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Remind me to do a game review of Among Us for the XXIII Orendi.

A final draft of Doc's editorial.

The Burner Manifesto.

Burn It Down is a rallying cry I have taken up over the last few years. In and of itself, it's a fairly comedic notion: we should abandon the institution of representative democracy with a feckless heed for what comes after. I triple down on this by constantly and publicly vacillating between a desire for the direct-democracy-style Open Assembly and an absolute-monarchist position where Wintermoot appoints all his officials and makes all the decisions himself or through his bureaucracy. Which is insane, because those are basically two exact opposites of each other on the political spectrum, and I'm de facto endorsing both of them at the same time.

But then again, I find that to be sort of the point.

A Nationstates region, and really any online community in general, is sort of a low-stakes environment. Sure, there are decisions of governance that need to be made, whether administrative or moderative in nature. But this is all fairly low-stakes governance; issues of how people interact with each other in an online setting almost inevitably are.

In this context, there isn't really a need for the checks and balances we demand of our Real World institutions of governance. What's important is, essentially, two things: how representative we want our governance to be - which is to say, who should have a voice in how we self-administer our communities - and how efficient we want our governance to be.

Worse yet, the Underhusen doesn't actually govern. Most functions of governance are either handled by the Cabinet and its various Ministries/Jarldoms, or by the Administrative/Moderator/Operator staff who handle day-to-day operations and iron out quirks in the region. Sometimes the Underhusen passes legislation to proclaim a holiday, or award someone a commendation, but these are self-serving bills the community as a whole agrees on anyway, and which could thus be done in an Open Assembly.

I'm opined that the Underhusen exists because it has existed in the past and we allow inertia to carry us forward. To craft celebratory bills as an attempt for the chamber to justify its own existence is, quite frankly, foolish; it's rather like a manager constantly looking over your shoulder and demanding minor changes out of fear that if he didn't, everyone would discover exactly how useless he is.

Burn It Down isn't supposed to be a rallying cry for specific direction, just an observation that our present system doesn't work and that we're better off just replacing it entirely.

Ah, are we not including all the versions?

Ah, are we not including all the versions?

No, it only makes sense to include one article about the topic, and Doc told me he didn't want me to blend them into each other.


By the way, I sent out status requests today to those with outstanding articles. I'm also going to be writing the article about Crush and Ogun. I've been busy this weekend but I hope to have everything done in the next couple days.

I've also pushed the Nerdatorium article back to Orendi XXIII.

No, it only makes sense to include one article about the topic, and Doc told me he didn't want me to blend them into each other.

Well, it wasn't so much that I didn't want you to, as I just couldn't think of a coherent way for that to happen. The three variants are all fundamentally different beasts which strike me as about as miscible as oil and water. And, idk, gold, because I need a third thing that won't dissolve in either.

I got around to finishing up some articles, and edited Kane's submission about gaming during Summersend.

Gaming fun during Summersend 2020.

Summersend, Wintreath’s traditional end-of-summer get-together, held its closing ceremonies yesterday, marking the beginning of Wintreath’s eponymous winter season. Establishing Summersend Regional Park, the region welcomed tourists from all over the globe to showcase our esteemed wildlife preserves, fireside chats, and enviable gaming sessions.

As Thane of Gaming, Imaginative Kane has agreed to comment on his experiences managing Summersend this year.

Quotes Kane:

“Playing games sure is fun. I was a bit ambitious with the amount of games I planned for Summersend seeing how my available time has been cut off by classes. My whole set of plans was: a Marvel and DC themed game of Arena on the forums, a relatively simple game of Werewolf on Discord with the theme of Warcraft, and a complex Werewolf themed on the tv show Grimm (also on Discord) which is not happening anytime soon, and game sessions (basically video games or online games).

“The Arena game is ready, and sign-ups have ended for it, but it hasn’t begun yet because I haven’t really had the time to get my narration of the game started. It will happen though.

“By the time Summersend actually started, I had forgotten about the Werewolf plans and was a bit too focused on setting up Arena and getting ready for this semester of classes to get the Warcraft Werewolf game set up.

“I did get a game session going at one point but my own tendency to not actually have a plan ready for the session until the right before… messed that up.  The session was Jackbox games with... two, three, and four players at different times on a Discord voice channel. The games were Guesspionage, Trivia Murder Party, Survive the Internet, and Fibbage 3.

“After remembering seeing other NS regions have [varying] .io games… depending on the day, I thought we could try it too. There were some issues there, though: one was that my classes happened to start the day before I started doing that and the day I had the first .io game day poll set up for (Narwhale.io won), I was stuck in about three or four hours in a row of Zoom meetings. Then I hopped on and had no idea if anyone was there and then I was in another Zoom meeting. (Although to be fair I did a bad job of communicating on Discord that day and never suggested a specific server to play on so that was on me.)”

Adding to his focus on .io games and comparing them to other online and offline gaming sessions, Kane notes:

“Agar.io is a famous game and the original of these .io games. Hundreds have been made since then in many different genres... features shared by many .io games are: the ability to play in different servers, being relatively easy to understand the basics of, having different modes of gameplay, being quite prone to lag, and often not requiring that many plug-ins or download on the wifi to play (some don’t even require Flash if I remember correctly).

