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Sorry for the double-post, but something occurs to me.

This SWOT Analysis has six replies to it, not even counting the Cabinet (the entire Cabinet participated in our version). That means so far six Citizens have cared enough about the region and community to post something about it. If all of you ran for Underhusen this election, it would make for a more competitive election, and at the end of the day the only requirement the be a good legislator is that you care about the region. Everything else can be learned. Even the newest Citizen can be a great Skrifa if they're dedicated to it.

Please consider it.

I'm very new, so some comments may reflect a lack of understanding, but for some topics it might be a strength.

Regional Strengths
Fun and positive Community. I haven't seen people bashing or trolling each other.

Detailed Integration Guide. My experience with this was positive. I felt like I had a decent grasp of the game and overall feel of Wintreath.

Regional Weaknesses

The integration guide. I know that I put it as a strength also, but there's a duality here. I felt like the integration guide told me a lot about how it's possible to interact with the Wintreath community and what we do, but it didn't tell me much about what we actually are doing or how we actually interact.

Elaboration:I know we have a chatroom, but I don't know if people actually use that or when they use it. I've mostly just been paying attention to the region page on NationStates's website, and so most of what I've done so far is Rock Paper Scissors. It's good, but I know that there's more going on somewhere.

Regional Opportunities

I second the "News" section idea.

Regional Threats

Low Member Activity in Region/Polls/Army - I know that I have been inactive. I posted once on the region board and have voted in all the Rock-Paper-Scissors things, but that's it for the past few weeks.

As for the chat, just join it. there are no specific times when people are using it or not. it's just a thing that exists that becomes active when a few users happen to talk. Also only way to find out if people use it, is to join it

Strengths:
Probably the cultural activities. I've participated in many different styles of regions throughout NationStates, and I'd have to say that this one has a very strong culture that allows it to stand out from the rest. Wintreath is one of the few regions that can call themselves cultured and truly mean it.

Weaknesses:
Probably not as strong as an incentive to participate in the government to idle citizens.
(Myself being a prime example of this, however this might also be because I need to keep up with holding a government position in several other regions as well )

Opportunities:
I like the idea of having an arts forum. It would give me some more motivation to get back to being involved in the region forum-wise, rather than just making the occasional slightly-off topic RMB post.

Regional Threats:
Well, I'm not exactly informed enough to make an accurate claim on this.

I'm very new, so some comments may reflect a lack of understanding, but for some topics it might be a strength.

Regional Strengths
Fun and positive Community. I haven't seen people bashing or trolling each other.

Detailed Integration Guide. My experience with this was positive. I felt like I had a decent grasp of the game and overall feel of Wintreath.

Regional Weaknesses

The integration guide. I know that I put it as a strength also, but there's a duality here. I felt like the integration guide told me a lot about how it's possible to interact with the Wintreath community and what we do, but it didn't tell me much about what we actually are doing or how we actually interact.

Elaboration:I know we have a chatroom, but I don't know if people actually use that or when they use it. I've mostly just been paying attention to the region page on NationStates's website, and so most of what I've done so far is Rock Paper Scissors. It's good, but I know that there's more going on somewhere.

Regional Opportunities

I second the "News" section idea.

Regional Threats

Low Member Activity in Region/Polls/Army - I know that I have been inactive. I posted once on the region board and have voted in all the Rock-Paper-Scissors things, but that's it for the past few weeks.

Thanks for your insights! It's important that we have the input of new people, because many of us regulars have been around for years and it does us well to connect with people that are just starting out. Over time you lose some perspective of what it was like to start out and that makes it harder to write an integration guide that doesn't miss something...just because you may take things for granted, like the chat in this case.

For clarification, are you wanting to know more about how we interact in different areas like the forums and chat...like what we use each one for? And were there any other questions you felt the guide left unanswered? I would like to work with you to make the guide better.

Strengths:
Probably the cultural activities. I've participated in many different styles of regions throughout NationStates, and I'd have to say that this one has a very strong culture that allows it to stand out from the rest. Wintreath is one of the few regions that can call themselves cultured and truly mean it.

Weaknesses:
Probably not as strong as an incentive to participate in the government to idle citizens.
(Myself being a prime example of this, however this might also be because I need to keep up with holding a government position in several other regions as well )

Opportunities:
I like the idea of having an arts forum. It would give me some more motivation to get back to being involved in the region forum-wise, rather than just making the occasional slightly-off topic RMB post.

Regional Threats:
Well, I'm not exactly informed enough to make an accurate claim on this.

Thanks for responding! I'm sure Pengu will be happy that there's more support for an art forum.

For clarification, are you wanting to know more about how we interact in different areas like the forums and chat...like what we use each one for? And were there any other questions you felt the guide left unanswered? I would like to work with you to make the guide better.

I think you understand my question. The thing is that most forums have unspoken rules. They don't even have to be rules, but just common practice on topics, intensity of discussion, etc. It can take a while to get the rules down, so I think that the beginner's guide should either contain (or link to something that contains) a quick description of the main forum sections.

To help you see what I'm thinking when I look at the forums, I'll analyze a few of the main forum sections:

The Amalyan Quarter:
     - audience: the entire forum
     - common posts: public votes, competition announcements
     --- description is accurate, but there are a few posts that don't seem to have anything to do with it

The RolePlayer's Gathering:
     - audience: people interested in roleplays
     - common posts: roleplay proposals, roleplays
     - dissent: I didn't see much, but I don't think it would be very welcome. If you don't like the roleplay, then just don't participate, you know?
     --- description is exact

Howling Wind Tavern:
      - audience: the entire forum
      - common posts: real-life posts, classic gaming, the forum itself
      - trend: nothing overtly political
      --- the description was okay, but you would never guess that it would include a post about forum participation statistics

The Hall of Great Discussions:
       - audience: the entire forum
       - common posts: politically-charged questions, surveys, etc.
        - trend: overtly political
       - dissent: voice your opinion
       --- the description was really close


Actually, just going through and looking really closely at all the topics has helped me understand this all a lot better. Still, when I first saw the forums I was completely lost.
By the way, corrupt-a-wish is hilarious.


In answer to your second question: I don't know what I don't know . . . I wish I were more helpful about that one.

I see what you're saying. I'll see what we can do soon.

I'm glad you've found some stuff you like on the forums, by the way!

Although this isn't over yet, I'm already proposing a forum overhaul to resolve some of the issues with the forums being difficult to get into and certain forums being cluttered. You can read about it and comment here.