Praetor for Delegate

Praetor

Hoppin' Around
TNP Nation
Praeceps
Discord
Praetor#6889
Prae2_1.png

Hello, I am Praetor and I am running for Delegate of The North Pacific. I believe one of the most important characteristics for a Delegate to have is imagination. The ability to take the region in directions it has not gone before and to improve the community.

Over a year ago, I mentioned the potential for cards to be used in government. Now, over the past few months, I have served as the first Guildmaster of The North Pacific Cards Guild, an innovation which has brought dozens of new citizens to the region. I believe that I have the ability to create impactful changes throughout the community. I have also served in a variety of positions (most notably Minister of Foreign Affairs) and helped out in many of the Ministries.

I previously stated a lack of intention of running for positions; however, my real life circumstances have changed, like many of you undoubtedly have, travel plans have been canceled, and as such I am putting my name forward for leading our community.

Before I get into specific areas of improvement, I would like to address the administration as a whole and talk about transparency.

I intend to continue the tradition of meritocracy in our democracy. I fully intend to find the best candidate for each Minister position. To do so, I will openly accept applications. We have a large community, I unfortunately do not have the pleasure of knowing everyone. Not saying up front how I intend to select Ministers can also disadvantage newer members who may not be confident enough to approach the Delegate to ask for a position. This will ensure we have the best talent possible leading the Ministry.

I have been concerned in the past that applications to the Executive Staff are not being processed quickly enough. This is an important method of engaging new players and retaining them. As such, we will have all applications accepted within three days of being made.

Lastly, I fully intend to promote the forum for the Executive. We have moved away from the forum in terms of activity; I plan to move back through having more discussions from Cabinet on the forums and discussions for implementation of projects. The forum is the core part of our region.

On transparency, there is a concerning issue of despite the Court mandating release of government logs from Discord, they have not all been released yet. I commend McMasterdonia for getting the ball rolling on releasing the logs. I will ensure that all of the logs are released appropriately by the end of my term.

As Delegate, I will provide an update every week to the region on the progress of the government: what have we accomplished, what are we planning to do, and what did we fail to do. I hope to have the citizenry as informed as possible as I can of the doings of the Executive. Ministers will continue to post monthly updates on their responsibility.

Now, what I intend to do in specific areas of the government—I have attempted to keep it short.

Over a year ago, when I first publicly proposed the government getting involved in trading cards, there were those who questioned whether what was a mini-game had any purpose of relating to our government. The benefits of cards are now unquestionable as The North Pacific is seen as the leader in Cards interregionally with many new WAs and citizens brought it as a result of these efforts.

Similarly to cards, I plan to bring more nations to TNP and to the forum through having the Ministry of Culture organize and promote social deduction games. These games are political and social fitting the interests of many in NS. Additionally, I know that these activities are of interest as I have previously been a member of both forums and Discord servers dedicated solely to these servers. I am confident that due to TNP’s other activities, we can be successful; additionally, this would provide more activity on the forum at a time in NS when many regions are foregoing forums at all. Much like cards, we can then use social deduction games as a way to encourage nations to join the forum and a way for new nations joining the forum to immediately get involved.

Some of you may have played these social deduction games before either in Real Life, in NS, or elsewhere in the Internet. Relatively common social deduction games you may have heard of are Werewolves, Secret Hitler, and Resistance. Other ones that I would be interested in bringing to TNP are Assassins in the Palace, Mafia, and Detectives.
The impact of the Cards Guild with only a couple weeks of existence was phenomenal. The Cards Guild has now existed for over a full term and continues to grow and be a vibrant part of TNP’s community while at the same time providing many benefits. This is a large part due to the amazing effort we have seen the community come together to create. r3n has farmed an immense amount of legendaries (and other cards) for us to use in our programs, additionally, Racoda runs puppets as well to be donated to the government. DGES is an incredible writer and has produced a ton of content for us (eg. the Guide). 9003 has broken new ground in writing the first commendation related to Cards which was supported by the Guild (the first cards resolution goes to another Guild member and prolific SC author, Bormiar). There are of course many others who contribute through helping those new to the cards game or donating cards for pull events (Bormiar, and Rom). The Cards Guild is just getting started. I have more ideas for the Guild which we will continue to release in the term. Given the interest of other regions in copying our success, I will not go into specifics. :P

The Ministry of Home Affairs is vital for getting new members into the region and helping them integrate. I would like to commend the current team for doing such a great job in dealing with all of the new nations coming in from Youtube. The reason TNP is the largest region, has the most endorsements, and the most citizens is in large part from their hard work.
This work will undoubtedly continue on should I serve as Delegate. One of the biggest issues with HA is that there is a lot of work which needs to be done, players risk burning out. In order to incentivize new players to join the Ministry and spread out the workload, we will use cards.

I would like to emphasize for more posts to be made on welcoming new players who create their own threads in The Docks. Joining such a big community can be intimidating and turn members away, posting in welcome threads will help to alay fears.

A new program I would like to create would be a format for players to bring ideas that they have for the region to the Home Affairs and where appropriate, the Ministry would help players realize their ideas and provide resources to help them. This will help to bring in more staff to the Ministry and to help integrate new members to the region by providing a clear avenue for them to provide ideas.
The Gameside Advocates (of which I have served as) are another important part of integration and in ensuring that there is a safe, friendly environment on the RMB. As Delegate, I would return with AMAs on government officials (other branches would be invited) properly spaced out to ensure they are not happening too often. Additionally, I would refrain from having AMAs with someone who has just had one. Other activities to increase engagement would be having more polls and looking at other gameside activities to have (eg. Cards against Nationstates).

