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NationStates Review
The people at the top – heads of state, prime ministers, those sort of people. They make it look...really difficult at times, don't they? Surely it can't be quite as taxing as it looks. You sit at the top of the pile and are only really called into action when the big decisions come in, or a scandal requires your attention. How hard can it be? Well, turns out it can be difficult to run things quite your way. That is just the way it works, according to the weird and wonderful world of NationStates
Nationstates is a text-based, browser “game”, the love-child of one Max Barry that started up around a decade ago. Based on the book, Jennifer Government, surprisingly enough also by Max Barry, NationStates allows you to take control of your own nation and attempt to mould it into what you envisage the world should be.
You begin by selecting a name, classification (such as kingdom or empire), historical type and initial government policies, as well as the name of the currency, the national animal and the nation's motto. Following this is a short questionnaire designed to further individualise the political views of the nation. This is the beginning of a visualisation that can determine how you are viewed by others, but we'll get onto why that's important in a short while.
Once you've completed creating your nation, it's time to get down to politics! There are three levels of political tomfoolery to undertake, and we'll go through them in order of influence.
To begin with, there are the raging debates that continually sweep throughout your nation. These are known as issues. A problem has arisen, ranging from the important, to the seemingly mundane to the outright insane, and you'll be given a choice of policy options. Generally, any choice will change the parameters of the nation, and often have interesting, perhaps unexpected and humorously exaggerated results.
Looking beyond your nation, the nations of NationStates combine together to make the NationStates world. A major part of this world is the World Assembly, effectively (and actually, it's an interesting story) the NationStates equivalent of the real-life organisation – the United Nations. This is where members can vote on legislation (written by endorsed World Assembly members) that may be enforced, if passed, to all members.
Splitting the world up, nations exist in various regions of the world. These work slightly differently than continents in the real world, as there isn't much in the way of “true” regional politics. However, endorsements from World Assembly members can gain nations regional delegation, allowing some portion of control of the region. This is the basis of regional “wars” and invasions, attempting to dismantle the stability of the nations that exist within a specific region. This requires planning and strategy if to be done, and thus promotes community involvement.
The major component of enjoyment from NationStates to the majority of members comes from the ability to roleplay international incidents and other political and non-political events that occur in the nation. This aspect of creative writing allows for a hugely, almost infinitely varied set of stories about, and tangential to, any event taking place within the NationStates world. Events vary from ultimately casual affairs involving one to a few nations, to hugely organised events filled with years of history (such as sporting events). These organised events also give the opportunity to be trusted with positions of higher responsibility (such as hosting).
In conclusion, NationStates is a game in the loosest sense of the word. It's mildly amusing and a small distraction at times at it's most basic level. However, entering and becoming part of the community, either by attempting to make a worldwide difference through the writing of potential future legislation, or through taking part in one, or more, of the huge variety of roleplaying events available can make the world more alive (I personally have participated in some of the football events, nearly reaching titles on a few occasions). If you enjoy creative writing based on events beyond your control, or just want a little political-leaning diversion, then you can do worse than NationStates, just don't expect a huge AAA blockbuster.
Score: N/A
The people at the top – heads of state, prime ministers, those sort of people. They make it look...really difficult at times, don't they? Surely it can't be quite as taxing as it looks. You sit at the top of the pile and are only really called into action when the big decisions come in, or a scandal requires your attention. How hard can it be? Well, turns out it can be difficult to run things quite your way. That is just the way it works, according to the weird and wonderful world of NationStates
Nationstates is a text-based, browser “game”, the love-child of one Max Barry that started up around a decade ago. Based on the book, Jennifer Government, surprisingly enough also by Max Barry, NationStates allows you to take control of your own nation and attempt to mould it into what you envisage the world should be.
You begin by selecting a name, classification (such as kingdom or empire), historical type and initial government policies, as well as the name of the currency, the national animal and the nation's motto. Following this is a short questionnaire designed to further individualise the political views of the nation. This is the beginning of a visualisation that can determine how you are viewed by others, but we'll get onto why that's important in a short while.
Once you've completed creating your nation, it's time to get down to politics! There are three levels of political tomfoolery to undertake, and we'll go through them in order of influence.
