Delegate's DiscourseFebruary 2, 2018
by Davelands, Delegate of TWP
Well, well, well.. It was quite a year we had last month.
It has been a very trying time for The West Pacific on the diplomatic front. A few weeks ago, one of our long-time allies (Lazarus) had a Delegate change. This happens all the time, but in this instance, the new Delegate decided to re-brand the region under the style of Lone Wolves United. Needless to say, re-branding a Sinker with the flag and theme of a Userite Raider organization did not go over very well with the rest of our fellow GCRs (or us, who were blindsided to the changes).
We were put between the proverbial rock and a hard place. We have always stood behind the principle of Delegate Sovereignty, which states that the legitimate Delegate of a region is free to do what they feel is in the best interest of the region. So, after being assured that it was a temporary re-branding, we strongly defended our ally and even sent troops into the region to strengthen the government even though it caused strain in the relations with our fellow GCRs.
But, in any relationship there can be a point where one party goes too far. For us, that was when the newspaper of Lazarus called a member of the government in The Rejected Realms a fascist. Combine that with what was a minimal change to the re-branding of the region and we could no longer support the government of Lazarus. We withdrew our support and troops, but left our treaty and embassies in place in the hope that our fellow GCR would eventually straighten their affairs out.
People, nations, and regions get into trouble when they blindly and firmly stick to a single stated principle, be it Delegate Sovereignty, Fracoism, or any other principle. You must be able to see the gray areas in a conflict and react to them appropriately without being tied down by religiously following a single principle. I hope that in this case we demonstrated that flexibility.
How Do You Cope with NS Drama?Altino: NS can be a really stressful place. I think that everyone runs into something that really makes the game hard on them from time to time in the game, and that's alright. It just means that we're all working on something or with someone that we truly care about. What helps me the most when things go wrong on NS is to remember to remain respectful. At the end of the day, every player is a real person with real feelings, and they will appreciate you a lot more for respectfully disagreeing with them than for making a mountain out of a molehill at every turn. You're allowed to rage against someone, but if you rage against what they're DOING and not who they are as a person, then usually you'll have respect returned to you and save both yourself and your opponent a whole world of stress.
Another thing that helps me is leaving my ego at the door. I'm not very fond of players who act like the world has ended if they don't get their way. If things don't work according to plan, it's not a huge deal. I just move on to the next plan. Some people thrive on drama, I thrive on results. I set a broad, attainable goal and keep my eyes on the prize, but try not to get mixed up in the details. Like, in Osiris I've started and quickly dropped several projects and events in the region because people weren't interested in them. It doesn't hurt my feelings that they don't like the same things that I do and I don't try to force my plans on them. It matters to me that Osiris is successful. It doesn't matter to me that MY plan is the one that gets us there. Basically, just be respectful and don't take yourself too seriously and I think you can manage some relatively smooth sailing. And of course, take breaks when you need to. NS will get to be too much eventually. Taking a few days off to rest and reset can do wonders for both your mental health and your game plan.
Elegarth: I'm really sick... trying to just rest.
Nakari: Part of it is trying not to get too attached to NS. Like, I have had arguments with people who have occasionally been jerks, but after a few times I was just like, "lol ok you are being needlessly cruel and im done with it," blocked them, and went and did stuff in real life for a while. I think being calm and reasoned about it is a good way to point out to someone that they are being jerks, because otherwise it's just really easy to give them the reaction they want.
Overall I'd say a lot of NS drama is caused by people getting pissed at each other but being too angry to work on any problems and not being able to empathize. Depending on the type of drama this may not be relevant, but I do tend to try and think of innocuous reasons someone might be doing something I think is bad. I think a lot of people jump to anger right away without any chance of working things out, or fixing misunderstandings, or giving people a chance. This seems to cause a lot of big fighty drama and I hate it because I don't get why people can't just be calm and try and see things from other peoples' point of view. (Though I find it really hard to see things from the POV of the people who get super angry, so maybe this one is a bit hypocritical of me.
)I try to take a pretty loose and chill attitude to things in general; I try to assume most people generally have good intentions, while still having some layer of protection if they don't. As a kid, all I was taught about the internet is that it's a dangerous place and everyone out there is going to blackmail you or spread your nudes or kidnap you, so I must never ever make friends with anybody. And then that turned out not to be true, which probably tipped my perception the complete opposite way. But we need to have a balance in the way we tell people about internet safety. Like instead of "NEVER send a nude or you will DIE and you ignored the safety so it's your fault", have "if you do want to send a nude, remove the image's geotagging and crop out any identifying features or background", which might be a silly example but I don't care. I just feel like internet safety advice often comes across as promoting abstinence rather than showing how to do it safely.