I plan to leave the operational running to the current staff of the North Pacific Army (NPA)—since I joined TNP, I have seen tremendous growth in the organization. This is largely due to Gladio’s efforts and subsequent Ministers of Defence building onto the foundation laid. I may have been a former officer but it has been a while since I was a member (got to get that legendary status!). It is clear that the NPA is well-trained, sizable and active.

I will increase the size of the NPA even further through aggressive promotion. This will be done through two different methods. First, to recruit nations who are hesitant to fully commit to joining the NPA, we would host “open houses” where nations would be able to join a simple operation with the NPA in order to explore what this whole military thing is about. After experiencing the thrill of the NPA, nations will want to sign up to join us on the forums.

As mentioned subsequently, the NPA will also produce “raid reports” (themed reports of what the military did) in conjunction with the Ministry of Communications to advertise through dispatches and the NS forums.

Together, these measures will take the NPA to even greater heights!

Communications is a Ministry which has struggled over the past years. When I first joined, it was notable for the Ministry to put out even one publication! Fortunately over the years, this is no longer the case and the Ministry now puts out several publications in large thanks to El Fiji Grande. However, over the past while The North Star (TNS) has been able to be regularly published—albeit with delays—The Northern Lights has suffered in frequency. The Northern Lights is our premium publication—the contents can be used to both recruit nations to the region and advance our foreign policy in NS. Additionally, Fiji’s changes to the publication (eg. amazing graphics) have increased the quality of TNL which we want to maintain.

For Communications, I propose a rethink of what we publish. We need to focus specifically on turning out TNL’s higher quality publication. Parts of TNS are summaries of events which already happened and collating the information distracts from the creation of TNL which will be our focus. As Delegate, I would focus on returning to monthly publications of TNL.

Communications will also work on creating updates exclusively around the NPA to be published in dispatches and on the NS forums to bring more attention to the NPA and more recruits to our army. This will also serve to get new players to join Communications—raid reports are fun to write!

The core function of the Ministry continues to go smoothly—IFVs are regularly being sent out. This means that we can now take our World Assembly program in new directions.

McMasterdonia has taken the right steps in laying the foundation to ensuring the Heroes of the North are recognized. We will continue to work towards having the Security Council reward current or former TNPers who have made exemplary achievements. Given my experience in the Security Council—a resolution I co-authored commending a TNP citizen is currently at vote—by the end of the term I aim for the government to have had two of our proposals pass. I plan to have one person lead each resolution to smooth out the process and make it clear who should be accomplishing what.

In the General Assembly, I will create a vibrant community of domestic authors. There are already a number of authors within the region and I aim to expand that further. The Ministry will maintain a list of potential resolutions for new authors to work with. Each topic will have an assigned mentor who has passed a GA resolution for the interested party to work with as either the author and/or co-author. I would hope to work with the WALL regions for this as a joint initiative sharing our pool of GA authors and letting our collective citizenry benefit.

It is imperative that the Delegate votes according to the forum vote the overwhelming majority of the time to incentivize those wanting a greater say in the WA to come join us. My policy will be to always vote according to the forum vote. The timing of resolutions going to vote is quite favourable for me. I anticipate being able to vote within the first hour thus maximizing our region's influence in votes.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be a difficult place for nations to get accustomed to. There are a lot of other regions and history out there. Previously, when I was Minister of Foreign Affairs, I regularly briefed our Foreign Affairs staff on the goings on in NS. This will resume as it is vital to ensure that the Foreign Affairs staff (who are potentially successors to the Minister) remains informed of the goings on in NationStates. Additionally, what happens in one region affects what happens in another region and this will help inform Ambassadors of how their assigned region may be reacting. I would like to explore having ambassadors then be updating the World Factbook with relevant information on their region in relation to updates on interregional affairs by the Foreign Affairs Leadership.

I will also be going one step forward from previous methods on informing the region. McMasterdonia’s comprehensive briefings to the Regional Assembly are important to ensure the region is informed of international affairs. I will ensure the Regional Assembly is regularly updated on international affairs of relevance to The North Pacific and the government’s position on them. This will lead to a more informed and critical electorate on the region’s position in NationStates.

The newest Ministry to join the region, the NBS has seen over its entire lifetime swings in activity. To broaden its base and work on ensuring there is a sustainable talent pool, the Ministry of Radio will host casual VCs—not for recording—for members to join in and participate. Where possible, we will theme them around certain events (Chatting and Card Pulling, A Fireside Chat with The Delegate, etc.) in order to further build the community. This will attract players who are not keen on having their voice publicly broadcast yet increase engagement in voice chats overall.

There is a lack of advertisement of radio broadcasts on the forum—people may disable their pings on Discord and miss new broadcasts or not be on Discord at all. We will restart posting broadcasts on the forum to increase visibility (and chances of recruiting players to join our broadcasts). I also enjoyed having questions to interact with in the thread so we will do that as well.

