A New Generation of NationStates: Where Are We Going?

[thechurchofsatan]

A New Generation of NationStates: Where Are We Going?

As you know, over time the effect of new players arriving and old players leaving have certain effects on the state of things across NS. I can definitely say that things have changed from when I first started in NationStates. In this lecture I'll take a look at what has changed over the last 2 years and speculate as to how things might turn out, based on my observations. Let's begin.

Military GP: Before & After

Before

Beginning when I first got involved in military GP, my first mission was May 8th, 2013 at the region Disciples of Christ United. The regioni tself no longer exists, I expect it CTE'd although I know not when that happened. When frattastan first got me into military GP, I was very enthusiastic and for several months I took part in literally every mission the RRA had going. This did eventually change. For a multitude of reasons I now only take part in military GP when asked to. Somewhere along the line I suppose I lost my zeal for military GP. This seems to be the case though for many people. I think I lost interest in military GP some time after my own region became inactive. This was about February or March of 2014. Why does this happen though? Is it the repititive nature of military GP that is unavoidable? I myself am inclined to think so, but it isn't the only factor. Politics play a strong part in it as well. Especially with regards to organizations that insist on warring with others (e.g. the FRA-UIAF "war"). Hearing people bicker about things like that take away the fun involved in military GP, which is difficult to avoid because it is nearly everywhere. One would have to remove themself from public interaction to best avoid it, but why should we have to miss out on everything else? Obviously it's a difficult issue and how does one go about resolving it? One would think that people could just keep such opinions to themselves, but this is not our nature. As human beings we feel the need to share our opinions with others whether they like it or not. This is not something that is likely to change.

After

So around March or April of 2014, I took a backseat in military GP. I still get involved when people ask me, if I happen to have the time. The exceptions of course are those such as frattastan, Guy and Wop. People who have been around for quite a long time and somehow remain very active in military GP. Other examples of the lack of interest include the SDF, SPSF, LWU and the FRA. The pattern they all share is that only key members of the regions/organizations now show any interest whatsoever in military GP. How might we renew the interest of those who no longer take part? After all, people like frattastan, Guy and Tim can't do this forever. Even TBR has seen a top ranking member retire. If this continues, military GP will largely be a memory and this definitely seems to be the most likely conclusion. Would things be more peaceful as a result? I'm inclined to think so, but without this facet of NationStates, people will begin to leave and NationStates will be no more. That sounds a tad dramatic, but it does sound quite feasible given enough time. Nobody of course expects places like NationStates to last forever. It's impressive enough that it has lasted over 10 years. Nowadays I find myself taking part in a maximum of 5 or 6 missions a month despite the various defender armies I've joined. I do take part in missions for those that I'm not a part of, but regardless it still doesn't happen often.

The new generation of players hardly get involved in military GP for long. Roleplay seems to be the dominant aspect taking over right now, as seen in Renegade Islands. It is a defender region, but as of late there are those that have been pushing for an addition of the "Roleplayer" tag to the region. It's going to happen and when that does fewer and fewer people will even bother to register to regional forums. How many places will follow suit and what will happen as a result? Are regional forums on the way out? I feel that in time it will become a trend. When that happens, what will become of regional governments? Which brings me to the next part of my lecture.

Regional Government

Before

When I first started playing NationStates, way back in April of 2013, all the way to the end of 2014 approximately 16 different people ran in TRR's various elections. This includes Officer elections, delegate elections and speaker elections. Elections averaged about 5 or 6 people per election. In 2014 TRR saw several new faces running for officer and speaker. They were highly contested positions.

After

This year however, a total of 3 or 4 people have or currently are running for election/re-election. That's a total decrease per election of at least 2 or 3 people. That may not seem like much, but keep in mind that there are only 4 officer positions, 1 Speaker position and 1 Delegate position. Nevermind that delegate elections haven't occurred yet and the position of Speaker is still determined via the challenge system. So that means currently there is one less person than the total amount of officer positions. It's no secret that involvement in regional governments are at a low, maybe even a record low. We've all seen the same handful of people running for government positions, every election in pretty much every region we might keep an eye on (I'm looking at you GCR's). This makes it more difficult for fresh faces to get involved and even discourages them from trying again. However we know this and at the same time we contribute to the problem, despite the fact that we might say otherwise. Don't think I'm using TRR as a template for all of NationStates though. I'm sure you know the trend is almost the same in other regions. Things do not bode well for the future of NationStates.

Conclusion

As these 2 vital facets of NationStates continue to decline, so will the usefulness of offsite forums. IRC will remain largely untouched, as the communication between people across NS does not rely completely on these 2 things. One result that I foresee from this however, is a general increase of telegrams, RMB posts and in-game forum posts. The gameplay section of the NS forum will fluctuate as usual and I'm unsure how that will affect NationStates as a whole. I believe that increase will not last though as old players leave and new players come. I believe less new players will arrive as veterans retire after years on NationStates. I don't believe NationStates will last another 10 years. However provided NationStates continues to provide a fair amount of spare cash for Max Barry, it'll hang on for as long as it can, until it is no longer profitable to keep NationStates running. I'm sure of course such a thing has been said before and I would be quite happy to see NS last another 10 years.

[thechurchofsatan]

I should think that few have. I'd go so far as to say that TBR and the UIAF have been dragging the raider side of gameplay across the finish line by its feet. The defender side of gameplay I'd say is being dragged in the same manner largely by defender armies such as the RRA and TITO. This is a clear indicator of a decline in military gameplay that doesn't look like it'll change any time soon.

Admittedly, the sudden increase in military action in NS, as a result of the recent coup of Lazarus and the siege of The Black Riders is pretty big, all things considered. However the momentum just won't last.