Oracle for Delegate

Howdy TNP!

Appears that some soul has thought that I would make a good delegate and has decided to nominate me for the highest office in the North Pacific. After some thought, I have decided to throw my hat into the ring and take part in the race.

For those who do not know me, I am Oracle. Also known as Hyperion, Yasou, and Artemis. There might be some other names out there but alas I have many. I have been apart of the North Pacific since December of 2016. In my time as a TNPer, I have served the region as Vice Delegate (multiple terms), Speaker (multiple terms), Minister of Culture, Minister of Communications, Deputy Ministerships, Deputy Speaker, Election Commissioner, Security Counselor, member of the North Pacific Army, and Executive Staffer. OOC I also serve as a Global Moderator and Bot Administrator for the region.

These above points I share to illustrate the experiences I have had over the years in the region and what I bring to the table. But I would do a disservice to not address a cloud that sits over my head as of late. Several months ago, I was let go from my previous RL job which took me away from involvement in TNP and Nationstates as a whole. I was still somewhat available to help address any issues regarding the TNP Discord bot, but I did not have much time beyond that. I was lucky enough to be able to acquire a new job and help get my life back on track, but settling into the new position took some time and I just recently was able to bring myself back into the fold of NS and TNP. With that I say I am committed to remaining here and being an active member of the community. I am willing to own up to my own shortcomings and admit to areas that I need improvement upon. You will see later in my platform where I address my shortcomings and own my weaknesses. But I will say that I have plans on ways to address these gaps in my skills and to round out a strong government for the region.

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Now to move on from the heavier topics and address my plans for the region if I am elected as Delegate. In my opinion, we are heading into a new and exciting time with the recent introductions of Frontier and Strongholds. This new feature in my opinion will lead to a dynamic and drastic shift in the world of Nationstates as we know it. No longer will the feeders of NS be the only spawners of nations, but a multitude of frontiers will become the same. We are already seeing this play out right before us. I applaud the NPA and the government for securing the first frontier and I am ecstatic to see the growth in the Wellspring as it works to form its own community and government and look forward to seeing our relationship with that region grow and prosper.


Foreign Affairs:
It is no secret that there has been recent tensions between us and some of our friends in Nationstates. This is something that has been addressed and continued to be worked upon by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We must be prepared to work on these relationships, while simultaneously build new relationships. I believe that we should look towards the new and developing frontiers for these relationships. These regions would benefit from the collective knowledge and insight that our region can provide in developing their regions and communities.

Defense:
The Ministry of Defense I will say is one of the ministries that by and large I have had little involvement with, which is something that I regret in my time in TNP. I have seen it at its lows and highs over the years. A goal that I have for the ministry would work towards assisting with allies and regions requesting aid during their transitions from frontiers to strongholds and vice versa. Additionally another goal is to see frequent and regular operations as time allows.

World Assembly Affairs:
This is another ministry that I have not had much involvement in in my time in TNP. But this is a strong ministry with a healthy legacy over the years that has been built upon over consecutive terms of Delegates and Ministers. This is a tradition that I will plan on continuing. To do this, I want to help provide the resources and tools needed to encourage our members to draft and propose their own ideas for the General Assembly and the Security Council. These tools and resources would include guides, mentorships, and involvement from our friends in WALL and the MGC.

Culture:
This term there are a number of events that will be celebrated and remembered from TNP’s past. This includes Democracy Day, Manumission Day, and Liberation Day. In addition to these events, the Ministry will be planning events for Delegates’ Day. I also plan for the Ministry of Culture in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to begin working and planning on hosting an interregional event celebrating new and developed frontiers and to provide a forum for them to engage with one another and develop relations with TNPers.

Home Affairs:
Home Affairs is a ministry that often has a thankless task. These are members who work to recruit and integrate members into the region and the offsite community. It is not a task to be taken lightly as these members help bring in individuals into the TNP community as a whole. My vision for the ministry is to help them continue on this path, evaluate methods and address any of these methods that are not effective.

Cards:
Cards in Nationstates has honestly always been an enigma to me. But an enigma that I see potential of being a boon for the region. Part of the enigma from my observations over the years has been finding individuals to assist with working the ministry beyond a core number of individuals. This is not something that can be easily addressed. But it is something that needs to be, and I plan to work with the Minister of Cards and experienced card users to address. Another vision of mine for the ministry to work on developing guides on how cards work within TNP, their uses, how to trade, how to gift and other practices to help build resources for the ministry to build future leaders within the Cards industry within TNP

Territories:
This will not be a ministry of its own, but rather a collective goal of the government. The focus of this initiative will be work with foreign regions on developing their infrastructure and offering tools to help them grow and develop while at the same time building relations between these regions and the North Pacific.

