Today I'm joined by Libertanny, who was just recently elected Delegate of The East Pacific in an unusually competitive election. Welcome, Libertanny! How are you going?
Hello Gorundu! I would say that I am doing rather well. I wasn't sure what to expect after being elected, but it seems similar to being Vice-Delegate, you just have to sign papers more often and answer to more pings. I am, for sure, positively surprised how few little changes in Cabinet and election of new Delegate boosted Cabinet's and Executive's activity by few times.
Well, those pings are the price you have to pay
If you don't mind, let's wind back a bit. How did you make your start on NationStates?
Well, my start in NationStates is highly linked to another game I played - AtWar. I was one of founders of Bushido Order and one day, one of members pinged us on Discord saying, that he found a cool game (NS). We joined it and became Got Issue Players. We did not care about the fact that half of us were in TWP and another half in TNP. All we cared about was bragging with stats. Almost a year after that, Bushido Order was disbanded and I joined NS (again). I started my journey from Roleplay - genociding people on my streets. It worked, it brought a lot of attention (lol). I have then RPed for a moment, until I sent a long brief on RMB and RMB RP situation to the Delegate. They hired me to EPNS. 2 weeks after that I proposed repeal of EPNS Act, formation of Ministry of Information and as it has succeeded, I have been appointed Minister of Information. Soon after that, Fedele took over and I was appointed Minister of Propaganda (sick times), which then evolved into being one of two Second In Commands of The East Pacific. In the meantime I served in almost every executive body. I left TEP due to incident that happened on 16th of December 2018. I came back around June of 2019 and I have been here since then.
Wow, that's a big career in a short time! What made you decide to come back in 2019, and how different was it from when you left?
In The East Pacific we have a saying, which I would say is highly linked to Todd - "You are here forever". This is some kind of truth, that even if you leave, you are missing something in your life. It's an addiction that is hard to get rid of. Speaking of Todd McCloud, he played an important role. After incident in 2018, he was the one who contacted me and told me story about one of former Delegates. They got a second chance in TEP and became a Delegate one day. Maybe it was his story? Maybe not. But I've always had that story somewhere in my mind. So why I came back was probably the motto and story Todd told me. I then stayed in TEP as Fedele and Co welcomed me warmly. Ironically, I then became one of biggest people in opposition to his administration. I took what he offered and used it against him.
I think the main difference was in me. That break changed me - I stopped being an annoying teenager and became a more stable person. Which had a huge impact on my career, people started trusting me more. Speaking of differences in TEP - everything seemed different. Executive was dead, Fedele had his people in Magisterium, they were already preparing for what's to come. Thankfully, there was more people than me, who noticed it. I would say, that I started building resistance against Fedele from first days since I came back, whilst at the same time actively VCing and 'making friends' with Fedele and his people.
Well, we all know what happened after that...when you made it back to the Executive under Marrabuk's Delegacy as MoFA, what were the first things you did?
I would say that the first steps was trying to find out what I am even supposed to do. I was appointed MoFA, as I had some experience with dealing with FA and I had contacts all around NS. But I had frankly no idea, what to do as MoFA. First contacts with other MoFAs were terrible - everything seemed so serious and so professional. But I managed to break the ice and start making 'friends' with other officials, to the point that sometimes talking FA stuff was the minor part of conversations. I think the first real steps were total reorganization of MoFA server and structure of Ministry - abolishment of Deputy Minister of FA, introduction of four-level hierarchy (Junior Diplomat, Diplomat, Senior Diplomat, Minister) alongside introduction of spheres (overseen by Seniors). In a longer run, I'd say it pretty much paid off. The idea has also evolved to the point where MoFA is not lead by just the Minister, but by "Inner Circle" - a Council of Seniors, Minister and Delegate.
Speaking of contacts around NS, how much did you get around NS outside TEP before Fedele's coup and then becoming MoFA?
My main FA experiences during before coup were experiences before December 2018. Serving as Minister of Information, then Minister of Propaganda and then Chief Minister of Comms (second-in-command) I have been reaching out to people mostly regarding events, newspaper and other stuffs of that kind. There was a moment when we were even working on inter-Pacifican newspaper - the idea, however, died. I made a few contacts in the NPO, TNP and TRR mostly. During my journey after December 2018, I also met new people in TNP, Gay and TRR, as I have been in these regions for a moment. Most of contacts I made were mostly due to me actively talking on foreign discords. I have then used these contacts before coup, whilst working on resistance. I was getting notifications from other regions on how they perceive TEP and Fedele's actions. After becoming the MoFA, it was a total boom. I rapidly got in touch with most of friends of TEP, but I have also started reaching our to new regions, meeting even more people. The list of "cool people I met" would probably make a long list. Just to list a few? Most of Senators in NPO; Kuramia, Dax, Pichto, Peeps from Europeia; Syr, Holdac from TNP or Andy, Appleberry, Helvetics from Thaecia. The list is really long, as there are many awesome people in NS.