I have included a handy little list below of what are the main goals for what the government should accomplish in the term and what I would use to measure the success of the government by:
Administration: Have all Executive Staff applications accepted within three days.
Transparency: Appropriately release all logs which have yet to be released and are legally obligated to be. Provide a weekly update to the region on the events in the region.
Ministry of Culture: Hold eight social deduction games and three different types.
Cards Guild: Create four new programs for the Cards Guild.
Ministry of Home Affairs: Incentivize new members to join through Cards. Create a program to help players realize their ideas for the community.
Gameside Advocates: Hold at least six AMAs. Average one poll a week.
Ministry of Defence: Hold two open house events.
Ministry of Defence & Communications: Publish eight raid reports.
Ministry of Communications: Release four TNLs.
Ministry of World Assembly Affairs: Work with citizens (or citizens of WALL) to pass four General Assembly resolutions. Have two resolutions pass recognizing TNPers.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Weekly updates to the Ambassador Corps and monthly updates to the Regional Assembly on the goings on in NationStates.
Ministry of Radio: Hold a total of four casual VC events. Have a forum thread for each radio publication with discussion questions.

Lastly, should you choose to support me for Delegate, please find enclosed some buttons to wear in your sig/avatar (thanks to @Nimarya!):

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Prae1-_small.png

I would be glad to accept any questions as to my platform, policies, and whatnot.
 
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Praetor, good to see you involved and running for the Delegacy. Below I have some questions for you.
The core function of the Ministry continues to go smoothly—IFVs are regularly being sent out. This means that we can now take our World Assembly program in new directions.

McMasterdonia has taken the right steps in laying the foundation to ensuring the Heroes of the North are recognized. We will continue to work towards having the Security Council reward current or former TNPers who have made exemplary achievements. Given my experience in the Security Council—a resolution I co-authored commending a TNP citizen is currently at vote—by the end of the term I aim for the government to have had two of our proposals pass. I plan to have one person lead each resolution to smooth out the process and make it clear who should be accomplishing what.
For clarification on this, you say you want one person to lead each resolution. Heroes of the North can serve a secondary purpose of giving new authors a chance to be listed as co-authors and begin to gain name recognition in the Security Council. Would you be making authorship the job of one person, or would you assemble teams to work on the proposals, with a leader/mentor paving the way for eventual passage?
In the General Assembly, I will create a vibrant community of domestic authors. There are already a number of authors within the region and I aim to expand that further. The Ministry will maintain a list of potential resolutions for new authors to work with. Each topic will have an assigned mentor who has passed a GA resolution for the interested party to work with as either the author and/or co-author. I would hope to work with the WALL regions for this as a joint initiative sharing our pool of GA authors and letting our collective citizenry benefit.

I have a question here about the inclusion of WALL - while continuing to build those relationships is great, I fear that internally new authors may be skittish about presenting proposals to people they do not have any relationship with. Would there be two programs working in conjunction both internally and internationally, or would WALL inclusion be a mandate?
It is imperative that the Delegate votes according to the forum vote the overwhelming majority of the time to incentivize those wanting a greater say in the WA to come join us. My policy will be to always vote according to the forum vote. The timing of resolutions going to vote is quite favourable for me. I anticipate being able to vote within the first hour thus maximizing our region's influence in votes.

About a month ago, I had authored a resolution that was bound to pass, and was overwhelmingly supported on the forums. I realized there were significant issues with said resolution that needed to be fixed. In this situation, despite the forum vote being overwhelmingly for, the author asked for the proposal to be voted down. How would you handle this situation?

Thank you.
 
I have been concerned in the past that applications to the Executive Staff are not being processed quickly enough. This is an important method of engaging new players and retaining them. As such, we will have all applications accepted within three days of being made.

What is your plan to stay on top of these to make sure that they are being done, and if you are relaying on ministers to accept what happens if a ministry is falling behind?


Do you plan on staying as the guild master if you win the Delegate seat? If no who will be your successor, if yes how do you plan to balance the work load?


If you had to be an ice cream flavor what flavor would it be?
 
I'm glad to see that you put emphasis on the Ministry of Communications returning to focus on TNL. Even at our height, however, TNL was only published once every two months. Returning to that standard - let alone pushing for a monthly publication - is ambitious. Do you have any plans on how to increase Ministry participation and readership?

Do you have any ideas for events the Ministry of Culture can spearhead over the course of the term? With the departure of COE, what would your plans be for Democracy Day? To what extent should the Ministry of Culture promote roleplay, and do you see any future for the Roleplay Reel?

With your plans for "open house" events within the Ministry of Defense, do you view OpSec as being a concern?
 
I see you said you would tell new players how you form a cabinet. How will you form your cabinet?

Why not more than just detective games?

How will you get new ideas in HA, and how will the worthy ones be implemented, credited, measured in worthiness (i.e. how is it determined), etc?

Are you sure Cards Against NationStates works?

Would the raid reports look like TBH’s reports? What venue(s) would they be held in (e.g. NS forums, our forums, dispatches)?

How will you make FA less boring? I know this is already happening with the WFE project, but I want to know if you have more ideas.

Some of your shortened ideas are very vague. What 4 new cards guild programs, and why do we need more programs? I’d like to know where the numbers come from (can you convert them to rates).
 
With respect to the forum, I agree that it is ideal for discussions to occur here. Personally I have seen that this rarely happens. Even when you create a thread that outlines the goals or what you intend to do, or you do a ping and ask them to read/post, or you ask staff to post their opinions/completed article or whatever there, there is still a preference for discord. What strategies do you have to overcome this?

