Altys
Registered
- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Discord
- Altys#4138
⤆ ⤇ ↺ ☖ | Secure | https://epns.mon.gov.caek/issue/2023/6.html
EPNS June 2023 Edition
Contents:
- June Elections: Altys Elected For A Second Term
- Delegate's Update
- A Changing World Assembly And A New Commendation
- What In The World Has Regional Affairs Been Up To?
- Vice-Delegate's Diary - July
- Amidst An Uncertain Future, Where To Next For RMB RP?
- Tales From Urth
- Conclave Business
- Legislative Activity
- Praesidium Report
- Regional Updates
- International Updates
June Elections: Altys Elected For A Second Term
By: Vussul | Edited By: The Fourth Imperium and Altys
By: Vussul | Edited By: The Fourth Imperium and Altys
The June elections for the Delegacy have concluded.
Altys, the incumbent, retained their seat and will serve for another four months.Nominations opened on the 2nd of June. There were two candidates by the end of the nomination period on the 9th of June. These two candidates were Altys and former Delegate and sitting Vizier Marrabuk. Cappedore, Dremaur, and Zukchiva were all nominated but declined and A mean old man, Catiania, Emjay, Libertanny, Mangegneithe, and SirShadow were nominated but did not accept.
Marrabuk's brief campaign featured an introduction about who they are and why they came out of retirement (believing the frontiers update to be dire for The East Pacific and his belief that there is a lack of unity in the region).
Marrabuk then proceeded to state their plans if they are elected as Delegate. These plans were a promise to run for a single term, the creation of a special team for recruitment that will publish regional news weekly or biweekly, scout regions for actives and get them to help build our region, creation of front regions that will serve to attract players to them and then onwards to TEP, mutually beneficial alliances, expansion to other games, and Ministry reshuffling. Marrabuk would also be personally involved in the recruitment and training of new members to create future leaders for The East Pacific. These broad goals had the aim of "[solidifying] and [strengthening] our region internally by uniting us back under one united front".
Altys' campaign started off by listing their achievements over their last term.
In Regional Affairs, this included making the Executive more accessible by moving the Regional Affairs and University of The East Pacific divisions into the main server. Recruitment was made easier through the welcome message being displayed in the main channel so anyone can welcome them and the expansion of the welcoming team. RMB welcome messages for new nations were also added. STEP and the regional index were updated. Altys also embarked upon being an active figure in the RMB RP and forum RP communities.
In World Assembly matters, REWARD (TEP's WA involvement program) was fixed. Regular endotarting had brought delegate endorsements to 65% of the regional WA population, still shy of the target of 70%. WA interest was re-ignited with consistent debates and medium to high turnout on proposals.
In Foreign Relations, relations with the Augustin-Alliance as a whole were opened alongside an embassy with the Conch Kingdom, and the legacy of the Consortium was formalised by signing the Second Convention of Lausanne alongside the Alstroemerian Commonwealths, the Free Nations Region, and Thaecia.
EPSA also saw an expansion of its ranks and consistent operations held throughout the term.
Their plans for the region were next.
In general matters, this involved the scrapping of Executive applications and moving the FA department into the main server in the name of increased accessibility. Minister positions in Regional Affairs are also not going to be introduced in favour of a project-based RA. The exception is the Chief Minister of Regional Affairs.
Recruitment and activity are a priority in Altys' campaign. He stated that he wishes to work in conjunction with the RMB RP and forum RP communities to find success. Smaller and more frequent cultural activities such as game nights were also stated as something he wanted for his second term. NDay, which will fall during the Delegate term, will feature TEP's participation with the Anime faction. EPSA's visibility will also be increased by better advertising army reports and EPSA will also participate in the "Tagging for Pride" event.
In World Assembly Affairs, Altys will continue to follow WAA votes held in the main server when voting on WA resolutions and will continue the region's current involvement in Heroes of Valhalla for Security Council authorship of resolutions.
The voting period opened on the 9th of June and concluded on the 16th. Altys won the election with 79.2% of the vote to Marrabuk's 8.3% with 12.5% abstaining. Altys will serve for another 4 months starting from the 15th of June.
