October 2015 Issue
Interview with United RussoAsia, Former Delegate of The West Pacific
Jakker: What is your NS history before TWP?
United RussoAsia: Heh. I don't have a history before TWP. I was born there and I just got involved.
Jakker: Talk about your involvement within TWP before you became delegate. What did you enjoy about TWP during that time?
United RussoAsia: I starting out on the RMB. TWP's RMB is a real experience, different than almost every chat board I've ever seen. That, and the people I met there, was what I liked most about TWP at the time. Eventually, I came into the forum government. Darkesia also had a contest to find candidates for delegate at the time, and I participated.
Jakker: There was a major transitional period in TWP when the “old guard” stepped down and a “new guard” emerged. Can you discuss what was going on through your mind at this time and how you emerged as the succeeding delegate?
United RussoAsia: Well, Darkesia singled out two of us from the contest, myself and Recuecn, as her picks for next delegate. Her first choice was Resu, but he said he would be unable to accept due to RL activity stealing his NS time. (This proved true in later months as he became less and less active throughout my delegacy.) Thus, I was the one who got the seat. I was pretty stoked at the time, although somewhat aggravated with Dark's choices for my guardians. I ended up removing one, losing one, and adding one over my delegacy.
Jakker: What are your thoughts about your delegacy? Do you feel that you were an effective leader?
United RussoAsia: Well, I wish I hadn't gotten the seat right before the summer. It killed the forum government. Had that not happened, I'd probably still be delegate.
Effective leader? Well, I was not as effective as I could have been. When I went to change [the] government, the residents didn't like my ideas. I decided that instead of force it on them(which would have been the 'more effective' move), I was going to let them do what they wanted with it. Of course, before I was criticized for being a dictator by dissolving the inactive government and trying to make a new one, and after I decided to let the citizens do what they wanted, I was criticized for being a weak leader. You can't win in terms of criticism.
Jakker: Elaborate on when you first started considering to coup the region? Why did you decide to hand over your nation to DEN? If you wanted to coup, why not do it yourself?
United RussoAsia: Dissent over my delegacy was rampant within the region, and I knew that I wasn't going to stay in the seat. I was not content to be tied up as a guardian in a region where I was not liked. So I decided that I was leaving, and notified Elegarth that I was leaving the seat to him. I conceived several multiple ideas for leaving, and I chose the 'coup' idea. I had been contacted by Knot and Souls offering support to help me keep the seat. I spoke with Souls about couping and he said he'd talk to the TBH council about it. I spoke to Knot as well, he said he'd talk to DEN. I was going to wait for their responses, but things began to go pear-shaped and I revealed to the region a couple hints about my plan before enacting it early. DEN responded somewhat, TBH(sans souls) did not. Knot asked if he could have the keys to URA to let him at it. I gave them to him because I figured he was better at it than I was. He did roughly what I was going to do, except a couple things. For one, I would not have banjected Ele. I planned on holding to seat for a while, but Ele was my pick for next delegate. Knot said later that this was a miss-click, so I suppose he had roughly the same thought process I did.
Jakker: What were you hoping to achieve from the coup? Did you feel like that goal was accomplished?
United RussoAsia: My main goals were getting TWP activity and members as a parting gift, securing myself new friends and a new home, and getting raiderdom some glory. These were accomplished. But this situation was actually a win-win-win-win when you think about it. TWP logged around 60+ pages of RMB activity during two updates, I believe, and gained lots of publicity and new members. The raiders got publicity and a major hit on their list. The defenders get to capitalize on a feeder that has both been newly revitalized and firmly turned against raiders. And I get a little fame and have a blast doing it. Did the plan seem stupid to the average viewer? Yeah, at the time. I think in retrospect people will realize how much thought was actually put into it and how beneficial it was to the gameplay within the region.
Jakker: Discuss your feelings when your nation was transferred to Cormac and subsequently, the region returned to normality?
United RussoAsia: I was a bit disappointed at the time, but it was going to happen anyhow and the seat couldn't have been held any longer anyway.
Jakker: How do you want your time in TWP to be remembered?
United RussoAsia: The intent was not evil, but I'm sure I'll go down as an infamous character. I don't mind, it'll be pretty fun :p
Jakker: What do you have planned for yourself now post-coup?
