more customization than the archaic BBCode used on our forums. They are also far more prominent and appealing nowadays.

There are long-running worldbuilding advice threads in the forum, some of which are valuable prompts to help players develop their vision of their nation. Amongst these threads is the long-running military realism/worldbuilding series, which has had some culture challenges over the years that required Moderator intervention, and which still often veers into lengthy discussions of RL and historical military matters without a tie to NationStates roleplaying. Other threads, such as election threads and news threads offer a chance to create valuable lore for player nations.

Factbooks and National Information has always hosted "__ in your nation" threads (YN threads), though these can sometimes drift towards very brief responses; however, they can be beneficial for new players to help consider aspects of worldbuilding they would not otherwise have thought of. These threads can also be positive in that they are enticing to newer players who are looking for an avenue to participate in F&NI.

However, there has recently been a spate of Q&A threads being posted about player nations. While some of these are certainly detailed and have quality discussion regarding a player's nation and their roleplay details, many of these threads often devolve into chats around the player's real-life situations and political beliefs, or just general chatting. These are not appropriate for a roleplay forum and need to be addressed.

While moderation could simply remove these threads by locking them or relocating them to Forum 7, we also want to hear the opinions of the players on how to best approach Q&A threads. We also want to discuss the overall future of the F&NI forum, as we are unsure of whether a dedicated forum for something (Factbook and Dispatches) that is now an in-game feature is beneficial to retain given that its original purpose is no longer being fully fulfilled.

We are keen to emphasize that we do want to continue to host threads that support players when it comes to worldbuilding. There are certainly still positives in the F&NI thread, but there are issues that need to be discussed with the community as have been stated above. The goal is to find the best avenue that promotes positive development of a player's roleplay aspects.

We have not made any decisions yet and we want player feedback on the current state of F&NI and its future moving forward before we consider the next steps.

[Cessarea]

I have a Q&A thread setup myself, and overall I don't think it does any harm so long as these are used sparingly and with thoughtful questions and replies given. Effort makes this sort of thread work.

Obviously, this effort has not been found everywhere.

I'd personally prefer that M/A feel more at ease to intervene in Q&A threads and loom/delete replies/warn users that veer into General chatter. I understand though that this may not be feasible, and if so, would not mourn the loss of Q&A threads, the benefit of which are dubious even for notorious NS players and nations. Ban them if you must, I don't think many people will care.

That's my two cents as a mildly involved F&NI user (I should get back to using this place more often - I have quite a few dispatches I need to make).

[Terra da Cinza]

I believe the subforum would benefit from hosting factbook and dispatch-related threads that feature some manner of interaction between players as was more common in the past, as opposed to being near-exclusively confined to Forum 7.

I also believe that when it comes to Q&A threads, those limited in scope to discussing and answering questions regarding factbooks and dispatches align well with the purpose of the subforum, while those that don't ought to be exiled into the glorified waste container that is general, if not outright pruned.

[Ileoc]

I think that, if possible, a new subforum in either F7 or N&IR should be created for Q&As.

[The Neighland State]

I would oppose making Q&A or X in Your Nation threads part of F7 insofar as they are a legitimate tool for worldbuilding; that move would mean they do not increase post count, which would definitely seem unfair for those who do put effort in their posts (in a forum where the paradigm is “goofing off”) and would thus discourage the collaborative worldbuilding that makes F&NI so useful to me.

(I’m personally not a big fan of factbooks because they encourage a top-down and insular approach to worldbuilding, when nations in real life are formed from interaction with other individuals and nations.)

Short of those steps I find draconian, I fear that the problem of OOC/general discussion in Q&A threads is intractable. Many people do play their nations as at least partially reflecting their own ideals, so it’s no wonder the line between the actor and the role gets blurred. Weeding out the “chats” understandably would take more work than the mods would care to devote to.

