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Today, I was talking about Nationstates in the IRC and ended up with ~10 users making a nation in the game. To pull us all together, I created a new region, Know Your Region, for us to play together easier. If anyone wishes to join, the password is "KYMRegion". This thread can be used for questions about Nationstates or discussion of things like who gets what roles in the region, if you all want.
"What is Nationstates?"
Nationstates is an browser-based government simulator. In it, you are presented with "Issues" on a semi-regular basis, and given a few preset options to respond to it. How you respond to these issues changes things like what kind of country yours is labeled ("Father Knows Best State", "New York Times Democracy", "Anarchy"), taxation levels, scientific progress, and many other factors.
"Is that it? Sounds boring."
Well, there's actually a bit more. That's the core of it, though. There's a "World Assembly", which is the game's version of the U.N., with the minor difference that it's actually powerful. You can choose to join or not, but I've found it's more fulfilling to join it. You can also deal with Regions, where you can try to rise to power. You could become a Delegate for the Region, which can propose resolutions to the World Assembly. If you worked hard enough, built up a name, and participated in the forums, you could be responsible for changes that affect thousands of nations in-game.
"How complicated is it?"
It varies from not complicated at all to rather. If you wish to go all in, you'll have to learn forum etiquette, interact with many users over the forums, learn to draft resolutions, and build support with other users in order to maintain your power. If you want to just relax and focus on your own nation, it's simple – you just check every now and then on your nation and respond to the issues that are given to you, based on how you want it to go.
"Still doesn't sound too interesting."
The issues tend to be sort of realistic, with a layer of absurdity. For example, did you know you have an actual Minster of Silly Walks? He cartwheels into your office in one issue. You can ban all cars, make nudity mandatory, have only gays in your military, and drug the entire water supply so that all your people are subservient to you. That's just what I've seen possible in about a week of playing!
It doesn't take much to sign up if you're interested. No email is required (although it's encouraged), and your nations self-destruct if you don't touch them in a while. It shouldn't take too long to set up a nation, as long as you aren't too picky about what kind of flag you want, or what to name it.
