Yeah, I uncovered a picture of myself. You can have fun guessing which one is me here:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=480239
30 April 2006
25 April 2006
Still Kicking
That's right, I haven't succumbed to the Bird Flu or anything (the quarantine's been lifted by the way - not that I ever actually noticed one while it was there, but who cares?). I've just been incredibly busy with my studies. If anything interesting pops up I'll tell you, but until then: watch this space.
Oh, and the new Doctor Who series is great!
Oh, and the new Doctor Who series is great!
17 April 2006
Two New UN Rankings - Take Two
You may remember way back that I had submitted two new UN rankings to the admins for inclusion in the game. Well, they've lain forgotten for quite a while now, but at last they're in. There's no saying when we'll see one of them (each UN ranking is selected randomly, you see), but be on the look out. One of them's based on a whole new feature I wrote into the game ages back. Maybe it will be expanded on later.
15 April 2006
Sirocco Turns Three
Sirocco is three years old! The actual birthday date was yesterday, but I completely forgot. So... um... yeah. Yay me!
14 April 2006
More Mod Olympics
The Mod Olympics
Hey hey! Gold medal for me! Congratulations to Fris, Kat, and Euro who all (especially Fris) need less spare time.
In other news, there's a lot of interesting threads to read about players' reactions to the new Influence system. Here's some of them:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=477177
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=477314
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=477401
Still a lot of questions about the Influence rankings, and I don't know how many times we can emphasise this but we're not going to tell you. We never said anything about the civil rights, economy, and political freedoms categories (and, having just looked at the list in the Gameplay forum, I can see the players have still got them a bit wrong) so why would we tell you about these ones? They'll be burrowed into the subconscious eventually I'm sure.
Hey hey! Gold medal for me! Congratulations to Fris, Kat, and Euro who all (especially Fris) need less spare time.
In other news, there's a lot of interesting threads to read about players' reactions to the new Influence system. Here's some of them:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=477177
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=477314
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=477401
Still a lot of questions about the Influence rankings, and I don't know how many times we can emphasise this but we're not going to tell you. We never said anything about the civil rights, economy, and political freedoms categories (and, having just looked at the list in the Gameplay forum, I can see the players have still got them a bit wrong) so why would we tell you about these ones? They'll be burrowed into the subconscious eventually I'm sure.
12 April 2006
New Regional Power Labels Required
Regional Power labels indicate how powerful your region is compared to others in the world. Right now they are:
Extremely High
Very High
High
Moderate
Low
Backwater
Now, we want them to be more interesting. In our discussions we came up with many possibilities, but they all got vetoed apart from 'Backwater'.
What we want is for you (the players) to suggest some terms that we could use. There are a few criteria that the terms must meet. Backwater met all three.
Ideally each should imply that:
(a) they're referring to a geographic area
(b) they're describing its power/influence, not its size
(c) its members aren't necessarily allied
This is very difficult and we know we may never come up with anything satisfactory, but it's worth a shot. Any suggestions can be e-mailed to me using the link in the sidebar or by sending them to siroccothemod@gmail.com
Or you can just write them as comments! Good luck!
Extremely High
Very High
High
Moderate
Low
Backwater
Now, we want them to be more interesting. In our discussions we came up with many possibilities, but they all got vetoed apart from 'Backwater'.
What we want is for you (the players) to suggest some terms that we could use. There are a few criteria that the terms must meet. Backwater met all three.
Ideally each should imply that:
(a) they're referring to a geographic area
(b) they're describing its power/influence, not its size
(c) its members aren't necessarily allied
This is very difficult and we know we may never come up with anything satisfactory, but it's worth a shot. Any suggestions can be e-mailed to me using the link in the sidebar or by sending them to siroccothemod@gmail.com
Or you can just write them as comments! Good luck!