The best thing I can think of to discourage OOC/general discussion in Q&A threads is to require the OP to present itself as an actual, IC government agency tasked with answering questions, locking it if they don’t comply and reopening it if the player sends a telegram to the mod that locked it that reformats the post. However, that might not exactly fix the actor-role line problem I mentioned earlier, nor stop replies from being fundamentally OOC.

[Equestria 1002]

A lot of newer players don't even know that there was a time before On-Site Factbooks were a thing.

I think that, if possible, a new subforum in either F7 or N&IR should be created for Q&As.

I agree with this. There is clearly a demand for this type of thread, but they've kind of just been spread around everywhere.

And I think "X in Your Nation" threads should be more supported.

[Indian Empire]

One thing I'll say as someone who posts here somewhat regularly, is that my favorite kind of threads are "[X] in your nation" threads and the survey/index threads. I'd love to see more of those. The Q&A threads need to be better handled in my view. They populate this forum quite substantially, yes, but they're all broadly the same flavor, just for different nations.

Some other ideas or suggestions that cross the mind:

-A "resources" section to the Miscellaneous Worldbuilding Thread: Not just things like surveys, but things like name generators, avatar creators, things that will help people develop more complex worldbuilding.
-A "worldbuilding assistance thread": as someone who worldbuilds, I occasionally like to have people review my ideas, provide suggestions, or collaborate my characters between countries (ie, I may have a character from one nation in mine and vice versa)- a thread like this would further bolster that opportunity in my view.
- Sort the Q&A threads, please. They're broadly the same flavor, they should be categorized together in some way- either a centralized thread or a subforum of some sort.

[Washington-Columbia]

The Q&As should be placed in a subforum of F&NI, kinda like Cards Against NationStates.

[Dacarbatia]

The Q&As should be placed in a subforum of F&NI, kinda like Cards Against NationStates.

To be honest, that seems like a very great idea, but we still need a lot of subforums for F&NI and others because of the lack of actual subforums iun some forums. A Q&A Subforum will still change the rest of F&NI forever.

[Dexterra]

Forums evolve over time. Just because F&NI's original purpose is no longer being fully fulfilled doesn't mean its future should come into question.

F&NI has been a good home to my National Animal Zoo and National Flag Gallery threads for over three years now, along with other listicles such as the National Currency Database, the List of National Capitals, the List of National Sports and more. It's also home to embassy threads, in YN threads, national surveys and advice threads, as the OP notes. Me and countless other people have put years of work into F&NI threads that help with worldbuilding, lore and other national and international roleplaying. It would be a damn shame for all that hard work to suddenly go away. I think F&NI is one of the most important subforums in N&I roleplaying because it has a unique, distinct community full of dedicated roleplayers who have put a lot of hard work into their roleplays.

If you're worried about spammy Q&A threads, I'm fine with either moving them to F7 or M&A cracking down on the Q&As that devolve into chat threads. But Q&As can be a useful tool for worldbuilding and lore, I want to note.

At the very least, something happening to F&NI as a whole would be a step too far. Too many people have put too much work into this community that is beneficial for worldbuilding and lore. I don't know what I'd do if two projects I've been working on for three years were suddenly shut down.

[Tiami]

I appreciate the feedback that has been given so far and will be bringing up these suggestions to my colleagues as well.

To touch on: Q&A Threads. It seems that the general consensus (as of right now, or more intervention) is that they're useful for establishing lore. The main concern is that these threads often devolve into pointless chatter not pertaining to worldbuilding. Would the community like to see guidelines/rules put in place that outline what Q&A threads can and cannot entail (with appropriate enforcement)? And if so, what would the community suggest?

I would oppose making Q&A or X in Your Nation threads part of F7 insofar as they are a legitimate tool for worldbuilding; that move would mean they do not increase post count, which would definitely seem unfair for those who do put effort in their posts (in a forum where the paradigm is “goofing off”) and would thus discourage the collaborative worldbuilding that makes F&NI so useful to me.

(I’m personally not a big fan of factbooks because they encourage a top-down and insular approach to worldbuilding, when nations in real life are formed from interaction with other individuals and nations.)