With regards to the releasing of logs, what ones in particular have not been released? For the logs that are not released, how would you work on the release? In some cases, there could be hundreds of thousands of lines of text to read and people who have shared real life information in channels where they shouldn't (that would need to be edited)? Would you get the consent of those speaking in the logs you intend to release?

With the social deduction games, are these on the forum or discord?

Communications has been a real weakness of mine. Particularly in terms of getting new staff involved and having the Minister complete a full term (oops). I wonder how you would manage these types of issues in order to get to 4 TNLs? Would you stop posting TNS entirely (at least that is how I read it).


I am going to ask some general questions of all candidates.

1) What is an example of a character strength of yours that you believe will make a difference to you as Delegate?

2) What is your greatest flaw? How would you manage this as Delegate?

3) Are there any current alliances/pacts held by The North Pacific that you believe are no longer relevant and should be repealed?

4) Do you intend to regularly post on the regional message board if you are elected?

5) If you could secure an alliance with another region that we are not currently allied to, who would you choose and why?
 
Praetor, good to see you involved and running for the Delegacy. Below I have some questions for you.

For clarification on this, you say you want one person to lead each resolution. Heroes of the North can serve a secondary purpose of giving new authors a chance to be listed as co-authors and begin to gain name recognition in the Security Council. Would you be making authorship the job of one person, or would you assemble teams to work on the proposals, with a leader/mentor paving the way for eventual passage?
The latter, there would be one individual in charge of each nominee. This individual may or may not be an author and/or co-author. I think it is great to pair up experienced SCers with non-experienced SCers as it helps to pass on knowledge. The team lead would be responsible for overseeing the various aspects of research, drafting, editing, and campaigning (as in ensuring it is getting done).

I have a question here about the inclusion of WALL - while continuing to build those relationships is great, I fear that internally new authors may be skittish about presenting proposals to people they do not have any relationship with. Would there be two programs working in conjunction both internally and internationally, or would WALL inclusion be a mandate?
The WALL headquarters are helpfully on this forum so that would help alleviate concerns from our own citizens. With citizens from foreign regions being hesitant to joining our forums for feedback, I would perhaps suggest that a member of that region (Delegate, Minister of World Assembly Affairs, etc.) could propose the resolution to be drafted on behalf of the citizen (if they do not want to make a forum account).

About a month ago, I had authored a resolution that was bound to pass, and was overwhelmingly supported on the forums. I realized there were significant issues with said resolution that needed to be fixed. In this situation, despite the forum vote being overwhelmingly for, the author asked for the proposal to be voted down. How would you handle this situation?
I would point them towards the forum and the voters. Additionally, I would be willing to note publicly that the author wishes the proposal fails due to issues and would move my personal vote against. Ultimately, an imperfect resolution may be acceptable to some members of the region. I would accept that.
 
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What is your plan to stay on top of these to make sure that they are being done, and if you are relaying on ministers to accept what happens if a ministry is falling behind?
Executive Staff applications are one of the threads that I read whenever there are new posts. Either Ministers or Deputy Ministers would be able to accept applications. If a Ministry is falling behind, it is clear that there must be changes. New members are the lifeblood of our region.

Do you plan on staying as the guild master if you win the Delegate seat? If no who will be your successor, if yes how do you plan to balance the work load?
I would not remain as Guildmaster—I can't hog all the positions in the region! There are a couple of individuals who I believe have the qualifications (experience with Cards, knows the Guild, has administration experience, and dedication to the region). I would consult with the Minister of Culture and the current Cards leadership before picking someone. I am confident that there are individuals able to step into the position.
If you had to be an ice cream flavor what flavor would it be?
Limoncello. It tastes AMAZING.
 
I'm glad to see that you put emphasis on the Ministry of Communications returning to focus on TNL. Even at our height, however, TNL was only published once every two months. Returning to that standard - let alone pushing for a monthly publication - is ambitious. Do you have any plans on how to increase Ministry participation and readership?
To increase Ministry participation, I would publicize more widely our next themes to openly invite contributors (and publish the next theme in TNL). TNLs (under the current method) are one of the few publications that I enjoy reading completely. I think having more issues would help readership (as it would build anticipation). Additionally, controversial/interesting topics would increase readership so I would ensure that we try to have some interesting articles going out. :D

Do you have any ideas for events the Ministry of Culture can spearhead over the course of the term?
I'm not one for overpromising. I don't want to come out and promise the world in hopes I'll be elected. I try to stay realistic and on the ground. :P One idea I was thinking of—and which was mentioned previously—was having a contest for a new TNP flag which would be then proposed to the RA.

I think the most important contribution I would be able to make would be social deduction games and that would be where the Ministry would put the focus. This would provide more of a longer-term benefit that events which I would say on average tend to have short-term benefits.

With the departure of COE, what would your plans be for Democracy Day?
As the previous Democracy Days have been a ton of fun for many, I would seek if possible to continue our traditions (TNP memorabilia). If that does not work, I would be open to suggestions from community members. We could potentially explore having a fake law writing competition (eg. write the worst constitution you can) or fake elections. It's Democracy Day, I would listen to what the people want for it. ;)
To what extent should the Ministry of Culture promote roleplay, and do you see any future for the Roleplay Reel?
The Ministry of Culture should not seek to impose itself on the roleplay community. That being said I would work on promoting roleplay with the community. One particular aspect I think could be focused on if they wished would be using dispatches to promote on going events in the community to the interregional community.

