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Dispatch → Meta → Reference
by 
The Impeccably Arranged Snark of The West Pacific Master Dispatch.
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2,270 reads.
TWP Ministries and other Volunteer Opportunities!
Hello there, and welcome to another dispatch about the West Pacific! Here you will be able to learn about the Ministries and various other opportunities that await you if you want to get involved in our community. Firstly, if you haven't read our New Player Guide please do read it, as it's fundamental to look at it so you can understand other parts of our region. Secondly, please make sure you have already applied 
for citizenship in our Hall of Nations. Most of these opportunities require you to be a citizen, and the Hall itself has interesting activities you can take part of as well. Click one of the buttons below to read about a ministry you think would be interesting for you, or just read about them all if you're unsure.
Or just read about them all if you're unsure. It's your choice.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) is the regional ministry charged with developing relations with other regions of the NationStates multiverse, maintaining our current treaties, and spreading our culture abroad. After contacting one of the ministers, you will be given some guides to read and a test to make before you are assigned to a region. If you succeed, then it's time to regularly interact with members of that region, get to know their culture, and help establish deeper cultural and personal bonds between the West and the assigned region, all while helping advance West Pacifican interests abroad. Just like the overall region, the ministry functions like a meritocracy, and there are several diplomat levels you can be part of, coming with more benefits and duties. There is one recurring duty, though, we ask you to fill a monthly report on the state of the assigned region when required, and post updates about important happenings such as government changes in our private FA Discord channel. That's not all, though—sometimes there are also special assignments whose results get featured in our monthly newspaper called the Western Post. So, what are you waiting for? FA is always looking for new ambassadors, so become one today!
Ministers: 
Giovanniland and 
Fuentana
Deputy Minister: 
Varanius
How to apply: Send a Discord message to either minister at @Giovanniland#8272 or @Fuentana#3423!
The West Pacific Armed Forces (TWPAF) is our regional military. Now, you might have been told that no war between nations exists in this game. That is true, however there is something much better—invade and defend regions through game mechanics, which is called military gameplay or raiding/defending. Our military does that by using the mechanic stating that the nation with most World Assembly endorsements in a region is the WA Delegate; in raiding the goal is to take over the Delegacy, while in defending we protect the reigning delegate instead. TWPAF mainly raids, but does not limit itself to one or the other. In order to take part of these operations you need to be available at the two times the game updates each day, which include the recalculation of regional endorsements and therefore the possibility of changing the Delegate. These two updates happen on 12:00 AM EST (major update) and 12:00 PM EST (minor update) and usually last up to one hour, but if you aren't online at those times, you can join the Reapers division which supports occupations and defenses. Once you are a member and you participate actively, you will start rising through the ranks and possibly attain high positions such as officer! Furthermore, our military also has some nice pirate-themed ranks and insignia that you can earn with merit. Therefore, be sure to read how to apply below and check this dispatch for additional information.
Admiral of the Fleet: 
Nrevyw
How to apply: Apply in this forum thread and then follow further instructions.
Ministry of World Assembly Recruitment
The Ministry of World Assembly and Recruitment (MoWAR) is the regional ministry charged with introducing new nations in the West to the World Assembly, increasing the endorsement levels for the Delegate 
Dilber and the other Guardians while enforcing the endorsement cap for other nations, and defending our regional stances in the two chambers of the WA called the General Assembly (GA) and Security Council (SC). You may be thinking "Oh my, that's a lot of things!", but don't worry, because here you can read in detail about each of the MoWAR's goals. So, if you didn't know already, endorsements are useful to strengthen our region for several reasons. One is that they increase our Delegate's vote count on the World Assembly when you endorse him, and another is that nations can earn influence within the region according to how many endorsements they have, making it particularly important for Guardians since they need influence to eject nations that don't follow our rules. Therefore, the MoWAR updates a dispatch called The Masses containing all WA nations so that people can endorse more, and also periodically sends out telegram campaigns for nations to join the WA and endorse our Delegate and Guardians. Regarding our stances in the World Assembly, those are quite different for each chamber—while we review SC proposals case-by-case and will be happy to support any well-researched ones, in the GA we are opposed to any new legislation and we support the repeals, due to the fact GA resolutions can affect national stats and we prefer having a national sovereigntist view that each nation decides their own stats. Therefore, the ministry also strives to author resolutions in both chambers to advance our own interest abroad. It's up to you to join if you like to help strengthen the region and recruit new nations!
Ministers: 
Teralyon
Deputy Minister: 
Aluminum Oxynitride
How to apply: Send a Discord message to the minister at @ZaFo#1920!
The Hall of Nations, didn't I already read about it already? Yes, you probably know that the Hall is a body composed by all citizens of the West and applying for citizenship is key to getting more involved in the region. However, what's interesting is that there's more things to do in the Hall! Once you are accepted as a citizen, in the Discord server you will see some new channels which allow you to discuss the latest gameplay and cultural happenings all over NationStates, as well as get announcements about important events. Another highlight of the Hall are the Regional Commendations, written in the style of the Security Council but even better as they're developed by TWPers for TWPers—they started in early 2020 and now have eight regional commendees. Other interesting activities that happen on the Hall are Government Q&A's (questions and answers) that the Cabinet and Delegate answer, weekly public Cabinet sessions in which the government goes over regional updates while members discuss, and the elections for the Speaker of the Hall (coordinator and moderator of elections and forum discussions) and Hall of Nations Guardian (elected position with similar duties to the Guardians of the West) position that happen every three months.