Short of those steps I find draconian, I fear that the problem of OOC/general discussion in Q&A threads is intractable. Many people do play their nations as at least partially reflecting their own ideals, so it’s no wonder the line between the actor and the role gets blurred. Weeding out the “chats” understandably would take more work than the mods would care to devote to.

The best thing I can think of to discourage OOC/general discussion in Q&A threads is to require the OP to present itself as an actual, IC government agency tasked with answering questions, locking it if they don’t comply and reopening it if the player sends a telegram to the mod that locked it that reformats the post. However, that might not exactly fix the actor-role line problem I mentioned earlier, nor stop replies from being fundamentally OOC.

See the above response prior to my quote of yours.
F&NI has also been used historically for OOC worldbuilding (YN threads and such) . Making Q&A threads strictly as a government agency is not something that would or should be readily considered.

I think that, if possible, a new subforum in either F7 or N&IR should be created for Q&As.

I will note that the M/A team is very resistant to adding new forums - this largely stems from if we have dedicated forums for every niche interest, there'd be a lot of them and that makes it more difficult to maintain and monitor. There has to be a compelling reason for any new forum to be added. If you could expand on your opinion and provide a reason as to why, I would appreciate that and will relay it back with my colleagues as well as do my best to answer.

One thing I'll say as someone who posts here somewhat regularly, is that my favorite kind of threads are "[X] in your nation" threads and the survey/index threads. I'd love to see more of those. The Q&A threads need to be better handled in my view. They populate this forum quite substantially, yes, but they're all broadly the same flavor, just for different nations.

Some other ideas or suggestions that cross the mind:

-A "resources" section to the Miscellaneous Worldbuilding Thread: Not just things like surveys, but things like name generators, avatar creators, things that will help people develop more complex worldbuilding.
-A "worldbuilding assistance thread": as someone who worldbuilds, I occasionally like to have people review my ideas, provide suggestions, or collaborate my characters between countries (ie, I may have a character from one nation in mine and vice versa)- a thread like this would further bolster that opportunity in my view.
- Sort the Q&A threads, please. They're broadly the same flavor, they should be categorized together in some way- either a centralized thread or a subforum of some sort.

I appreciate your ideas and will pass them along to my colleagues. I will note that we do have the General Help Thread, though it is woefully underused at this point. The thread itself would act as an assistance thread, but I see that a separate thread for strictly worldbuilding review as something worth considering and acting upon. Adding in a set amount of guidelines pertaining to Q&A threads is something to be considered. What sort of rules would you suggest for these types of threads?

The Q&As should be placed in a subforum of F&NI, kinda like Cards Against NationStates.

To be honest, that seems like a very great idea, but we still need a lot of subforums for F&NI and others because of the lack of actual subforums iun some forums. A Q&A Subforum will still change the rest of F&NI forever.

See my response above pertaining to adding additional forums.

Forums evolve over time. Just because F&NI's original purpose is no longer being fully fulfilled doesn't mean its future should come into question.

F&NI has been a good home to my National Animal Zoo and National Flag Gallery threads for over three years now, along with other listicles such as the National Currency Database, the List of National Capitals, the List of National Sports and more. It's also home to embassy threads, in YN threads, national surveys and advice threads, as the OP notes. Me and countless other people have put years of work into F&NI threads that help with worldbuilding, lore and other national and international roleplaying. It would be a damn shame for all that hard work to suddenly go away. I think F&NI is one of the most important subforums in N&I roleplaying because it has a unique, distinct community full of dedicated roleplayers who have put a lot of hard work into their roleplays.

If you're worried about spammy Q&A threads, I'm fine with either moving them to F7 or M&A cracking down on the Q&As that devolve into chat threads. But Q&As can be a useful tool for worldbuilding and lore, I want to note.

At the very least, something happening to F&NI as a whole would be a step too far. Too many people have put too much work into this community that is beneficial for worldbuilding and lore. I don't know what I'd do if two projects I've been working on for three years were suddenly shut down.

