Wednesday 3 September 2008

Revelations Rock the Cabinet

After what started as an extremely promising term for the new cabinet of the Founderless Regions Alliance at the beginning of July, they have been hit mid-term by the resignations of both the hardworking Regional Development Minister, Pope Lexus X, and the Speaker of the Regional Assembly, Thandryn.

It was widely acknowledged by the F.R.A. leadership that the formerly expelled Pope Lexus X had single-handedly kickstarted the Regional Development Department from the inactive rutt it had been in arguably for the entirety of the F.R.A's life thus far. The usually desolate office was flourishing with multiple regional projects being overseen by a selection of dedicated and experienced Regional Development Clerks. Thus the announcement of both the resignation and retirement from the alliance for the indefinate future from the now respected minister came as a complete surprise. Lexus was quick to settle concerns that his reasons for resigning were more sinister in his retirement announcement, stating that: "This isn't as a result of any disagreements over people or policies, it is entirely selfish, I am bored."

The Norfolk 'n Chance Standard mourns the loss of this effective Minister, and hopes he might one day return to the alliance. Nonetheless, we wish him the best of luck for the future in both NationStates and Real Life.

Under quite different circumstances, the Regional Assembly recieved the resignation of it's Speaker, Thandryn, after he had been allegedely reprimanded by F.R.A. local tyrant Drop Your Pants for his inconsistent activity. The Speaker had failed on multiple occasions to complete his duties for the Assembly and as such the question of his impeachment was coming to minds of many alliance members. It later came to light that their concerns were not unfounded but misplaced when Thandryn was expelled from the F.R.A. organisation for espionage. In a statement released by the Deputy Commander of the Rangers, Falconias, Thandryn was unmasked as a spy from The European Empire. When queried by the Norfolk 'n Chance Standard about how these events transpired behind closed doors, Arch Chancellor Sedge maintained the official policy line set by the Ranger Command stating "We aren't making the evidence [against Thandryn] public yet." It is thought that the evidence held by the F.R.A. leadership will be released during Thandryn's trial in his home member region of New Sorvun. Naturally the Norfolk 'n Chance Standard will bring it's readers more in depth coverage of these events as they come into the public domain.

Snap elections are now in full swing for the two vacant cabinet positions, with numerous nominees for both offices. Full coverage of both elections will be published at their conclusion. We wish all candidates the best of luck.

Thursday 7 August 2008

A Triumph for Native Sovereignty: Venice Refounded

The Norfolk n' Chance Standard is thrilled to report that in a collaboration of the Founderless Regions Alliance, E-Army and regional natives, the region of Venice has been successfully refounded. Venice had become an invasion hotspot in recent months, leaving the region decimated and ever-vulnerable to new attacks.

Following a prelonged occupation by Europeia, allegedly planning to colonize the region, Venice was liberated in a series of swift strikes involving up to 40 defender troops pitted against 30 invaders pouring into the region from formidable invader and imperialist powers such as Europeia, Hampshire, The New Inquisition and Great Britain and Ireland. The newly elected delegate, Tycholand of the E-Army, banjected the invading forces and secured the region with a password.

Meanwhile Numero Capitan of the FRA was in talks with regional natives to plan and execute a refounding, securing the region against invasion for the indefinate future. Tycholand ejected a large portion of his endorsees whilst control of a native nation, The Speechless, was transferred to both Numero Capitan and Pope Lexus X [of the Regional Development Office at the FRA]. The delegacy was then easily transferred to The Speechless as natives and defenders moved out of the locked-down region. In a last-ditch attempt to compromise native and defender efforts, a supposed invader puppet contacted The Speechless requesting the regional password. Invaders were thrown when they realised they had been supplied a fake password by Numero Capitan in control of the native nation.

Update times were meticulously plotted and in an outstandingly executed move Numero Capitan was able to refound the region less than 20 seconds after it had died. Events that followed revealed that had defender and natives not co-ordinated update times so thoroughly, opposing invader refounders who were eagerly watching may have been able to refound the region themselves, forever denying regional natives their rightful home.

We salute the nations involved in this daring and efficient operation and offer the now free and secure region of Venice our sincere congratulations. We wish them the best of luck for the future.