Technology:
Technology has been something on the minds of many involved TNPers for some time now and this is something that is currently in the works between members of the community and the administration staff. This is something I feel that the government could be involved in and suggest and assist with any changes to existing tools in order to help make them more efficient and effective in the long run. Once again, this wouldn’t become a new ministry but more of a collective initiative for the executive government.

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For those who know me, and for those that do not know me, I like to keep things rather simple and to the point. I try to be as straight to the point as possible without flowery words. We are approaching what many consider a dull term of the delegacy, primarily due to the summer season, less active members within the community and NS as whole. This is something that many delegates in the past have dealt with and future delegates will continue to deal with to some extent. But what I can promise is to be an active and involved Delegate and work to ensure that the government is as such.

A concern that I will address of the back, I am fully aware that my current nation in the North Pacific is not a WA nation. But I will be addressing that shortly by moving my WA nation back into TNP from the Wellspring region and immediately beginning endotarting. I have experience with endotarting from my time as a Security Councillor and Vice Delegate.

I do hope that you will consider supporting me for Delegate of the North Pacific. Please feel free to share any questions or comments you might have.

Hi Artemis,

Good to see you active again and running!

I noticed that you acknowledged how, recently, there have been some tensions between The North Pacific and some of its friends elsewhere in NationStates. Now that we're a few weeks removed from that initial upheaval, I'm curious as to whether or not you believe the issue(s) to be largely resolved by the release of subsequent statements from the parties involved or if you think there's any kind of unfinished business there that needs work from our next Delegate to see the matter concluded.

Additionally, what would you say is the best way for us to safeguard the region's independence? Is an assertive, yet friendly approach preferable? If so, do you believe that it's possible to maintain a warm tone whilst we remain assertive and staunch in our Independent alignment given these transgressions? How would you personally go about this if elected as Delegate?

Thanks Robes for the questions and encouragement!

Robespierre:

I noticed that you acknowledged how, recently, there have been some tensions between The North Pacific and some of its friends elsewhere in NationStates. Now that we're a few weeks removed from that initial upheaval, I'm curious as to whether or not you believe the issue(s) to be largely resolved by the release of subsequent statements from the parties involved or if you think there's any kind of unfinished business there that needs work from our next Delegate to see the matter concluded.

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I think that the issues have largely been resolved, but there is still some lingering tension in my opinion with the relationship. This is something that won't simply go away overnight or even over a few weeks. It will take some time for the tension to fully abate and the trust to be rebuilt. But it is something that I believe that can be addressed over the coming term fully.

Robespierre:

Additionally, what would you say is the best way for us to safeguard the region's independence? Is an assertive, yet friendly approach preferable? If so, do you believe that it's possible to maintain a warm tone whilst we remain assertive and staunch in our Independent alignment given these transgressions? How would you personally go about this if elected as Delegate?

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Something that I have learned in my time in RL is how to be fair but assertive. This will translate to how I work to safeguard TNP's independence. The approach should be done in a fair and genuine manner, while remaining staunch in our independent alignment. TNP should not be bullied or coerced into a position that deviates from our alignment and I as a delegate will not be one to be allow that to happen.

I notice you made no mention of TNP's publications (TNL, TNS, NBS, and The Roleplay Reel) in your section about Culture. Would you have any plans, as Delegate, to bring them back into activity? And how would you achieve that?

Regarding the NPA, how can we prove to the rest of the world that the military of the largest feeder in NS can field a mighty force? What would be your recruitment plans for the NPA?

Good luck.

Hey, saw your post about Frontiers and The Wellspring. I have some really strong feelings to see new regions grow and flourish with strong backing my regional builders of regions who have the passion to do that. I am going to ask all D and VD candidates about this because it is relevant to the D and VD's tasks, outreach, and part of the new protocol for them in the F/S world!


I think we, the TNP should go out of our way to start forming treaties with these new frontiers and The Wellspring, and ambassadorships going in Foreign Affairs Ministry, and start working with them like any other normal region before the F/S update. That means I believe the D, VD, and Government should start making new policies, implementations, and addendums to policy of Foreign Affairs to get ahead of others to benefit from the new wave of regions and supplanting of spawns in The Wellspring coming to The North Pacific. With that in mind, would you want to take on further things on with Frontiers and possibly Strongholds beyond the things you mentioned above in your platform?


With a new territory we have and new possibilities with the region, we should probably create a team of people to head how we should let The Wellspring develop without us bearing down on them for everything with Laws, personnel, and Government officials and also creating a policy and guideline for expeditionIng people back and forth through diplomatic channels for both regions. Do you have any ideas if you would want to implement something like this or even take on something like this? Any alternatives?


That is all from me and good luck on your campaign!

Have you ever put butter on a Pop-Tart?

I appreciate your campaign logo.

