This is perhaps the boldest enterprise I have ever attempted, so be it. For The North Pacific, charge!
Hello, my name is Picairn and I’m running to be your Delegate. I originally spawned in TWP but migrated to TNP in April 2020 out of love for its vibrant community. Shortly after, I became a citizen but was mostly inactive for three years, as my mind was focused on making RP dispatches and news articles. When TNP declared war and invaded Solidarity in October 2023, I quickly enlisted in the NPA and later the Executive Staff to serve my home region. Since then I have enthusiastically participated in operations and devoted myself to the army, eventually climbing up the ranks to Deputy Minister (under Robespierre) and then Minister of Defense. I am also highly active in the Executive Staff, having served as Deputy Minister of Communications (twice), Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (twice), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Home Affairs for six days.
As Minister of Defense, I led the NPA’s third and most destructive raid on Warzone Trinidad, forcing the WZT Mafia to relocate to Palmetto, and the successful capture of the Confederation of Corrupt Dictators with the assistance of our allies, my proudest accomplishment to date. Outside of the NPA, I have written articles and designed magazines for The North Star, beautified many of our outdated dispatches, contributed to the Foreign Affairs Ministry as a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations and later as Deputy Minister, and helped organise the Pride Prom festival between TNP and The Wellspring.
As you can see, I have been deeply involved in many places, assumed many positions, and accrued much experience even though my stay in TNP’s government has not even reached one year of age. I am confident that I can reliably serve TNP as its delegate, and I believe I can weather the pressures of this office as long as I have a plan and a direction for where I’m going.
Those of you who have worked with me or talked to me recently would know that I’m outspoken on the need for reform in TNP. The combined effects of the F/S update and the summer lull have taken a toll on our government. Our Ministries suffer from manpower shortages and activity issues. Our pursuit of the war feels aimless and without direction. Our most talented people are burning out and leaving office, while our existing staffers are still raw and unprepared for higher appointments. Even the NPA, its officer corps was inactive to the point that reforms had to be made. If we want to mitigate the effects of this decline, and perhaps even reverse it, then reforms are our best way to do that.
What I offer you is a bold, inspiring vision for TNP: an injection of energy into our stagnating government, a revival of our community, and a revitalisation of our military. To that end, I present to you my specific plans for each Ministry.
It is perhaps not surprising that I place the Defence Ministry (and the North Pacific Army) as my top priority. If we want to win the war, the need for a strong military is self-evident. As Minister of Defense, I have taken great pains and efforts to not only bolster our ranks with recruitment, but also ensure that our most promising soldiers are properly mentored to become officers of the next generation.
Promotion and Recruitment
Under my term, the High Command has explored and tried many avenues for recruitment: promotion of our victories through dispatches and forum posts, telegrams, RMB recruitment, private outreach to interested parties, etc. New ribbons were also exquisitely designed and handed out to raise our soldiers’ morale and attract outside interest.
Going forward, I’d like to see the NPA making an upgrade from routine operations reports to its own monthly publication/magazine that acts both as a summary of its operations and an advertisement of its image to the wider region. In addition, weekly telegram recruitment runs can be organised by Home Affairs to bring in new soldiers and increase our updater/auxiliary capacity for grand offensives/liberations. I will also make full use of the Gameside Advocates to heavily promote NPA dispatches, reports, and publications on the RMB. Although 9003’s RMB bot is effective at regularly putting out messages, I feel like its repetitive posts lack the human touch that makes recruitment more personalised and appealing to the average player. Medals, ribbons, leaderboards, and other awards will continue to be explored and designed to give our soldiers additional motivation to participate.
Last but not least, I’d like to see a modernised rendition of the old Call to Serve program. The basic idea is to interview High Command generals (or even some long-serving officers) and have them tell their stories in the NPA to inspire others to enlist. The format could either be an NBS Radio interview or a text-based one. The key is to attract listeners and encourage them to join the NPA through exciting tales of adventures or heroics in our army.
Training and Mentorship
Another principal focus during my term as MoD is the training of new recruits and mentorship of promising Sergeants into capable Lieutenants. The old Instructor program, where a new soldier or a Warrant Officer is paired with an experienced officer to guide them, was revived for this exact purpose. I myself have taken on a few mentees to teach them the ways of R/D operations. To make our knowledge more permanently ingrained, I wrote down a new Soldier’s Manual - with the assistance of High Command and other officers - covering all basic R/D operations, assistance tools, and best practices for a new soldier.
