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First Month as Delegate

FEATURE | BY: Altys | Edited by: Albrook and with assistance from TEP FA

It's been about a month since I've been elected! Time flies too fast and I feel like I haven't done much as a result. Nonetheless I thought giving a summary of what happened this first month + handing out an award would be good thing to do. :D

World Assembly Endorsements and the Delegacy

Before I accidentally resigned like a dumbass, I'd taken the delegate seat in about two weeks from being elected which felt reasonable to me. Yes, I did ask Shadow to resign, but there wasn't much of a difference in endorsements between the two of us. I had even comfortably went past it before the incident. I liked the current rate a which my endorsements were going up too. For those interested in the seat, to go from 0 to 500 endorsements, here's what I did:

- Endotart once (sometimes twice when I feel like it) a day + telegramming those I endorse to endorse me back,
- Post the "Endorse Altys" (new dispatches every week and updating the newest one daily around the same time as I endotart generally),
- Manually telegramming (when you're at about 350-400 endorsements) all those not endorsing me to endorse me back.

Government Work

That said, this month I've focused on fixing stuff. The WFE has been cleaned up a bit, old dispatches/ones that need repair (REWARD comes to mind) have been removed, and the main Valsora dispatch is promoted for ease of access. I've also appointed Merlovich and Romanoddle Republic as RMB Moderators because we could use the extra help and I have the RO space. The whole dispatch network for Support The East Pacific (STEP), our newcomers' guide, has been updated too. Mostly small edits, such as adding new site features, different dispatch/forum links, etc. The same goes for the Index of The East Pacific dispatch. A new welcome telegram was drafted as well, and I've undertook to welcome new nations on the RMB at least once a day.

Otherwise for Government, I feel like underperformance is the word to use. Admittedly I have high standards and I did decide to ignore one part of Government (EPSA) in favour of internal matters. Nonetheless, firstly there is the lack of discussions regarding WA proposals which I'd like to change. This has been signalled in private to Cappedore. The move from the separate server to the main one did attract some additional input in Regional Affairs but not at the rate I expected it either. Hospitality is a tough one to measure for it's both long term and short term goals in which I've had a heavy hand (welcoming new people and "making TEP one again"), but I believe it's been relatively successful.

On the flip side, News (ministry) has been running smoothly, with several articles in drafting and a EPNS edition to be expected at the end of the month. Meanwhile Culture is in a weird spot. We've got the Hanami Matsuri festival coming at the end of the week. I also want to host some TEP-wide Paradox Games for I know people play them, and other ideas have sprung up like DnD. So there's definitely room for good! We simply need to work on it. Finally Foreign Affairs is doing just fine. We've abolished the Diplomatic Corps right in the beginning of my term as I've promised to. Several regions have been marked off as dead relations unless they otherwise come back to us by themselves. We've also applied for diplomatic relations with the entire Augustin Alliance after the conclusion of NDay and started a new project with other friends abroad I'm hoping to reveal by the end of the month/beginning of next one.

Nuke Day 8

I said I felt like not doing much in this first month and I believe parts of this belief derives from my heavy involvement in NDay. As the de facto leader of our faction ("Anime Nations Against Liberals"), I did not get much sleep (with the holidays right after allowing me to procrastinate) but definitely had fun! Our faction was in a weird position: unable to dictate the momentum of the event, yet the obvious kingmaker. In the end we did fulfill this prophecy, though not of our own volition, with the Potato Alliance and TWP (as "Cosmic Corsairs") deciding to suicide itself into us. We survived, and the rest is history! Our members saw their fair share of both offensive and defensive actions and got their fun which always was our primary objective. See you in September for the next edition!