To begin with, there are the raging debates that continually sweep throughout your nation. These are known as issues. A problem has arisen, ranging from the important, to the seemingly mundane to the outright insane, and you'll be given a choice of policy options. Generally, any choice will change the parameters of the nation, and often have interesting, perhaps unexpected and humorously exaggerated results.
Looking beyond your nation, the nations of NationStates combine together to make the NationStates world. A major part of this world is the World Assembly, effectively (and actually, it's an interesting story) the NationStates equivalent of the real-life organisation – the United Nations. This is where members can vote on legislation (written by endorsed World Assembly members) that may be enforced, if passed, to all members.
Splitting the world up, nations exist in various regions of the world. These work slightly differently than continents in the real world, as there isn't much in the way of “true” regional politics. However, endorsements from World Assembly members can gain nations regional delegation, allowing some portion of control of the region. This is the basis of regional “wars” and invasions, attempting to dismantle the stability of the nations that exist within a specific region. This requires planning and strategy if to be done, and thus promotes community involvement.
The major component of enjoyment from NationStates to the majority of members comes from the ability to roleplay international incidents and other political and non-political events that occur in the nation. This aspect of creative writing allows for a hugely, almost infinitely varied set of stories about, and tangential to, any event taking place within the NationStates world. Events vary from ultimately casual affairs involving one to a few nations, to hugely organised events filled with years of history (such as sporting events). These organised events also give the opportunity to be trusted with positions of higher responsibility (such as hosting).
In conclusion, NationStates is a game in the loosest sense of the word. It's mildly amusing and a small distraction at times at it's most basic level. However, entering and becoming part of the community, either by attempting to make a worldwide difference through the writing of potential future legislation, or through taking part in one, or more, of the huge variety of roleplaying events available can make the world more alive (I personally have participated in some of the football events, nearly reaching titles on a few occasions). If you enjoy creative writing based on events beyond your control, or just want a little political-leaning diversion, then you can do worse than NationStates, just don't expect a huge AAA blockbuster.
Score: N/A
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NationStates Review
The people at the top – heads of state, prime ministers, those sort of people. They make it look...really difficult at times, don't they? Surely it can't be quite as taxing as it looks. You sit at the top of the pile and are only really called into action when the big decisions come in, or a scandal requires your attention. How hard can it be? Well, turns out it can be difficult to run things quite your way. That is just the way it works, according to the weird and wonderful world of NationStates
Nationstates is a text-based, browser “game”, the love-child of one Max Barry that started up around a decade ago. Based on the book, Jennifer Government, surprisingly enough also by Max Barry, NationStates allows you to take control of your own nation and attempt to mould it into what you envisage the world should be.
You begin by selecting a name, classification (such as kingdom or empire), historical type and initial government policies, as well as the name of the currency, the national animal and the nation's motto. Following this is a short questionnaire designed to further individualise the political views of the nation. This is the beginning of a visualisation that can determine how you are viewed by others, but we'll get onto why that's important in a short while.
Once you've completed creating your nation, it's time to get down to politics! There are three levels of political tomfoolery to undertake, and we'll go through them in order of influence.
To begin with, there are the raging debates that continually sweep throughout your nation. These are known as issues. A problem has arisen, ranging from the important, to the seemingly mundane to the outright insane, and you'll be given a choice of policy options. Generally, any choice will change the parameters of the nation, and often have interesting, perhaps unexpected and humorously exaggerated results.
Looking beyond your nation, the nations of NationStates combine together to make the NationStates world. A major part of this world is the World Assembly, effectively (and actually, it's an interesting story) the NationStates equivalent of the real-life organisation – the United Nations. This is where members can vote on legislation (written by endorsed World Assembly members) that may be enforced, if passed, to all members.
Splitting the world up, nations exist in various regions of the world. These work slightly differently than continents in the real world, as there isn't much in the way of “true” regional politics. However, endorsements from World Assembly members can gain nations regional delegation, allowing some portion of control of the region. This is the basis of regional “wars” and invasions, attempting to dismantle the stability of the nations that exist within a specific region. This requires planning and strategy if to be done, and thus promotes community involvement.