I'm sure these people will all appreciate your shoutouts If you have to pick however, who would be the one or two people that you would say have influenced you the most?
Frankly, I would say that people that influenced me the most are all former or current TEPers. I use to call Mecovy (former EPNS Editor) my "first and main Mentor", but there was also Queen Yuno and Aelitia Astor, that all played important roles. I cannot forget about Atlae and Tretrid, who helped be build my first Ministry. All these 5 people helped me a lot during my first steps in Gameplay, which I consider to be abolishment of EPNS and creation of Ministry of Information. There's also a loud shoutout to Xoriet, who serve with awesome advices and Grey, who tried to teach me R/D. Most recently, it was Bachtendekuppen, who influenced me a lot. So probably as I said, all of these people were or are TEPers.
What would you say were your proudest achievements in your roles as Minister of Information and MoFA?
My proudest achievement in all of my GP career is the Ministry of Information itself. I wasn't really sure what and why I am doing, but with advice from people mentioned above, I have managed to do a huge change. We had EPNS, which served as newspaper body. Taking advice and talking ideas with Yuno and Aelitia, I proposed the repeal of the EPNS Act (as I stated, it was too restricting); I built a new Ministry from scratch (with help from Atlae and Tretrid). During the best stage of this Ministry (when it was called Ministry of Propaganda), it had around 23 workers and several tasks: doing newspaper, doing informational dispatches, being a hut for coders and designers, doing text editing, preparing regional TGs and probably few more I'm forgetting. So that is my proudest achievement. Building "My Little Empire" from scratch. The fact that it was then successfully abolished and ruined by Fedele very rapidly is whole another story.
Speaking of MoFA, that is probably the creation of "My Second Little Empire". I reorganized the Discord server, introduced new liberalized FA Policies and most importantly, introduced a four-level hierarchy, which is still in place today. The hierarchy is split into 4 levels: Junior Diplomats (who serve as right hands of Diplomats), Diplomats (who oversee regions), Seniors (who oversee whole spheres) and Minister. This idea has also naturally evolved enough, to change the whole leadership of Ministry. It's no more the Minister's playground. Our FA is now lead by "Inner Circle" - a Council made of Seniors, Minister and Delegate. All leadership job is done by team as a whole and so are taken all decision. Ministry of FA is an example of perfect teamwork and how it pays off in a longer run.
Is there an article you're most proud of that was published during your time as Minister of Information? Or do you love all of them equally?
Haha. I would say, that I love them all equally, as it was another example of teamwork. What is, however, worth noting is that there was a moment when we had an additional RMB Newspaper! That was for sure what we were all proud of, especially since it made RMB interact with Government (i.e. answering in polls for newspaper needs). Such interaction paid off, as RMBers started applying for Citizenship and joining Ministry of Information!
Alright then. Let's move on to the future now. What are you most excited about doing, now that you're Delegate?
That'd probably be introducing the "more original" ideas from my campaign. Firstly, that is Bureau of Public Affairs, which is supposed to be a channel between Region (Residents and Citizens) and Government. As a part of that idea, RMB RP and Forum RP are allowed to elect / select their representatives to the Cabinet. There is also few other tasks, but all of them are aimed towards Government interacting with the Region more. Second thing would be the idea, that started during Marrabuk's administration - formation of Consortium. As of now, we have already began planning stage of it. But from less practical and more theoretical things, I'm excited about having a possibility to work on betterment of our region as Delegate.
I was quite amazed to notice a while ago that TEP is a treatied ally with every feeder and sinker, except for Lazarus (which I believe TEP intends to negotiate a treaty with soon). As MoFA during the negotiation of a quite a few of those treaties, obviously you had a lot to do with them. Why did TEP decide on this FA approach, and do you believe it's better to have as many allies as possible?
Firstly, I would like to make it clear, that I for sure do not support the approach of "let's make a treaty with everyone around us". Treaties are to be well-thought and they need to be beneficial for both sides. Many treaties were made before I probably even knew about Gameplay. As for the recent ones, I would not say that this is anything of an approach or FA target / policy. It's simply the fact that both sides were interested in a treaty and we decided to pursue for them. From TEP's position, it's also rather easy to become "friends" or "treated allies" with many regions. We are known for being neutral diplomatically and unaligned militarily. So conflicts of interest are rather non-existent. The only restriction, I would say, is the fac, that a treated ally, or any region we are establishing relations with, has to accept our general approach to GP - "You are independent and sovereign, we won't interfere in your internal or foreign affairs, unless asked to. But we require the same from you."