Under The Influence
First impressions of Influence seem to be pretty approving, though everyone was bewildered by the Influence rankings and it's been amusing to see how much they've got wrong about which way round they go. The sheer number of people comparing their ranking with others and boasting about it brings many analogies to mind. But they were wrong, because they were forgetting that your influence ranking only shows how powerful you are compared to others in your region. The regional power labels show how much power your region has compared to all the other regions in the world.
I've started a thread to discuss Regional Influence Rankings here.
But the most amusing thing of all I think was the consternation in the delgates of the feeder regions who believed that the End Had Come. The delegate of the Pacific (Blackadder Goes Forth) in particular went insane with nation-ejecting, believing that the peasants were coming for his head. I heard of paranoid meetings between the feeder delegates all saying "What are we going to do?!" I couldn't help but get a mental image of a clique of old and worried dictators all standing in a circle and wringing their hats. What was ironic about this was that given their circumstances they're probably the most powerful players in the whole game! I guess it only goes to show that those with power really do cling on to it more.
For all those who really do think the new system has sucked all the fun out of the invasion game, remember that there are still the six Warzone regions which follow the old rules. Warzone Sandbox is one of them.
I've started a thread to discuss Regional Influence Rankings here.
But the most amusing thing of all I think was the consternation in the delgates of the feeder regions who believed that the End Had Come. The delegate of the Pacific (Blackadder Goes Forth) in particular went insane with nation-ejecting, believing that the peasants were coming for his head. I heard of paranoid meetings between the feeder delegates all saying "What are we going to do?!" I couldn't help but get a mental image of a clique of old and worried dictators all standing in a circle and wringing their hats. What was ironic about this was that given their circumstances they're probably the most powerful players in the whole game! I guess it only goes to show that those with power really do cling on to it more.
For all those who really do think the new system has sucked all the fun out of the invasion game, remember that there are still the six Warzone regions which follow the old rules. Warzone Sandbox is one of them.
11 April 2006
NationStates v1.9: Regional Influence
Ladies and gentlemen, Influence is in the building. After a long, long wait we have grabbed our greatest grievances by the short and curlies and destroyed them utterly with one deft stroke. Region griefing, at least as we've known it previously, is no more. The strangely abstract concept of natives is finito. Ejecting to refound is no longer a crime but a remarkable achievement. And all because of that lovely nine-letter word... Influence. With a capital I. But what is it? Well, just see our explanatory page and you should get the lowdown, but what does it mean in the broad sense?
Well, now we have region crashing properly coded into the game which means no worrying about rules apart from the rather obvious one of only having one UN nation. When NS was first written by Max Barry he'd never suspected that people would gang up together and steal regions from others. He liked it, but obviously we had to make it fair or people would get discouraged from playing because of, for want of a better word, arseholes. So we ended up with a lot of complicated, precise and, sad to say it, makeshift rules to make things fair to all the players. It never really worked terribly well so something had to be done. And now it is. We now have Regional Influence, a co-operative creation between mods, admins, and players. This has actually got roots going as far as a year back and I'm thrilled that it's all finished now. It was exciting to be a part of, even if my contribution was rather small.
Your influence dictates just how powerful your nation is, and thus how easily it can be kicked from a region, or how many nations it can kick should it be delegate. Your influence grows depending on how long you've been in a region and on how many UN endorsements you have. Non-UN nations only have influence based on how long they've been in a region. It costs the UN delegate some of his/her influence to take particular actions like passwording the region or changing the world factbook entry. So, the more powerful your nation is, the more sway you have within a region.
The bit that I was involved in was the user interface - how should we tell nations what their influence level is? I helped create that, along with the regional power labels (which show how powerful a region is compared to the others).
Your influence label shows how much power you have in your region. So you may have the same label as someone in another region, but you might actually have less power (or more) than them. You'd have to look at the other nations in your region to compare yourself accurately.
The practical implications of this new system are I feel, to be explored by you, and not me. So go! Explore! Experiment! Have fun, and enjoy NationStates v1.9 - it's been a while coming.
