by Max Barry

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Region: Absolution

Years ago, I never had to preside over rp stuff simply because the Cattle Pasture did it. Windica controlled our map. Now neither one of them are here so we definitely have room for someone with fresh ideas. There's a tentative goal scheduled for next April to have Tamkurk INTL fully installed along with a host of internal regional systems to help aid with specific items such as rp, recruiting and security. What's going on here you might ask?

Absolution for over five of the past ten years was one of the most dominant and successful player-created regions on this site. Players still among us here in this region today were there. And they threw ideas at me that ignited me into pursuing knowledge about coding and webdesign. We had a forum that was described to me as being an online heroine den simply because it was so addictive. Why aren't we still there?

After five, nearly six years of constant involvement in many regional activities, we burned out. Even though we did suddenly halt all activity we never really stopped analyzing what ultimately lead to our defeat. From our own wiki site that was destroyed by spam bots to the absolute futility of old-school recruiting we examined just like a board of directors how we could have done it better. It didn't stop there either. It took a few years and dozens of little test pilot projects to learn what we needed in order to accomplish what we never could before.

I've collected a variety of things over the years and have spent the past two Winters installing most of them into an old calculator called NSTracker. Pretty much it was decided that if the idea of bringing the people to Absolution was ultimately self-defeating, something we excelled at exceedingly well, then perhaps finding a way of bringing Absolution to the people instead might yield better results. What killed me that day was the full realization that it would take me years to research, test, design and build what we were discussing. A one-of-a-kind NS lounge venue entirely owned, operated and controlled by Absolution. We're currently two-thirds complete.

That's a bit to digest but basically, over the course of the next year you'll witness the re-emergence of the unique Absolution culture that once drove players here by the dozens come into its own. We aren't promoting it right now and it's pretty quiet for activity which I love because it means I have less communicating to do. I can work in peace which is important when all you have is a blank, empty page staring at you.

If you're really interested in finding yourself here you should see what's on the table. We aren't just looking for an rp supervisor but also a cartographer. There's also the recruiting committee that will be responsible for our promotional campaigns next year. I'm looking for someone that really and I mean reeeally likes maths to help me with the follow-up calculations that will be associated with the cause/effect consequences/rewards depending on how a player sets up their personal settings. For example, if you decrease your imports to show a trade surplus instead of a deficit then you have effectively lowered your GDP. You lowered the amount of incoming goods required to build the products needed. See? It gets complicated and for now I'm happy where it stands. It's a down the road kind of thing.

Perhaps you asked the wrong question? Instead of how can you fit in the question should have been where do you want to fit in? There's a forum that's complete enough to use but is really only half way complete posted to our WFE up above. Feel free to take the time to look things over, ask some question to gain feedback to your own ideas and trust me, you'll find yourself faster than you think and without anyone insisting you stand here and do this so to speak.

Here's an idea I put together this past Spring that outlines a basic cartographer office. It's nothing fancy.

http://www.nstrackers.net/rp_map/index.php

The idea of allowing every registered member the ability to transform their national and possibly personal rp maps into clickable libraries on the site quickly came into being from that three hour session. I have yet to install any of it into Tamkurk though I will soon enough. I'm willing to show people how to control such a map which would be strictly for regional use to keep it small and not in constant need of unyielding work. I think both of you are right that many a rp gets up and going faster when you introduce a common area. But why stop with just one kind of map and since all participants will be members of the site they should be able to control, modify and insert their own map libraries into anything, anywhere. That's kind of where it's at right now as a concept. You'd be agreeing to take over the regional map which dictates size, proximity to other nations, that sort of thing. If it starts out small you'll find comfort and grow from there on your own.

There's also this exchange calculator which will be a one-of-a-kind thing if I ever get around to correcting it's formulas and optimizing it. This one is meant to simply find out how much any given amount of your currency would be in mine, and vice-versa.

http://www.nstrackers.net/exchangeCalculator.php

From that idea came this idea which takes up to ten nations which you enter and compares all of their currencies. It loads slow. You at times need to resize your browser window before the tables show up correctly. It was just a rough idea explored that hasn't been installed to Tamkurk yet.

http://www.nstrackers.net/comparemorecurrencies.php

For the now, I'm focused on bringing back full mobile-friendliness to the site which will be accomplished by the end of this day along with a general cleanup of the site concerning national and regional pages. Then I'll be introducing communities and groups which I hope to have finished by the end of the year. This should hopefully give you some perspective into timelines. No one's expecting anything other than more questions right now. As I said, take the time to see what interests you. There is some leg-work to do such as opening a thread and pushing its use I suppose. Get the ball rolling on one idea and watch it spin into a concept on its own. I've seen it countless times now and I shall thrust all of my resources under anyone meeting that challenge. I even go so far as to ask people to check around. I'm known a little I guess.

So what have you walked into? A region that allows you to do what ever you choose. It's not necessary that you do anything to belong here which is our enduring legacy. We will force nothing upon anyone. I found that to be my own noobish tendency when I first got started and have found the best way is through accountability. I myself had a poll run earlier this year to see if I have this regions confidence to remain as Founder. I would have handed this nation over to my second in command Freeoplis if the outcome of that poll had been negative. I'd still be the codehead around here but I would no longer be Founder.