At the beginning of June, the Government hosted celebrations for TEP's 20th anniversary! Several activities were prepared for the occasion, from a scavenger hunt to a massive 36-tribute hunger game (won by Vice-Delegate
Eunopiar)! Additionally, dozens of physical TEP flags were distributed in a giveaway and a video was posted on the TEP TV channel celebrating 20 years of regional history.Running from early to mid-month were the Delegate elections which I once again won! While you can read my campaign here, I will detail below what I would like to see completed next month.
In the rest of June, the Government saw activity in Pride Month celebrations with a regional telegram detailing the experiences of one LGBT member of our community,
Cappedore. Preparations for a new edition of EPNS were also underway with several citizens helping write articles and bringing them together!Plans for July!
As the cabinet is aware, I'd like the early parts of my term to be focused on integration. This process started in my previous term by moving Regional Affairs and UTEP to the main TEP server; I'd like for Foreign Affairs (FA) to follow. Given the success shown in Executive participation, FA, which is in need of new blood, could benefit from such a move.Past that, I'd like to increase the visibility of Government projects! While I have some ideas (like a "get-involved" channel where all new projects are announced and army reports posted), it's ultimately things we shall put to the test and see what works best. I also hope to pair these efforts for increased visibility with bringing more citizens to join EPSA (regional army), which has already seen an uptick in both membership and operations.
Additionally, there is the possibility that our dispatch network will be reworked to make editing and posting easier and the Vice-Delegate and myself have been discussing editing STEP dispatches (our guides for new players).
A Changing World Assembly And A New Commendation
By: Aivintis | Edited By: The Fourth Imperium and Vussul
Note from editor Vussul: The author did not expect Commend New Leganes to come up before the publication of this article.By: Aivintis | Edited By: The Fourth Imperium and Vussul
A Shifting Climate in the World Assembly
The East Pacific has not had great luck with the Security Council in recent times. The last commendation of a major TEPer was "Commend Marrabuk," a 2021 resolution authored by Thaecian high official Andusre. Since then, The North Pacific and The West Pacific have seen multiple Security Council resolutions honoring members of their communities.
It is the South Pacific that has dominated the WASC, with the Defender WA bloc "Partnership for Sovereignty" delivering many commendations of prominent Defender members. Indeed, in the current climate of the Security Council, most commendations being put forth are Defender nominees, and most Raider condemnations are shot down or repealed as part of the ongoing war between the extremist Brotherhood of Malice and similarly extremist Defender elements.
The Independent and Unaligned regions, however, have found their break with the Heroes of Valhalla (HoV) project, an Executive policy agreement made between Balder, Europeia, The East Pacific, and The North Pacific. HoV is a Discord server, where authors may come together to draft commendations of nominees from participant regions with the assistance and support of experienced authors and some beta readers.
So far, the driving force of HoV has been the almost robotic efficiency of experienced WA author Westinor, but more can be done. Within The East Pacific, six nominees have been discussed, most being former Delegates. This includes Albrook, East Malaysia, Libertanny, New Leganes, The Atlae Isles, and Zukchiva. The most recent HoV submission, however, is New Leganes.
The Commendation Itself
New Leganes (Sammy) is a major figure within The East Pacific. His accomplishments can be divided into two areas of influence - regional government and roleplay.Following a quick preamble clause, achievements within the regional government make up three clauses of the commendation. Immediately afterwards, four clauses are dedicated to achievements in TEP's forum roleplay community, TEP Evolved, and the world of Urth. Finally, a conclusion clause wraps up the commendation.
Within the regional government, Sammy has held many positions. Within the University of The East Pacific, they served first as a Dean of the University and Deputy Minister of Education. Then as the Chancellor of the University and Minister of Education for one year. Within the area of recruitment and integration, he has been staff, Deputy Minister, and Minister under the variously named Ministries of Immigration, Manpower, Outreach, and Hospitality. Moreover, in positions not discussed in the commendation, Sammy has been a Vizier, Eastern Pacific Police Service Commissioner, Magister, and Deputy Provost.
Work within UTEP covers two clauses of the commendation. As Dean and Chancellor, Sammy was the mastermind behind the modern structure of the University and the massive revival that followed. Every attempted revival ended in smoke until Sammy put his mind to it, and, with the assistance of some staffers, built UTEP into a powerhouse of activity. For as long as they headed the University, it brought about a lot of activity and created a lot of jobs in the regional government. Thus, the two clauses addressing his UTEP era are divided into UTEP's structure and activity.