Unfortunately, High Command has suffered from a loss of experience and activity as some of our Generals have resigned. As Delegate, my goals are to complete the Officer’s Manual and train our Warrant Officers to become full-fledged Lieutenants, paving the way for them to serve as future Colonels or perhaps even Generals/MoDs. I do not want High Command to be plagued by inactivity as our best people continue to burn out, and so I will pay keen attention to this area and make it clear to my Minister of Defense that this should be their top priority as well.
Promotion and Recruitment
Under my term, the High Command has explored and tried many avenues for recruitment: promotion of our victories through dispatches and forum posts, telegrams, RMB recruitment, private outreach to interested parties, etc. New ribbons were also exquisitely designed and handed out to raise our soldiers’ morale and attract outside interest.
Going forward, I’d like to see the NPA making an upgrade from routine operations reports to its own monthly publication/magazine that acts both as a summary of its operations and an advertisement of its image to the wider region. In addition, weekly telegram recruitment runs can be organised by Home Affairs to bring in new soldiers and increase our updater/auxiliary capacity for grand offensives/liberations. I will also make full use of the Gameside Advocates to heavily promote NPA dispatches, reports, and publications on the RMB. Although 9003’s RMB bot is effective at regularly putting out messages, I feel like its repetitive posts lack the human touch that makes recruitment more personalised and appealing to the average player. Medals, ribbons, leaderboards, and other awards will continue to be explored and designed to give our soldiers additional motivation to participate.
Last but not least, I’d like to see a modernised rendition of the old Call to Serve program. The basic idea is to interview High Command generals (or even some long-serving officers) and have them tell their stories in the NPA to inspire others to enlist. The format could either be an NBS Radio interview or a text-based one. The key is to attract listeners and encourage them to join the NPA through exciting tales of adventures or heroics in our army.
Training and Mentorship
Another principal focus during my term as MoD is the training of new recruits and mentorship of promising Sergeants into capable Lieutenants. The old Instructor program, where a new soldier or a Warrant Officer is paired with an experienced officer to guide them, was revived for this exact purpose. I myself have taken on a few mentees to teach them the ways of R/D operations. To make our knowledge more permanently ingrained, I wrote down a new Soldier’s Manual - with the assistance of High Command and other officers - covering all basic R/D operations, assistance tools, and best practices for a new soldier.
Unfortunately, High Command has suffered from a loss of experience and activity as some of our Generals have resigned. As Delegate, my goals are to complete the Officer’s Manual and train our Warrant Officers to become full-fledged Lieutenants, paving the way for them to serve as future Colonels or perhaps even Generals/MoDs. I do not want High Command to be plagued by inactivity as our best people continue to burn out, and so I will pay keen attention to this area and make it clear to my Minister of Defense that this should be their top priority as well.
Our Foreign Affairs situation is quite advantageous: we currently enjoy a wide and diverse coalition of regions which despise the BoM + TCB sphere for their constant provocations and attacks. This anti-BoM “Grand Alliance” has enabled us to dominate the WA and advance our interests there without much opposition: libjuncts to save regions raided by our enemies are widely passed, while resolutions authored by or C/Cs rewarded to them are routinely repealed. Our MGC sanctions continue to be strictly enforced with substantial effects: the implosion and collapse of Astoria, a former BoM-allied region, was caused by internal disputes relating to its participation on the side of BoM during their war against us and the sanctions’ suffocating restrictions on its FA outreach. Despite raider boasts that the sanctions are ineffective, cracks have begun to appear and demonstrate that military victories on the field don’t necessarily translate to firm and unyielding unity.
My aims are to maintain our anti-BoM alliance, which would require pragmatism and compromise. I and the FA Ministry would work with our allies to keep us focused on our common interests of fighting BoM as opposed to distracting ideological fights. Furthermore, we would expand our network of friends, embassy regions, and informal partners, not only for cultural collaboration but also for potential military cooperation and further isolating the BoM + TCB circle. Every region we can court is like a small brick, the more bricks we can collect and we will eventually build a wall (*sigh*) surrounding our enemies. We need to continuously apply pressure on them via sanctions and repeals of their C/Cs as well.