Well, now we have region crashing properly coded into the game which means no worrying about rules apart from the rather obvious one of only having one UN nation. When NS was first written by Max Barry he'd never suspected that people would gang up together and steal regions from others. He liked it, but obviously we had to make it fair or people would get discouraged from playing because of, for want of a better word, arseholes. So we ended up with a lot of complicated, precise and, sad to say it, makeshift rules to make things fair to all the players. It never really worked terribly well so something had to be done. And now it is. We now have Regional Influence, a co-operative creation between mods, admins, and players. This has actually got roots going as far as a year back and I'm thrilled that it's all finished now. It was exciting to be a part of, even if my contribution was rather small.
Your influence dictates just how powerful your nation is, and thus how easily it can be kicked from a region, or how many nations it can kick should it be delegate. Your influence grows depending on how long you've been in a region and on how many UN endorsements you have. Non-UN nations only have influence based on how long they've been in a region. It costs the UN delegate some of his/her influence to take particular actions like passwording the region or changing the world factbook entry. So, the more powerful your nation is, the more sway you have within a region.
The bit that I was involved in was the user interface - how should we tell nations what their influence level is? I helped create that, along with the regional power labels (which show how powerful a region is compared to the others).
Your influence label shows how much power you have in your region. So you may have the same label as someone in another region, but you might actually have less power (or more) than them. You'd have to look at the other nations in your region to compare yourself accurately.
The practical implications of this new system are I feel, to be explored by you, and not me. So go! Explore! Experiment! Have fun, and enjoy NationStates v1.9 - it's been a while coming.
09 April 2006
They Should Have Asked Sirocco
Modshort #10
The latest episode of the Modshort series, starring everyone's favourite NationStates moderator. Enjoy!
The latest episode of the Modshort series, starring everyone's favourite NationStates moderator. Enjoy!
It Approaches
So, what's the update on these big changes that are coming? Well, first of all I can tell you that the release date has become a little uncertain. It might be tomorrow (unlikely), it might be Monday, it might be later this week. Still some revision and fine-tuning to be done. Tests to be run, smoking chemistry sets examined, server hamsters fed, code tweaked... and, well, you know. All that jazz. However, the main aim of this whole enterprise remains unchanged: we want to breathe new life into the invasion/defence game whilst remaining fair to all players. We think we're very close to that, but it would be folly to say it's perfect. We want to minimise any possible problems, and hopefully fix them later. Not that these changes will just affect that aspect of NationStates though. It's going to affect regional politics, management, and interregional politics too. Hopefully for the better, but from what I've seen I can't see how it could be considered worse.
Now I KNOW that people will not like it when it come. If there's anything to be learnt from observing people it's that they hate change, or are at least continually surprised by it. Breathe easy! It may take some time to adjust but I can guarantee you'll all be trying to squeeze every last drop out of it by the end and having great fun formulating new tactics, new procedures, new ways of diplomacy... oh yes. It's going to be a hell of an adventure.
So don't get your knickers in a twist if nothing's happened by Monday - we're working on it!
In other news, Reppy's considering doing some more Bastard Moderator From Hell stories in the near future and I've decided to refer to regions with only one nation in them as 'hermitlands' because the alternative is such a mouthful.
And as a conclusion to this article I'm going to give you a tantalising wee glimpse into one of the many things we've been doing to bring this whole 'NationStates v1.9' thingy about. It won't help at all, but I'd be fascinated by your theories as to what it could mean.
Part of the changes that I've been mostly involved in required us to look up the old forum postcount titles. Intrigued? Good! Bye bye for now!
Now I KNOW that people will not like it when it come. If there's anything to be learnt from observing people it's that they hate change, or are at least continually surprised by it. Breathe easy! It may take some time to adjust but I can guarantee you'll all be trying to squeeze every last drop out of it by the end and having great fun formulating new tactics, new procedures, new ways of diplomacy... oh yes. It's going to be a hell of an adventure.