United RussoAsia: Oh, the world won't be seeing me as URA for quite a while. I have not, however, disappeared. I'm right under you nose, waiting for the right time to strike.
Tiring of NationStates Again and Again by Jakker Loves Rawr
One of the more common things to see in gameplay is a player retiring from NationStates. While it is one thing for someone to move on from the game because life has gotten in the way, this does not appear to be the standard reason. In my opinion, leaving NationStates often does not leave disappoint for the retiring player, but relief. When searching within the gameplay forum, you’ll find the words “retiring” 134 times, “Retire” 242 times, and “retirement” 410 times. But why are so many seeing retirement as an escape and what makes them run?
Growing tired of NationStates is not a new trend. The topic of retirement has even been discussed several times including Free Press News Service’s post of “How to Retire” http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic ... #p25858089 courtesy of Todd McCloud. I spoke with a few players who were all on the cusp of retirement at the time. Here were a few themes I noticed:
People stay in NS even when they don’t like it anymore:
“Some people say NS helped them get through a tough time. Heck, I got into it to goof off during some of my boring courses like physics that I hate. Kind of wish I didn't could have gotten an A- in that course rather than a B+ like for real. If/when NS becomes an addiction and if it isn't an addiction, it surely is a compulsion that's when there is a problem and I've noticed that when I tell myself okay no logging into my nation today it’s easier said than done.”
“‘The Hotel California Mindset’. That's so perfect to call it. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave."
“One day you see it, you can't help but look. It's a total wreck and it's not safe to be near it, but you'll come back every day from here on out. Why? Because the party was awesome and you still can't figure out how that one train car ended up leaning that way.”
The Gameplay Community can make the game for someone and can break it as well:
“Fun, friendship; in the end, more likely than not, it turns into a tool to be used by players that treat the game as their life.”
“You make some genuine friends, but the rest of them just use you for their own means.”
“Here's a message for anyone who wants to have fun in nationstates. Stay out of the actual interregional politics because all you get is backstabbing.”
“When you're in a position of power in the game people expect you to CREATE activity and invent fun for everyone else.”
Many people take NationStates too seriously:
“When you take a minute and realize exactly what you are playing on, then you realize how the effort, money, and time people put into NationStates is crazy. The core game is nation creation and answering issues every twelve hours.”
“But I was fooling myself. I would do things nobody should rationally do for the sake of an online game.”
“If everyone treated this game with the same perspective, there would be no GCR delegate terms. The politics wouldn't get as hellish or personal, and people wouldn't pay money to grow their little webpage on the site.”
“The politics are made up and no work that you put in matters, The mods are terrible, the gameplay is pay-to-win.”
I took a break from NationStates for a year in mid-2013. For me, those three themes above were evident in my experience. I was taking the game too seriously and placing a lot of pressure on myself to keep activity going in TBH. I lost the motivation to play months before I actually took the break, but I kept going. When a couple of big operations did not succeed, the aftermath crippled me. It was not simply the failure of the operations, but the treatment I received afterwards. It took me a year to actually want to come back.
I am not arguing that putting a lot of time and effort is bad necessarily. It is rather admirable to see what some players have done in the game. But when effort becomes less of a passion and more of a job, this is concerning. When passion of a region becomes personal attacks and drama, who is that helping? And when NationStates morphs into something to escape from rather than something for players to escape to, a self-reflection is required. I am always sad to see a quality gameplayer leave NationStates. It saddens me far more when those players develop hatred for a game they once loved.
Trick Shot wins Pharaoh Election
Trick Shot aka Festavo has been elected the next Pharaoh of Osiris. Running against Ainocra, Trick Shot won the seat in a tie-breaking vote by Election Administrator Detective Figs aka Severisen.
When asked about this, Severisen stated: "It was a really tough decision. Ultimately both candidates had some solid ideas, and drive, to provide the fresh direction Osiris needed. It was really a win-win, I think, for Osiris. I consulted with some people, thought long and hard about it and decided on Festavo. While I'm not saying some voters are more important than others, the list of those who voted for Festavo was quite impressive. He had the support of 4 Pharaohs (Koth, Lord Ravenclaw, Joshua Bluteisen, and Zaolat) as well as 1 Vizier (Jakker). It was by no means an easy decision, and I did not make it lightly. I wish Festavo the best in his term, and Ainocra the best in whatever he decides to do next."