Farewell Address January 2018
It is true that all good things must come to an end. And being your delegate these past 8 months was one of the best things in the world. I didn't know precisely what it would be like, just that it was a far-off dream that I hoped would one day come true. Having been where I've been, I can only say that it is everything and nothing like what you would expect when you show up to the region for the first time. When I first came to TNP I was amazed by how accepting the people here were of newcomers and how trusting they were. Plemby tapped me to join his cabinet when I was only here for two weeks! As a player outside of TNP I could have never imagined the opportunities that were here if only I reached for them. I knew this was something powerful, something incredibly valuable that this region had that few others could match. When I first ran for delegate, one of my pledges was that I would continue to provide opportunities for new and inexperienced players to get more involved in the region. I did this with my cabinet appointments, my encouragement of new and untested deputies, and my willingness to bring people from all sides of the region, rp or RMB or Discord user, into the fold. I am proud of the work these individuals have accomplished, because they proved themselves and rewarded the faith we put in them. It was the collective effort of the executive staffs and the ministers who led them that made these last 8 months the success they have been.
Despite some bumpy weeks at the start while we tried to figure out how defense would work under new leadership, we managed to get some joint ops done with our neighbors in TWP and our allies in TSP. Defense has been a tricky area, and in the end we did have to fall back on the expertise of the tried and true Gladio to give us the roughly 5 months of continual successful missions that we have seen, including numerous joint ops with all of our allies and TWP. In the term ahead it remains to be seen if defense is ready to once again forge a path different from his, but I have seen firsthand the progress the NPA has made and I'm confident the officers we have seen in action, especially during the last term, will successfully keep the torch lit as it is passed into their capable hands.
Home Affairs had two different ministers but the transition was virtually seamless. We have seen in two successive delegacies how ingrained the work of HA has become in this region and we have an increasingly veteran staff, many of whom have been in the ministry since my earliest days in TNP. It continues to innovate and find fresh ways to entice new players and old to continue its noble, if not grueling, mission of keeping the active member pool refreshed and the region informed. I am especially happy with the tweaks done to the mentor program, which I hope will continue to be perfected in the term ahead. The old RMB Guardians gave way to the Gameside advocates, and while nominally part of HA, they did a fine job of setting themselves apart. Of course, I have more to say on them.
Unlike my first term, we didn't have a string of holidays and crucial dates to observe, but Culture outdid itself all the same. The roleplay community has traditionally been the subgroup Culture is closest to, and this was true of this term, but with a twist. This time, a great deal of the connection to rp was related to the ongoing efforts to connect to the RMB community. I am glad Culture pursued this with a staff comprised in part of RMB active players, and I have appreciated how Culture and the Gameside Advocates began to overlap. It was not something I had planned from the outset, but is definitely something for the government to consider next term. The Friendship Fair was the most significant event we put on during my tenure as delegate, and I suppose it was inevitable it wouldn't live up to the high expectations I had for it. My idea for panels of cabinet members and their counterparts from other regions and its relation to the NBS didn't materialize, but the Discord was used constantly and a few neighboring regions had some good face time with people they may ordinarily not interact with. The scope of the event was also expanded to include non-allied regions, and this did not knock the event off balance, so overall I would count it a success and appreciate the work Culture put into it. I hope that we can do it again, but bigger and better with the features I had envisioned to maximize use of the Discord.
Communications was always an area I felt had great potential. I did not see my dream of our NBS broadcasts becoming a regular thing, though we did briefly revive the program. The biggest success was in TNL releases. I had an ambitious goal, to have a release every month of my term. I was close to seeing this through, but the holidays just got away from us. Nevertheless, we saw 7 total releases, with 6 of those being consecutive. If it's not the current record, it's right up there with them. The fact that the writers kept changing and the ministry saw two different ministers at the helm didn't matter. Communications right now is at a point where it can claim to be a staple part of our regional activity, right up there with HA in terms of being a reliable, well-oiled machine. Considering this ministry was the first one to come to mind when thinking of areas to cut when I started out as delegate, I am very pleased with how the ministry has progressed.
The World Assembly Affairs ministry has always been close to my heart, as it was the ministry I ran when Plemby plucked me out of obscurity in 2016. By now it has a dedicated, enthusiastic staff, one that makes me nostalgic for the kind of people who helped me run it when I was its minister. Our relationship with WALL has only deepened and improved with time and I am pleased that our endorsement level only increased from the first term. We didn't quite reach the heights we saw with Plemby, but we also didn't have the benefit of the surge in players that occurred throughout the game during that period. The workshop I had envisioned for helping people craft resolutions hasn't worked in practice the way I first thought, but discussion of new proposals in progress has increased substantially since the time I ran the ministry.
Considering the fact I recently wrote a lecture on optimistic diplomacy, there will be some overlap when I look back on foreign affairs during my term. Internal restructuring proved difficult, and we had three ministers to try their hand at it. Ultimately the ministry will have to continue to change and adapt to the way nations and regions communicate in this game, and many of the old patterns simply won't fit easily into this new world. We managed to give sinker regions some assistance with more relaxed recruitment rules, we had a majorly successful outcome in the last N-Day event by partnering with the Pacific and TSP, and we put the first major treaty with Osiris since the original one that was repealed years back, a non-aggression pact that was also historic for being the first "minor" treaty that TNP has approved. It is very much a test of faith but also I hope a template for opening ourselves to new ways of approaching different regions instead of always going for the very highest and comprehensive types of formal relations. I strived for TNP to open itself more to the world around it, to be civil and receptive to even the most chilly of regions, and I can at least say that we were willing to talk to or listen to anyone who came our way. Even when lines were drawn and everyone seemed to need to take a side, we tried to find the best way forward that also gave everyone a fair shake. It's a matter of opinion how successful we have been in these efforts, but I think we gave it a conscious and good-faith effort, I hope that in the months ahead we remain measured and open-minded to whatever possibilities for better relations may make themselves known.
I applied the same mindset to our very own RMB. This may be perhaps the biggest accomplishment I made as delegate, building a stronger bridge between the offsite and on-site communities. I did not expect this to be such a pressing issue when I first took office, but it quickly became clear that whether spurred on by rabble-rousers or just the inevitable result of neglected regulars who became greater in number, the RMB was a distinct subculture in our region and needed to be hard. The Gameside Advocates that we set up succeeded in this effort because they called upon members from both communities who frequented the RMB but also used our Discord and forum. They formed natural alliances with our rp players and helped expand our rp to have an official and vibrant RMB rp group, as well as joined forces with HA and Communications to bring more consistent communication to the RMB, and with Culture to have more activities and projects for members of both communities to participate in together. As the newest program in place in TNP, I sincerely hope that future governments build on what we have started and keep this partnership going strong.
Though I cannot speak for all of them, a lot of delegates will tell you that there as always more they wish they could have done. This is certainly the case for me. I was given the privilege of leading you all for 8 months and bringing my vision of what this region, and this game, can be to life. It is now time for me to take my rest and see what the next delegate's vision will bring. You can't please everyone, but I did my best to make sure as many of you were happy and content with your time here as possible. This game changes fast, and we have to change with it, but I hope that no matter what we tried, no matter what worked or didn't, you always felt at home and enjoyed your NS experience because you were a part of TNP. Thank you for continuing to grace us with your presence, for your feedback, the talents and ideas and contributions that you have made. Everyone brings something special and unique to the region, and we wouldn't be the same place without you here with us. It was a pleasure and an honor to serve as your delegate, and I wish you all the very best in the new year ahead of us.