Internally, I would like to build upon one of Comfed’s old projects: case studies for our FA staffers and analysts. Academic exercises to train our staffers on FA knowledge is a good idea, and we can take some historical NS events (coups, wars, invasions, etc.) to test our analysts on what they will do as leaders in those situations. It would be a learning experience, one that could pay off later down the road. The most promising staffers can be offered a spot on the Committee of Foreign Relations: as its most junior member without any significant FA experience prior to my appointment, I have found being on the Committee to be one of my most enriching experiences. Our Ambassadors, on the other hand, will continue to promptly post our news publications and FA updates to other regions when requested.
My aims are to maintain our anti-BoM alliance, which would require pragmatism and compromise. I and the FA Ministry would work with our allies to keep us focused on our common interests of fighting BoM as opposed to distracting ideological fights. Furthermore, we would expand our network of friends, embassy regions, and informal partners, not only for cultural collaboration but also for potential military cooperation and further isolating the BoM + TCB circle. Every region we can court is like a small brick, the more bricks we can collect and we will eventually build a wall (*sigh*) surrounding our enemies. We need to continuously apply pressure on them via sanctions and repeals of their C/Cs as well.
Internally, I would like to build upon one of Comfed’s old projects: case studies for our FA staffers and analysts. Academic exercises to train our staffers on FA knowledge is a good idea, and we can take some historical NS events (coups, wars, invasions, etc.) to test our analysts on what they will do as leaders in those situations. It would be a learning experience, one that could pay off later down the road. The most promising staffers can be offered a spot on the Committee of Foreign Relations: as its most junior member without any significant FA experience prior to my appointment, I have found being on the Committee to be one of my most enriching experiences. Our Ambassadors, on the other hand, will continue to promptly post our news publications and FA updates to other regions when requested.
Addressing the manpower issue
There’s no sugarcoating it: The Ministry is in a sorry state due to a shortage of capable writers and designers. Our publications’ publishing schedule frequently faces delays due to our existing writers being occupied with significant commitments elsewhere. To alleviate this problem, we must bolster our recruitment via weekly or biweekly promotions and telegram recruitments for the Ministry; advertisement posters and infographics; and outreach efforts to people who are interested in writing or designing. We can also invite people from outside TNP to contribute to our publications in the form of news reports or opinion pieces, offering all of us some much-needed fresh content.
Retention of morale
Speaking from experience, writing an article with a deadline is seriously hard work, especially if you have other RL or NS commitments as well. Not only must you properly research the facts before writing, you must also choose their words carefully to fit the professional tone of the publication (even with the Editors’ assistance), and sometimes the well of creativity can run dry or you are simply frustrated with your word choice/grammar/paragraph structure. As Deputy Minister of Communications and author of several articles, I have felt that deeply. If we want to keep our writers to continue their work, we can reinstitute our old Comms awards program or even offer Legendary cards as reward for an article written or an issue designed. An end-of-month award or end-of-term Best [category] Contest are also good ways to maintain morale.
A new direction for TNL
The Northern Lights, our flagship publication, has remained in a state of limbo for months. With the manpower issue plaguing the Ministry, it is very difficult to produce TNS and TNL regularly at the same time. One of my ideas as Deputy Minister was to reform TNL into an end-of-term special: Instead of making TNS issues for the final months of a term like April, August, and December, we can replace them with TNL issues instead. The production of TNL will be less frequent (at a rate of 3 issues a year), but its exclusivity, quality, and design will be its main selling point to readers.
There’s no sugarcoating it: The Ministry is in a sorry state due to a shortage of capable writers and designers. Our publications’ publishing schedule frequently faces delays due to our existing writers being occupied with significant commitments elsewhere. To alleviate this problem, we must bolster our recruitment via weekly or biweekly promotions and telegram recruitments for the Ministry; advertisement posters and infographics; and outreach efforts to people who are interested in writing or designing. We can also invite people from outside TNP to contribute to our publications in the form of news reports or opinion pieces, offering all of us some much-needed fresh content.
Retention of morale
Speaking from experience, writing an article with a deadline is seriously hard work, especially if you have other RL or NS commitments as well. Not only must you properly research the facts before writing, you must also choose their words carefully to fit the professional tone of the publication (even with the Editors’ assistance), and sometimes the well of creativity can run dry or you are simply frustrated with your word choice/grammar/paragraph structure. As Deputy Minister of Communications and author of several articles, I have felt that deeply. If we want to keep our writers to continue their work, we can reinstitute our old Comms awards program or even offer Legendary cards as reward for an article written or an issue designed. An end-of-month award or end-of-term Best [category] Contest are also good ways to maintain morale.