I accept my position and fulfill it not because anyone tells me to. I do it because it's in me to do in the first place but my bosses still remain the other forty-six nations present here today. The same goes for Freeoplis, The Sheika and a host of others. To me, after ten years here it's the people that take on challenges that drive this community. Not anything that I in particular do but in the sense of being part of a community that believes in team. So what is Tamkurk? What is the overall concept? A work in progress though here's how it looks so far.

For years I read posts where members would discuss the existence of our Capital city. Where would it be exactly? That question was never taken past the asking of it however, several times. An interesting concept that's always watered my imagination. We're the oldest and most likely original neutral NS community that's ever existed and we have a known track record for it that's somehow managed to become respectable. We've stood by our original intent and that's something to be proud of. What better community could serve as a neutral host to the greater NS community? A member named Arsenea put it to me nearly a decade ago that we needed to become more active within NS activities. At the time this meant discarding our identity as a sovereign and independent community and Arsenea blamed me for my stubbornness.

What he never knew was that I agreed with him. Only, I couldn't agree with him as we were structured back then. We were up and coming. To surrender our identity as a region to go in another direction at that time somehow appeared, treasonous to our very nature which was a sentiment Council here fully agreed with then. To this very day, no one here wants anyone messing with the three words neutral, independent and sovereign as the representative meaning towards the cause of Absolution.

This presented me with yet another problem to the site. Will Tamkurk represent Absolution or does Absolution represent Tamkurk? Tamkurk is a place full of Absolution things but isn't governed by the region or controlled by its laws and/or policies. It's been years since I first read that question asked over our Capital and I believe it to be Tamkurk.

It's currently an island city that sits outside the purview of the World Assembly. Things happen there that couldn't happen anywhere else within the most neutral environment known to anyone. Challenge? To say the least. It's only half a concept to me. I've yet to build the other half which this winter's all about. So far, I've only managed to build-up and am now finishing off the original national and regional pages. They were in need of entire rebuilds to meet the standards of this project. Thankfully, it's nearing completion.

The other half involves community building, completion of the forum, storefronts and a banking system to design, test and install. I'm looking forward to spreading out these expansions which things such as new mapping systems will be part of along with recruiting and promotional campaigns after that. This region will be going places eventually and not because we didn't do our homework. Players used to persistently ask me what is there to do here in NS. I really want Tamkurk to become known as a site which roleplayers and non-roleplayers alike can find something unparalleled and of use to them. I want Absolution known as being its birthplace but not feel like you are joining our region.

That will be our legacy Arsenea. We will become known without ever surrendering our separate identity as a region. We will most likely benefit from this extensively as I know Freeoplis is also dreaming of the day not far down the road where we get to do what we come here to do; play NationStates. We'll have something to sell at that point. Something anyone can get involved with where the potential remains completely unknown. It will be a new dawn for this ten year old region and with me not having to spend all my time organizing and controlling separate parts of the known galaxy I'll have the time back I need to be more hands-on within the activities of Absolution.

This is pretty much what NS is about to me. Finding a niche that suits you and making it your own. Where we take it is up to us. Having a regional cartographer again that wanted to refurbish our rp forum would really stimulate activity as it gives players something to do while we're all watching day by day development take place on the site. Think of me as the Architect. You have an idea for something you need built. Just through as many details at me as you can and stand back while I assemble your idea. My job is to find a way and look at what we've build so far.

I'm keenly aware that the forum needs attention. A complete overhaul is more like it and it will get one. If you start to move with this I'll be forced to do it sooner to meet your needs. I suppose that all starts with some questions.

1) What starter forum names do we have? I need a small list of separate forums within the rp section. They can always be changed later if needed.
2) What needs do all rp'ers have? I seriously don't know. If you tell me, I'll most likely build you something useful.
3) How can we meet them? Re-read question two again if necessary. Especially the part about telling me. It's what I do you see?
4) Are you familiar with Photoshop? There isn't a lot of work needed. Really just maintaining a master copy of the border structures on the map?
5) Did the map give you ideas? I could even put the entire rp section of the forum on that page if we wanted. That would make the forum and the map a single click away from each other.

One starts to see the potential here. It's an area I can not control because I do not roleplay. I don't understand what the needs are so someone looking it over and saying to themselves I think I know a way has an opportunity here to really take things through the next few levels with my complete support. That's what I meant when I said it intimidates folks. They often feel more weight then they have to. I'd let all of that sink in first and just enjoy yourself how ever you choose for now. There's never any rush.

I bet you didn't expect all of that as an answer, huh? Dig in or lay back. The choice is entirely yours. Absolution has a unique purpose and anyone is welcome to take part. To me, rp sections need to be governed by someone that rps. I knew nothing when I started. Look at me now. I'm also not interested so much in the player that's from ten years ago, which you might find odd. I like these players, don't get me wrong, but I'm more interested in the current generation of NS roleplayer and in meeting their current needs.

In any regard I'm just glad you're here. Tell me, how are you at making waffles?

How Its Made - Waffles
http://www.nstrackers.net/video=pjXW0m54lvM

I'd also like to welcome Sol nigrum to the region. Please make yourself at home.

Freeoplis, The Great Expanses, and Sol nigrum

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