Put those Conservative beliefs of yours into practice (Vanity Repost).

Nation States ^ | 12-26-02 | Me

[Green Knight]

***Reposting because I very stupidly put in a link to the control center of my country and someone went in there and messed around with it. Didn't turn out bad, as the Issue they decided for me (about the Death Penalty) was what I would've done, anyway. Still, I'd rather people not screw around with my settings***

Just thought I'd post this for all those like me who've always thought that they could do a better job if they were running the country. Well, this online game lets you give it a shot. It's called Nation States (click here for the site) and in this game you make up your own country and you're presented with Issues which, depending what stance you take on them, shape the way your nation progresses (You can also dismiss the Issues, but for every couple of Issues that you take a stance on your population grows, which means that doing nothing but dismissing Issues leaves you with a stagnant population).

Some of the choices on the issues are also pretty amusing. For instance, just yesterday I was presented with an issue about allowing corporations to donate to political parties. The first option was the opinion of the corporations, who felt they had a right to donate money to whatever politicians they liked (This is the option I went with, btw. I never believed in CFR). The second opinion was that of a Campaign Finance Reform supporter who believes we need less, not more money in politics. The third opinion was that of my brother over a round of drinks, who thought I should do away with elections altogether and assume dictatorial control. LOL!

One of the cool things about this, also, is that you can form "Regions" within the game. Sort of like blocs based on cultural and/or ideological lines. For instance, there's a Socialist Region in there, as well as various other types of Regions based on ideology. So we can have a Freeper Region. I'm tied to another Region, at this point, so I can't make one for FReepers. However, it's not hard. After you make your nation just do this:

1) Click on "The Pacific" to the left.
2) Scroll down to where it says "Tired of life in The Pacific? Then move to a new region (That part in bold is a hotlink on that site)
3) Click on that link and it takes you to a screen where you get to pick a Region, or make up your own. If you're the first FReeper that does this mind making up an appropriately named FReeper region and then let the rest of us know what it's called, so we all know what to look for?
4) If you showed up after another FReeper already made a Region then simply look for the region name on the pull-down menu and that's it. Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4.

Why do I bring this up, here? Because frankly, there're to many damn communists in the game. And by God, I want to see some genuine, dyed-in-the-wool capitalists, there! So if it catches your interest, go check it out and make up a nation. See how you like it. For an example of a nation, btw, you can check out mine, below. The Free Republic of Anjou. Took me a while to get the economy to where it is, now, after I made gambling illegal. But it's still not as good as it was, before that. Damn it, I should've kept gambling legal! On the plus side, though, I've onl got a 2% Flat Tax, and that's AFTER approving increased military spending. And of course, we recently found uranium, so you better believe where some of that spending's gonna go. Hehehe. Anyway, here's The Free Republic of Anjou as it stands, now.

THE FREE REPUBLIC OF ANJOU

National Motto: "Through God All Things Are Possible."
UN Category: Inoffensive Centrist Democracy

Civil Rights: Some
Economy: Very Strong
Political Freedoms: Very Good

Location: The Allspark

The Free Republic of Anjou is a very large, economically powerful nation, notable for its compulsory military service. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 56 million have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.

The small government juggles the competing demands of Religion & Spirituality, Law & Order, and Defence. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 2%. A large private sector is led by the Woodchip Exports industry, followed by Furniture Restoration and Soda Sales.

Euthanasia is illegal, the police force is on a recruitment drive, corporations donate huge sums of money to favored politicians, and military spending is on the increase. Crime is a problem. Anjou's national animal is the Phoenix, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the Lily.

[Green Knight]

Imaldris/Vyssglass-Calvo ping.

[Consort]

Imaginary Countries Webring.

Micronational & Secessionist States Webring.

[Sparta]

I've just signed up. I'm the Commonwealth of Libertonia. My first act was to declare war on Eco-terrorists.

[Moonmad27]

Thanks for telling us about this so we could join in the fun. Signed, her Majesty the Queen of Zyra

[Green Knight]

No problem. The more the merrier. Though would either you, Sparta, or JerseyHighlander mind making a FReeper Region and posting the name, here, so we could all move into the same Region? Maybe call it something like "The United FReeper States", "The Republic of FReeperdom" or "The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy". I dunno. Something catchy. The plus side of being in the same Region is we can all easily check up on one another by simply checking on the Region name on the left (You're all in The Pacific, right now, which is the default and has thousands of nations in it). Also, if we ever join the UN, having a large region behind us we can throw our weight around.