I didn't mention much about people who are complete OOC jerks with no possible innocuous explanation other than "they just don't care if they hurt people". My advice on that would just be avoid. And if you can't avoid them because you share friends with them or they run your NS region, then let the friends and the region know about the extent of the jerkishness. If they choose the jerk over you then they don't deserve you. It's difficult to lose friends, but isn't it better to be alone with the potential to make new friends anywhere than settle for people who are okay with you being mistreated?
Vandoosa: Oh.. I just deal with it by drinking vodka.
Sylven: What kind of vodka do you recommend?
V: What ever is cheapest!
Vincent Drake: Ewwww no
You get what you pay for the next morning....
So go for the top shelf
V: Not when you have a high tolerance. also work time! *runs away*
V D: ewwww still
$40ish is right around where vodka gets good
Go for the Goose
Update from our Beloved Pirates!by Overthinkers, Captain of TWPAF
TWPAF’s crew has stayed busy lately. In fact, you might even say we were...occupied. Yep, occupations were the order of the day for the month of March.
The month began with the conclusion of EPSA’s hold in The Backbone of Fascism, an operation notable for its uniting piler forces from all five feeders in one region. TWP has never been fond of fascists, and neither has most of Gameplay, so we were more than happy to support our friends in the East. The result of the raid is a show of force and unity that leaves the Nazis, well, spineless.
After we left that raid, we sailed right back around to an operation of our own. Back in 2017, the World Factbook Entry of the region South Pacific declared that “Pirates will be asked to find other shores.” Altino, who was Captain at the time, took that as a challenge, and sent in a sneaky pirate dressed as a knight to scout out the area.
Five months later, the time was right. A fleet of TWPAF’s finest ships sailed into the harbor, and suddenly the pirates were in charge. Unfortunately, the fendas ruined our fun far too quickly, but it was fun while it lasted. (In fact, I found the sleeping part of the op more fun than the actual raid part.)
The last week of March, we joined in on another all-Pacific raid, this time targeting The Great Fascist Legion. I’d like to thank Chervil for representing TWPAF as a regional officer in the occupation—while she had never done a job like that before, she confidently accepted the challenge.
While I was busy sleeping—figuratively speaking—our Sergeant-at-Arms, Kawaii Schoolgirl, was hard at work. Thanks to her efforts, we have a brand-new roster, complete with scoreboard! Now every pirate can stare with jealousy at each other’s “regions raided” count.
And if that isn’t incentive enough, we have brand-new ribbons and badges as well! TWP has long believed in rewarding hard work, and another way we can do this is by rewarding those who contribute the most to our ship. And we’ve set some pretty high goals, too. Who will be the first to Updater 2 or Regions Raided 2? We’ll have to wait and see together!
Finally, an update on recent promotions. This month saw First Mate Bedebao depart TWPAF in search of adventures elsewhere. We parted on good terms, but I was left with a command position to fill. After quite a bit of consideration—there were several talented officers to choose from—I appointed Kawaii to the job. Kawaii is a former commander of TWPAF herself, and her hard work in recent weeks has more than earned this promotion. Other promotions include Chervil, one of TWPAF’s rising stars, achieving the rank of Powder Monkey.
Heaven, Earth and Domainby DrPhantasm, a winner of TWP's Mythology Contest
When the Earth was created many millennia ago, some saying by God, others by science, with it came entropy. As the planet formed, entropy took a physical form. It became the flowers and herbs, the trees and the leaves, the lakes and the oceans. Soon other life formed: creatures with a mind, with heart, and with soul.
Entropy is a force with no restraint, however. It is unforgiving, unpredictable, unbiased. The creatures started fighting among themselves, causing death and destruction. The souls of those creatures stayed and added fuel to the fire, causing hatred, racism, sexism, jealousy, and what many call sins.
This is where the most important figure appears. To fight this senseless destruction and the spirits aiding it, Death was given the duty to capture these rampant souls. Through Death, these spirits of entropy’s doing where captured and kept, to bring peace onto the world, and to have it flourish. It gave the world time to come together, to create a civilization.
The growing civilization spawned politics, power, law, and punishment. This was a breeding ground for entropy, and the spirits became restless once again. Death became overwhelmed, having too many spirits filled with entropy, and the spirits burst free, free to cause havoc among the people of Earth.
It was then that Death, wielding his great scythe, caused a tear in the very spiritual fabric that kept the Earth together. Death had seen the good that came of civilization, and therefore created Heaven, a place for spirits to ascend beyond the Earth. These spirits would be rewarded with everlasting peace.
Death then created Domain, a place where spirits filled with malice and entropy would reside to be rehabilitated. After serving a sentence depending on their crime against humanity, these spirits would return to the Earth to bring good will and fortune to spirits still going through their mortal stage, and therefore preparing them for ascension.
Lastly, Death split Earth into the mortal and spectral plane. The mortal plane was created for the existence of mortals living out their lives, and was filled with owls, the eyes and informants for Death. The spectral plane was created for the unseen spirits performing their good deeds, outside of the eyes of the mortals.