Wednesday 30 July 2008

Leaders in Profile: Sedge

It is inevitable within an organisation such as the Founderless Regions Alliance that there are many different perspectives on what contitutes a leader. However any alliance or region has its most active, dedicated and respected players. Over the next few weeks the Norfolk n' Chance Standard will be interviewing a number of the rising 'leaders' of the F.R.A. and its member regions. We begin with Sedge of Global Right Alliance, the newly elected Arch-Chancellor and long respected member of the F.R.A.

Chin-Chillas: "Good Afternoon Sedge, thank-you for agreeing to be interviewed for the first edition of our Leaders in Profile series. You are the current leader of the Founderless Regions Alliance, and you also play a part in the currently rebuilding Global Right Alliance among other regional affiliations, perhaps you would like to explain what some of these roles are in more detail and what they mean to you?"

Sedge: "Well in regards to the Founderless Regions Alliance, I'm the Arch Chancellor. I don't think the role has ever been clearly been defined, but its something between being a 'leader' of the alliance, and a general organiser. Since ultimate power within the F.R.A. lies with the Regional Assembly, I wouldn't call myself a leader, but I do have a few defined powers. I'm actually hoping that the [ongoing] charter review will help to clear this situation up. As for what the job means to me - well I personally think that my skills don't lie in any one particular area like Foreign Affairs, Military Affairs, or Intel, rather I work better as a general leader. Its a position I had experience with (though with much less success) in the COFR. Also, I feel like I slightly let people down when I retired from NationStates and the Arch Chancellorship in February, and I'd like to show that I can do the job well. Most importantly, though, its about improving the FRA - we made great strides under the leadership of Northern Chittowa last year, and Sir Lans helped to consolidate this, but I think that we're still weak in certain areas, though the current Cabinet has done an impressive job so far.

As for the Global Right Alliance, I'm currently dictator of the region (at least for the next week). We have a novel system whereby every member gets a week as dictator of the region, and although we've only had it for a few days so far (I'm the second dictator), it seems to be working well. My 'theme' for my dictatorship, is a religious theocracy, with the GRA being the 'Church of the GRA', and the admin team set up as the 'Holy Trinity'. I think the job is a chance for me to prove to some people in the GRA that I'm a decent leader (I've only ever dealt with Foreign Affairs and Intel within the GRA), and I'm hoping my recruitment efforts can win us the Regional Recruitment Contest. Finally, as I have the power to 'Gulag' people for up to 3 days, its a good chance for me to get my revenge on certain people..."

CC: "You mention your belief that the F.R.A. remains weak in certain areas despite the efforts of former Arch-Chancellors Northern Chittowa and Sir Lans, no doubt you have something more specific in mind. Could you elaborate on where these areas are and what you think can be done to improve them under your leadership?"

Sedge: "I would put the three main areas of weakness as Foreign Affairs, Regional Recruitment, and Regional Development. The Foreign Affairs department has struggled against a lack of ambassadors for a long time. Gateborg often had to spend several hours of his time posting updates around NationStates, which in my view is too much to ask of one person. Our Regional Recruitment Efforts in the last term were hampered by Neasmryna having to concentrate on Military Affairs (particularly after taking over as CoDF from Falconias), and as such very few regions were approached. Regional Development has never really taken off with the FRA, in my view a great disappointment, as it should be what sets us apart from other defender organisations.

I'd like to make clear that I am not blaming any specific person for these failures - generally, the failures are to do with a lack of interest in these areas (compared to more glamourous areas like the Rangers and Intel department), which led to a lack of volunteers to help the Ministers in charge of these departments.

However, I think we're seeing great progress in these areas since the elections. The Merlion and Drop Your Pants have sorted out the ambassador assignments, so that no-one has too many, Big Killer Babys is working on approaching regions from our target list, and Pope Lexus X looks like being the first successful Regional Development Minister. Most of the responsibility for improving these areas lies with the Cabinet members that head up the department, rather than with me, and as such they deserve the credit for improving their departments. I guess the most important way of further improving these areas is to change peoples' priorities, so that new members don't just apply for the Rangers, and leave it at that. Foreign Affairs, Regional Recruitment and Regional Development can be enjoyable, and are a great way of helping others in NS, and I hope we can build on the success of the last few weeks."

CC: "That certainly sounds like a fairly new change in focus for the alliance. We've already touched upon your recent absence from both the F.R.A. and NationStates scene as a whole. What qualifies you - given your recent absence - to drive the F.R.A. organisation in these new directions? What would you say to those nations that would accuse you of being out-of-touch with the current NationStates climate because of your only recent return from retirement? Would you agree that there even have been climatic changes across NationStates since then?"