In the third government clause, I write about Sammy's unprecedented dedication to the realm of recruitment. I first saw this when I became a citizen in The East Pacific. Sammy himself recruited me to the government in a follow-up telegram. But I wasn't the only one. As I noted in the clause, a large number of individuals who went on to become major figures in the RP and/or the government were recruited by Sammy, including Delegate Eastern Alksearia. His work was most prominent during the Drewpocalypse, where he handled the gigantic workload by helping to integrate and mentor the large number of new residents.
The roleplay clauses, or "documentation of national events" as I used to fit the rules of the World Assembly, are divided into three categories: Urthvision with two clauses, the Cukish language with one clause, and the RPs "From Ashes to Eternity" (FATE) and "Narilethal" with one clause. The first clause of Urthvision regards the insane levels of activity generated by Sammy's organization of Urthvision events. Repeatedly, Sammy has set records on activity with ever-increasing numbers. The record has only ever been broken again by Sammy, and this has happened three times. No other nation has even won/hosted more than one Urthvision. Thus, this clause refers to the musical prowess of New Leganes and the success of his hosting.
The second Urthvision clause refers to the most recent edition of Urthvision. In a stunning first for the competition, Sammy edited hours of video for the two semifinals and then the final, which strung together the video performances, drone footage of the countryside, presentation by the nation's chosen host, and commentary spoken by Sammy himself. Including the detailed graphics creating flying kiwis in the colors of all participating nations, this video was the pinnacle of Urthvision and is honored as such.
View attachment 9296
Pictured: New Leganes flag with his trademark flying kiwis
The Cukish language comes next. Cukish is a constructed language (conlang), created by Sammy himself, with the complexity and depth of a real-life language. Conlanging is no easy feat, and Sammy has brought linguistic expertise which puts other conlangs to shame. The consideration of history and culture in the evolution of words, as well as the phonological pronunciations of each letter and word is the result of years of effort put into developing the Cukish language. It's seriously impressive and well worth its inclusion in the commendation. Coming to the clause's defense, East Malaysia and Eastern Alksearia explained just to what level this complexity has been achieved within the commendation thread on the WA forums.
The clause about FATE and Narilethal noted both the length and development of the RPs themselves, as well as the unique themes and setting. RPs set in the distant past are rarely, if ever, covered by other nations of Urth, and TEP as a whole, but Sammy brings his real-life expertise with history, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, into crafting an interesting and unique narrative. While trying to bring that point across, I use the clause to highlight the literary themes at play in these RPs: love, war, and community.
This commendation is the result of many months of researching, note-taking, leaving the doc on hold, drafting through HoV, refining the draft, and creating something worthy of truly honoring all that New Leganes has done for this region. It would not be possible without the help of the Heroes of Valhalla and the commenters on both my original draft and the later forum thread, including Varanius and Bhang Bhang Duc, despite TEP's sordid history with their region, the West Pacific. Now, with its final development being submitted, there's hope for a positive response from the allies of TEP and the WA powerhouses of the world. I'm hoping we can all agree that New Leganes truly deserves this commendation.
Regional Affairs (RA) is one of the main gears that keeps The East Pacific and its regional government on the run.
This past month we celebrated 20 years as not only a region in NationStates, but as a community. We had games, contests, shared some recipe,s and even had a giveaway of real life TEP flags.
We also did a pilot launch of Eastward Bound and a relaunch of Urthcast a little more than a month ago. I think we should plan more of them soon as they’re amazing opportunities to showcase our community internally and externally to the world.
While it may seem like RA is bustling with activity based on all the great things we have going on but I will be the first to say “all that glitters is not gold.” We have opportunities to reach out to new players of NationStates since our community outside of the government has so much more to offer with Urth and Valsora being additional roleplay options.
RA in my opinion is one of the most enjoyable parts of regional gameplay. It’s unfortunate that many do not join to participate when you could help the region/community grow with outreach, write articles like this one, plan a game night, or host a podcast.
Let’s go meta, what other games allow you to do all of that plus more? I can tell you it’s not many so I hope you join!