I see a future for the Roleplay Reel if there is interest in writing articles for it. I would love to have more exports to show the interregional community and would definitely promote it.
With your plans for "open house" events within the Ministry of Defense, do you view OpSec as being a concern?
Not really. "Walk-ins" (for lack of a better word) would not be given access to any secure channels on the Discord. So OpSec would not be a concern in that manner. In terms of the actual operation, I would not be concerned either. We wouldn't be aiming to liberate an ally or similar and thus have less need to worry about secrecy—we could very well be doing a fake liberation of a region the NPA holds. The operations would be lower stakes with the intent of given players a taste of the fun the NPA has to offer.
 
Good luck!

Who is our closest ally and why?

Which of our previous delegates would you say you emulate most?
 
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I see you said you would tell new players how you form a cabinet. How will you form your cabinet?
I would have applications open with a form to be filled out. Qualifications I would look for generally would be experience in administration, ability to commit to the position, thoughts on my ideas, ideas of their own, commitments to other regions. I would additionally have position specific questions.
Why not more than just detective games?
Social deduction games are not limited to just detective games (presuming you mean the role in the games). In Assassin in the Palace, there are three roles: King, Guards, and Assassin. The Guards all know who the King is but not who other Guards are. The King only knows their own role. The Assassin has the ability to choose once who to kill, if they assassinate the King, they win. Every so often in the game (in phases), everyone chooses to lynch someone. And that person dies. The Guards and the King are attempting to lynch the Assassin. The game is a fun chaos. If no one ever votes/suspects the King, then the Assassin knows who the King is. However, if a Guard votes/suspects the King (fakely to deter attention), the Guard risks getting voted by other Guards and then the Assassin has a good idea of who the King is.
How will you get new ideas in HA, and how will the worthy ones be implemented, credited, measured in worthiness (i.e. how is it determined), etc?
New ideas would be given by members (similar to a suggestion box except we would be working with members to implement their suggestion). We would evaluate the resources needed for the project (regionwide telegrams, dispatches, forum/Discord infrastructure), what is the time frame and what the potential return is (new WAs, new citizens, more posts on the forum).
Are you sure Cards Against NationStates works?
Apparently the problem which was noticed a while ago was not resolved (and which I was posted it). I have bumped the thread. It's good, casual, on-site fun so I imagine it'll get fixed ([v] posted in the thread but never followed up).
Would the raid reports look like TBH’s reports? What venue(s) would they be held in (e.g. NS forums, our forums, dispatches)?
Similar to them. I'm not sure if there's a certain characteristic that distinguishes TBH's raid reports but yes, they would look similar to those (and TGW's, Lily's, and many of the other military organizations). To get maximum visibility they would be posted on the RMB, dispatches, TNP forum, and NS forums.
How will you make FA less boring? I know this is already happening with the WFE project, but I want to know if you have more ideas.
I think FA can be less boring if you know what's going on! I find that you need to have connections often to have the inside scoop on all the good gossip. Sharing this information with the Ambassador Corps and the Regional Assembly (where appropriate) will surely make FA less boring.
Some of your shortened ideas are very vague. What 4 new cards guild programs, and why do we need more programs? I’d like to know where the numbers come from (can you convert them to rates).
I have not specified the Cards Guild programs as I am aware that members of other regions read our forums and are interested in their own cards program. I'd like to maintain our competitive edge. :P Programs which will promote cards to more players, help players achieve their goals in the cards game (especially helping new players), and help recruit players to the North are always helpful!

Which numbers are you asking for being converted to rates?
 
Hi, Praetor. I was hoping if you could provide some insight into what sort of values and general character you bring to the executive. Having a game plan is good and important, however its execution and working together with others is imperative to seeing that realized. I think the person themselves plays a big part in that and would like to hear some of your thoughts in this area. (Also I love social deduction games!)
 
With respect to the forum, I agree that it is ideal for discussions to occur here. Personally I have seen that this rarely happens. Even when you create a thread that outlines the goals or what you intend to do, or you do a ping and ask them to read/post, or you ask staff to post their opinions/completed article or whatever there, there is still a preference for discord. What strategies do you have to overcome this?
I have considered this and been guilty of this as well. I have considered a variety of strategies. For example, one I considered was just not posting anything on Discord (however, this might have the unintended side effect of the thread going entirely unnoticed). I think the best strategy to overcome this is polite insistence that this conversation really does need to be taken to the forum. I think another aspect is a culture of just going to post on Discord immediately. I hope we can change this culture.

With regards to the releasing of logs, what ones in particular have not been released? For the logs that are not released, how would you work on the release? In some cases, there could be hundreds of thousands of lines of text to read and people who have shared real life information in channels where they shouldn't (that would need to be edited)? Would you get the consent of those speaking in the logs you intend to release?
In the Ruling of the Court found here, the Court ruled that "the Freedom of Information Act applies to any platform on which TNP government business is conducted." Part of the Freedom of Information Act states "[p]rivate government records which reach one year of age will be relocated to the appropriate Declassified Archive visible to residents.". As a former member of Cabinet, I know that there are channels which are no longer in use, which have not been declassified (unless I can't find them) such as the cabinet chambers. I mentioned releasing them appropriately—that is the part which includes removing classified information. While permission from those involved would be preferable, legally, there does not appear to be an option to do so. The Court specified in their ruling that the author of messages written in one's capacity as a government official are owned by that government body. If there is some missing or incorrect information, please, do let me know.