Final Words

Finally I wanted to award one of our citizens for the prowess displayed during my first month. Traditions seem to show this type of move to be made at the end of a Delegate term but there is no way I'm letting three more months pass before doing so. Thus here we go! To New Leganes, I award the Order of Eloquence for the sheer work put into making an entire Urthvision (Urth's equivalent of Eurovision) video edit lasting several hours just for us. Of course this is not his only contribution to The East Pacific's roleplay multiverse but it alone warrants an award. If you want to watch it, go to here.

With that said, here's me hoping in the next three months I'll be able to fulfil all, or at least the majority, of what I campaigned for. Right now I believe I'm on the right track, if not slightly late. We'll see about it in one month!

Oh and of course, ROAD TO 500. :D

PS: Funny dispatch here if you haven't seen it already (make sure you upvote!):

What Makes a Good Regional Officer?

FEATURE | BY: F. B. Hite (Pakitsk) | Edited by: Albrook

Anyone who has ventured onto an active Regional Message Board (RMB) knows how chaotic it can get. For those readers who have not had the chance to become acquainted with the glorious nonsense of our own RMB here in TEP, allow me to recommend leaving this tab open for about an hour, then reloading and reading through the many posts since you first opened the RMB. For the most part, our RMBers are well-behaved, but there have been frequent incidents of misbehavior. That’s where the Regional Officers (ROs) come in. It is their job to protect the region from undue disturbance, in accordance with the Regional Message Board Regulation Act, 2021 (RMBRA 2021).

One thing that has piqued my interest recently is the conduct of a good RMB moderator. There are plenty of regions who can sadly attest to the abuses or neglect of an RO ill-suited to the position. While I am glad not to count TEP among their number, it is nonetheless important to devote some thought to the proper disposition of an RO whose duties include RMB moderation. To that end, I asked several RMB mods from a variety of regions, in particular our fellow GCRs, their thoughts on the subject. Their responses, I hope, will be food for thought.

One common thread in the responses I have received is that an RO must approach any situation with a good attitude. When asked, Xoriet of The Pacific said that a good RO is one who “doesn’t get angry when someone trolls them.” Trolling is, naturally, a hazard of the job, but it cannot be permitted to affect one’s judgment. This is especially when one considers that even those who remain firmly within the bounds of good conduct can indulge in a little messing about. It is vital to keep a level head, and at least as importantly, to give the impression of remaining calm. The RO is a representative of the regional government in our system; they should remain dignified when carrying out their duty.

At the same time, one should not “tak[e] [one]self too seriously,” to quote former The South Pacific RO Drystar. The RMB is very rarely a serious place. While occasionally the RO’s duty may require some degree of gravitas, more day-to-day activities necessitate more good humor. Danelaw Scandinavia, one of our own current RMB moderators, insisted that any good RO must be “involved in the community.” Of note, Danelaw comes from our impressive RMB RP community (as does our other RMB mod, Kavanos), and so has strong ties to the users he helps to keep the peace among. By integrating with the community, the RO can show the users their strength of character and good humor. This increases the RMB’s confidence in them and making their job considerably easier.

Danelaw went on to say that in most cases, an RO should “warn people to stop [misbehavior] before unleashing the… banhammer." This draws on their community’s goodwill and respect to avoid having to actually punish anybody. This could result in the loss of a good community member making a mistake. The Rejected Realms (TRR) RO Hoffania commented that “patience and a good understanding of the rules” are vital traits of the RO, and furthermore lamented the tendency of “old ROs… to become detached with the RMB at a certain point.” To some extent, this view is colored by the unique nature of TRR’s RMB, but it’s a valid view nonetheless. We in the East have had our own problems with RMB/offsite tensions. One of the RO’s duties is to help avoid such misunderstandings. They can use their unique role as a representative of the government and a member of the community.

In conclusion, a good RO is, first and foremost, an integral member of the RMB community; secondly, a dignified representative of the government and the law; and finally, of light temperament. It is vital to the role for the RO to be able to quash problematic behavior, whether from RMB regulars or from outsiders making trouble, swiftly. This is best accomplished when the RO has the respect and confidence of the RMB community. To distance yourself from the RMB you’re supposedly moderating is not only disappointing to the community; it is also harming your ability to do the job.

