Atef Nomination

[The Almighty Jesus Whale]

To be honest, the system in use seems to work fine and without problem, and I would suggest continuing to use it unless something shows that it needs to be replaced.

Endorsements are important because they ensure if the Pharaoh for some bizarre reason resigns or I'd removed from their posts allow the vizier, or in their absence the Atef member with the most endorsements and so on, to have a smooth transition of power without allowing an outside entity to take over. Influence is important because if in the bizarre scenario that the pharaoh goes rogue, or an outside entity does take the position of delegate, the councilors of the atef can maintain their positions within the region and and not be ejected.

Active security council members in GCRs are equally as important as security council members in a UCR, in my opinion. But I do suppose that GCRs are at a greater risk for being invaded because of the mindset of being a great prize, and GCRs have a tendency to breed some toxic individuals.

I'm not really sure myself if I answered the second part of your question fully, Ravenclaw, if it isn't, please say so.

[Andrew]

Being a Guardian on the Atef means that you may face the situation where you have to hold the WA Delegacy for security reasons, say a coup. Can we trust you to be active enough to be able to quickly respond in such situations? Does any member of this community know how to contact you were such a situation to arise?

[The Almighty Jesus Whale]

I am usually on at all times via a computer or mobile, unless I'm sleeping. I am on skype, and I can be reached on NS relatively easily.

[Lord Ravenclaw]

What path would you suggest as part of a long-term strategy to keep Osiris safe from would be invaders or coups?

What role does influence and endorsement counts play in the security of Game Created Regions and why is it so important that GCRs, as opposed to founderless UCRs have consistent activity and high endorsement counts for their security teams?

To be honest, the system in use seems to work fine and without problem, and I would suggest continuing to use it unless something shows that it needs to be replaced.

Endorsements are important because they ensure if the Pharaoh for some bizarre reason resigns or I'd removed from their posts allow the vizier, or in their absence the Atef member with the most endorsements and so on, to have a smooth transition of power without allowing an outside entity to take over. Influence is important because if in the bizarre scenario that the pharaoh goes rogue, or an outside entity does take the position of delegate, the councilors of the atef can maintain their positions within the region and and not be ejected.

Active security council members in GCRs are equally as important as security council members in a UCR, in my opinion. But I do suppose that GCRs are at a greater risk for being invaded because of the mindset of being a great prize, and GCRs have a tendency to breed some toxic individuals.

I'm not really sure myself if I answered the second part of your question fully, Ravenclaw, if it isn't, please say so.

Firstly, it's Raven. Ravenclaw was the name of someone who once tried to raid Osiris in 2011. I got enough shifty eyes for having a similar name as it was.

Right, I'll walk you through the importance of a strong Endorsement Policy and something called Endorsement Saturation. Kudos goes to Eluvatar, R3n and the TNP Security Council for the concept. The first concept of this was developed in Osiris by Detective Figs I in 2013.

Tim encourages nations to join the World Assembly as a start. He encourages them to endorse him, the Vizier and the Security Council. He then encourages them to endorse EACH OTHER. As a result, influence increases across the board. More influence? More secure. The more influence natives have the harder it will be to banject them. What is the number one factor to keeping a region safe, especially a GCR? Influence. Our influence decay already means your influence is tied to the number of endorsements you have, and expires after six months. You need to be active and actively swapping endorsements to keep your numbers and therefore influence, up.

Take an example. The Imperial Crown is a historical nation in Osiris. It was a long term member of the Council of Ma'at/Hedjet/Atef in the Kemetic Republic of Osiris, Osiran Reformation and then the Osiris Fraternal Order. Following the events of December 2013, it was about number 3 or 4 for influence in Osiris. It was not purged like the other Security Council Members by Venico, Koth and Cormac for instance. I was WA Immobile from approximately April 5 2012 until April 20th 2014, with brief gaps here and there for short periods. During my term as Pharaoh - January 24th - April 20th 2014, I ended up as the highest influence nation in Osiris. From resigning WA at that point, my influence dropped steadily. It is now capped around 60 - the maximum you can have in GCRs without endorsements.

We're seeing Ikand's influence decay slowly as well, in a few updates Tim will be the most influential nation in the region. Detective Figs' has also decreased. Do you see why endorsements are important for us?

Key factors facing Game Created Regions:

1. Influence Decay
2. Transient population (depending on the season.)
3. Unstable endorsement patterns (easier to hide amongst the "bushes", gain influence covertly)
4. Lack of a founder, password.
5. More open to invasion due to 1 and 4.
6. Harder to identify potential threats early (without being vigilant)

In Osiris' case, until recently we could add:

7. Wary and weary native populace, which made gathering and maintaining endorsements difficult.

I wasn't suggesting we replace the system, on the contrary, as a person who was WA immobile in this region for over two years, I prefer this system. The points above are some of the problems a Founderless GCR faces, and it is down to the necessity that Osiris needs to be able to detect irregular endorsement patterns and predict possible threats fast enough to protect our delegacy that we need our Guardians to be vigilant.

