Thank you everyone for another wonderful, lovely, happy, joy-filled, and wholesome year in NationStates Gameplay, as per usual. The Defender Awards serve as an opportunity to reflect on the past year while recognizing those who played a large role in getting us where we are today. I am pleased to say that the nominees, voters, and winners of this year's awards are a reflection of the diversity of the defender faction of NationStates. No one nation swept the board this year and no defender has been wrongly denied their moment in the spotlight. Thank you everyone for participating this year in good faith. And without further ado... The Awards!
The Defender of the Year
The nation who has helped the defender cause the most in the last year.
There are many ways in which one can contribute to the defender cause. The other awards will highlight each area where one can make a difference for the betterment of NationStates, but this award is reserved for the defender deemed above the rest in total contribution to the cause. This year, three nominees stand for the award: Grea Kriopia, First Warden of the Order of the Grey Wardens; Luca/Refuge Isle, Chamberlain of the Order of the Grey Wardens; and Quebecshire, Consul of the League. Each of them are standing for several other awards, as would be expected of our leading nations. In the end though, only one could be named the best of 2022. Give it up for Grea Kriopia, Defender of the Year! Thank you for another year of dedicated service at the forefront of our cause.
The Ananke Award
The nation who is the most effective at looking out for any invasions that are taking place.
The most traditional way one participates in the defense of another region is by moving their World Assembly Nation in order to repel invading forces. But how do we know where and when our nations are needed? The Ananke Award highlights individual achievement in the realm of spotting and reporting invasions in progress. Those nominated have scanned the world countless times over the past year, searching for and snuffing out suspicious activity. It is on their eyes and instincts that we deploy and all would be lost without them. We'd like to congratulate Sulenia for winning the Ananke Award this year. Keep it up, eagle-eye.
The Anarchtopia Award
The organization which has proved the most successful in preventing invasions.
Unlike the first two awards, the Anarachtopia is not awarded to an individual. Instead, it is given to the organization that has proven to be the most successful in preventing invasions over the past year. Every member of said organization can take pride in the fact that they played a role in winning this award with the knowledge that they've had a positive impact on NationStates in the time they've played it. The Ten-thousand Islands Treaty Organization and the League Defense Force gave our winners a good run for their money, but it is the Order of the Grey Wardens that walked away with this year's Anarchtopia Award. A yearly contender for this award, TGW has the skills and the membership to rival any organization in the history of NationStates. Congratulations on another historic year!
The Blackbird Award
The best invader group.
The Blackbird Award was created to recognize the Invader group we deemed the best at what they do. It’s tough to reward a region for destroying communities, as it stands counter to everything we believe in, but I believe it is a very important award as it gives us an opportunity to pay a bit of respect to those we share this game with. This award also serves as a way for defender regions to signal to one another, and to those abroad, which invader group is currently the most dangerous and should have more eyes kept on them. This year's nominees saw a few perennial powerhouses along with a brilliant flash in the pan and another region that is somewhere in-between. This year's winners have proven time and time again that they can negatively impact a massive amount of regions all at once, should they choose, leaving us all on the edge of our seats. I am talking about Lily, of course. Congratulations!
The Sir Lans Award
Updater of the Year
As stated earlier, the most traditional way one can contribute to the defender cause is by using their World Assembly nation to protect vulnerable regions from invasions. This can be done at any point throughout the day or night, but it is at its most effective during the two daily updates on NationStates. Players nominated for this award are renowned for their consistent presence during these updates. They make the most of their WA nations, and, as a consequence, defend more regions than all others. We see some of the nominees from the Defender of the Year Award, but they would fall short of Sulenia. Most “updaters” are prone to streakiness at certain points of the year, but Sulenia quickly gained an international reputation for their dependable attendance. Thank you, Sulenia, for setting the example for excellence in updating.
The Operation of the Year
This is one of my favorite defender awards. Nominees for this award are the most memorable defending operations of the year for all of the right reasons. These operations feature defenders at our best, exceeding expectations and wowing the world in the process. This year's winner happened at its very beginning, which goes to show how truly memorable it was. Yes, I'm talking about A Liberal Haven, which is the 2022 Operation of the Year!
The Best Newcomer Award
This award has been given to both individuals and groups and is quite self-explanatory. A nation or region who newly takes up arms in the defender cause and quickly rises and establishes themselves as a leader within the movement. We’re tempted to treat it as a baby Sir Lans Award, but the nominees this year represent the potential this award was created to recognize. Varax is the 2022 Defender Award's Best Newcomer! Ever since making waves in defenderdom earlier this year, Varax has tirelessly helped to keep regions free. Thank you Varax for all you've done so far.
The Worst Invasion/Operation Award
Welcome to the other side of the Operation of the Year Coin! Nominees for this award are the most memorable defending operations of the year for all of the wrong reasons. While the Mystical Council got refounded through queue-stuffing in the Security Council by raiders before the Liberation could protect the region, it lost by only a few votes to 2022's Worst Operation. I'm talking about EmbassyRegionia, the perfect storm of defender fatigue from fighting to liberate England, an unhinged native leader, and general suffering.