A Private Citizen's Legislative Agenda

FEATURE | BY: Aivintis | Edited by: Albrook and with assistance from TEP FA

An eagle-eyed observer, or really anyone who has checked the Magisterium category on the forums in the past week, will have noticed that I just submitted about 2948204828 drafts to the Magisterium. Okay well not quite 392810388, but there’s four of them, which is quite a lot at once. Given I haven’t proposed something in months, and a lot of them may have seemed to come out of the blue,I’ll explain them here. This is for those not so invested in the Magisterium that they read every new thread.

The Grand Lodge Amendment

Let’s start with the biggest one, and the one I’m most passionate about: The Grand Lodge Amendment. The Concrisis of 2022 during my delegacy exposed glaring flaws in our institutions. To some, it was the sweeping power of the Conclave. To others, it was the divide between rule of law and governmental stability. To me, it was the inability to effectively replace our Concordat when we need to. According to the Conclave’s (overturned) ruling, an amendment calling itself a complete replacement is not legal. It’s possible the current Court may rule differently given the same case (the ideological makeup has certainly changed). Yet the problem is not with the Court’s ruling, but with the Concordat.

The Grand Lodge Amendment is an attempt to fix that problem. It’s modeled primarily off of the Great Council system of The Charter of the Coalition of the South Pacific, perhaps a bit too shamelessly. The Grand Lodge is my attempt to bring Constitutional Conventions to TEP. Apart from the South Pacific, regions like The Free Nations Region and The Union of Democratic States have done such ConCons in the past. It’s not a new thing for NationStates, or even for modern day NationStates, and I personally believe it’s a necessary step in repairing the cracks exposed by the Concrisis.

Although based on the Great Council system, there are unique aspects of the Grand Lodge featured in the amendment. For one, no Magister can be excluded from the process. This is unlike in TSP, where having dozens of Legislators makes it reasonable to exclude certain individuals, often those with foreign ties. In TEP, such an exclusionary process might be used for ill and definitely would have been in the time of Fedele’s Cabal. Moreover, the process to begin a Grand Lodge and to enact its changes is subject to a citizen-wide Referendum. This is another extra check and balance that becomes necessary within TEP’s government structure and culture.

The idea to have a process like TSP’s Great Councils was originally brought forth by Zukchiva. Even before the Concrisis, it was on our minds, but during and after it, the need for such became clearer than ever. My attempt to combat the Concrisis was, indeed, a Constitutional Convention, which I called a Grand Lodge. The discussion I began, however, which included the Grand Lodge Amendment, never ended, as momentum for change faded. Now, however, I have finally gotten around to this issue, and I’m hoping my Grand Lodge Amendment turns out to accomplish what I intend to. The name, I must note, is partially an allusion to TSP’s Great Councils, and partly a derivative of Libertanny’s idea for “Lodges” instead of Ministries. The Grand Lodge is a freemasonry term. With the square and compass as our regional symbol, it felt only natural to call it such.

Culture and Identity Act

The next thing in question is the Culture and Identity Act. The proposal incorporates both a bill and a Constitutional Amendment. It attempts to pull Article H: Regional Name and Emblem out of the Concordat. I’ve always wanted to do this, believing the codification of our government’s name and emblem to be a pointless use of Concordatial paper. However, I’ve also been rather indifferent about the idea of an Identity Act, especially in its former form, which was the predecessor to modern Article H. The idea of the Culture and Identity Act, however, is intrinsically tied to this history of Identity codification.

