- Proposal Basics: Proposals must be written as laws, not commentaries, editorials, etc.
- Originality: Proposals cannot contradict or duplicate active resolutions. Ideally, proposals will present unique ideas.
- Contradiction: If a nation or region has been commended, a condemnation proposal cannot use the same reasons used in the commendations without providing additional details as to why the actions are actually worthy of a condemnation. The same goes for the reverse situation in which a nation/region is condemned and a commendation is proposed.
- Duplication: Nominees can be commended, condemned, or liberated multiple times - so long as the proposals are based on different sets of actions. If the commendation/condemnation/liberation uses similar behavior as the first, it must explain what's different about it now that means that it warrants another commendation/condemnation/liberation.
- Contradiction: If a nation or region has been commended, a condemnation proposal cannot use the same reasons used in the commendations without providing additional details as to why the actions are actually worthy of a condemnation. The same goes for the reverse situation in which a nation/region is condemned and a commendation is proposed.
- Purpose: Commendations/Condemnation can only commend/condemn the nominee, Liberations can only liberate the targeted region, and Repeals can only repeal the targeted resolution. For example, proposals cannot impose fines, sanctions or a boycott on a condemned nation.
- Category: Proposals must be submitted under the appropriate category. A proposal submitted as a condemnation for a region can't also seek to liberate that region.
- Operative Clause: Proposals must contain an operative clause stating what the proposal actually does, e.g. commends, condemns, liberates, or repeals.
- Operative clauses must contain the full name of the nominee. For example, "Hereby Commends Sedgistan" is legal whereas "Hereby Commends Sedge" is not.
- Viewpoint: Your proposal must read as representing the opinion of the World Assembly, and as targeting a nation or region.
- Proposals should not refer to the personal characteristics of the player behind the nation ("good roleplayer" "always rude" "bad speller") but to NationStates actions.
- Proposals cannot use pronouns such as ‘I’ or ‘we’ but can use personal pronouns to refer to characters from the nominee, such as a nation’s Leader or World Assembly Ambassador.
- Venue: The Security Council is not an alternative to reporting rule-breaking behavior. Alleged misconduct should be reported to the site Moderators via filing a Getting Help Request.
- Acknowledging actions that led to Moderator intervention is allowed.
- Language: Proposals must use understandable English. Conventional legalese and Latin terms are acceptable within reason. Proposals written in incomprehensible English or a foreign language will be deleted.
- Branding: Proposals can list up to three co-authors so long as the co-authors substantively helped with the proposal. Advertising is strictly prohibited.
- Using a group nation e.g. ‘The North Pacific WA Committee’ to acknowledge a large collaborative project is allowed.
- Repeal Basics: Resolutions are not written in stone.
- Amendments: Proposals cannot amend existing resolutions because the game's coding does not allow for it. To introduce new legislation, the active resolution must be repealed.
- Repeals: Repeals can only be submitted by clicking the repeal link at the foot of the target resolution. Repeals submitted using anything but the repeal function are automatically removed. Repeals should address the contents of the resolution it's targeting, and not just state the reverse of the arguments given in the resolution.
- Small inaccuracies ('Honest Mistakes') and rules violations in the target resolution are not acceptable reasons for a repeal.
- Meta-Gaming: There are aspects of gameplay and the game itself that cannot be legislated on, either because it requires changes to the game’s code or it breaks the 'fourth wall'.
- Game Mechanics: Proposals can not affect any aspect of how the game works. This includes and is not limited to mandating ejection of nations from liberated regions or forcing a condemned nation/region to change their behavior. Suggestions for improving or modifying gameplay can be posted in the Technical forum.
- 'Fourth Wall': Proposals cannot reference anything outside the world of Nations or use language that implies that NationStates is a game. Most in-game terms are acceptable, but a few can only be reasonably interpreted as game mechanics e.g. "Game-Created Region", "User-Created Region", or the "Issues Player" region tag.
- Site Staff: Members of the site staff (Moderators, Administrators, Issues Editors, Roleplay Mentors etc.) cannot be commended/condemned for actions taken as part of their role.
- General Assembly Secretariat members can be commended/condemned for their passed resolutions and advice given to other authors but not for deciding the legality of General Assembly proposals.
- Issue Editors can be commended/condemned for issues published before becoming an editor or submitted after leaving the editorial staff but not for editing or writing issues while an editor.
- Roleplay Mentors may be commended/condemned for actions committed during roleplay but not for mentoring other players while a Roleplay Mentor.
- Admins can be commended/condemned for tools created independent of their role as site admin, but not for improvements made to the NationStates site.
- REMINDER: Proposals must comply with the site's general One Stop Rules Shop
- Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the theft of another person's work. If a player wishes to submit another person's proposal, explicit permission must be obtained and submitted either through the Getting Help page or Moderation so we have a paper trail. If not, the offender is ejected and the proposal is deleted.
Responses to Violations
Penalties
- Proposal Removal: When a proposal is removed for any of the above violations, the player will be notified via the Moderator Status line on the proposal page. For egregious violations, a Voice of Mod telegram may be sent to the author.
- Ejection: A player who has repeated submission of illegal proposals will result in removal from the WA. The exception to this is for plagiarism and extraordinary cases. Exceptionally severe infractions will earn an instant ejection.
- Exceptions: Warnings and ejections will not be issued under the following circumstances:
- Accidental submission of multiple copies of your proposal, however, may get warned for spamming if it appears that it was more than an accidental double post. The proposal author can remove their own proposals via the link on the proposal page.