So don't get your knickers in a twist if nothing's happened by Monday - we're working on it!
In other news, Reppy's considering doing some more Bastard Moderator From Hell stories in the near future and I've decided to refer to regions with only one nation in them as 'hermitlands' because the alternative is such a mouthful.
And as a conclusion to this article I'm going to give you a tantalising wee glimpse into one of the many things we've been doing to bring this whole 'NationStates v1.9' thingy about. It won't help at all, but I'd be fascinated by your theories as to what it could mean.
Part of the changes that I've been mostly involved in required us to look up the old forum postcount titles. Intrigued? Good! Bye bye for now!
07 April 2006
Issue #196 Is In The Game
Yep! I finally had some spare time do get a little editing done and this titillating wee gem is the result. I hope you enjoy it.
Oh, and we're expecting to implement the new changes to the site on either Sunday or Monday. There will be a news post and a thorough explanation of what the changes are and what they do.
Oh, and we're expecting to implement the new changes to the site on either Sunday or Monday. There will be a news post and a thorough explanation of what the changes are and what they do.
05 April 2006
Big Changes
I feel that NationStates is nearing towards the end of its status as v1.8; there have been so many big changes it would be impossible to list them here (I'm lazy, see), but they're going to pale in comparison to what we've got in the oven at the moment. Oh, yes. I'm under strict orders not to give too much away, but I can assure you that it will change regional politics and invasions forever. You'll be bound to find out more very soon - it's all finishing touches now.
Watch this space.
And I've had more than four thousand visitors to my blog over the last year. I'm very gratified, and I hope I can continue to be NationStates' primary news source. You look elsewhere - and this includes the NS News page - and you'll see them give up on regular updates fairly quickly. I'm a sticker and hope to be so for a long time yet.
In other news, bird flu got discovered in a swan a few miles from where I live. So if I mysteriously stop blogging be sure to go outside, locate the nearest flock of birds and shake your fist and them dramatically screaming 'WHY! WHY!' and sobbing hysterically. Alternately, you can e-mail me to ask why I'm not posting anything. It's your call.
Watch this space.
And I've had more than four thousand visitors to my blog over the last year. I'm very gratified, and I hope I can continue to be NationStates' primary news source. You look elsewhere - and this includes the NS News page - and you'll see them give up on regular updates fairly quickly. I'm a sticker and hope to be so for a long time yet.
In other news, bird flu got discovered in a swan a few miles from where I live. So if I mysteriously stop blogging be sure to go outside, locate the nearest flock of birds and shake your fist and them dramatically screaming 'WHY! WHY!' and sobbing hysterically. Alternately, you can e-mail me to ask why I'm not posting anything. It's your call.
03 April 2006
New UN Proposal Categories
Anyway, the new UN proprosal categories were implemented about three weeks ago and I never heard about it (which really annoyed me when I discovered this). So, without further ado, let me introduce the two new UN proposal categories and their sub-categories:
This comprehensive explanation was written by Frisbeeteria:
This comprehensive explanation was written by Frisbeeteria:
Advancement of Industry
A resolution to develop industry around the world.
This is a wide-ranging pro-business Category that more accurately reflects the power of corporations in Jennifer Government. Don't know why Max didn't give us more like this when he created the game. Guess he's an old softy.
Area of Effect
First choice is Environmental Deregulation. Rather than devoting the whole proposal category to reverse the effects of "Environment', we've chosen a middle ground of 'all business'.
Second, Labor Deregulation. This one is going to benefit corporations at the expense of the worker. Surprise!
Third, Protective Tariffs. This opposes international 'Free Trade' by adding protectionism for national industry.
Fourth, Tort Reform. Removes legal barriers from anti-corporate litigation, reducing government interference in business. Guess who takes the hit when industry wins?