Speaking of general approach to GP, how much attention would you say TEP pays to the NSGP community, and when does TEP choose when to listen to or ignore what NSGP has to say?
I would say that we pay attention to NSGP. I can't say if it's little or much attention. I would say, that we are rather up to date with things, but we don't see a need to participate or have a stance in 243th conversation about coup of a region X.
When do we listen to NSGP? Probably never. NSGP is full of manipulation and we also don't go with the mainstream. If we find some topic important, we always try to get more background and information, to see the whole picture and have a neutral stance (as in - not manipulated by any side). We, however, rather rarely share our opinions, as we have more important tasks than dealing with NSGP dramas.
Of course, TNP ourselves have been an ally of TEP for quite a while now. How would you say we have been as an ally during your time?
The North Pacific has been an awesome ally, from what I heard (mostly). I myself haven't had too much of an interaction with TNP, except for hosting Paradoxical'20 together. But hearing a lot from Marrabuk, it painted a picture of TNP as an awesome ally. The best example would probably be TNP reaching out to us and proposing is to use their tools, without expecting anything in exchange or trying to show, that "North is the better Pacific". It is common, that people tend to become arrogant as the power comes. I haven't noticed or heard anything of that kind regarding TNP - it tells a lot about the region. What I am hoping for is for sure more events, we enjoyed first edition of Paradoxical a lot.
Thanks for the flattering comments! Last question - who do you think was the best Delegate of TEP and the one you will look up to the most?
I would say, that every Delegate did something, I can support. Yuno's administration was very liberal towards how Ministers organize their Ministries. Marrabuk boosted regional unity. Fedele was actively interacting with Residents. That's the recent examples. I would say that most of TEP Delegates were awesome, and I will look up not to people, but to their ideas.
Hehe...I was kind of expecting that you wouldn't just name one person. Anyway, that's all we have time for! Do you have any parting words?
I guess I do. I'd like to order a release of your newspaper with your signature on it!
And thank you for the interview.
Thanks for coming too! Hope you have a great day, and a great Delegacy!
Hello Gorundu! I would say that I am doing rather well. I wasn't sure what to expect after being elected, but it seems similar to being Vice-Delegate, you just have to sign papers more often and answer to more pings. I am, for sure, positively surprised how few little changes in Cabinet and election of new Delegate boosted Cabinet's and Executive's activity by few times.
Well, those pings are the price you have to pay
If you don't mind, let's wind back a bit. How did you make your start on NationStates?Well, my start in NationStates is highly linked to another game I played - AtWar. I was one of founders of Bushido Order and one day, one of members pinged us on Discord saying, that he found a cool game (NS). We joined it and became Got Issue Players. We did not care about the fact that half of us were in TWP and another half in TNP. All we cared about was bragging with stats. Almost a year after that, Bushido Order was disbanded and I joined NS (again). I started my journey from Roleplay - genociding people on my streets. It worked, it brought a lot of attention (lol). I have then RPed for a moment, until I sent a long brief on RMB and RMB RP situation to the Delegate. They hired me to EPNS. 2 weeks after that I proposed repeal of EPNS Act, formation of Ministry of Information and as it has succeeded, I have been appointed Minister of Information. Soon after that, Fedele took over and I was appointed Minister of Propaganda (sick times), which then evolved into being one of two Second In Commands of The East Pacific. In the meantime I served in almost every executive body. I left TEP due to incident that happened on 16th of December 2018. I came back around June of 2019 and I have been here since then.
Wow, that's a big career in a short time! What made you decide to come back in 2019, and how different was it from when you left?
In The East Pacific we have a saying, which I would say is highly linked to Todd - "You are here forever". This is some kind of truth, that even if you leave, you are missing something in your life. It's an addiction that is hard to get rid of. Speaking of Todd McCloud, he played an important role. After incident in 2018, he was the one who contacted me and told me story about one of former Delegates. They got a second chance in TEP and became a Delegate one day. Maybe it was his story? Maybe not. But I've always had that story somewhere in my mind. So why I came back was probably the motto and story Todd told me. I then stayed in TEP as Fedele and Co welcomed me warmly. Ironically, I then became one of biggest people in opposition to his administration. I took what he offered and used it against him.
