How would you say you differ from Gorundu why does that make you a better choice for VD?
Hello Bootsie,
Thank you for asking me a question!
The first thing that sets me apart from Gorundu is that I am already the Vice Delegate and that I have experience in the office. Since being elected in September, I had the time to learn the basics such as security checks, running the WADP, and other security council related duties. I have been doing that for the past months have only gotten better at it. This is all something that Gorundu will have to learn. The other closely related matter is endorsement levels, I am already in the second place so you don't no longer have to wait on me to get there, compared to Gorundu who is currently in the 26th. He also talked about community engagement in his platform, I have been doing that since February last year when being appointed as a GA under Rocketdog/McMasterdonia. I have been active face in the gameside community for many months, have gotten to know many people, and they have gotten to know me, both as a player and a government official. I try my best not only make myself seem as an authority figure but as a friend that they can approach if they need anything. Which helps stand out against the more serious SCers well maybe not Marcus or Lore, they are pretty chill. During that time I even ran a couple endorsement events such as TNP Game Night and the flag endorsement gathering event addition to that I ran some other stuff like Q&As. Like the random flag winner trivia I did for a while. People loved to compete in it so they can choose the flag of the region for a few days.
Kasto, I want you to tell me a few things that you thought you could do/would do when you first ran for this office but learned from experience didn’t work out the way you expected.
In the event you stay on as Vice Delegate, you’ve already identified a few areas you would improve in, areas your opponent also highlighted. I want to know something new that you’ll do in the second term with the benefit of the experience you’ve gained holding the office.
I would also like more information about the success of the community engagement. I imagine you have an idea of how your conversations with the RMB have changed since the term started. Do you stats, anecdotes, experiences that inform this? Do you feel the SC is better known or the RMB would be more willing to cooperate if we had to ask them to help us take on a rogue delegate?
You were in the office after having zero experience with the SC prior. Could you give us an idea of what that learning curve was like for you, from learning procedures to learning how to run WADP? Your opponent has also highlighted endorsement events, could you give us an idea of how that worked and how feasible those are in the current game state?
Finally, since your activity is another key issue, could you give us an idea of why your activity record is the way it is, and what it might look like in the term to come?
Thank you for stepping up last time to run, the whole experience has been pretty surprising and quite a ride, but I think you’re a great example of how anyone who cares and is willing to try and serve the community can succeed and do good for the region. It’s not always fun or easy but you’re a trooper and I wanted to say I appreciate that, no matter what happens in this election.
Hello Eternal Chief Justice Pallaith,
One of many things that I thought I could do was increase the number of endorsements in the region, looking back that was quite an ambitious goal that is not easily accomplished even through community engagement. My goal was to reach out to new players as often as possible to let them know what we can offer and why they should call the North Pacific their home. But the naked truth is we are a feeder region and that means we are a starting point for many nations that join the game but those players can move on or stay depending on what they looking for in a region. I wanted the Delegate to reach 1000 endorsements this term like we saw months prior but did not happen even though I with the help of the gameside advocates promoted the variety of activities our community offers especially the benefits we offer to those who have their WA here. It was not a complete failure, currently, Delegate Madjack has around 950 endorsements which were the levels that former Delegate Robespierre had at the end of his term. We were doing something right so as not to see the endorsement levels decline even further.
I was always active on the RMB before I became a Vice Delegate so it was important that the people now knew that I was also the person tasked with the security of the region and protecting it from bad actors. In my early-term messages, I tried to make it clear that I am now the Vice Delegate and authority figure but most importantly I made sure that I came off as an approachable person. I tried to make the SC well known throughout the gameside community with the help of the GA team but it very much varies by person. People who are more active and have been around for a bit will know more about it compared to a newly created nation. But this does not mean they won't help us with a rogue delegate, the majority of the active players based on the RMB know that Delegate Madjack was democratically and legally elected by the region. Even though many don't participate in the forums they still understand the concept that he is the elected delegate for the term. I do believe that the gameside player base will cooperate with us against the rogue delegate if it ever happens.
There was a lot of information that was given at once and it was really hard to prepare because the SC and the VD are very top secret and kept away from the public so nothing gets leaked. The security checks on the citizenship applications are big as I do and you have to make sure you check everything before saying that the person is not a threat to the region. At the start, I was very anxious because I was worried so much that I would pass someone who is a clear fascist or someone who is planning on seizing the delegacy. As time went on, I became more confident in the whole process. Running the WADP is honestly something out of fantasy especially with how much technical stuff is involved. I gotta give it to the admins who keep the code part running. I have no idea how it works, I know a bit of code but the WADP is whole another realm for me. But running it is pretty simple as long as you don't mess up anything. Sending out the cards is a bit more tricky since you don't want to accidentally miss someone or send more cards than you need to since there is a limited supply. Again, as time went on, I developed a pretty foolproof method of ensuring that everyone receives the cards they are supposed to. The endorsement events are a great idea to raise endorsement count and get the community involved but in the execution, it's always a shit storm. I ran a lot of endorsement-related events during the term like TNP Gamenight and the endorsement flag event. For example, the TNP Gamenight is supposed to work on paper because who does not want to play a fun game like Jack Partybox and all they have to do is endorse a couple of people? Not a lot of people came to play but we did get endorsements. In the end, I felt like I did not hold up my end of the deal cause no one got to play. The easier event is to get the delegate to a certain number of endorsements and someone will get to choose the flag for region/person. The event works and is simple to run but it takes time before the delegate gets the number of endorsements required for a random person to be chosen to pick out the flag. I don't like how there is only one winner and it takes too long to run. I had more luck running the spontaneous random fun trivia things on the RMB because you have a chance to win compared to being randomly chosen and I do them when the RMB is relatively active. In the current game state, running events is hard because activity levels barely recovered after the summer. The brutal truth is that these events suffer from lack of player involvement. My TNP Game night did the job of getting endorsements but failed at gathering players to play the game. Just for the record, it was heavily promoted via posts, telegrams, and discord pings but still only gathered me, Dreadton, and one more random player. I even tried my best to accommodate players who couldn't access discord. Q&As were also were not failures but it was hard getting questions from players who don't really participate in regional affairs but rather enjoy the roleplay aspect that TNP provides. From my time with the community, I know what works well in the current state especially since with decline in the interest of regional affairs.
My activity issue stems from the fact that I recently started college to get my four-year degree and getting used to university life is difficult since I have never lived by myself. There was a lot of traveling between dorm and home and adapting to a life away from home. The first semester kinda beat me ass and the workload was more than I could have ever expected so it affected how active I was. Moving forward, I am beginning a new semester at college and I will be better at school-life-NS balance so I expect VD reports, declassifications, and citizenship applications will happen regularly compared to this term.