“Pretty much all of the games are much easier to play using a computer with a mouse than a phone or keyboard and mouse pad because precise and quick action is often required. The Agar.io type games are some of the simplest since what you are doing there is controlling a cell and trying to catch smaller cells while avoiding bigger cells in order to grow to be the biggest in the game. Starve.io is a much more complicated game since players are trying to survive nature while also killing other players and gathering resources to become better at surviving attacks and killing players. The website .io games space has a whole list of the games and also gives a better explanation than I could in terms of the tech jargon.

“When setting up a game session, .io games can be good starters since joining them is often quick and does not require too much, plus they are flexible with timing. With most games, you have to be ready with other people to play with others, but with .io games you can… just jump in and pick a server and there will usually be people playing there at any time of day. Since coordination is so difficult, .io games can be played instead, while Town of Salem, [an online party game similar to Werewolf without the forum-centric format, for example,] would also work for similar reasons… that game does require Flash and probably not as many people have access to Flash as the wifi necessary for a .io game.”

The Thane of Gaming and the Wintrean community wish you all a merry harvest and winter season, and hope to welcome everyone back for Summersend 2021.

A New Citizen's Council?

The first meetings of the newly-proposed Citizens’ Council concluded this week, providing general updates on the state of the government and the Wintrean community. Focuses of the meetings included administrative agenda (revealing a new forum layout), status reports from the cabinet in foreign and regional affairs, and a question discussing what Wintreath means to its Citizens.

The Council was first proposed by Monarch Wintermoot in August as a response to decaying trust in the function of the Underhusen (Wintrean legislature’s lower house) after a divisive campaign that month. The Monarch noted that while the idea for the Underhusen as a body is controversial, legislative elections remain popular and bring activity for newcomers to the region.

The Monarch attempted to call for elections slated for September 10th, but cancelled the vote after a lack of available candidates. The four candidates who accepted nominations were automatically granted seats on the Council.

The inaugural Citizens’ Council is listed as follows.

Gerion “Gerrick” Burdock
Sapphiron Heinrich
Robin Valeria
Wolfgang Amadeus

Prominent members such as Dawsinian Kasten and Tau Valeria have displayed open curiosity about how this new Citizen Council will be administered, with Kasten particularly questioning whether its effects will reach community areas governed by administration alone: the Discord and Minecraft servers that are more active than the forums or Nationstates message boards.

Wintermoot hopes this experiment will foster discussions about the ideal representation for Citizens and create a liaison between His Majesty’s Cabinet and the general citizenry. As the demographics and purposes of Wintreath evolve, Wintermoot believes he’s formed a compromise between those who are weary of legislative inactivity and want to see a Cabinet-only government, those who want to see the legislature expanded into an Open Assembly, and new members who would simply like a say in regional happenings.

Declaration of a new Pope.

"Let those who love Spud and believe in Him rise up, overthrow the heretics, overthrow the oppressors, and fight, fight to save what they love, fight to save the Holy Potatoe, whatever it takes."

A new pope lurks in the shadows.

At the Cathedral of the Holy Tuber today, fellow Potatoist Remile Ogunbiyi av Devils announced his intention to challenge His Holiness Crushita Telcontar as Popetato of Wintreath and leader of the state’s unofficial official faith. Ogunbiyi’s challenge to His Eminence’s holy see comes with claims that His Holiness supports Tomatoists and the idea that “too much Potatoe is a bad thing”. Says Ogunbiyi, “I know many of us have been disappointed by our Pope's rule, join us, you will have a say in my Papacy, you will have the ability to determine how the church will go from here.”

Following the announcement, Ogunbiyi attempted to install The Right Honourable Chanku Kaizer as First Starchbishop and family member Kell Butter as Advisor to the Potatoe. Ogunbiyi, as Shadow Pope, also declared shepherd’s pie to be the official food of Wintreath and proclaimed it to be served at all Wintrean gatherings.

Internal conflicts escalated as the Shadow Pope proceeded to excommunicate Starchbishop Mathyland, as well as followers Potato Bagel and Elbbsas Shepard, for heretical actions and statements, along with His Eminence himself.

Meanwhile, His Holiness stands silent. As we wait for the snows to fall around the two thrones, the scores of Wintreath shall determine whether these events will be not unlike the Great Western Schism of 1378 or the peaceful coronation of a new bloodline.

I also received permission from Moot to repost Weiss's submissions for Oh the Places You'll Go!

Oh the Places You'll Go in Wintreath: Janth.

Janth
Were it not for the sprawling marches of the Endless Plains, and the city-granary of Janth, one could argue entirely seriously that Wintreath's long and harsh winters would be too much for the nation to bear. When the winds and snows truly set in, almost everything north of Frost Lake itself is covered in thick blankets of sheet snow that make the warmth of summer seem like a distant memory.

