Monte Ozarka
TNPer
Lecture 3: The United Nations--Marginally more effective than the real one
Alrighty. Now that we've discussed issues, we're going to move onto something that is going to be quite similar--the United Nations.
What is it?
The UN is pretty similar to its real-life namesake--a voluntary organization of nations, where decisions are voted on democratically and are binding to all participant nations. Also, when you're in the UN, you get some spiffy new powers. Since I love lists sooooo much, here they are in bulleted goodness:
This seems pretty easy. We'll just take a look at the mechanics of it real quick.
Joining and leaving the UN
First, make sure that you have a valid email address entered for your nation. (UN applications have an email confirmation step.) If your current nation is not part of the UN, when you click "THE UNITED NATIONS" in your left-hand frame, you'll see a page pretty much like this. Click "Apply to Join", and you should receive something from the game via telegram AND email within a day or so. As a UN nation, your UN page at the top should look something like this. To leave the UN, simply click "Resign".
Deciding on proposals and stuff
When you're in the UN, the bulk of the page should look like this:
Everything should be pretty easy to navigate around. At the top of the proposal, you should see (if it's not a proposal to repeal an earlier proposal) "Category:" and "Strength:". It's a handy way to see in which manner the proposal will affect your nation and by how much (roughly). Too bad they couldn't implement this for normal issues...
A few technical aspects:
I went over this a bit when I talked about the influence system after the first lecture, but one of the biggest powers awarded to the Delegate is the power to eject and/or ban people from the region, change the WFE, and put a password on the region. Furthermore, the Delegate is the nation with the most UN endorsements in the region. However, on a more UN-related note...
When it comes to voting on UN proposals, the Delegate has a super-vote. In short, his vote counts for a total of the number of people endorsing him plus one. Therefore, to use Chodean Kal as an example, if a Delegate has 322 endo's, when he casts a vote, it will count for 323 votes. In this way, the more people that endorse a region's delegate, the greater a voice that region will have in the UN.
Other implications
Without the United Nations system around, we would not have the invader/defender culture that exists today in NS.
As its intended function, the United Nations gave players the chance to influence other nations' decisions and nations. However, (arguably more importantly) it gave players an in-game power hierarchy. With its technical limitations (and especially before the implementation of the influence system), all nations can pretty much be divided up into "delegates" and "not-delegates" (and founders, too, but I'll talk about that in a later lecture). With delegates being able to wield so much power over the laypeople, it laid the basis for regional control. Largely, whoever holds the delegate seat controls the region (in-game).
This way, invaders can vie to "take over" as many regions as possible, while defenders seek to counter them. Both groups use UN nations as the functional units of attack. Whoever can position the most UN nations in before update wins. When one strips the invading/defending aspect of NS down to this most basic level, it sounds pretty lame. But, surprisingly, there is strategy, tactics, and a high degree of intelligence work that goes into it. I'll go over invading and defending in a bit more detail in a later lecture.
Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the invading/defending subculture is that UN nations are often seen more as "troops" rather than as "nations".
Helpful links
The United Nations offers a way for nations to come together and debate on an issue that will affect them all mutually. It also provides the only way for regions to select a leader for themselves. However, as you explore more of NS, you'll come to find many and varied uses for UN nations that have absolutely nothing to do with deciding on UN proposals.
Personally, in my NS history, I've gotten far more use out of my UN nations in terms of defending than anything else. Other regions may have a requirement that you join the UN in order to be allowed to stay (like many smaller user-created regions) or that you have to join the UN and collect a number of endorsements in order to be granted full voting rights (as in TWP, although I'm not sure if they still follow this).
Now, as for today's open-ended question: Just brainstorm a few ideas for any UN proposals you may want to write in the future. Check the list of passed proposals for inspiration.
Alrighty. Now that we've discussed issues, we're going to move onto something that is going to be quite similar--the United Nations.
What is it?
The UN is pretty similar to its real-life namesake--a voluntary organization of nations, where decisions are voted on democratically and are binding to all participant nations. Also, when you're in the UN, you get some spiffy new powers. Since I love lists sooooo much, here they are in bulleted goodness:
- Every so often, a UN resolution will come up to vote, and if you're a UN member, you can vote on it.