Sedge: "I think that too much has been made of my time out of NationStates. I don't believe there were many massive changes within NS during my time away - certainly the crisis in The North Pacific ended with 'The Crimson Order' collapsing, but other than than that, and a few minor changes like the switchover to the World Assembly, I didn't miss too much.

Moreover, I have been extremely active within NS since returning, and have made sure I caught up with what I missed, firstly by talking to people, and secondly by reading nearly every thread that was posted during my absence. Additionally, I have in fact been active on the F.R.A. forums for the last 2 months, even if I only offially un-retired in mid June.

Finally, I don't see myself as having lost any of the skills I previously had in NS, and I think these continue to serve me well."

CC: "Your plans for the upcoming term seem to include a large investment of time and minds into the benefit of the alliance and her allies in NationStates 1 [NS1] only. However, one of the latter points of your platform for the Arch-Chancellorship included the possible consideration of both the impacts for the F.R.A. following the long anticipated release of NationStates 2 [NS2] and if any preparation for this should be made by the alliance. Do you have any specific predictions of your own or any opinions on the preparation (if any) to be undertaken by the F.R.A? Do you think the F.R.A. should try and expand into NationStates 2 once it's released?"

Sedge: "I personally think that NationStates 1 will continue to thrive when NS2 is released, and possibly even gain from its launch. I believe the main area of debate for us is whether we expand into NS2, or stick with NS1. It is inevitable that if we don't create an NS2 F.R.A., someone will, and it might be better for us to have control of this organisation than someone else. Moreover, several of our member regions may 'convert' to NS2 (or at least get involved in it), which might put pressure on us doing so. However, I don't think we can make a decision until we know more about the NS2 game mechanics - certainly Alliances will be an important part of the game, but they will probably be different to the way multi-regional alliances work in NS1. If it is possible for an F.R.A-type organisation to operate in NS2, I think we should create one, but it may require a separate forum, separate members of staff, and a different charter."

CC: "Leaving aside the endless speculation one could enjoy at the prospect of the release of NationStates 2. Would you care to comment on some of the high profile developments in NationStates over the last few weeks? For example, the recent revelation that the death of Bromannikha of the Last Kingdom was allegedely faked among other things."

Sedge: "My opinion is, and always has been that Bromannikha didn't die. At first, I based it on hunch - most NS players (particularly high-profile people like Brom) don't die, and there have been examples of deaths being faked before, but having seen certain evidence, I now have good reasons to believe that he is not dead. I don't think that anyone has come out of this affair well. Brom, and the other members of TLK who claimed he was dead, have destroyed what reputation they have. Swarm still invaded a region whose founder he believed was dead, and his actions are still disgusting. I know little of Lady Blue Moon's involvement, but Swarm's attempts to blame her for everything are not convincing. I am glad that several members of the Neo Genesis Movement have seen Swarm for who he truly is, but its surprising they took so long.

Finally, I want to make clear that these are my own personal opinions, and not the F.R.A.'s, and moreover, that the F.R.A. has no business in these affairs."

CC: "Indeed. Well this has certainly been an interesting and insightful interview, thanks for your time. We like to leave those we interview with a blank page of sorts to discuss with readers any projects they're involved with or issues they feel deserve some attention or recognition. Does anything spring to your mind?"

Sedge: "Thanks. I would like to say a thing or two about our founder regions, North Pacific, Jethnea, and Global Right Alliance. I mentioned them in my manifesto when I said that I felt it was about time we helped to get them active again, and I'd like to emphasize this. Until a few weeks ago, our founder regions had sunk into a state of inactivity. In my view, the reason for this is that when the F.R.A. was first founded, the leading members of our founder regions (Big Killer Babys, Northern Chittowa, Dipes, The Merlion et al.) all devoted their time to the F.R.A, building it up into the organisation it is now. This meant that they couldn't contribute so much time to their home regions, leading to them becoming less active.

I feel that this means that the F.R.A. is in debt to our founder regions, and that we have a duty to help re-build them. I know that all 3 of them are becoming active again, but I'd like to urge F.R.A. members who have some spare time to consider visiting one of them (though I would advise only those with a large amount of self-confidence visit the GRA), and helping out, even if this involves just posting occasionally in discussions."