I would like to note that the intention is not to shut down F&NI, but rather that is an option. We're not looking to eradicate years of effort - it would be inconsiderate and outright disrespectful to the time and effort players have put into NS and their worldbuilding. My personal opinion is that we should all be working together to breathe new life into F&NI. That is something the community needs to come together to do. Such is the purpose of this thread as well.

A lot of newer players don't even know that there was a time before On-Site Factbooks were a thing.

I think that, if possible, a new subforum in either F7 or N&IR should be created for Q&As.

I agree with this. There is clearly a demand for this type of thread, but they've kind of just been spread around everywhere.

And I think "X in Your Nation" threads should be more supported.

How do you suggest these threads can be better supported?
I want to make clear, that as a RPer myself, we are aware of the many long-running worldbuilding threads. They are integral to the subforum and to the many countless players that have used the forums over the years. The intention is not to axe these threads. The intention is to rectify threads like the Q&As so that they better reflect what F&NI stands for.

Edits made: corrected typos.

[Ileoc]

I think that, if possible, a new subforum in either F7 or N&IR should be created for Q&As.

I will note that the M/A team is very resistant to adding new forums - this largely stems from if we have dedicated forums for every niche interest, there'd be a lot of them and that makes it more difficult to maintain and monitor. There has to be a compelling reason for any new forum to be added. If you could expand on your opinion and provide a reason as to why, I would appreciate that and will relay it back with my colleagues as well as do my best to answer.

Firstly, I wouldn't say that Q&A's are niche. I'd say most regular F7ers and RPers have them. Anyways, a new subforum would be pretty nice because of one very simple reason: clutter. Looking at the first few pages of F&NI and F7, a good chunk of them are Q&A's. Creating a new subforum for Q&A's would give more spaces for other lore-related threads or F7 games on the front page, therefore leading to more meaningful discussion around lore or fun games.

[Equestria 1002]

If you're worried about spammy Q&A threads, I'm fine with either moving them to F7

As mostly a Forum 7 user, I don't want our section to be used as a dumping ground. And many other users there would agree with me.

And I think "X in Your Nation" threads should be more supported.

How do you suggest these threads can be better supported?
I want to make clear, that as a RPer myself, we are aware of the many long-running worldbuilding threads.

I really don't know. I just vaguely remember them being more common in the distant past, and then being mostly shut down.
For context, I don't remember the name, but my first nation would have been c. 2011.

Firstly, I wouldn't say that Q&A's are niche. I'd say most regular F7ers and RPers have them.

This.

[Indian Empire]

I appreciate the feedback that has been given so far and will be bringing up these suggestions to my colleagues as well.

One thing I'll say as someone who posts here somewhat regularly, is that my favorite kind of threads are "[X] in your nation" threads and the survey/index threads. I'd love to see more of those. The Q&A threads need to be better handled in my view. They populate this forum quite substantially, yes, but they're all broadly the same flavor, just for different nations.

Some other ideas or suggestions that cross the mind:

-A "resources" section to the Miscellaneous Worldbuilding Thread: Not just things like surveys, but things like name generators, avatar creators, things that will help people develop more complex worldbuilding.
-A "worldbuilding assistance thread": as someone who worldbuilds, I occasionally like to have people review my ideas, provide suggestions, or collaborate my characters between countries (ie, I may have a character from one nation in mine and vice versa)- a thread like this would further bolster that opportunity in my view.
- Sort the Q&A threads, please. They're broadly the same flavor, they should be categorized together in some way- either a centralized thread or a subforum of some sort.

I appreciate your ideas and will pass them along to my colleagues. I will note that we do have the General Help Thread, though it is woefully underused at this point. The thread itself would act as an assistance thread, but I see that a separate thread for strictly worldbuilding review as something worth considering and acting upon. Adding in a set amount of guidelines pertaining to Q&A threads is something to be considered. What sort of rules would you suggest for these types of threads?