Speaker of the Hall of Nations: 
Zoran
Hall of Nations Guardian: 
United Adaikes
How to apply: Apply in this forum thread and await confirmation. Be sure to fill both the form and the oath!
The Cultural Trust, formerly the Ministry of Cultural Affairs until August 2020, is the home of regional culture. It's not a ministry, due to its goal of reducing the bureaucracy needed to get involved in the regional culture. The Trust does have some government oversight but welcomes any citizen that wants to make an interesting idea a reality within the region! There is no applying to join for most of these—simply participate regularly in the activities and you'll be considered a member. The existing communities are listed below, and you can choose whether to join them, develop an idea that could turn into a new community, or even both. Check them out:
The Roleplay Community is the hub of regional RP, where roleplayers share ideas and work on worldbuilding and developing their. Our regional map is part of this community, and applying to join the map gives you a slew of benefits such as being able to join all kinds of roleplays happening right now. See the Roleplay Dispatch for more information!
The Card Club is the center of the Trading Cards minigame of our region. It is guided by experienced card traders, and plans several cards-related events and competitions to advance our culture! Participation is centered on the trading channel on the TWP discord and in the recently-built subforum, places where you can also ask for advice and have those traders answer. Join our Discord server and check the #twp-card-club channel, and also take a look at our Trading Cards Introduction dispatch if you're just starting to trade!
The Nomic Enclosure has incorporated an older forum game into the Trust. For those not in the know, Nomic is a game where changing the rules is a move, so two games may have very different results. Our discord server has a special #nomic-enclosure channel while the game is hosted
on the forums. Be sure to check it out!The Fine Arts Society encompasses artists, writers, graphic designers, poets, and even musicians into one group in order to encourage the creation of artwork for various regional purposes. People are welcome to showcase their abilities on the designated Discord channels, and also receive or give advice. There are a number of regional events in which the production of art is encouraged, so be sure to keep an eye on our Today in the West posts in order to take part.
The News Group is the publisher of our monthly newspaper called The Western Post, which serves for both residents and foreign dignitaries to know about what's happening in the West. The newspaper reports on a wide range of topics, such as recent regional events, highlights from the RMB, and even real-world themed articles. The paper publishes once a month every Friday, and the previous finished products of this community are listed in this dispatch for all to see. It's always looking for writers and artists to fill the pages, but do note that it's a tad more private than other Trust communities so that our ideas don't get leaked. You can contact
Fujai on Discord at @Smithy876#6074 to join! Finally, the West Pacific Gaming is the Trust's newest community, which groups people interested in playing various types of other games besides NationStates. Like other communities it has a specific Discord channel, #west-pacific-gaming, in which residents discuss about their favorite games and more, but it also has a voice channel in which people can stream while playing if they want! Feel free to check it out on our Discord server.
The Regional Guides are a special group of nations tasked with welcoming new players into the West Pacific and getting them comfortable and involved in the various activities that one can join here. Applying to join as a Regional Guide means you should at least have some basic knowledge of NationStates, but don't worry, you can join even if you don't know everything since you can also learn on the job. There is a team of Guides, each covering different timezones, that work together with our Guardians to ensure that new nations are well-welcomed in our RMB and Discord server, so if it's your first time reading this it might very well have been a Guide that welcomed you into reading our important dispatches. That's not all, though! The Guides also serve the region by encouraging general activity, creating a greater sense of enjoyment outside basic game tasks, and even doing some advanced tasks such as planning daily Today in the West posts and helping with RMB events. This includes our weekly Punday Monday, Haikuesday, Thank You Thursday, Karaoke Friday, and more! Once Guides are well-established, they can also talk with the coordinators about hosting Today in the West for some time, thus making this job a gateway into getting to higher positions in the region. Be sure to join if you have some understanding of how NationStates and our region works!
Coordinators: Fuentana and Giovanniland
How to apply: Send a Discord message to either coordinator at @Fuentana#3423 or @Giovanniland#8272!
University of the West Pacific
The University of the West Pacific (UTWP) is the premier and only institute in the West Pacific that develops newer nations into the regional leaders of tomorrow. Students have to pass through four courses, which are designed after the three main Ministries and the Cultural Trust as a whole. If you're still undecided on what ministry to join after reading all of this, then the UTWP may be the place for you! You can get a taste of each, and see which one suits you better. Additionally, you will also do some extracurricular activities, such as a short module on the purpose and features of the overall Hall of Nations, and special activities related to ongoing regional events. As of early 2021, enrollment in the UTWP is needed to earn the full rights of a Hall of Nations citizen, although people don't necessarily need to complete all courses—you can choose one or two that suit you better, but if you want the full graduation then you are welcome to choose this adventure! After completing UTWP, students will have prior experience upon joining ministries and thus will be able to rise in the region faster. Enroll today, and be placed in the next cohort!
Provost: Fuentana
Vice-Provost: Teralyon
Chancellor: 
The Holy Principality of Saint Mark
How to apply: Join the TWP Discord server and leave a message in the #enroll_at_utwp channel in order to enroll!
TWP