Norfolk n' Chance Standard would like to thank Sedge again for sparing some time to be interviewed for this series. We wish him all the best of luck for the upcoming term.

Saturday 19 July 2008

Charter Review

Due to the discovery of several gaps, flaws, and loopholes in the FRA Charter, we are currently holding a review of it. Each of the eight articles will be examined in detail, and any problems will be fixed. One or two new articles may be added, and in particular, a Court System will be debated. The document will then be looked at as a whole, and possibly re-organised slightly.

Regional representatives are urged to take part, since the Charter is a vitally important document. The debate is taking place in the Regional Assembly, and is estimated to last several weeks (possibly up to 2 months), but since each article is being examined in turn, constant participation is important.

If you have any questions about the process, please contact me (Sedge) on the FRA forums.

Wednesday 18 June 2008

New Ranger Commander Elected

Norfolk 'n Chance Standard is pleased to announce the exciting news that following the greatly regretted and (arguably) unexpected resignation of Falconias, Neasmyrna of 00000 A World Power has been elected Commander of the F.R.A. Rangers.

Colonel Falconias, a long-time officer and leader of the F.R.A., revealed his intention to resign from his highly demanding military office earlier this month due to RL pressures regrettably beyond our control. He appointed Captain Neasmryna, formerly his Update Commander, as interim Commander until the Regional Assembly elected a permanent Commander for the remainder of the electoral term.

Nominations for the replacement Commander were largely uncontested until a cry for competition led to the nomination of both Lieutenant Chin-Chillas and Captain Numero Capitan (who declined to run). The Regional Assembly ratification vote showed similar results, with Neasmyrna bagging the position with 71% of the active voters. He is yet to name a new Update Commander or outline any changes to the command chain specified by Falconias.

I'd like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Falconias for his outstanding work and dedication with the Rangers and F.R.A. at large, and congratulate Neasmyrna. I wish him the best of luck as Commander of the Rangers for the remainder of the current term.

Friday 1 February 2008

2008 Defender Awards Open!




I would just like to welcome you all to the 2008 Annual Defender Awards!


It is with great honour and privilege to once again open these awards and I hope it will be a month of enjoyment for you all. We have had many changes occur since the last awards. We have seen God’s of defending such as the RLA and the DSA disbanded and fade away into NS history, while also seeing new ones rise to take their place.


This isn’t, of course, only seen in defender circles, but also that of invaders. Long gone are the days when DEN used to be a major force, and even now we see Lone Wolves United have recently applied to the FRA after seeing the light! Its all change, but that does not always mean a bad thing. Change gives us the chance to alter how we do things; how we counter invasions and how we interact with those we like to call our enemies. Its apart of evolution, and none of us can expect to be around forever. Although, I am willing to give it a try.


People have stated that NS is dying. That is a matter of fact that we cannot deny, but what we must not forget are our principles when thinking of ways to counter this slow decline. As soon as we do that, there is no point in continuing as we would be fooling ourselves. Defenders defend, and that is the way it should stay.


So, now I have bored you all to tears with my opening speech, let me welcome you all to the 2008 Annual Defender Awards!


Honoro Respectus Integritas!


Written originally by Northern Chittowa

Monday 28 January 2008

2nd Annual Defender Awards

We’re honoured to host the Annual Defender Awards once more and our outgoing Arch-Chancellor is acting as host again. All members of the Nationstates world are welcome to come and take part, invader defender or neutral and we hope it will be as much a success as last year.
The format of the awards will be the same, there will be a nomination period, then a voting period and finally an award ceremony at the very end to round it all off. The number of awards has gone up by one despite there being a few awards taken out and added in and we also have decided to give out awards this year around, so that those who win have something to show their achievement.

The awards are as follows:

The EuroSoviets Award
The Ananke Award
The Anarchotopia Award
The Eagles Disobey Award
The Blackbird Award
The Dipes Award
The Updater of the Year Award
The Operation of the Year
The Newcomer of the Year Award
The Worst Invasion Award
The Best Defender Quote
The Meltdown of the Year Award
Defender of the Year
The Lifetime Achievement Award for Dedication to Defending

The awards are scheduled to begin on the first week of February, so there is plenty of time to think about who you want to nominate.
If you have any questions feel free to PM Northern Chittowa or indeed check out last years event at: http://z7.invisionfree.com/FRA/index.php?showforum=74