I'd say a good set of rules for Q&A threads would have at least the below:

- IC discussion only: some people, I notice, allow for questions about the user in these threads; I don't think F&NI is the correct place for that.
- Link your lore: I notice sometimes there's not much lore a nation has when doing a Q&A thread. I think not linking the lore is part of what leads to these threads occasionally drifting OOC. Requiring the nation's lore to be linked in the OP (either a set of detailed factbooks, an offsite page or site they compile it in, a factbook thread, etc) should make for a clearer discussion point. It should be up to what the team decides together is "enough" linked/associated lore for a Q&A thread, but there needs to be some standard that is clearly written out and articulated in the rules.
- OP standards: I think maybe an OP standard for Q&A threads, similar to NSG and for "[x] in your nation" could also be a potential positive. It could either be a very brief overview of your nation in a few sentences, some details on what lore you have fleshed out vs not, etc.

[The Saucer Pilots]

I'd say a good set of rules for Q&A threads would have at least the below:

- IC discussion only: some people, I notice, allow for questions about the user in these threads; I don't think F&NI is the correct place for that.
- Link your lore: I notice sometimes there's not much lore a nation has when doing a Q&A thread. I think not linking the lore is part of what leads to these threads occasionally drifting OOC. Requiring the nation's lore to be linked in the OP (either a set of detailed factbooks, an offsite page or site they compile it in, a factbook thread, etc) should make for a clearer discussion point. It should be up to what the team decides together is "enough" linked/associated lore for a Q&A thread, but there needs to be some standard that is clearly written out and articulated in the rules.
- OP standards: I think maybe an OP standard for Q&A threads, similar to NSG and for "[x] in your nation" could also be a potential positive. It could either be a very brief overview of your nation in a few sentences, some details on what lore you have fleshed out vs not, etc.

I think this is a good start. My own Q&A has turned into an eclectic mix of In-Universe related questions and the relevant discussions along with occasionally idle chat; I admittingly was very scant with the introduction and deviated from my own IC-only policy very early on. A set of guidelines may help differentiate Q&As from the once trendy AMAs that were dumped onto F7 a while back.

[The Neighland State]

See the above response prior to my quote of yours.
F&NI has historically been an OOC for IC worldbuilding. Making Q&A threads strictly as a government agency is not something that would or should be readily considered.

I don't quite understand this. If F&NI were strictly for OOC worldbuilding, then embassy threads, which are inherently IC, would have been moved to the NationStates forum long ago.

But perhaps that is a direction you want to take?

[Tiami]

I appreciate the feedback that has been given so far and will be bringing up these suggestions to my colleagues as well.


I appreciate your ideas and will pass them along to my colleagues. I will note that we do have the General Help Thread, though it is woefully underused at this point. The thread itself would act as an assistance thread, but I see that a separate thread for strictly worldbuilding review as something worth considering and acting upon. Adding in a set amount of guidelines pertaining to Q&A threads is something to be considered. What sort of rules would you suggest for these types of threads?

I'd say a good set of rules for Q&A threads would have at least the below:

- IC discussion only: some people, I notice, allow for questions about the user in these threads; I don't think F&NI is the correct place for that.
- Link your lore: I notice sometimes there's not much lore a nation has when doing a Q&A thread. I think not linking the lore is part of what leads to these threads occasionally drifting OOC. Requiring the nation's lore to be linked in the OP (either a set of detailed factbooks, an offsite page or site they compile it in, a factbook thread, etc) should make for a clearer discussion point. It should be up to what the team decides together is "enough" linked/associated lore for a Q&A thread, but there needs to be some standard that is clearly written out and articulated in the rules.
- OP standards: I think maybe an OP standard for Q&A threads, similar to NSG and for "[x] in your nation" could also be a potential positive. It could either be a very brief overview of your nation in a few sentences, some details on what lore you have fleshed out vs not, etc.

I appreciate you feedback. I'll be sending this on the way to my colleagues for internal discussion.