A new direction for TNL
The Northern Lights, our flagship publication, has remained in a state of limbo for months. With the manpower issue plaguing the Ministry, it is very difficult to produce TNS and TNL regularly at the same time. One of my ideas as Deputy Minister was to reform TNL into an end-of-term special: Instead of making TNS issues for the final months of a term like April, August, and December, we can replace them with TNL issues instead. The production of TNL will be less frequent (at a rate of 3 issues a year), but its exclusivity, quality, and design will be its main selling point to readers.
Successful culture events must invite the engagement of the community. Without community engagement, there can simply be no events. I have noticed that the events with the best engagement are usually chess tournaments, voice chats, and interactive games. All of these will be hosted regularly on our Discord, and a special role can be created to ping interested people to join as participants. Another idea that is going to be explored is trivia nights: trivia competitions with a human host and an award for the winner at the end, which could be really fun and engaging as opposed to playing with a bot.
But we can go bigger than that. As Delegate, I would like to replicate the Pride Prom’s success by organising great festivals with our MGC and PPO allies. Chess tournaments with TWP, LGBT-themed events with Europeia, the possibilities are endless.
But we can go bigger than that. As Delegate, I would like to replicate the Pride Prom’s success by organising great festivals with our MGC and PPO allies. Chess tournaments with TWP, LGBT-themed events with Europeia, the possibilities are endless.
Home Affairs is arguably the most important Ministry to our region’s health: its recruitment and integration of new arrivals are critical to producing new talent for our community and replacing losses from burnout. Yet the Ministry’s neglected state has saddened me greatly. Recruitment and mentorship may be tedious, but their purposes are vital. Going into the next term, I will appoint a strong and active hand to lead the Ministry and restore it to regular activity so that it can fulfill my ambitious goals for recruitment and mentorship.
Despite the Ministry’s inactivity, our manual recruitment efforts have been great this term thanks to the tireless dedication of Petronellania, who has been duly recognised with a Delegate’s Service Award. However, I do not want Petro to carry the Ministry’s recruitment alone. All recruiters will be regularly pinged and reminded to do their work, and badges or cards will be awarded to the most active ones.
Mentorships will be operated in a similar manner: those who mentor the most newcomers will be recognised and rewarded with shiny badges or cards based on the number of mentees taken. I plan to revive the old Points Project which used to keep track of the number of recruitment telegrams sent and mentees claimed to reward staffers.
Resource Review was, and still is, one of my main passions as a staffer and Deputy Minister. I love designing new banners and graphics to beautify our dispatches, and currently I maintain like ten or so government dispatches on my main nation. Nevertheless, I hope to entice some designers to join HA so that the workload can be distributed more evenly and progress can be made faster on this front.
Despite the Ministry’s inactivity, our manual recruitment efforts have been great this term thanks to the tireless dedication of Petronellania, who has been duly recognised with a Delegate’s Service Award. However, I do not want Petro to carry the Ministry’s recruitment alone. All recruiters will be regularly pinged and reminded to do their work, and badges or cards will be awarded to the most active ones.
Mentorships will be operated in a similar manner: those who mentor the most newcomers will be recognised and rewarded with shiny badges or cards based on the number of mentees taken. I plan to revive the old Points Project which used to keep track of the number of recruitment telegrams sent and mentees claimed to reward staffers.
Resource Review was, and still is, one of my main passions as a staffer and Deputy Minister. I love designing new banners and graphics to beautify our dispatches, and currently I maintain like ten or so government dispatches on my main nation. Nevertheless, I hope to entice some designers to join HA so that the workload can be distributed more evenly and progress can be made faster on this front.
While I’m not involved in WA Affairs, I’m satisfied with its performance from an outside look. The efforts of our tech people and prolific WA authors have ensured that IFVs continue to be sent like clockwork, while our resolutions dominate the GA. One of its projects that I want to prioritise as Delegate is passing SC Commends for some of our most distinguished regionmates. In effect, I will look into reviving or salvaging the defunct Heroes of Valhalla program and continue its work.
To further our MGC sanctions, we must continue to repeal our enemies’ resolutions, whether it be GA ones or C/Cs of their regions/players. Under my direction, the MoWAA will pursue this path to its fullest extent in cooperation with our allies.