Artemis, it looks like you have a heavy emphasis on frontiers with this platform. Obviously we have to address those but you’re putting yourself forward for a position that is concerned with all of TNP’s community, and with long-standing regions that are not frontiers. Willingness to engage with the new dimension of gameplay is important and good to see, but I would like to see that you’re considering the usual angles too, as mastering the basics is important to the role you would be taking on.

And I know this was a decision on a whim kind of a thing, so you did a solid job putting this together on short notice, but I hope you can flesh these things out a bit more. When you more or less demonstrate good knowledge of all of the relevant areas of government and what they do and what has to be done, all you’re leaving is some specifics as to how you would approach them. It seems like you’re promising that you’ll have ideas for that post-election, but I’d like to see some to bounce them against your opponent(s). If you could expand on these areas you addressed in some way I am sure everyone would appreciate seeing that.

You used to be Vice Delegate, served as chief of staff to McM, and for a month were the WA delegate while Tlomz got his endorsements up to take the seat in-game. What did those experiences provide for you as far as experience that can be applied to the role of delegate?

FA is a hot topic right now, and important to how we adapt to the current environment and move beyond recent events with TSP and the defenders. What are you thoughts on our response to what happened and TSP’s statement? Were you satisfied with the other defender regions’ statements, explanations, and subsequent action following the fallout?

Related, I know you have only recently returned to action, but do you have any opinion on the MGC sanctions that were put forward late last year? Many have claimed these are just another aspect of the “neo moralist” aggression that the defenders deployed in their threats to TNP last month. Is there a meaningful difference between those and the aim the defenders had in this latest drama?

The previous delegate and the acting delegate have both made clear they feel further collaboration with defender regions is still important, and in line with the On Alignment statement from over a year ago, consistent with our own values and democratic tradition. Do you agree? What approach do you think we should take with the various key organizations and regions in the R/D sphere? Is there any room to collaborate or work with raider organizations?

You mentioned that we need to make new relationships, would that include any of these R/D players? If not, what would you be looking for in potential new partners, and what form of cooperation do you think we would see if we forged these relationships?

It’s fallen by the wayside as of late but there has been talk about our new community guidelines and admin practices. As a member of our broader moderation team, I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the criticism from (wow, already?) almost two years ago, and the work we’ve done to update our guidelines. Was the criticism fair following the debate of the Reject Fascism Act? Have the guidelines solved the issue? Do you feel the team is solid and the practices are sound? I don’t mean to play gotcha, but as someone on the inside I think your perspective would be very valuable.

There has been some change in how the RMB is managed, and a lot of emphasis on the community guidelines and broader principles as opposed to the traditional strict standards. It was said that it was almost impossible to get banned from TNP’s region but that’s certainly not true anymore. Is this a good trend? Do you feel border control has the right balance? Any questionable bans or strategies for handling them in your view? Do you have any thoughts in particular on ban evasion, or on enhanced OOC justification for in-game banjection action following the Court’s ruling on suppression?

It may have been a sudden decision, but thank you for stepping up and giving this a go. I just hope that you don’t treat it entirely like a shrug, and try to shore up your ideas and your thinking on things a bit more.

Nice campaign, and good luck! Here are my questions,
1) As you only recently returned to the region, do you believe that you will be able to maintain constant activity and engagement for the four months of your delegacy and the transition afterwards, if elected?
2) Given, of course, the latest matters with the South Pacific, if an allied region requested that the region a certain way on a World Assembly proposal, how would you intend to respond? This is explicitly mentioned in Gorundu's campaign, although it seems not to be explicitly mentioned here.
3) Can you summarise how you would intend to approach and manage the regional roleplay communities, both on the forum and gameside? In addition, would you take a hands-on approach regarding such communities, or instead defer to individual Ministers or other government officials regarding roleplay?
4) Will you be available to vote on World Assembly resolutions early as they reach vote, in order to maximise the regional vote's influence?

Do you plan on atempting to have any diplomatic relations with raiders, or are you going to deny raiders any space? Or do you have a different idea on the raider situation and how you would steer TNP through it?

Upon further reflection and some private conversations, I will be withdrawing my name from the race. While I feel that I could make a solid run for the delegacy, I do not believe the time is right for me to run. I do feel that I was unprepared for this election and wish the best of luck to the other candidates running.

Oracle:

Upon further reflection and some private conversations, I will be withdrawing my name from the race. While I feel that I could make a solid run for the delegacy, I do not believe the time is right for me to run. I do feel that I was unprepared for this election and wish the best of luck to the other candidates running.

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Good luck in your future endeavors!

I appreciate you feeling you didn’t want to run a half-baked campaign, but I would have loved to see how you responded to my questions, I think that would have helped flesh the campaign out a bit more. I hope that helps you focus in on key areas should you decide to try this again in the future. I appreciated that you did give it a go, there’s obviously a lot to be said about planned out races, but also a lot to be said about just giving it a solid effort and having some fun with it. I will miss having another serious candidate in this race, but I understand and respect your decision.