With the social deduction games, are these on the forum or discord?
Forum. While they could be held on Discord I would strongly be against it as longer posts are better for social deduction games and the forum is better for longer posts. Additionally, more forum activity is always good. :D

Communications has been a real weakness of mine. Particularly in terms of getting new staff involved and having the Minister complete a full term (oops). I wonder how you would manage these types of issues in order to get to 4 TNLs? Would you stop posting TNS entirely (at least that is how I read it).
Yes, I think the most valuable part of TNS is the update on the military which will be reworked and can server as an "easier" entry point into Communications. Spotlights could become fuller interviews like the one in which Fiji interviews Wally (the best done interview I have seen in NationStates). In terms of getting new staff involved, I would promote themes to those interested both inside and outside of TNP. In terms of having unexpected issues (eg. a Minister leaving), I believe that appropriate spreading of responsibilities would help mitigate issues.

1) What is an example of a character strength of yours that you believe will make a difference to you as Delegate?
Problem-solving. What is the problem? What are the issues causing it? What are the potential solutions? Which one is the best? How do we mitigate risks? How do we evaluate our success? I like that sort of stuff. :)
2) What is your greatest flaw? How would you manage this as Delegate?
My greatest flaw would be wanting to do too much. I think this is reflected by tampering down what I would like to accomplish in this platform. As Delegate, it would require delegating appropriately and ensuring that I do not overload myself or others. I also have the potential to either share too much information or not enough. In which case, I just need someone to ask for a tl;ldr or for me to elaborate respectively.
3) Are there any current alliances/pacts held by The North Pacific that you believe are no longer relevant and should be repealed?
I believe the position of Equilism compared to when the alliance was made has changed the most. However, rather than cutting off friends, I would like to work with them if possible to give them a helping hand. :)
4) Do you intend to regularly post on the regional message board if you are elected?
I currently do and intend to keep doing so. We'll see if I keep up my fight to stop TNL from doubleposting on the RMB. :P
5) If you could secure an alliance with another region that we are not currently allied to, who would you choose and why?
Forest. I believe there is potential for both cultural affairs collaboration as they have a vibrant community and are quite active in the General Assembly. I would also love to work on bringing issues to TNP although I know that the Issue Editors in Forest are quite hesitant on that.
 
Good luck!

Who is our closest ally and why?

Which of our previous delegates would you say you emulate most?
Depends on the context. Overall, I think our closest ally would be Europeia as we can work with them in a variety of contexts, (WALL, military, and culture). We are also quite close with TSP.

That's difficult as I have not been around long enough to experience every Delegate or know what they have done (so not being listed is not saying I would not emulate them). I would hope to say I could emulate r3n the most. r3n has consistently introduced many significant changes to the community which have had incredible impacts. I have had the pleasure of working with him in the Cards Guild. That being said, I don't know how to code. :P
 
For a while, Foreign Affairs has really struggled in terms of applications and has a high turnover, often because activity within the ministry varies throughout the term. What would you look to do to combat this and ensure that the Foreign Affairs Ministry has an active ambassador corps?
 
Hi, Praetor. I was hoping if you could provide some insight into what sort of values and general character you bring to the executive. Having a game plan is good and important, however its execution and working together with others is imperative to seeing that realized. I think the person themselves plays a big part in that and would like to hear some of your thoughts in this area. (Also I love social deduction games!)
Now, we have somewhat discussed this previously. Without having an exhaustive list to choose from, I'll select some that come to mind as most important albeit I may miss some.

I think the most important is the willingness to change one's position on matters. If the way that I am approaching a problem is failing, then it is often appropriate to change how you are attempting to solve the problem. Secondly, I think the willingness to be wrong is important (somewhat related). I have listed many impactful ideas, if they fail, that is unfortunate, however I will not waste resources on a doomed venture. If they succeed, I believe we will get great results (social deduction games being one of the priorities). Lastly, I value going out to help others (especially those new) I have done so through previously in my time through welcoming players on the Discord and posting in welcome threads in the Docks. I will continue to help newer players develop in the region.

Glad to hear you'd be interested in joining social deduction games. I had a feeling you'd be interested in them. :D
 
For a while, Foreign Affairs has really struggled in terms of applications and has a high turnover, often because activity within the ministry varies throughout the term. What would you look to do to combat this and ensure that the Foreign Affairs Ministry has an active ambassador corps?
Activity breeds activity and inactivity breeds inactivity. It is harder to kill something that is going. When I was Minister, I prioritized recruiting new members. It was a joke at that time that when new players joined the Discord they should run before I recruited them to join the Ministry. :P Sparking activity will be done by updating members of the Ambassador Corps on going ons in NS. I found that this often sparks conversations on current affairs from older members and newer players will join in to ask questions and seeking clarification.
 