To further our MGC sanctions, we must continue to repeal our enemies’ resolutions, whether it be GA ones or C/Cs of their regions/players. Under my direction, the MoWAA will pursue this path to its fullest extent in cooperation with our allies.
Although I support having a separate Ministry of Radio on principle, I do not believe it can survive in its current state. Having the Delegate and the Minister as the main two people running the show is simply unsustainable, and I will fold the Ministry of Radio back under Communications’s portfolio until we get additional manpower to justify forming a separate Ministry.
Unfortunately, I can’t host frequent town halls due to my work schedule, but I can make Fireside Chats as a substitute. Bringing back an old program under former Delegate Pallaith, I will make radio addresses to TNPers discussing affairs in our region or answering your submitted questions. I think this can be a good way to connect with our citizens and inform them of various events.
Interviews and roundtable sessions will be regularly organised and hosted to bring us additional content.
Unfortunately, I can’t host frequent town halls due to my work schedule, but I can make Fireside Chats as a substitute. Bringing back an old program under former Delegate Pallaith, I will make radio addresses to TNPers discussing affairs in our region or answering your submitted questions. I think this can be a good way to connect with our citizens and inform them of various events.
Interviews and roundtable sessions will be regularly organised and hosted to bring us additional content.
I have already said much in the Defense and Foreign Affairs sections about how my policies will help us pursue the war, so I will not repeat them here. Instead, I will lay out my vision for the war. Broadly speaking, the FA Ministry and the NPA need to act in lockstep with the ultimate goal of destroying or degrading our enemies’ morale and FA networks. Opposing our enemies’ raids and invasions, launching offensives against their vulnerable allies, repealing their resolutions and C/Cs, applying MGC sanctions, isolating their FA networks, and exploiting their internal disputes should all be executed in tandem to maintain heavy pressure on them and create cracks in their unity. When cracks form, the wall will eventually crumble. I will not deny that it will be long and hard, and we may not see the fruits of our efforts anytime soon, but to falter in our resolve is to lose the war without trying.
One of the things I haven’t talked about is the broken state of our technology. We have a Tech Guild of the best tech-minded players and admins to repair it, yet I feel its efforts have yet to be fully realised due to a lack of centralised management. Although I’m not a tech person, I will work with the Admin team and Tech Guild to see which projects can be completed or what problems need to be fixed.
Our Cards program is in a terrible state as well, and while I’m not a card farmer, I am receptive to reforms in this area to revitalise it. A Cards Working Group has been formed thanks to Dreadton’s efforts and I trust his reforms will help us bring some activity back into Cards. I will try my best to assist him in doing so.
Our Cards program is in a terrible state as well, and while I’m not a card farmer, I am receptive to reforms in this area to revitalise it. A Cards Working Group has been formed thanks to Dreadton’s efforts and I trust his reforms will help us bring some activity back into Cards. I will try my best to assist him in doing so.
Q: Have you assembled your Cabinet/decided your Cabinet picks?
A: Surprisingly, yes. I have assembled my Cabinet within just a day or two, between endotarting and campaigning.
Q: How will you handle the Delegate transition?
A: As a good first step, I have endorsed everyone in TNP. Yes, all 900+ of them, in a single evening. The hard part is getting endorsements in return. If I am elected Delegate, I will utilise every tool at my disposal to gather endorsements: telegrams, weekly WA reports, dispatch pings, WA endorsement events with card raffles, etc. The WADP program will see a lot of renewed activity, for certain.
A: Surprisingly, yes. I have assembled my Cabinet within just a day or two, between endotarting and campaigning.
Q: How will you handle the Delegate transition?
A: As a good first step, I have endorsed everyone in TNP. Yes, all 900+ of them, in a single evening. The hard part is getting endorsements in return. If I am elected Delegate, I will utilise every tool at my disposal to gather endorsements: telegrams, weekly WA reports, dispatch pings, WA endorsement events with card raffles, etc. The WADP program will see a lot of renewed activity, for certain.
I hope that my comprehensive plans and policies have interested you. My campaign was very unexpected, but I wouldn’t have run if I thought I didn’t have sufficient resolve and a plan to do it. I’m confident that I can weather any obstacles as long as I’m aware of what I’ll do and where I’m going. When there’s a plan, there’s a way. If you like what I have done and what I will do as Delegate, I encourage you to consider voting for RON in the election and then me as your first choice. My DM and telegram box are always open to any questions that you may have.
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