I think the main difference was in me. That break changed me - I stopped being an annoying teenager and became a more stable person. Which had a huge impact on my career, people started trusting me more. Speaking of differences in TEP - everything seemed different. Executive was dead, Fedele had his people in Magisterium, they were already preparing for what's to come. Thankfully, there was more people than me, who noticed it. I would say, that I started building resistance against Fedele from first days since I came back, whilst at the same time actively VCing and 'making friends' with Fedele and his people.
Well, we all know what happened after that...when you made it back to the Executive under Marrabuk's Delegacy as MoFA, what were the first things you did?
I would say that the first steps was trying to find out what I am even supposed to do. I was appointed MoFA, as I had some experience with dealing with FA and I had contacts all around NS. But I had frankly no idea, what to do as MoFA. First contacts with other MoFAs were terrible - everything seemed so serious and so professional. But I managed to break the ice and start making 'friends' with other officials, to the point that sometimes talking FA stuff was the minor part of conversations. I think the first real steps were total reorganization of MoFA server and structure of Ministry - abolishment of Deputy Minister of FA, introduction of four-level hierarchy (Junior Diplomat, Diplomat, Senior Diplomat, Minister) alongside introduction of spheres (overseen by Seniors). In a longer run, I'd say it pretty much paid off. The idea has also evolved to the point where MoFA is not lead by just the Minister, but by "Inner Circle" - a Council of Seniors, Minister and Delegate.
Speaking of contacts around NS, how much did you get around NS outside TEP before Fedele's coup and then becoming MoFA?
My main FA experiences during before coup were experiences before December 2018. Serving as Minister of Information, then Minister of Propaganda and then Chief Minister of Comms (second-in-command) I have been reaching out to people mostly regarding events, newspaper and other stuffs of that kind. There was a moment when we were even working on inter-Pacifican newspaper - the idea, however, died. I made a few contacts in the NPO, TNP and TRR mostly. During my journey after December 2018, I also met new people in TNP, Gay and TRR, as I have been in these regions for a moment. Most of contacts I made were mostly due to me actively talking on foreign discords. I have then used these contacts before coup, whilst working on resistance. I was getting notifications from other regions on how they perceive TEP and Fedele's actions. After becoming the MoFA, it was a total boom. I rapidly got in touch with most of friends of TEP, but I have also started reaching our to new regions, meeting even more people. The list of "cool people I met" would probably make a long list. Just to list a few? Most of Senators in NPO; Kuramia, Dax, Pichto, Peeps from Europeia; Syr, Holdac from TNP or Andy, Appleberry, Helvetics from Thaecia. The list is really long, as there are many awesome people in NS.
I'm sure these people will all appreciate your shoutouts
If you have to pick however, who would be the one or two people that you would say have influenced you the most?Frankly, I would say that people that influenced me the most are all former or current TEPers. I use to call Mecovy (former EPNS Editor) my "first and main Mentor", but there was also Queen Yuno and Aelitia Astor, that all played important roles. I cannot forget about Atlae and Tretrid, who helped be build my first Ministry. All these 5 people helped me a lot during my first steps in Gameplay, which I consider to be abolishment of EPNS and creation of Ministry of Information. There's also a loud shoutout to Xoriet, who serve with awesome advices and Grey, who tried to teach me R/D. Most recently, it was Bachtendekuppen, who influenced me a lot. So probably as I said, all of these people were or are TEPers.
What would you say were your proudest achievements in your roles as Minister of Information and MoFA?
My proudest achievement in all of my GP career is the Ministry of Information itself. I wasn't really sure what and why I am doing, but with advice from people mentioned above, I have managed to do a huge change. We had EPNS, which served as newspaper body. Taking advice and talking ideas with Yuno and Aelitia, I proposed the repeal of the EPNS Act (as I stated, it was too restricting); I built a new Ministry from scratch (with help from Atlae and Tretrid). During the best stage of this Ministry (when it was called Ministry of Propaganda), it had around 23 workers and several tasks: doing newspaper, doing informational dispatches, being a hut for coders and designers, doing text editing, preparing regional TGs and probably few more I'm forgetting. So that is my proudest achievement. Building "My Little Empire" from scratch. The fact that it was then successfully abolished and ruined by Fedele very rapidly is whole another story.
Speaking of MoFA, that is probably the creation of "My Second Little Empire". I reorganized the Discord server, introduced new liberalized FA Policies and most importantly, introduced a four-level hierarchy, which is still in place today. The hierarchy is split into 4 levels: Junior Diplomats (who serve as right hands of Diplomats), Diplomats (who oversee regions), Seniors (who oversee whole spheres) and Minister. This idea has also naturally evolved enough, to change the whole leadership of Ministry. It's no more the Minister's playground. Our FA is now lead by "Inner Circle" - a Council made of Seniors, Minister and Delegate. All leadership job is done by team as a whole and so are taken all decision. Ministry of FA is an example of perfect teamwork and how it pays off in a longer run.