I will note on your second point, it could be something that does not quite work. A lot of Q&A threads can and do ask questions about a player's lore that the play might not originally have thought of. This is a secondary purpose of the Q&A - establishing lore. One such example could be one user asking about a player's license plate layout or their general architectural layout of cities. While there are certainly many players who have established these, many have not. While many players would consider this question trivial, it still builds on lore that could potentially be important. Your first point, though, helps tie the second in somewhat. Keeping it strictly about the nation and its potential and current lore, is what I believe we are striving for - F&NI is for building lore, not asking about a player's pet and so on.

Your third point:

This is definitely worth discussing. Adding an outline on what the OP should contain and be about is important. These outlines could be added here. Specifically, where it states "Substantive question and answer threads."

See the above response prior to my quote of yours.
F&NI has historically been an OOC for IC worldbuilding. Making Q&A threads strictly as a government agency is not something that would or should be readily considered.

I don't quite understand this. If F&NI were strictly for OOC worldbuilding, then embassy threads, which are inherently IC, would have been moved to the NationStates forum long ago.

But perhaps that is a direction you want to take?

I made an edit to better clarify my intent. Apologies, I missed some typos - these have been rectified as well.

I want to be clear: my statements are not meant to imply that F&NI is strictly OOC - this has never been the case, nor in the case of how I have approached and utilized the subforum for 15 years. There are several threads, such as the news threads that showcase In-character responses, whereas regional application threads are most often OOC in nature. The direction being considered is what is laid out in the OP.

If you're worried about spammy Q&A threads, I'm fine with either moving them to F7

As mostly a Forum 7 user, I don't want our section to be used as a dumping ground. And many other users there would agree with me.

This is also very true and a valid concern. Forum 7 is its own environment; however, if allowing Q&A threads that do veer off-topic quite frequently in F&NI, then are we properly utilizing this subforum? No. A more proactive presence by myself and my colleagues would certainly help, but having a set of guidelines for F&NI Q&A threads would be ideal for many in the community I believe as well.

[Luziyca]

As someone who used these forums to post their factbooks years ago before moving to offsite methods of having factbooks and who still has somewhat of a connection with the roleplaying community (by virtue of being in a closed-world region that uses these forums for our roleplays), I do not think that it is a good idea to get rid of the forum entirely even if not a lot of people post factbooks on the forums these days: there is still plenty of information that is being posted about people's nations on there, even if much of them are either in worldbuilding Q&A threads or in "ask our nation anything, and it is a good place for embassy threads or national news threads to be stored in. And if we factor in the forthcoming forum rework which is supposed to integrate gameside and forumside more effectively, perhaps it may be possible to have F&NI be where you can find the factbooks of every nation on the forums and bring F&NI back to what it once was, which would make any shuttering of F&NI a shortsighted idea.

That being said, I have been seeing a proliferation of Q&A threads, and this is not the first time that this has happened: back in the late 2000s/early 2010s when I was getting started on this site, there were so many Q&A threads that the mods had to prohibit standalone Q&A threads and require them to be attached to a factbook, only for that to be overturned sometime in the mid-2010s. Perhaps it may be time to dust off the ban on standalone Q&A threads and require them to be attached to a factbook for your garden variety "ask us anything about our nation" threads.

[The United Baltic Kingdoms]

For me, nations have a dark past, and there is a lack of what you can do with that, like dark issues such as genocide should be defined more. The concept that many have in their factbooks, yes, it's a grim topic, but at the same time, dark things happen. By no means should genocide be considered glorified, but a better portrayal of what you can write about and what you can't. What can a nation do in factbooks that are considered to be dark? I think a definition of Genocide, and topics such as segregation and racism, should be defined better. All the rules are kinda up to the faith of the OP, with many of the rules being about Nazism, which leads to an unclear definition for many rules.