Hi, Praetor! Good to see you running. I just have one question (in the area I tend to stay in)
In the General Assembly, I will create a vibrant community of domestic authors. There are already a number of authors within the region and I aim to expand that further. The Ministry will maintain a list of potential resolutions for new authors to work with. Each topic will have an assigned mentor who has passed a GA resolution for the interested party to work with as either the author and/or co-author. I would hope to work with the WALL regions for this as a joint initiative sharing our pool of GA authors and letting our collective citizenry benefit.
So, this "list of potential resolutions" - is that just like the post in the General Assembly subforum that's essentially the same thing? How would you differentiate the two?

As to mentors - it's been said that the most difficult part of writing in the GA is actually coming up with a good idea. I think you'd struggle to find enough people with an actual solid idea that works within the context of the General Assembly, as opposed to people who just say "I want to write a resolution!!", in which case they'd need help coming up with an idea. I fail to see how helpful a "mentor" would be in this step of the process, especially considering most who would qualify for this mentorship position would already be drafting ideas they have on the NS Forums, to some extent.

Essentially, I fail to see why a one-on-one mentorship would be preferable to, say, an expansion of the WALL internal drafting process. Speaking as someone who has posted several of their proposals there before submission, it usually lacks extensive proper feedback - and it absolutely pales in comparison to drafting on the NS Forums themselves. I'd be more interested in how you could encourage and incentivize participation in the WALL proposals subforum than about this mentorship process you've thought up.

Furthermore, where do you see the future of the sponsorships program going?

-

Good luck! I hope to hear some good answers from you :D
 
What is your view of the non-aggression pact signed between the NPO and TSP?

I was not too surprised when I heard it occurred. I thought it was particularly interesting the clause mandating supporting each other region in the Security Council and having it needed to be renewed yearly. I don't believe I have recently seen either of those clauses in treaties. I think the treaty is fine. TSP and the NPO have had a long lasting relationship that has been relatively coupless. I don't see us having a treaty with the NPO anytime soon.
 
Would weekly Ambassador Corps simply mean a shifting in the roster to purge inactive players? And on what basis would you (or the Minister) be judging this shifting of the roster (for example: WF updates, Communication Updates, etc.)?

Are calzones a pizza or a sandwich?
 
Hi, Praetor! Good to see you running. I just have one question (in the area I tend to stay in)

So, this "list of potential resolutions" - is that just like the post in the General Assembly subforum that's essentially the same thing? How would you differentiate the two?

As to mentors - it's been said that the most difficult part of writing in the GA is actually coming up with a good idea. I think you'd struggle to find enough people with an actual solid idea that works within the context of the General Assembly, as opposed to people who just say "I want to write a resolution!!", in which case they'd need help coming up with an idea. I fail to see how helpful a "mentor" would be in this step of the process, especially considering most who would qualify for this mentorship position would already be drafting ideas they have on the NS Forums, to some extent.

Essentially, I fail to see why a one-on-one mentorship would be preferable to, say, an expansion of the WALL internal drafting process. Speaking as someone who has posted several of their proposals there before submission, it usually lacks extensive proper feedback - and it absolutely pales in comparison to drafting on the NS Forums themselves. I'd be more interested in how you could encourage and incentivize participation in the WALL proposals subforum than about this mentorship process you've thought up.

Furthermore, where do you see the future of the sponsorships program going?

-

Good luck! I hope to hear some good answers from you :D
Funnily enough, I was the one who suggested the creation of that thread. :P I would say it would be similar. The key differentiator would be to have a list of mentors associated with the topics to help with drafting a specific topic. I think another key differentiator is that that list would be on our forums and thus more convenient for nations to find. The purpose of having a list of resolutions to be drafted on would hopefully help members coming up with an idea that works within the context of General Assembly. The mentor for that specific area would be able to help with that. The culture of the GA can be quite intimidating, mentorship can be helpful for players before posting a draft resolution in the GA forum. Furthermore, drafting would occur preliminarily in the WALL subforums.

The lack of feedback on resolutions posted in the World Assembly Proposals subforum has concerned me. I have tried to engage with proposals there but they are largely GA which is not quite my area of expertise. Promoting discussion can and should happen more extensively. Part of this can be encouraged top-down through having the Ministers and Deputy Ministers engaging in proposals (and which I would ensure does happen). As I mentioned previously in answer to Owen's question, activity breeds activity. In terms of process, I would be interested in exploring having the government engage with the author on what our stance as a government would be ahead of time.

I like the idea of the sponsorships program. I am aware that there has been only a couple of resolutions which have been accepted and subsequently passed (Repeal Convention on Animal Testing, and your Condemn Tinfect) although there are two more that were accepted and should be heading to vote soon. As someone who recently co-authored a resolution, I thought about applying with 9003. Ultimately, I did not even approach 9003 to discuss it due to not seeing benefits I would not already get. I think the program could be clearer on what the lobbying activities entail. Additionally, I will note that previously, the process to getting accepted was much lengthier. The changes made this term to simplify it are good. I am open to changes based on what I hear are the problems are with the program from those who have been either accepted in the program or those who have not chosen to use it.
 
What if you found out someone else was about to coup, and the only way to stop it was for you to briefly take the delegacy?
Is it legal? I am a proponent of following the laws. If there are issues with the laws, the laws should be changed. Fortunately, I believe TNP has a rather robust legal and security system and that even if someone were to coup that it could be quickly be undone.
 