Yet again, part of my legislative process was to look up at the legislative successes of the Coalition of the South Pacific. This time, however, I also looked to regions such as Social Liberal Union, which has resolutions establishing holidays. Also The North Pacific, which establishes cultural declarations in Chapter 9 of its Legal Code. Looking upon these foreign laws, I began to formulate the general structure of my Culture and Identity Act. It is far more extensive than the old Identity Act. It includes codification of our government’s name, our emblem, and our colors, like Article H and the repealed Identity Act. But it also names a regional animal, food, founder, demonym, and motto. These are all things that exist in our cultural zeitgeist already, things that aren’t written down, but are spoken often.

Finally, the Culture and Identity Act has an entire section dedicated to Regional Holidays. TEP’s regional calendar, featured on tep.one/calendar, was an inspiration to me as Minister of Culture in 2020, under Delegates Marrabuk and Libertanny. I’ve always enjoyed the idea of having holidays. As stated above, I am not alone in this. Even in The East Pacific, in Magisteriums long past, resolutions and laws establishing various holidays have been commonplace. Bringing this rich history together, with the great help of the regional calendar, I created what I hope to be a list of holidays which can inspire future celebrations and cultural events.

The idea is for this act to record our existing culture. Nothing in it is truly new. Some of it is older, and has been lost for some time, but it all existed at one point, and much of it exists now. Bringing this all together as a little slice of TEP is a project I enjoyed creating. As a law, I believe it to be an important guideline for our region. It is something that enriches our government a little bit more than before. The act, most of all, is intended to be flexible. I expect more amendments as our culture becomes more interesting and complex, and I designed it so as to not preclude, for example, the celebration of additional holidays, such as the obvious ones of April Fool’s Day and Christmas. I included only TEP-specific holidays, because it’s TEP’s culture this law is all about.

Transparency Act

Next up is the Transparency Act. Back during my Delegacy, I wrote a Resolution on Executive Transparency. Although widely supported by the Magisterium of the time, it was put on hold as a result of a desire for a more comprehensive, and more binding, Transparency Act.

Much like the Culture and Identity Act, I looked outside TEP for influences. The North Pacific’s Freedom of Information Act in Section 7.4 of its Legal Code, the South Pacific’s Sunshine Act, and the Government Accountability Act of The Rejected Realms were my sources. Yet again, key differences exist between those documents and my own draft, as the general concept becomes adapted to the specific government and culture of The East Pacific.

The Act creates a new type of government publication called a “Transparency Report.” This is essentially defined as literally any publication mandated by the act, but is geared mainly towards the Executive. Transparency Reports would be mandated in the last week of every Delegate term. They would essentially summarize the activities of the Executive, and what the Delegate had accomplished during the term. The idea is to force the Executive to tell the people what it does. The intention for this is not only to make a more open government, but to let the citizens know what cool things they can get in on if they join the Executive branch.

Of course, there’s things the Executive doesn’t have to include in a Transparency Report. Private government chats and operations may be withheld during regular Transparency Reports. However, leaving it at that makes the Act vulnerable to manipulation. This allows any Delegate to just hold back whatever they deem to be private. So there’s checks and balances in place. James Madison would be pleased. Specifically in this case, that check is any citizen may request for transparency. What this means is that the Delegate has to mention what affairs are being excluded. Private citizens may request that the private affair be disclosed, once the matter has concluded, and provided it doesn’t interfere with ongoing private matters. This act also specifically expands the scope of the treason-espionage charge, as established by the Treason Act. This marks all private affairs as “not to be shared” by that charge’s definition.

Citizens may make requests for Transparency Reports with other branches as well. They may request information from the Closed Session of the Magisterium or the Citadel of the Praesidium. Of course, these requests can always be denied for regional security reasons, or for the sake of preventing interference with ongoing private matters. The point of this whole process, and all these contingencies and appeals is to make sure this power can be used for good, but can’t be abused. This is a fine line to walk in the matter of government transparency. The final say, of course, will always go to Conclave, not only because any government action may be appealed to the Court, but because the recently passed Conclave Act empowers the Court to ensure government compliance with these regulatory laws.