Yes, glorification is wrong, but what determines glorification? Can the nation say it doesn't exist? Although it has, at the same time, Holocaust denial is considered a big no-no here. But can a nation glorify and support it during it and later change its stance? If so, would this be sufficient for the OP to do this? Also, how dark can it go? There have been times when there is no real frame to stop these definitions. Like what a factbook can say, factbooks need a new definition of rules, in my opinion, for what they can include, not because they're weak, but because they have no real line.

Like genocide is wrong, but with factbooks, you can say they happened. But what can you say? An OP may think that how they wrote it is fine, but moderation may not hold the same sentiment on the matter. It all comes down to what the moderators think and the line of what is and isn't, it would be way better for the community to know and have a clear concept. Factbooks should be given a lot of leeway with what they can do, but they can also be misused in this way if you do. There is a lot that makes a nation have an intriguing history. But there should be a caution for factbooks; they should have a warning like a spoiler explaining what they will contain. These topics should tell people, hey, this will dive into genocide. Of course, by no means should they include horrible acts of non-consensual sexual acts at any point. Which doesn't include stripping one, but that of sexual acts, as those have no place in the factbook.

Prosecution is a really gray area and needs more defining rules, and what people can compose on this site should be fair for one's creativity, but also understanding of people and what they may see. I think that much gray area, such as genocide, should have a spoiler that grays out the factbook and say Warning, this factbook contains the following. The options should be a few topics that the user can choose, so uncomfortable readers will know what they're in for and be able to prepare for the horrible things that factbook may entail. This doesn't just apply to things such as genocide, but as a whole.

I think that creativity should be allowed, but those who make have a responsibility to know what they are allowed to do, and a more transparent set of rules should be in place.

[Equestria 1002]

As mostly a Forum 7 user, I don't want our section to be used as a dumping ground. And many other users there would agree with me.

This is also very true and a valid concern. Forum 7 is its own environment; however, if allowing Q&A threads that do veer off-topic quite frequently in F&NI, then are we properly utilizing this subforum? No. A more proactive presence by myself and my colleagues would certainly help, but having a set of guidelines for F&NI Q&A threads would be ideal for many in the community I believe as well.

This is exactly why I still think giving them their own section would be the best option. There is clearly a demand for Q&A threads, and they don't really match what any of the current sections are for.

[Dexterra]

To touch on: Q&A Threads. It seems that the general consensus (as of right now, or more intervention) is that they're useful for establishing lore. The main concern is that these threads often devolve into pointless chatter not pertaining to worldbuilding. Would the community like to see guidelines/rules put in place that outline what Q&A threads can and cannot entail (with appropriate enforcement)? And if so, what would the community suggest?

I think some guidelines would be a good idea to strengthen the worldbuilding and lore aspects of Q&A threads. A few ideas I have for possible guidelines:

1. Questions and answers must pertain to worldbuilding, lore and national and international roleplaying
2. One Q&A thread per user
3. Questions and answers must be in character

I would like to note that the intention is not to shut down F&NI, but rather that is an option.

That should not be an option

[Luziyca]

To touch on: Q&A Threads. It seems that the general consensus (as of right now, or more intervention) is that they're useful for establishing lore. The main concern is that these threads often devolve into pointless chatter not pertaining to worldbuilding. Would the community like to see guidelines/rules put in place that outline what Q&A threads can and cannot entail (with appropriate enforcement)? And if so, what would the community suggest?

I think some guidelines would be a good idea to strengthen the worldbuilding and lore aspects of Q&A threads. A few ideas I have for possible guidelines:

1. Questions and answers must pertain to worldbuilding, lore and national and international roleplaying
2. One Q&A thread per user
3. Questions and answers must be in character

1 and 3 are both great ideas to combat the proliferation of Q&A threads on F&NI.

I'm not sure how workable 2 would be, since if we only allow users to have one Q&A thread, then it'd add a bit of work for the mods, especially to a team that seems to have been a bit depleted in recent months, as they would have to judge whether or not this Q&A thread is posted by an actual user or by a puppet of some bloke. 2 would be decent if it's just "one Q&A thread per nation" to save the headache on the part of mods, though if a nation undergoes dramatic lore changes, this may pose a bit of a problem.