Due to some twist of fate, and an accident of geography, the Janth River basin is mostly shielded from the storms and snows that might reach further south in other areas. The expansive floodplains that stretch out to the north and south of the river's meandering course are vast, and productive even late into the autumns. In ages long past, these lands were home to a hundred small kingdoms fighting for claim over the fertile agricultural lands of the Endless Plains.

But one rose above all others. Of all the Rides Kingdoms, the name of Janth is known to this day as one of the foremost powers of Wintreath's early history. Not through iron and blood was this acclaim won, but through the the toil and sweat of working the plough, of tilling the land and cultivating fruit groves, of the careful study of animal husbandry and cross-pollination. Armies march on their stomachs, and those stomachs were more often than not fed by the produce of Janth.

Today the city appears to be a conglomeration of some great castle, its spires reaching towards the heavens. Its cavernous holds do not contain rooms or armouries, however, but granaries and silos full of produce that makes its way to all four corners of Wintreath in the holds of aerovessels and in the bellies of great river-going ships.

For generations, this granary-cityship has prospered under the watchful eyes of House Burdock, their guiding touch soft but profound on the Janth river basin's history and by extension, all of Wintreath's. Its citizens are friendly, often seen sitting on the wide mossy pavements and under the leafy awnings of their favourite cafés, pipes firmly in mouths and a joke never far from their lips.

I'm just waiting for Daw's interview and then I should be ready to beautify everything and get an Orendi out for the first time in some ten months. I'm proud of you all ❤️

I've already begun planning out Orendi XXIII for the end of October or first week of November, and then another for the middle to end of December. I don't know how the December one will pan out, but we have time

Prominent members such as Dawsinian Kasten and Tau Valeria have displayed open curiosity about how this new Citizen Council will be administered

Lol that's a very charitable take on my comments/thoughts

the Shadow Pope proceeded to excommunicate former Starchbishop Mathyland,

I wouldn't say former, Mathyland is still the Starchbishop under the rightful church! (But seriously though it'd be like calling Crushita the former Potatoe Pope which would be very much taking a side on this matter.)

Might also suggest including context at the start on the shepherd's pie incident on how this fight stems from Crushita declaring shepherd's pie as bad and thus shouldn't have potatoe in it? Since that kinda makes the whole situation make more sense.

Lol that's a very charitable take on my comments/thoughts

I'm trying to be charitable, especially when I don't remember what your exact concerns were. My narrative was also "here's the Underhusen, here are problems with the Underhusen, here's what's being done about it", and I appreciate your cooperation here

I wouldn't say former, Mathyland is still the Starchbishop under the rightful church! (But seriously though it'd be like calling Crushita the former Potatoe Pope which would be very much taking a side on this matter.)

Might also suggest including context at the start on the shepherd's pie incident on how this fight stems from Crushita declaring shepherd's pie as bad and thus shouldn't have potatoe in it? Since that kinda makes the whole situation make more sense.

I'll concede giving up the "former" description.

But I don't have the exact logs, yet I don't think that's how the shepherd's pie incident started. Plus for brevity, I won't report on it here. I think I made Ogun's justification for the debacle clear enough.

I wouldn't say former, Mathyland is still the Starchbishop under the rightful church! (But seriously though it'd be like calling Crushita the former Potatoe Pope which would be very much taking a side on this matter.)

Might also suggest including context at the start on the shepherd's pie incident on how this fight stems from Crushita declaring shepherd's pie as bad and thus shouldn't have potatoe in it? Since that kinda makes the whole situation make more sense.

I'll concede giving up the "former" description.

But I don't have the exact logs, yet I don't think that's how the shepherd's pie incident started. Plus for brevity, I won't report on it here. I think I made Ogun's justification for the debacle clear enough.

I'm like 99.5% sure that the logs I posted in the Potatoe subforum contain the full incident, if you're interested.

I wouldn't say former, Mathyland is still the Starchbishop under the rightful church! (But seriously though it'd be like calling Crushita the former Potatoe Pope which would be very much taking a side on this matter.)

Might also suggest including context at the start on the shepherd's pie incident on how this fight stems from Crushita declaring shepherd's pie as bad and thus shouldn't have potatoe in it? Since that kinda makes the whole situation make more sense.

I'll concede giving up the "former" description.

But I don't have the exact logs, yet I don't think that's how the shepherd's pie incident started. Plus for brevity, I won't report on it here. I think I made Ogun's justification for the debacle clear enough.

I'm like 99.5% sure that the logs I posted in the Potatoe subforum contain the full incident, if you're interested.

I see, yeah. I suppose I could amend the quote to include "in shepherd's pie" in brackets for context.

I'll admit that it's also just roleplay, and I'm simply trying to make a fun story out of it, so a little embellishment won't hurt how other regions view us.

For the record, for the last two days I've been working on finalizing the Orendi. It's not going to be as pretty as last time, but I'm also just trying to teach myself the design process.

I have Daw's article as well, which was the final piece I needed, and I should be inserting it and publishing the Orendi shortly.

So I'm hoping to have the Orendi XXIII up by the beginning to middle of next month, and XXIV up by the middle to end of December. I have article topics posted in the OP.

As always, if anyone wants to write or propose something, let me know!