- You can endorse other UN nations. Having a high endorsement (received) count will make your regional influence rise faster, and the nation with the highest number of endorsements in a region will become the regional Delegate.
- You can submit new UN issues.
This seems pretty easy. We'll just take a look at the mechanics of it real quick.
Joining and leaving the UN
First, make sure that you have a valid email address entered for your nation. (UN applications have an email confirmation step.) If your current nation is not part of the UN, when you click "THE UNITED NATIONS" in your left-hand frame, you'll see a page pretty much like this. Click "Apply to Join", and you should receive something from the game via telegram AND email within a day or so. As a UN nation, your UN page at the top should look something like this. To leave the UN, simply click "Resign".
Deciding on proposals and stuff
When you're in the UN, the bulk of the page should look like this:
Everything should be pretty easy to navigate around. At the top of the proposal, you should see (if it's not a proposal to repeal an earlier proposal) "Category:" and "Strength:". It's a handy way to see in which manner the proposal will affect your nation and by how much (roughly). Too bad they couldn't implement this for normal issues...
A few technical aspects:
- You can submit UN proposals if you currently have at least two endorsements.
- You can keep changing your decision on the proposal until the deadline.
- Whatever the final vote on the proposal will affect your nation as if it were an issue. (In short, if a proposal passes, your nation will change accordingly, even if you personally voted against it.)
- UN decisions do not affect non-UN nations.
I went over this a bit when I talked about the influence system after the first lecture, but one of the biggest powers awarded to the Delegate is the power to eject and/or ban people from the region, change the WFE, and put a password on the region. Furthermore, the Delegate is the nation with the most UN endorsements in the region. However, on a more UN-related note...
When it comes to voting on UN proposals, the Delegate has a super-vote. In short, his vote counts for a total of the number of people endorsing him plus one. Therefore, to use Chodean Kal as an example, if a Delegate has 322 endo's, when he casts a vote, it will count for 323 votes. In this way, the more people that endorse a region's delegate, the greater a voice that region will have in the UN.
Other implications
Without the United Nations system around, we would not have the invader/defender culture that exists today in NS.
As its intended function, the United Nations gave players the chance to influence other nations' decisions and nations. However, (arguably more importantly) it gave players an in-game power hierarchy. With its technical limitations (and especially before the implementation of the influence system), all nations can pretty much be divided up into "delegates" and "not-delegates" (and founders, too, but I'll talk about that in a later lecture). With delegates being able to wield so much power over the laypeople, it laid the basis for regional control. Largely, whoever holds the delegate seat controls the region (in-game).
This way, invaders can vie to "take over" as many regions as possible, while defenders seek to counter them. Both groups use UN nations as the functional units of attack. Whoever can position the most UN nations in before update wins. When one strips the invading/defending aspect of NS down to this most basic level, it sounds pretty lame. But, surprisingly, there is strategy, tactics, and a high degree of intelligence work that goes into it. I'll go over invading and defending in a bit more detail in a later lecture.
Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the invading/defending subculture is that UN nations are often seen more as "troops" rather than as "nations".
Helpful links
- The portion of the FAQ dealing with the UN
- UN subforums of the official NS Jolt forums. Please look here for help with writing a new proposal and debate on proposals at vote and in the works.
The United Nations offers a way for nations to come together and debate on an issue that will affect them all mutually. It also provides the only way for regions to select a leader for themselves. However, as you explore more of NS, you'll come to find many and varied uses for UN nations that have absolutely nothing to do with deciding on UN proposals.
Personally, in my NS history, I've gotten far more use out of my UN nations in terms of defending than anything else. Other regions may have a requirement that you join the UN in order to be allowed to stay (like many smaller user-created regions) or that you have to join the UN and collect a number of endorsements in order to be granted full voting rights (as in TWP, although I'm not sure if they still follow this).
Now, as for today's open-ended question: Just brainstorm a few ideas for any UN proposals you may want to write in the future. Check the list of passed proposals for inspiration.