I would like to note that the intention is not to shut down F&NI, but rather that is an option.

That should not be an option

I completely agree with you.

[Rhodevus]

I've been posting on F&NI fairly often for the last too many years, and I still see a lot of use in this subforum. It's a unique place that is different from all the other roleplay/nation-building subforums available. I'd divide the National and International forum subforums into thee main groups:

1. The Roleplay Subforums: International Incidents and Nationstates are the roleplay forums. Whether it be action, intrigue, or anything else that is roleplay related to our NS nations, these two subforums embody all the real roleplaying that goes on.
2. The Specific Subforums: NS Sport and Global Economics & Trade are what I like to call the specific subforums. They have very specific focuses, being sports and sporting events, and trade, including stores. It's unique in that it is less roleplay than the two 'roleplay forums', but interesting in their own right.
3. Factbooks and National Information: I consider this to be its own group. While the other subforums are at least in part, roleplay related, F&NI is the only one where threads can be completely out of character, but used to help flesh out the in-character world. It's where so many people can go to ask questions about their nation, or answer questions given by others that they may never have thought of on their own.

This subforum is filled with so many interesting threads that are not possible in other subforums. While there is less in the way of factbooks now than their used to be, the National Information part has expanded so much since I started playing on nationstates.

During this time, there has been waves of different thread types. Q&A threads are just the latest fad of posts, because they let a person have others ask them questions about their nation or themselves or their worldbuilding directly, and have all the answers in one place, rather than spread around across dozens or more threads. I have a failed Q&A thread as well, having jumped on the bandwagon, and that's how I've been seeing them used. Do I think Q&A threads should be banned? No, I honestly don't. I think they have a place here in F&NI, even if it a short-lived fad. Even if they remain, Q&As are still very much a way to accumulate questions and answers related to your worldbuilding.

What I do have a problem with is low quality Q&A (and other!) posts. I think that these threads' opening posts should be as detailed as anywhere else. Have opening post rules across all threads and all forums, regardless of type. Opening posts should be a couple sentences minimum, otherwise the thread is removed. I'm not sure what a good list of rules would be and would leave that to the people in charge.

One other recommendation I would have for Q&A threads is limiting the number of times they can be bumped in a row. I've seen Q&A threads where the poster bumps the threads a minimum once a day, every day, for a while, all without receiving a single question from others. If a Q&A thread has a full page of bumps and no content at all, let it be deleted. Or at least have the poster told to knock it off or create a better opening post.

[Tiami]

I wanted to update everyone that I have seen the last several posts and will be working to compile a list of everyone's suggestions for further discussion both here and internally with my colleagues. I also wanted to express my thanks to everyone that has responded thus far and will have in future posts. I also want to empaize that this thread is for all ideas for improving on F&NI that anyone has and wishes to discuss amongst one another as well.

[Swith Witherward]

A very old, crunchy opinion that seems to have dog fur and dead spiders stuck to it:

The forum goodies are a gift, not a right. The onus to keep them (as they are meant to be) falls on our shoulders as players. F7 is nice, but so is Discord and a host of other places where players can squirrel around with one liner BS and OCC chat.

Yes, we have nifty tools we can use to define our nation. However, having that detailed dossier on the forum makes more sense for those that wish to RP on the forums.

I remember threads like "Military Ground Vehicles of Your Nation [NO MECHS]". It was chatty, but it helped new players. It served a good purpose.

I have always wondered why the nation forums don't have an F7 equivalent. Same basic concept. Same rules apply. Threads vanish after a period of time unless they serve a purpose. When it hits 500 pages, the OP can request a lock, thus it tumbles into the place where all pertinent F7 stuff gets saved. (Yeah, I've been gone a while, so I am no longer familiar with the current F7 ebb and flow. I'm sorry about that.)

Well, that's my 2¢. I'm dragging my ancient butt back to bed.