Is there an article you're most proud of that was published during your time as Minister of Information? Or do you love all of them equally?
Haha. I would say, that I love them all equally, as it was another example of teamwork. What is, however, worth noting is that there was a moment when we had an additional RMB Newspaper! That was for sure what we were all proud of, especially since it made RMB interact with Government (i.e. answering in polls for newspaper needs). Such interaction paid off, as RMBers started applying for Citizenship and joining Ministry of Information!
Alright then. Let's move on to the future now. What are you most excited about doing, now that you're Delegate?
That'd probably be introducing the "more original" ideas from my campaign. Firstly, that is Bureau of Public Affairs, which is supposed to be a channel between Region (Residents and Citizens) and Government. As a part of that idea, RMB RP and Forum RP are allowed to elect / select their representatives to the Cabinet. There is also few other tasks, but all of them are aimed towards Government interacting with the Region more. Second thing would be the idea, that started during Marrabuk's administration - formation of Consortium. As of now, we have already began planning stage of it. But from less practical and more theoretical things, I'm excited about having a possibility to work on betterment of our region as Delegate.
I was quite amazed to notice a while ago that TEP is a treatied ally with every feeder and sinker, except for Lazarus (which I believe TEP intends to negotiate a treaty with soon). As MoFA during the negotiation of a quite a few of those treaties, obviously you had a lot to do with them. Why did TEP decide on this FA approach, and do you believe it's better to have as many allies as possible?
Firstly, I would like to make it clear, that I for sure do not support the approach of "let's make a treaty with everyone around us". Treaties are to be well-thought and they need to be beneficial for both sides. Many treaties were made before I probably even knew about Gameplay. As for the recent ones, I would not say that this is anything of an approach or FA target / policy. It's simply the fact that both sides were interested in a treaty and we decided to pursue for them. From TEP's position, it's also rather easy to become "friends" or "treated allies" with many regions. We are known for being neutral diplomatically and unaligned militarily. So conflicts of interest are rather non-existent. The only restriction, I would say, is the fac, that a treated ally, or any region we are establishing relations with, has to accept our general approach to GP - "You are independent and sovereign, we won't interfere in your internal or foreign affairs, unless asked to. But we require the same from you."
Speaking of general approach to GP, how much attention would you say TEP pays to the NSGP community, and when does TEP choose when to listen to or ignore what NSGP has to say?
I would say that we pay attention to NSGP. I can't say if it's little or much attention. I would say, that we are rather up to date with things, but we don't see a need to participate or have a stance in 243th conversation about coup of a region X.
When do we listen to NSGP? Probably never. NSGP is full of manipulation and we also don't go with the mainstream. If we find some topic important, we always try to get more background and information, to see the whole picture and have a neutral stance (as in - not manipulated by any side). We, however, rather rarely share our opinions, as we have more important tasks than dealing with NSGP dramas.
Of course, TNP ourselves have been an ally of TEP for quite a while now. How would you say we have been as an ally during your time?
The North Pacific has been an awesome ally, from what I heard (mostly). I myself haven't had too much of an interaction with TNP, except for hosting Paradoxical'20 together. But hearing a lot from Marrabuk, it painted a picture of TNP as an awesome ally. The best example would probably be TNP reaching out to us and proposing is to use their tools, without expecting anything in exchange or trying to show, that "North is the better Pacific". It is common, that people tend to become arrogant as the power comes. I haven't noticed or heard anything of that kind regarding TNP - it tells a lot about the region. What I am hoping for is for sure more events, we enjoyed first edition of Paradoxical a lot.
Thanks for the flattering comments! Last question - who do you think was the best Delegate of TEP and the one you will look up to the most?
I would say, that every Delegate did something, I can support. Yuno's administration was very liberal towards how Ministers organize their Ministries. Marrabuk boosted regional unity. Fedele was actively interacting with Residents. That's the recent examples. I would say that most of TEP Delegates were awesome, and I will look up not to people, but to their ideas.
Hehe...I was kind of expecting that you wouldn't just name one person. Anyway, that's all we have time for! Do you have any parting words?
I guess I do. I'd like to order a release of your newspaper with your signature on it!
And thank you for the interview.Thanks for coming too! Hope you have a great day, and a great Delegacy!