I want to hear what you will personally do, as part of the Atef to ensure Osiran security in-game.

There is more to influence than just "protecting the Guardians". The Guardians will be the first to go with a rogue delegate where possible. No, it's the average joe nation, the medium influence nations who become painful to eject in the end - the 50, 60, 70, 80 spdr natives - and the biggest drain on any would be rogue or invader delegate. As we saw with Milo in TSP 2013, the influence drain will invariably tire you out giving the natives and their allies a chance to overcome you whilst you can't ban the lead. It's worked in liberating various other couped regions as well.

The GCR Security Councils are the first line of defence between the delegacy and an invader. The UCRs have a Founder, Non-Exec Delegacy's and possible passwords to protect them. Thinking like a UCR security councillor is the wrong approach. You would lose this region under that approach.

You need to be trustworthy. This region has to trust you with its safety. We have to know you will be vigilant and active against any threats, internal or external.

GCRs are more vulnerable because of influence decay. Before that came into effect, we had nations in TNP and TSP with over 700 SPDR. They were UNTOUCHABLE. This update has widely been seen as making GCRs more open to raiding, whatever the reason, it is also why most, if not all GCRs now have various security programs and tools to monitor the situation in their region. TNP is the most advanced of these, and has provided various security tools to Osiris in the past.

GCRs aren't just seen as a great prize: if you get lucky taking one, it can be a near impossible task to get it back. Osiris 2013? We got lucky. Lazarus 2015? They trusted the wrong person. TSP 2013? Milo drained his influence too much.

I'm not sorry for the lecture - you need to know this. I've spent more than enough time safeguarding this region, and anyone aspiring to the Atef needs to know and understand this.

So tell me, what will you do as part of the Atef, to further secure and ensure our regional security in-game?

[The Almighty Jesus Whale]

Well yikes. I'm quite glad you gave me the lecture, as I missed quite a lot.

To keep the region secure, I would hope to maintain a constant vigilance throughout, and making sure nothing is out of line with the precautions that we already have in place. To further ensure security, I would hope to find new ways to keep a greater sense of vigilance over the region with my fellow councilors, and the region at large, should others have ideas on how to help, albeit cautiously.

As for trust, the only way one can build that is to build it, and I would be more than happy to get to know each and every one of you, should that assist in the trust building department. However, the only definite thing that can build trust is time, and I look forward to a very long time of service for Osiris, and I hope that you can all come to trust me during that time.

As for now, I understand it is kind of a blind guess, seeing as I'm a rather quiet and new individual. But I can assure you all that you can trust me, and I hope you can all see that you can trust me, rather than just taking my word for it, by confirming me to serve on the Atef.

[Amerion]

I support.

[Lord Ravenclaw]

Guardians, not Councillors. You are not a council as such but an order of Guardians designated to protect both the Pharaoh and the Region itself.

I'd like a practical answer. What will you do once confirmed to increase Osiris' security and further ensure its protection? I've told you the answer in that lecture. The Vizier posts about five times a day on the RMB over it.

[The Almighty Jesus Whale]

If you're meaning activity, I've already stated above that I am on just about everyday throughout the day.

In addition to activity, I would also make sure to remind members of the region to actively endorse one another, so that the ability to eject them would be a serious drain upon any outside entity who has seized the delegate position.

[Lord Ravenclaw]

Answers that would have been suitable:

> Ensure to check WA member lists regularly. Osiris has its own tools. FriarTuck on irc has .nneb <nationname>. Tammy has ,wanz <region>.
> Ensure WA nations are endorsed, ensure message is sent asking them to endorse you in return.
> Ensure access to relevant security tools and use them regularly.
> Work with the Atef and Pharaoh at monitoring unknown people with rising endorsement counts
> Work with the Atef and Pharaoh on monitoring the endorsement cap based on your own endorsements and the Pharaohs endorsements
> Regularly telegram and communicate to the region/forum about the security status, reminder about the World Assembly, and so forth.

I don't care whether you tell the residents that influence will make them harder to remove. Although I would phrase it differently: "Endorse to ensure the security of our home! Enemies rely on our weakness, endorse and be endorsed in return to make them pay for every step they take in our halls! Endorse the Pharaoh, Endorse the Vizier and the Atef! Endorse each other! Endorse Neighbouring Nation's Pet Cat if you like! Endorse for Osiris!"

[The Almighty Jesus Whale]

Thank you for the list, I will ensure to do all of that and whatever else possible to be a good guardian.