Forums
The NationStates Forums are the place to discuss anything and everything related to NationStates. The forums, hosted by Jolt between 2004 and 2009, are now independently hosted and integrated into the game site. Some of the subforums have undergone minor changes or been split into smaller forums since the move, notably NationStates and World Assembly.
The forums main page is located here.
Contents |
An Introduction to NS Forums Terminology
The Role of the Forums
Diplomacy
Formerly the "Sound and Fury" forums, Diplomacy includes all non-game-based roleplay forums, with a few new ones added since the move.
- Factbooks and National Information is intended for information about NS nations: things that relate to them and how they are roleplayed, but may not necessarily actual storylines. Nation factbooks, national currencies, national leaders, national capitals, information about tourism, and so on and so forth. This is also the place for embassy-exchange programs. Many of these topics were originally located in the NationStates forum.
- NationStates tends more towards character-based roleplaying, usually in a diplomatic setting, though wars and battles are also fought there. Each topic there is its own separate roleplaying event: some stand-alone, others tying to one or more other threads, some as spin-offs or continuations of previous roleplays, etc. Such is the nature of free-form roleplay - even time itself is a variable. Entry into these roleplays is often more formalized: check the topic title and/or first post to see if it is an Invite RP or open to anyone. There may be both IC and OOC topics for a given roleplay. Make sure you're posting in the correct topic for your type of response.
- International Incidents is the home to most wars and diplomatic incidents. It is the designated home for declarations of war, and consequently tends to attract a disproportionate number of newb and n00b declarations. International Incidents tends more towards military "strength versus strength" conflicts, though there are alliance-formation topics, nation-based roleplay, spies, catastrophes, and plenty of other opportunities to interact. The roleplay rules from NationStates apply as well.
- Global Economics and Trade is a meeting place where national storefronts can tout their wares and discuss trade. Most storefront topics, formerly posted in International Incidents, now belong here. This is also a place for topics relating to trade agreements and organizations, economic relations between nations, even embargoes and punitive sanctions.
- NS Sports is probably a good place to go if your nation is not so into beating the snot out of other nations. Here, your nation's athletes can do that for you. World Cup (soccer) meets and the Olympic Games are headlining events in this forum, but other sporting matches -- hockey, American football, even Quidditch -- take place here as well. A spinoff of the NationStates forum (where most sports roleplays used to be located), participation in these RPs is usually wide open.
World Assembly
- Main article: World Assembly forum
Most power within the actual game is wielded through the World Assembly (specifically, by passing resolutions and electing delegates), so it makes sense that there would be a lot of discussions about the WA. The World Assembly now includes two branches and its own forum archive.
- General Assembly pertains to the original branch of the WA that makes decisions that affect every member nation. Proposal-drafting goes on here, as well as floor debates on resolutions at vote. Some RP elements have also evolved here, such as the Strangers' Bar and a directory of WA ambassadors. The GA forum is unique in that both IC and OOC cultures mingle here mostly peaceably, though mod action is at times necessary to make clear that OOC posts are held to a stricter standard than IC ones.
- Security Council has been created for discussions on the gameplay branch of the WA that allows nations to commend and condemn each other and occasionally intervene in regional conflicts. Drafting of so-called "C&Cs" goes on here, as well as that of "liberations," though a lot of time is also spent discussing gameplay politics.
- WA Archives are where at-vote topics and major WA discussions are dragged after they have served their purpose. It's handy if you want to look up a specific WA debate since they're all in one place, and mostly in chronological order, newest to oldest.
Gameplay
Though most forum activity pertains to RPs and OOC discussions, players who focus on the actual gameplaying side of the game frequent the forums as well. The Gameplay forums are a great place to visit if you want to talk game mechanics or regional politics.
- Gameplay is about how players operate their nations and regions. This includes discussions about national statistics, player variables such as national animals and flags, how various aspects of the game itself work, and player attempts to manipulate those workings, like invading regions and defending them. There are few roleplaying aspects to the Gameplay forum. If you are new to the game and want to know how something is done, this is usually the place to ask such questions. Region ads and most topics relating to regions belong here as well; they will typically be towed or deleted if posted in other forums.
- Got Issues? is the place to discuss all things related to Daily Issues. Despite the name, this is not the place to gripe about how another player has treated you, or how your candidate lost the last election. It's only for discussion of existing and newly proposed national dilemmas.
Nuts and Bolts
When something in the game needs fixing, whether technical problems with the game and/or forums themselves or issues requiring moderator attention, the game staff will probably want to know about it. Here you can tell them.
- Technical is for issues relating to the game engine and coding. Suggestions for enhancements should go here. Be aware that most suggestions have been made many times before, so don't be annoyed when you get a curt response when you ask about changing the way the WA votes or regional control works. Bug reports go here, though they may end up being moved to a different forum for solution. Many things perceived as bugs (such as issue incongruities) are actually intentional features of the game, so again, don't be annoyed with the response.
- Moderation is for issues related to player interaction. Flaming, spam, and other inappropriate behavior goes here. Moderation should be used with care, as some problems can only be identified by special mod tools. When in doubt, use the Getting Help page or #themodcave channel instead. Players often have suggestions for solutions to problems, but only moderator answers can be considered definitive. Take non-mod advice with a grain of salt.
General Discussion
Since the demise of NationStates 2 and Max Barry's partnership with OMAC/Jolt, these forums have undergone a makeover of sorts. The NS2 forum is gone, the Jennifer Government forum has been expanded, and NS's spam-addicts finally have a place to call their own.
- General is where NSers discuss real world stuff like political issues, elections, religion, music and other out-of-character stuff. A lot of very heated political debates happen in General. Flaming and trolling appear to happen more often here than in the roleplay forums, due to the extremely heated nature of some of the topics.
- Fiction, formerly the JG forum, has been expanded to a virtual "coffee shop" of sorts where NSers can discuss any type of literature they please, from Max Barry to Plato to Madonna's Sex. TV and movie discussions also go here, as well as original literature by fans of the game.
- Forum 7 is back.
Archive
A storage bin for threads considered worthy of keeping.