It is perhaps one of the greatest honours of my career on NationStates to have been appointed as Vice-Delegate. I have been around, in one form or another, for just under five years now, and I've been in the East for around three of those years, joining at the height of the pandemic. Here (and in other venues on the game!), I found healthy opportunities to grow as a player, mentored by various people in the Executive. I am also thankful that everyone still has this chance. If you, like me three years ago, want to join the executive to gain valuable experience, serve the region, or just have fun, please read this dispatch or shoot me,
Eunopiar, a telegram.The past few weeks have been busy internally, so this is going to serve as a general, overarching summary of things that have happened.
Altys Re-Elected as Delegate
Our French friend and comrade Altys has been re-elected as Delegate of the East Pacific for four more months. Altys, busy as ever, sprung to action quickly, assembling a new cabinet, which you can view here.Culture & Events
Pictured: The East Pacific's cultural organisers.
TEP Celebrates Pride: Media Consumption Journal
Happy Pride Month everyone! TEP recently ran a pride media suggestions dispatch. For five days, we crowdsourced suggestions for poets, musicians, and more to include, so thank you so much if you decided to come forward with a suggestion! You can view our dispatch here.TEP Turns 20
The East Pacific celebrated its 20th Birthday in June! Yes, we're really that old. Throughout the festivities, we ran multiple events including minigames, giveaways, and more. We've also had a mentor tree, found here, run by the wonderful Zukchiva.This is a short one from me today but I hope that for July I'll have a lot more to talk about, both in terms of my own experience as VD and as a member of the region participating in events that the Executive organizes. Needless to say, keep your eyes peeled for telegrams and other details about what we'll be doing for you next. We have a lot in the pipelines right now but if there is anything you'd like to see, don't be shy! Feel free to ping me on the RMB, shoot me a telegram, or ping me on our Discord server.
At first glance, the last few months have seemed fairly normal on The East Pacific's regional message board. Each day goes by, buried by the avalanche of posts and conversations we've come to accept. The usual faces remain present, arguably even more so with the return of some familiar faces to Valsora. However, behind closed doors, things may not be so routine.
The F/S update brought and continues to bring a significant challenge to the region. With spawn rates slashed in half overnight, The East Pacific has lost a massive chunk of its new player influx. This presents of course a difficult task to the region's governance. The government has already acted to bring down the endorsement cap to retain regional security. However, I feel this loss will be felt most in the RP community, specifically on the RMB.
Valsora is coming up on her 5th anniversary this October, and it's no secret her longevity has been due to a constant cycle of new users. The map thrives on activity, and each new nation comes along with the potential of one day becoming a respected veteran roleplayer. At least 40% of Valsora's ongoing population of around 100 nations consists of newcomers and fledglings. This moving forward may no longer be the case. With the region now receiving only half of its existing spawn rates, Valsora and the wider RMB RP community face the difficult task of maintaining user intake with a much slimmer pool of candidates.
Alongside this, Valsora must pay heed to the case of user retention. With fewer and fewer recruits to join the ranks, Valsora must retain its veterans who play a vital role in the maps continuing activity and the raising of new generations of RP'ers.
The Cartography Council has in recent weeks begun an extensive campaign to further modernize and index the maps of many nations, species, and languages, and has relaxed its administrative stance on magic and fantasy elements to ensure the map is both welcoming and accepting of all forms of RP.
Acknowledging this, we must still ask the question of whether it will be enough to maintain course, or whether this will have more long-term impacts on the community. In a time like this, which in many ways is more dire than it might appear, the community must work together to ensure its ongoing success.
So this call goes out to you, fellow Citizen. Do your part, if you see a new nation appear on the RMB, give them a warm welcome and point them in the right direction. We were all there once, and a guiding hand is invaluable to a new user discovering NationStates for the first time. You never know, that fledgling may evolve to be in our shoes one day, and we'd want them to do the same.
TEP hosts an RP community on the forums where events happen in the fictional world of Urth. Here is a list of some notable events that have happened this month:
- The nation of Aivintis finally welcomes democracy into their nation. You can read about it here.
- Kasran is'Vaara, after crashing into one of the leading contenders for the Series 1 Championship, Matthieu Soyer, has been fired from Novia Racing. You can read and catch up on all the exciting action of Series 1 here.
- Group Play in the WIHC has concluded! You can see the leaderboards in here.