[altair]

Cool. I just created the Free Republic of Altair. Now what do I do?

[Dianna]

Queen of DiCar here! I just signed up and I'm already offending the world with my social inequities! LOL!!

[Dianna]

So we can be separate countries in the same region? Kinda like states in the US?

I'll look and see if anyone is doing anything.

[Dianna]

There are too many regions to look through! I did find "All your base is belong to us". Is that ours? :)

[altair]

Also, if we ever join the UN, having a large region behind us we can throw our weight around.

Why would we want to join the UN if there is a preponderance of socialist states?

[pad 34]

Girard ping.

[Green Knight]

Go to Settings on the left, click on it, and select the frequency at which you'd like to receive Issues (I've got mine set at 2 per day, for instance). They either decide what stance you'll take on the issues or Dismiss the issues, taking no stance. Just remember that the more Issues you take a stance on, the larger your population grows.

[Green Knight]

I doubt it. ;) Still waiting for someone, here, to make up a region and then post the name, here.

And good point about that. Anjou hasn't joined the UN, so yeah, might be best to just stay out of it. Just throwing out the possibility. If you can control them, why not join them, after all? But I advise everyone to avoid requesting admittance to the UN til you know what's up (And if the UN in the game is anything like the real UN, then STAY THE HELL AWAY!!!).

[Green Knight]

About that, whoever makes up a name, seeing as how it's a LONG list of regions, might want to pick a name that starts with an A. Maybe someting likes "Alliance of FReepers"?

As for the Regions, themselves, they're just the Regions in which your country is located in. Nothing more. Everyone will still be a sovereign nation beholden to no one. So there's no down side to being in a certain region. The plus side of it, though, is that you can quickly and easily see the other countries in your Region. So if you want to see what your fellow FReepers are up to, then just click the Region name on the left.

[Little Bill]

Republic of the Marches, reporting in.

[B. Rabbit]

Bring it on, commies!

The Borderlands of Pure Freedom
"Prosperity through Freedom"

UN Category: Capitalizt
Civil Rights: Excellent Economy: Thriving Political Freedoms: Average

Location: the Pacific
The Borderlands of Pure Freedom is a tiny, economically powerful nation, remarkable for its barren, inhospitable landscape. Its hard-nosed, hard-working population of 5 million enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the region, unless they are unemployed or working-class, in which case they are variously starving to death or crippled by easily preventable diseases.

There is no government in the normal sense the word; however, a small group of community-minded, pro-business individuals juggles the competing demands of Law & Order, Commerce, and Defence. Income tax is unheard of. A large private sector is led by the Woodchip Exports industry, followed by Cheese Exports and Basket Weaving.

Crime is pervasive. Pure Freedom's national animal is the rhino, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the dollar.

[Green Knight]

Alright, I went ahead and got off my duff and made a Region for us (I was hesitant to do so as I've already made a commitment to another). It's called...

*drumroll*

Alliance of FReepers

This is all you do to join it:

1) Click on "The Pacific" on the top left of your screen.
2) Scroll down to where it says "Tired of life in the Pacific? Then move to a new region". It says this below the list of top 11 nations for your region (The first 10 being some other nations, and the 11th being yours).
3) Click the hot-linked "move to a new region".
4) Click the Select a New Region" scroll bar and scroll down til you find "Alliance of FReepers".

And there you go. You're in FReeperville where we'll all be listed, and it has a small little message board at the bottom where we can discuss things amongst ourselves and we can see when new folks join in.

[altair]

I got it. Thanks.

They have a vacation mode, good. What happens if you miss responding to an issue? They have settings per weekday, but I don't see where I can tell them that I am in an Asian timezone.

[Green Knight]

I don't think anything happens if you miss responding to an issue. For instance, I missed checking the site and found 5 Issues piled up, there. I know someone who went for some time without going there and had even more issues piled up. I've seen countries disappear so I figure that there's a cut-off point. Miss enough issues and they assume you've quit the game and delete your country.

But from what I think you're getting at, I wouldn't worry about it. There's no real rush to answer issues. So no matter what time zone you're in, it doesn't matter as they'll send it to you on their time, but you can take your time in answering it.