Education and Creativity
A resolution to promote funding and the development of education and the arts.
Area of Effect
Artistic is just what you'd expect - government funding for the Arts. No more trying to sneak it in under human rights.
Educational - finally something for all you "Free Education" lovers. Of course, nothing is truly free, as you'll quickly discover.
Cultural Heritage is another of those lovely amorphous categories that lets you do those wonderful meaningless things the RL UN loves so much. For a small fee, of course.
Free Press allows the ultimate expression of your new-found educational and creative rights. Be careful what you wish for, though ...
02 April 2006
Zero Bug Fixed
Crisis over. All nations have been restored to their former (if maybe slightly diminished) glory by SalusaSecondus. Some nations may find they can't dismiss their first issue. If that happens, ask a mod to sort it out and we'll fix it.
Thanks, Sal!
Thanks, Sal!
Zero Bug
Ah, damn, NS has got the zero bug which deletes your nation if you try to log in. So, if for some reason you decided to look at my blog before going to NationStates, be warned: don't log in.
All those who HAVE got deleted nations will have them restored as soon as this whole ugly mess is sorted out by the unfortunately absent administrators. They'll be restored to when they were last saved on our back-up files so don't be alarmed by lower populations or issues becoming un-legislated.
I've sent e-mails to our admins, but until they get up, rub their eyes, and blink incomprehendingly at their computer monitors, all we can do is wait.
All those who HAVE got deleted nations will have them restored as soon as this whole ugly mess is sorted out by the unfortunately absent administrators. They'll be restored to when they were last saved on our back-up files so don't be alarmed by lower populations or issues becoming un-legislated.
I've sent e-mails to our admins, but until they get up, rub their eyes, and blink incomprehendingly at their computer monitors, all we can do is wait.
The Day After
We decided the whole NationDates thing just wouldn't work. NSers are obviously not ready for love. Ach well. I'll have a bunch of amusing complaints and comments we got from that very interesting day ready for your perusal in the near future.
In other news, I got my blood donor card yesterday which was great 'cos I've always been interested to see what my blood type is. I'm B+. This means that if anyone tells me to 'Be positive!' I can say 'How did you know?'
The winner of the thirteenth Lancre Cup was announced yesterday also. Determined Cows is our grand winner.
In other news, I got my blood donor card yesterday which was great 'cos I've always been interested to see what my blood type is. I'm B+. This means that if anyone tells me to 'Be positive!' I can say 'How did you know?'
The winner of the thirteenth Lancre Cup was announced yesterday also. Determined Cows is our grand winner.
01 April 2006
NationDates
As you will almost certainly have noticed, we've decided to change the game a bit. Frankly, NationStates was getting a bit expensive so we've incorporated the ideals of matching services for all those lonely for love. Right now it's just being tested, but soon we'll be charging for its use so enjoy it free while you can!
Here's what Sal said earlier:
NationDates has worked well so far in our beta testing, perhaps even TOO well:
Anyway, using the unique NationDates formula (which is influenced by a survey you fill in), it appears that GNY Embassy is my true love... see you later!
Here's what Sal said earlier:
In an effort to keep from going broke and needing to take down the game, we've decided to change the game to NationDates. It's the same game that you know and love, except now we're moving into social networking and hoping to help you meet someone that you know and love.
The data that we've collected from your issues and play style place us in a unique position to accurately match you up with a fellow player and not need to worry about political incompatibility. We are working on effective ways to monetize NationDates in the near future.
We hope that you like this new direction.
SalusaSecondus
NationDates, Chief Minister of Hookups
NationDates has worked well so far in our beta testing, perhaps even TOO well:
I met [violet] on NationDates and we've gotten together and have been bringing beautiful things to life ever since.- SalusaSecondus
Anyway, using the unique NationDates formula (which is influenced by a survey you fill in), it appears that GNY Embassy is my true love... see you later!
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