The major component of enjoyment from NationStates to the majority of members comes from the ability to roleplay international incidents and other political and non-political events that occur in the nation. This aspect of creative writing allows for a hugely, almost infinitely varied set of stories about, and tangential to, any event taking place within the NationStates world. Events vary from ultimately casual affairs involving one to a few nations, to hugely organised events filled with years of history (such as sporting events). These organised events also give the opportunity to be trusted with positions of higher responsibility (such as hosting).
In conclusion, NationStates is a game in the loosest sense of the word. It's mildly amusing and a small distraction at times at it's most basic level. However, entering and becoming part of the community, either by attempting to make a worldwide difference through the writing of potential future legislation, or through taking part in one, or more, of the huge variety of roleplaying events available can make the world more alive (I personally have participated in some of the football events, nearly reaching titles on a few occasions). If you enjoy creative writing based on events beyond your control, or just want a little political-leaning diversion, then you can do worse than NationStates, just don't expect a huge AAA blockbuster.
Score: N/A
The people at the top – heads of state, prime ministers, those sort of people. They make it look...really difficult at times, don't they? Surely it can't be quite as taxing as it looks. You sit at the top of the pile and are only really called into action when the big decisions come in, or a scandal requires your attention. How hard can it be? Well, turns out it can be difficult to run things quite your way. That is just the way it works, according to the weird and wonderful world of NationStates
Nationstates is a text-based, browser “game”, the love-child of one Max Barry that started up around a decade ago. Based on the book, Jennifer Government, surprisingly enough also by Max Barry, NationStates allows you to take control of your own nation and attempt to mould it into what you envisage the world should be.
You begin by selecting a name, classification (such as kingdom or empire), historical type and initial government policies, as well as the name of the currency, the national animal and the nation's motto. Following this is a short questionnaire designed to further individualise the political views of the nation. This is the beginning of a visualisation that can determine how you are viewed by others, but we'll get onto why that's important in a short while.
Once you've completed creating your nation, it's time to get down to politics! There are three levels of political tomfoolery to undertake, and we'll go through them in order of influence.
To begin with, there are the raging debates that continually sweep throughout your nation. These are known as issues. A problem has arisen, ranging from the important, to the seemingly mundane to the outright insane, and you'll be given a choice of policy options. Generally, any choice will change the parameters of the nation, and often have interesting, perhaps unexpected and humorously exaggerated results.
Looking beyond your nation, the nations of NationStates combine together to make the NationStates world. A major part of this world is the World Assembly, effectively (and actually, it's an interesting story) the NationStates equivalent of the real-life organisation – the United Nations. This is where members can vote on legislation (written by endorsed World Assembly members) that may be enforced, if passed, to all members.
Splitting the world up, nations exist in various regions of the world. These work slightly differently than continents in the real world, as there isn't much in the way of “true” regional politics. However, endorsements from World Assembly members can gain nations regional delegation, allowing some portion of control of the region. This is the basis of regional “wars” and invasions, attempting to dismantle the stability of the nations that exist within a specific region. This requires planning and strategy if to be done, and thus promotes community involvement.
The major component of enjoyment from NationStates to the majority of members comes from the ability to roleplay international incidents and other political and non-political events that occur in the nation. This aspect of creative writing allows for a hugely, almost infinitely varied set of stories about, and tangential to, any event taking place within the NationStates world. Events vary from ultimately casual affairs involving one to a few nations, to hugely organised events filled with years of history (such as sporting events). These organised events also give the opportunity to be trusted with positions of higher responsibility (such as hosting).
In conclusion, NationStates is a game in the loosest sense of the word. It's mildly amusing and a small distraction at times at it's most basic level. However, entering and becoming part of the community, either by attempting to make a worldwide difference through the writing of potential future legislation, or through taking part in one, or more, of the huge variety of roleplaying events available can make the world more alive (I personally have participated in some of the football events, nearly reaching titles on a few occasions). If you enjoy creative writing based on events beyond your control, or just want a little political-leaning diversion, then you can do worse than NationStates, just don't expect a huge AAA blockbuster.
Score: N/A