Resolution on Cultural Neutrality

Finally, there’s the Resolution on Cultural Neutrality. On the regional stage, this has been widely supported by East Pacifican citizens, including former Delegate Eastern Alksearia and current Delegate Altys. This nonbinding Resolution, however, may be more controversial on the regional stage. Essentially, what it does is it encourages membership in cultural events regardless of political alignment. It takes a stance against the idea of “cultural embargos” or any sanction that limits political rivals from participating in events. The idea is to declare all cultural events neutral ground for fun and fellowship, casting aside political rivalries in the name of fun. To the average East Pacifican, this is just some random resolution. However, some context may be needed.

The Brotherhood of Malice (BoM) is a newly revived raiding organization. In the past year or so it has become the center of interregional gameplay, espousing ideals of Raider Unity. After revival, they began to piss off as many regions as they could. In doing so, they managed to piss off a certain few regions which, before, were largely independent. This means they were willing to work with raiders and defenders equally. These regions were The North Pacific, The Pacific, the West Pacific, Europeia, and Balder. Key events led to this widespread distaste for BoM. One was their invasion of long-time TNP ally Stargate. Another was an exposed attempt to overthrow the legitimate government of the Realm of Balder in Operation Ragnarök.

These regions banded together as the Modern Gameplay Compact. Standing in harsh opposition to the Brotherhood of Malice, the MGC began to enact sanctions. These were in line with Roavin’s principles of “Diplomatic Isolation”, as outlined in Curious Observations on 18 June 2022. These principles declare that associates of the Brotherhood of Malice should be punished for their association and, in many cases, their lack of condemnation of the Brotherhood’s actions. The East Pacific participated as well, although that was primarily for different reasons. However, the MGC took it a step further.

On 9 November 2022, MGC sanctioned the Brotherhood of Malice. The regions of the MGC were prohibited from “[p]articipating in any events hosted by members of the sanctioned regions/organizations or in any events hosted by regions/organizations in which members of the sanctioned region/organizations participate”. However, BoM was not the only region sanctioned due to their unilateral actions. The Black Hawks, an ally of BoM by virtue of certain cross-membership and common Raider ties, was also sanctioned. TBH being held accountable for BOM’s actions, the MGC reasoned, would pressure the organization to cut ties.

However, in effect, this action only strained relations between MGC and The East Pacific. TEP held most of the member regions of the MGC in the highest regard.The New Pacific Order was its closest ally for years. TNP and TEP have had close ties for years. Europeia has always been one of TEP’s favored UCRs. The exposure of Operation Ragnarök was met with a harsh condemnation by my Delegacy. But now they were not just doing second-degree isolation. They were doing third-degree isolation, and it was targeting TEP, whose cultural ties with The Black Hawks were and are strong.

This became a major issue during the neutral event Paradoxical. The independent Paradoxical Corporation hosts this event. The Corporation includes citizens from TEP, Europeia, the Free Nations Region, and other regions. Although this Corporation was not an entity involved in gameplay, it became sanctioned by the MGC. This occurred when it decided not to prohibit Black Hawks from attending the 2023 event. This is due to a desire by the independent Corporation to distance itself from political struggles and rivalries.

This issue has still not been solved. It remains a major source of contention between The East Pacific and the Modern Gameplay Compact. Yet, the MGC has its own declaration of the principles it refuses to compromise, and TEP doesn’t. I proposed the Resolution on Cultural Neutrality in an attempt to show MGC that this is an issue that is extremely important to the citizens of the East. I’m hoping it becomes a show of proof for why we will not compromise our desire for neutral fun for everyone. Although it may be widely decried by the MGC and its region’s members, I’m not hoping for that outcome. My main hope is that it makes them realize that their diplomatic isolation of The Black Hawks is hurting their own diplomatic sphere more than it is that of the Brotherhood of Malice. Which, of course, is exactly what the Brotherhood wants.