Would weekly Ambassador Corps simply mean a shifting in the roster to purge inactive players? And on what basis would you (or the Minister) be judging this shifting of the roster (for example: WF updates, Communication Updates, etc.)?
Weekly updates to the Ambassador Corps would not be used as a method to purge inactive players. Given that the briefing is coming from the Ministry and that the Ambassador Corps are to engage in discussions, it is possible that an Ambassador does not having anything to contribute. That being said, I think engagement in briefings would be useful to highlight upcoming potential members of the Ambassador Corps who could potentially serve higher.
Are calzones a pizza or a sandwich?
Why not both?
 
Is it legal? I am a proponent of following the laws. If there are issues with the laws, the laws should be changed. Fortunately, I believe TNP has a rather robust legal and security system and that even if someone were to coup that it could be quickly be undone.
Assume that it's not legal.
 
Depends on the context. Overall, I think our closest ally would be Europeia as we can work with them in a variety of contexts, (WALL, military, and culture). We are also quite close with TSP.

That's difficult as I have not been around long enough to experience every Delegate or know what they have done (so not being listed is not saying I would not emulate them). I would hope to say I could emulate r3n the most. r3n has consistently introduced many significant changes to the community which have had incredible impacts. I have had the pleasure of working with him in the Cards Guild. That being said, I don't know how to code. :P
Thanks for your answer Praetor.

As I did with Gorundu, I'm gonna probe a bit further into your foreign policy answer. NPA is an independent military, under a Preator delegacy, what ways would you be intending to use the NPA to compliment the foreign policy of the region? Are there any militaries you'd like to work with more.
 
How involved with the Executive Council would you like the Vice Delegate to be? Would you expect to be allowed access to the Security Council Chambers if elected as Delegate?
 
All of them
In determining the period for accepting Executive Staff applications, I wanted to ensure that they are accepted within a reasonable time frame but also take into account that unexpected issues can arise. I considered the work involved in processing applications. While within 24 hours would be ideal of a time frame for applications to be done, taking into account particularly busy days/extreme circumstances I decided to give it three days. This would be shorter than some of the current wait times for applications to the Executive Staff to be accepted.

Holding eight social deduction games averages one every two weeks which has them thus ongoing throughout the term instead of just concentrated. I want to try at least three different types so that community members can try out various games and we can see which ones are more popular. Similarly, releasing four new Cards programs would be releasing one a month.

Holding six AMAs spread throughout the term avoids having too many AMAs (and thus a lack of interest). This would be one every two weeks. I have found that people get tired of having a ton of AMAs. So we'll make sure to spread them out. :)

I imagine that holding Open House events for Defence will be fairly intensive in terms of organization so I would not want to overstretch resources. I did want to have more than one in case someone interested is not able to make one of them. Additionally, we don't know yet what the return will be like so I wouldn't want to commit ahead of time to holding a multitude of them if they are not successful.

With raid reports, they tend to be shorter and could be written by a singular person. I think eight is a sufficient starting point, especially as we would have Defence working with Communications on this. While 4 TNLs is certainly ambitious, I believe that moving away from TNS and towards higher quality publications which should spark more interest in them is feasible.

In WA Affairs, for our goals passing GA resolutions is somewhat easier than passing SC resolutions since there are more potential topics to be written about. The Heroes of the North has been off to a somewhat slow start, I think having team leads will help smooth the process.

Lastly but not leastly, having four VC events provides enough to test out the idea in a variety of themes and at different times.
 
I will politely decline. The offer is appreciated though.
So you would rather let someone coup the region than have your reputation tarnished slightly by temporarily (and understandably) breaking one of the region's laws? Some would say that this type of selfish attitude is unbecoming of someone who is looking to become Delegate of the largest feeder in NS. How would you respond?
 
Thanks for your answer Praetor.

As I did with Gorundu, I'm gonna probe a bit further into your foreign policy answer. NPA is an independent military, under a Preator delegacy, what ways would you be intending to use the NPA to compliment the foreign policy of the region? Are there any militaries you'd like to work with more.
The most active way that we see the NPA complement our foreign policy is in vigorously opposing fascists and in defending our allies. The reform to the NPA provides much needed flexibility and I intend to take full advantage of the changes. I would work with the NPA in ensuring they can go after fascist regions—I previously proposed an offensive liberation in the Security Council which resulted in the NPA being able to snipe the refounding.

In terms of mechanics, I find that the most difficult operations related to our foreign policy as where the NPA has to move into a region with a hostile Executive Delegate (and potentially BCs assisting the Delegate). Typically, due to the sheer size of the NPA, we are able to crush opposition. However, it is imperative that the NPA is able to do these operations whether it is from jumping into a GCR to boost a high endo native into the Delegacy, liberating one of our founderless allies

Military wise, I would always like for us to work with our allies more. :D If there's interest from the NPA and our allies, I have always thought we could hold some fun games (like a competition to see which military can hold the most Warzones).
 
How involved with the Executive Council would you like the Vice Delegate to be? Would you expect to be allowed access to the Security Council Chambers if elected as Delegate?
I do not want a Vice Delegate to get involved in the Executive Council if they will be neglecting their other duties. That being said, I would certainly welcome their involvement should they be able to manage their other duties and indeed think that is preferable in the case something happens to me. I would like your involvement should you be elected again as I have confidence in your ability to do the aspects of your job.

I would have no expectation of be permitted access to the Security Council Chambers is not under my jurisdiction. Regardless of whether I am permitted access or not, I would work with the Vice Delegate.
 
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