Kilminning Rock again, this time from a distance. Looming eerily in the haar.
Today, I was looking back through my blog's posts and discovered something I'd completely forgot to post way, way back. Before I was even at university. So, here it is - something all of you will no doubt find very interesting:
I present to you a select number of the complaints we got when we decided to convert NationStates into a dating site... (all nation names or true names have been removed to protect anonymity)
Just a complaint:
You people ruined Nationstates. This disgusts me this NationDates. This is supposed to be a game where you take over a nation and form a regional government and such and you guys go and change it into NationDates. This is dispicable and I am thinking about quitting the game.
I am totally disgusted and I will never create a new nation and I will never play Nationstates 2. I would of loved to play Nationstates 2 IF it comes out but I am not giving my money to you. Social Networking???!?! What is this Myspace now?? I have a Myspace and I am not using this gay "match yourself with your ideal nation" crap.
Go away.
A disgusted nation,
[nation name removed]
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I have a huge problem. WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH NADTION DATES? It makes it look like this is some sissy love test sight. Then the blurb- Even some nation leaders just want to MAKE OUT? Excuse me? I'm 12 years old. Plus it makes my nation look weak and pathetic. Either you repeal this monstrosity soon, or I will quit using this sight.
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I hate pink. i hate love. this game was intended for nations to be able to fight each other and see who is the top nation. now i feel that alot of people are going to stop playing the game. i say that we change it back to the way it was. plus it don't look god an male nations!!! no one asked us if we wanted to change it, they just changed it and that violates our rights.
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The change to the website is so stupid. The best word to describe it is super faggy. Everyone in my region hates the change and i guaruntee the we're no the only ones. I bet that soon, you'll have no-one left to play your game anymore. We want a political simulation, not some gay-ass dating site. They have better websites for that. I beg you, stop the madness, please?
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Is the pink "NationDates" theme an elaborate april fools joke or is it a permanent thing? Please make this go away, it hurts my eyes.
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Dear SalusaSecondus
NationDates!? I think I'm gonna puke! How much longer is this crap gonna be on my computer monitor? I wan't it off soon! This is going to deter new players, and I'm sure I won't want to come on again for the rest of February. Believe me, new nations will be rare if this keeps up. I hope this is just for valentines day, because if not, they'll be nations leaving by the minute! By the MINUTE!
Your pissed off friend,
[name removed]
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This Nation Dates thing sucks. I'm sorry but I hate it. You should change back to the original ammediately. I loved Nationstates, but a dating site, what is up with that. And not only that but what happens when somebodies wife/husband thinks their spouse is on a dating site? CHANGE IT, PLEASE!
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This one is a piece of art:
Dr Mr. Barry
First off I'd like to thank you for writing your book 'Jennifer Government', and producing the game 'Nation States'. I believe both are profound and quite interesting. However, due to recent circumstances, I feel a great need to email you today. This email is regarding your change to Nation States.
Based on my experience, and being a member of the NationStates game, I believe you have made a mistake by changing NS to 'NationDates'. This mistake I fear will have grave consequences. Since I appreciate this game so much, you might be able to see why I'm emailing you. To my understanding, you have made this drastic change due to the lack of income from the game. I must say that this change will only increase your income by a very little if any at all. There's a couple simple reasons for this. First being what you have changed it to. Gamers go to Nationstates.net to play a game that gives them a chance to make a nation, something that you can go around telling your friends about. But when the game also is a "dating service" type of site, right off you become embarrassed. I could just about guarantee you that you will lose a lot of customers by making this switch, just because of the pride that some of these people have. With loss of customers and new visits, revenue will decrease obviously. If your change has made income due to some sort of contract or what not, it can only be temporary, and I predict that you would probably have to make another change in the near future.
I have a few suggestions that can increase your income so as to allow you to revert back to the way you had it before. There are many ways to make income through the internet. Probably one of the easiest and helpful methods is using Google Adsense. It may seem tacky to have google ads on the bottom of your page, but the results are irresistable. When you see a google ad, that was payed for by an individual who must pay a certain amount every time that ad is clicked on. The way Google Adsense works, is you put a little "box" of Google ads anywhere on your page (normally the bottom or sides), and whenever someone clicks on the ads, you and Google split the income. You pay absolutely nothing to set it up and keep it up. The ads are also related to your site, so in your case it would have to do with government or current events or what not. Just visit this site: https://www.google.com/adsense/ And register, it's that easy. Since there's over 100,000 nations already, the potential income for NationStates is really not bad at all and could almost pay for everything right there.
Along with the Google Adsense you are going to want to advertise your site a little more. The only way anyone is going to find NationStates is through Izolt, typing in NationStates directly into a search engine, or word of mouth. Not exactly great exposure if you ask me. Capitalize on Press Release services such as i-newswire.com and PRweb.com. These sites can send out press releases that go to Search Engines and journalists across the globe, all for free. By doing this, it also increases your ranking on Google and other search engines because more keywords are used. I've used Press Releases quite often and they really do bring in lots of new visitors. One of my Forums I advertised recieved 13,000 hits in 2 days for example. You will also want to look at SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services. Most will cost money, but some are free and can greatly increase your exposure through search engines.
Having some of your staff members write articles at other Websites is an excellent idea as well. Some highly visited websites offer you the chance to write articles. By writing an article about NationStates or any of your novels will greatly increase your exposure.
Ok, so far I've talked about advertising a lot. All of that will help you get more clicks on the Google Adsense. However, there's another way to get a lot more money as well, and I believe is possible for NationStates. What I'm reffering to is Sponsorship. The size of Nationstates alone is probably enough to impress a business, but also the originality has got to count for something. I suggest having a representative or even yourself contact organizations and businesses dealing with the same topic as your site, and seeing if you can get a sponsorship worked out. A sponsorship would include just having them either pay for a banner to put on your site, or just recieving donations from that organization. You could possibly contact organizations such as the United Nations association of the United States of America (http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.asp?c=...PJpF&b=260414). Or if you want to go smaller, contact smaller organizations that deal with World Issues or government.
I definately think it is possible to make the income necessary to hold together NationStates and that switching to NationDates is futile and a big mistake that will have irreversable consequences. Please consider this email and look into it. I do really love Nationstates, and I want to see it grow, that's why I'm sending you this email today. Thanks for all the work you've done, and good luck with everything.
Sincerely,
[name removed]
United States of America
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Hope you all enjoyed that!
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