Difference between revisions of "NSWiki:Featured articles/Archive"

Revision as of 13:25, 14 November 2004

Featured articles frequently contain only an excerpt of the overall article. Those snippets are preserved here, along with the date they first appeared on the Main Page.

12 October 2004

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004, SalusaSecondus posted the following article on the main website News channel:

WikiWiki!

I'm always amazed at just what the players of this game do and once again something has been brought to my attention that I just have to share with the rest of you. NationStates has an (unofficial) encyclopedia! This is a WikiWiki which means that anyone can add and contribute to it (there are instructions). Have you always wanted to have an encyclopedia article dedicated to your nation, its history, military, trade, religion, language, etc.? This is a chance to do it. Enjoy and please wiki responsibly.

[Permanent link to this news item]

28 October 2004

Species: panNorm

An insectoid species originally found on the S-14 colony ship and now only found in the "S-14" nation, more accurately known as the Coordinated panNorm Hives. There are four main races of panNorm, mostly classified as to their carapace color: Blue, Red, Green, and Mini. While this would normally be considered racist, these races are actually nearly distinct species, each particularly adapted to specific tasks. The color of their carapaces are a secondary attribute, as they will be the first to admit, but it is also the most obvious.

Physical Attributes

Universal panNorm Traits

All panNorm are generally ant-like in appearance, insectoid, with hard chitinous outer shells that make up three major body segments (the head, thorax, and abdomen) and six appendages that extend from the thorax. The most forward of these appendages have three major joints and are equivalent to arms and end in bony manipulator claws, four to a 'hand.' The four appendages behind these have four major joints and act as legs and end in multi-clawed feet that can grip porous surfaces easily.

Culture due to Nature

PanNorm culture is self-admittedly self-limiting. The highest virtue in panNorm culture is efficiency, and all aspects of panNorm life reflect this. The panNorm do not play, at least not in ways that do not contribute directly and efficiently into work. The panNorm do not decorate, but everything they build has a geometric elegance and simplicity based directly on form following function. The panNorm have no visual, performing, or musical arts beyond those immediately necessary to facilitate use of displays and communications.

See the entire article at PanNorm

November 1, 2004

Region: Europe

Europe is a region that contains a NationStates roleplaying community.

Although NationStates roleplayers were very segmented in the beginning, spread among small regions, huge communities of united roleplayers have sprung up. They organize themselves in regions, some with offsite forums. Two of the larger communities are European Affairs and the Meritocracy. However, while regions such as The New Meritocracy or the Heartland are based on peace and dialogue between nations, Europe is a much more bellicose region, with common diplomatic conflicts and wars among its nations.

The level of dedication given by the European players to its region is well known. Fictional flags, imaginary countries based in real countries or in historical regimes, common sporting events like organized football championships, and even pictures of the fictional nations' licence plates can be found in Europe.

Analogies

Most of the fictional nations in Europe are analogies of historical regimes or real nations. Erlangen-Ansbach, for instance, is the image of an alternative Bavarian Constitutional Monarchy. The oppressive and militaristic Dominion of Sortain can be compared to Nazi Germany, Azores reflects Portuguese fascism and Nosterra Italian fascism. Twente is Europe's superpowered Vatican, Great Britannia is an allusion to the British Empire and Rumeli is based on the Ottoman Empire.

The Linguistic Communities

Europe is a land of cultural and linguistic diversity. Although the main language of the community is English, some linguistic communities have grown large enough to compose their own sub-communities, which even have private forums for exclusive conversation in those languages. That's the case of the Związek Słowiański and the Nederlandse Taalunie.

See the entire article at Europe

November 7, 2004

Nation: Hell Bovines

At a Glance

The Ecotopian Grand Duchy of Hell Bovines is a large nation located on the western part of the Greenfields continent. The nation is mostly inhabited by Hell Bovines, a race of sapient, bovinoid, semi-humanoid creatures that resemble cows walking on their hinds.

Hell Bovines is also a nation remarcable for its unusual laws (such as compulsory vegetarianism) and its unique government system, labeled Ecotopia, which combines direct democratic, socialist and enviromentalist ideals. Though not a military or economic power , Hell Bovines has built a strong diplomatic reputation for itself, becoming one of the leading voices of Third World Unity and the promotion of Non-Human rights.

History

Hell Bovinian history is very old, starting with the migration of the primitive Hell Bovinian tribes from the South Pacific and their following decision to settle on the Greenfields continent. It is in this new land where Hell Bovines built a rich, sedentary culture, effectively abandoning nomadism and organizing themselves into city-states ruled by kings and monarchs. Things would change drastically, however, in the XVIII century, when soldiers and expeditionaries from Galdago would discover the coasts of what they called "Hell Bovines". Originaly a despective term to the land's inhabitants, it would later become a symbol of pride among the sapient bovinoids.

People and Culture

Hell Bovines, a race of semi-humanoid, sapient bovinoids conform more than 99% of the national population and so, are effectively the largest ethnic group in the country. The remaining percentage is mostly composed of human communities and groups, though there is an important presence of Biotopians and Catpeople. The main religion remains the native "Cult of The Holy Cow" (67%), though in the recent years other Neopagan religions have been gaining popularity. There are some minor christian communities, a legacy of the Galdagan rule, though they don't mantain very strong links with the vatican. The main spoken language is Spanish, but the traditional Mootish language is still widely spoken, specialy in rural areas. Though not official, English is widely understood as well.

See the entire article at Hell Bovines

November 14, 2004

Roleplaying: Wank

Wank

The derogatory term "wank", originally slang for masturbation, or hacker-speak for a particularly clever and quirky styling, has a special meaning in NationStates. In the NS usage, wank is the abusive over-use of a particular stratagem, technique, or style. The word "wank" is often hyphenated to form a specific type of wank, as shown below. Remember, wank is not always bad or a godmode, but some forms can be.

Tech-Wank

The most common and least offensive form of wank. It is abuse of high technology, either to break the laws of reality , or to enforce adherence to minutiae on an RP not concerned with technicalities of combat systems.

In general NS, most people are not technophiles, and will become irked when you proceed to explain to them exactly how your 8mm Tungsten-Carbide, Armor-Piercing, Fin-Stabilized, Discarding-Sabot fletchette firing assault rifles are perfectly designed to penetrate their mere level three kevlar vests. This would be considered wank because most players would not know about the benefits of TC/DU APFSDS Fletchettes, and would negate their infantry armor. This is NOT a godmode, however, since it does not change the rules of reality or break the roleplay. (And yes, I used my own weapon as an example of wank. It's the SAG ACR, if you want to know.)

However, announcing that, because your opponent only claimed to use "RPGs" on your tank, it did no damage (since the RPG-7 is incapable of piercing the glacis plate of a Main Battle Tank, and your opponent did not use an RPG-29 specifically) is tech wank AND a godmode, because it allows you to ignore their attack, and take no damage. Most players couldn't tell an RPG-7 from an SA-2, and they had the right idea (firing rockets at a tank), but not the intrinsic knowledge of weapons. In this case, assume that they are using the correct weapon.

Most blatant of tech-wank is the "impenetrable shield" and the "unstoppable bullet" syndrome, in which the technology becomes a get-out-of-jail-free card, allowing blatant godmoding to be disguised as legitimate gameplay. On a side note, the effect of an unstoppable bullet striking an impenetrable shield has proven catastrophic.

See the entire article at Wank