- Kuduk, in their modernization efforts, has made a groundbreaking deal with New Leganes! You can read about it here.
- Norgsveldet has been rocked by terroristic actions. You can read about it and it's sequel here.
- Tawuse has new news posts out! you can listen and read about it here.
As a new Conclave term has begun, it's worth reflecting on the current state and current plans for the Conclave.
First, the Conclave recently voted for
Eastern Alksearia to be the new Viceroy after the resignation of Albrook.The Conclave is also now made up of
Bachtendekuppen, 
Zukchiva, and it did have this parrot called 
Libertanny(Serge) in there too, but he wasn't a Registered Voter so he couldn't serve. Now that he is, his reconfirmation is going through the Magisterium.The Conclave is dedicated to doing a refresh of their pinned 3 topics and performing the arduous task of updating the Library of the Conclave to include references to all decisions made by the Conclave.
Until then, the Conclave is still hosting internal discussions on the re-introduction of AMOM's request on the question of the constitutionality of the Conclave Act.
For now, that is all the Conclave is up to. By the next update, there should be more updates on the introduction to the Conclave and any rulings that come out.
According to Provost CyberiumShadow, the Magisterium has been relatively quiet this month compared to the last.
Three new Magisters have been admitted: Silvae, Brotherland, and Vussul. Silvae had their WA nation outside of The East Pacific so a vote was held for their admittance. Vussul and Brotherland were accepted immediately as their WA nations are within The East Pacific. Brotherland is an old face in the Magisterium and is also a Vizier. Vussul is new to the Magisterium.
A few votes were held. Chronologically, Zukchiva was admitted into the Conclave as an arbiter, taking Wallenburg's seat. After this, an amendment to the Voter Registration Act proposed by Arbiter Zukchiva was passed. This amendment intends to clarify that Voter Registrations are only invalidated after 48 hours has elapsed from violating one of the registration requirements. Magister Vussul's amendment proposal to make disclosure of government positions and aliases a legal requirement in the Public Official Disclosure Act was also passed. A proposed amendment to the Concordat by Magister Silvae that intended to introduce a no-confidence system was voted down by the Magisterium. Lastly, a rewrite of the Standing Orders of the Magisterium drafted by Magister Vussul to simplify and clarify the text has passed the Magisterium.
A few new discussions were created this month and a few old discussions continue. In chronological order, the discussion surrounding Conclave reform initiated by Vizier Aivintis continues into its second month after a near-four week lull. A discussion surrounding a few Magisterial reforms proposed by Provost CyberiumShadow also continues into its second month after a month-long lull. Arbiter Zukchiva started a discussion this month on the topic of Voter Registration. He created four polls: One asking if the current system is too bureaucratic (54% voting yes, 46% no), one asking if Voters should be required to disclose their WA nation (58% yes, 42% no), one if Citizen and Registered Voter be renamed into Resident and Citizen respectively (58% yes, 42% no), and lastly if Voters should have to telegram an official from both nations (83% yes, 17% no). The discussion on this continues. Magister Vussul started a discussion on shortening the voting period from seven days to three or four. This discussion was tabled after a significant number of Magisters fundamentally disagreed with the idea. Lastly, Arbiter Zukchiva proposed an amendment that intends to declare prohibitions legal in the Concordat and it is currently at discussion.
The Provost elections for the 58th Magisterium were also held and concluded. Incumbent CyberiumShadow was elected. The candidates were Magisters Vussul and The Ambis and Provost CyberiumShadow. Other Magisters were nominated but did not accept.
You can find specifics in the Magisterium thread found here and if you want to participate in our legislative discussions, you can apply to the Magisterium here.
This month the Praesidium is seeing internal elections for both the Grand Vizier (GV) and East Pacific Police Service Commissioner (EPPSC)! Both positions will see new faces taking over as Grand Vizier
Dragons Blood and EPPS Commissioner 
Todd McCloud not standing for re-election.The elections are running into early July, leaving their results for the next edition of EPNS. We, however, thank both the exiting GV and EPPSC for their dedication and service to the East, especially
Dragons Blood with his long (one year and a half) tenure as Grand Vizier.You may also see the table below tracking Delegate (in bold green) and Vizier endorsements. Since this is the first month EPNS will be tracking these numbers, all "past" and "changes" columns show new as there is a lack of data.