Quote of the Year
Sometimes the defender sphere achieves comedy, and this year's winner is no exception. Nakari seems to be rather good at it though, since she's taken the Quote of the Year Award for the second year in a row. Congratulations.
The Lifetime Achievement Award for Dedication to DefendingNakari, regarding Reliant wrote:If a tree falls in a forest, but nobody hears it and there's no stump and the accused people don't even own axes, should they still be arrested for illegal logging?
This is the big one. Each year, one defender is chosen to join the most exclusive group in NationStates. This award recognizes individuals for their cumulative contribution to defending throughout the time they’ve been on NationStates. The legacies of each recipient of this award have stood the test of time and will continue to be felt in our world until it comes to an end. To be nominated for this award means that you are in the “Greatest of All Time” conversation and is a high honor itself. In the darkest hour of our cause, this nation pulled defenders together to fight the invader monoliths of the day. Realizing this, I'm honored to invite Haku to this exclusive club of Lifetime Achievement Award winners! Next year Dyr..?
Meltdown of the Year
I’m at a bit of a loss as to how to describe this award. I guess I’d say it’s a snapshot of a less-than graceful moment in the past year that we all recognize as one that could have been handled better. I won't dwell on it any longer, it's the Commend Tim-Opolis forum thread.
The Numero Capitan Award
The nation who has best served the Intelligence cause.
One way a defender can contribute to the cause is by gathering and sharing intelligence gained on invaders and their plans. Formerly known as “The Dipes Award”, the Numero Capitan Award recognizes the outstanding intelligence contributions made by an individual over the past year. Most operatives will never have their efforts be brought to light, so this can be a tricky award to give out. However, we'd still like to congratulate Tim for winning the Numero Capitan Award this year.
The Belgium Award
The nation/region that furthered our cause in the World Assembly Security Council the most.
The World Assembly Security Council has a very important role to play in gameplay. It can be used to Commend a defender, showcasing them as an international example to be followed. It can be used to Condemn invaders, dissuading some from following in their footsteps. Most importantly, it can be used to remove an invader-imposed password on a founderless region. Named after a famously invaded and then Security Council-liberated region, The Belgium Award is given to those who have excelled in the WASC. Congratulations to Moon/Emodea/Dacay/Trivene/Good-god-they-have-too-many-names (okay this one's unaffiliated) for winning the Belgium Award this year for commending Karputsk and Haku, two outstanding defenders, while the former was considered an impossible task for years. Thanks for representing defenders in the World Assembly.
Worst Invader Group
If you’re nominated for this award, you know what’s up. For one reason or another, you’ve been deemed ineffective at invading. There’s a variety of ways an organization can end up as a nominee for this award, but at the end of the day, you’re not living up to your potential. Or, maybe, defenders are just being petty. Anyway, this year’s winner is the Masked Legion. Who? I don't know. Must be pretty ineffective raiders.
The Karputsk Award
The nation who has excelled in leading liberations.
If defenders were initially unsuccessful in defending a region, an invading force can then occupy a region. Unseating an occupying force for the benefit of its native population is known as liberating. There are many moving parts of a successful liberation attempt and taking on an aware, reinforced delegate is one of the most daunting tasks a defender can undergo. One has to wrangle the forces necessary to topple the invader delegate. They then have to direct everyone to jump into the occupied region at the same time and have them either endorsing a native nation or a defender. Timing this jump exactly right is crucial. If all of these things go right, you’ve saved a region from destruction. This award, named after a Lifetime Achievement Award winner, is given to those who have excelled at the noble art of liberating. Each nominee have had their heroic moments in the sun this year, but the Defender of the Year took this year's Karputsk Award. Congratulations to Grea Kriopia, and thank you for helping to lead liberations during such a stressful year.
The Eluvatar Award
For best tech contributions.
The final path to excellent defending that we’ll be covering tonight is one that has gotten increasingly important as time’s gone on. This award is named after a defender turned site-staff member whose coding work has been making everyone’s lives both easier and more difficult interchangeably. You love them when their tech works, but you quickly realize how much life sucks when it inexplicably stops working. Our dependency on coders has never been higher and NationStates is creating them at a greater rate than the myth that video-game developers make worthwhile salaries. The coder that has been found with the best supply of 2022 is none other than Luca, our winner for the Eluvatar Award this year. Luca, you make defending easier and more enjoyable with your efforts. For this, we are indebted to you. Well, maybe less now that we’ve given you this shiny award. Thank you for the long hours of head-scratching and for handing our nerd rage with absolute grace. Also, shoutout to runner-up Pronoun for developing Purée, an extraordinarily helpful tool for detagging. You both are highly appreciated.
Best Defender Mentor Award
The Best Defender Mentor award gives us a way to show thanks to those players who developed us into the defenders and gameplayers we are today. It's how we honor those who came before us, and our contemporaries who train the next generation of defenders to be better than the last. For their work in mentoring exemplary defenders, including 2022's Defender of the Year, I congratulate HumanSanity for winning the 2022 Best Defender Mentor Award. Thank you for your service.
Thank you all for making this possible! I'm so glad I had this opportunity to host the Awards, and I thank you all for your nominations and votes. Let's let next year in defending be even better!