The NorthWest Star: Issue IX

Written by Albiorix
For the third time in as many years, the foreign department of the INWU has been revived from death. Despite the obvious importance of interregional relations, ambassadorships are often abandoned and the structure breaks down from above when key leaders go on hiatus. This has happened twice with me, as my isolated NS Vacations have led to a quick demise of any semblance of foreign relations in the region.

This doesn't need to be the case. Personal communications between high level government members don't bring regions closer together. True collaboration comes when the active cores of two regions buy into a collective effort.

To this end, El Fiji Grande will now lead our ambassadorial department, with ambassador appointments assigned to a few key regions, with specific goals in mind. The monthly issue of the NorthWest Star will include coverage of interregional happenings.

As the head of the Foreign Department, I have been in contact with, and been contacted by, enthusiastic region builders with small, active, and growing communities. It is my goal to collaborate with these regions as an example for the potential of goal oriented, sustainable foreign directive. In the future, these regions may take a privileged position of an official alliance with a formal charter authored by Nebelsbad, of Olympia, and myself.

The presence of these new measures have great capacity to spur involvement from the ground up and no longer rely on overwhelming pressure from above to get things done. If we are successful, us at the INWU Foreign Department will begin to see a future as a permanently operating institution, regardless of leadership.

Written by El Fiji Grande

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The current International Northwestern Union world map (shown above) has been around for two to three years now, and in that time has taken on a central role in the modern tech roleplay of our region, which mainly comprises of international incidents and historical worldbuilding. Yet in all these years, we haven't really gotten down to naming many of the continents, oceans, seas, islands, peninsulas, and so forth. That's partly because many of the historical discussions focus on the 'European' continent of Aurora, and the ancient empire of Elyria that there existed. It's also because there are far fewer nations from our region on other parts of the globe, so these regions have gone nameless these past few years.

But now, in an initiative by our Minister of Roleplay, Tracian Empire, we have the chance to change that! Any nation, regardless of whether or not their nation has a spot on the regional map, can propose names of places on the map. So long as there is at least general consensus, the name will stick. You can also contribute to the regional map by claiming land for your nation. You can also submit more detailed information about your nation on our region's IIWiki.

This is important because Nation RP is our region's most active and longest-enduring RP. It's been on and off since before we had this map (hex map was previous design), and unlike character RP, there are actually regular discussions about history and culture on the RMB. It would be unfair to suggest that the region is apathetic towards Nation-RP, as that is one of the areas that generates the most activity. Ironically, it sometimes feels like less RPing is actually being done, and more often it is fights that generate the activity. But that only goes to show how much the various nations of our region care about their nations' place on the regional map.

If you're interested in roleplay in this region, making a map claim and joining in on the discussions is your best bet. As you can tell, there's plenty of space for other nations left on the map, and we're all waiting to see you join. If you'd like to contribute a name to some part of the map, post your proposal to the RMB, tag Tracian Empire and myself, and we'll put your proposal on the map! Just hurry, because the names are getting placed fast! The latest map is displayed below.

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Written by El Fiji Grande
In the last few weeks, a large effort has been made on my part to modernize, streamline, and reorganize the offsite forums of our region. Operating as an admin, I made several key changes. I updated the moderators for each forum, concentrating on Foreign Dignitaries, whose requests to be recognized as a Diplomat from each of their home regions and to open embassies in the INWU had still not been recognized. I telegrammed each of these nations to announce the update. I then also updated the offsite forum admin. In keeping with a policy that simplicity looks better, I shortened the descriptions of each category, forum, and topic on the forums to just a few words, that accurately conveys what it contains. I changed the status of any nation - with the exception of foreign dignitaries - who have not posted in over a year to Inactive. I removed older, unused topics and forums, and organized them by category (RP, Government, and so forth) in the Archives. I added several BBcode updates and javascript add-ons, which improve the flow and usage of the offsite forums. Notably, I added a hovering sidebar on the left-hand-side informing visitors to the site of new posts that have been made in the last 24 hours. The sidebar does take up some room, and will certainly take some getting used to, but has had a definite impact in improving the site's usability. Finally, I added a new, more cool-looking theme to the boards, named Blue Dreams (shown below).

If you are unhappy with the theme you currently have set, you can scroll down to the lower left-hand-side of the board on the main menu, and select a theme of your choice from the drop-down menu that appears. If none of these options are appealing to you, feel free to browse the Zetaboards Theme Gallery, and telegram me the link to one you like, and I'll add it. If there are any other constructive suggestions you have for improving the offsite forums, include that in a telegram as well.

Submitted by Otitag
Written by Hussain bin Haydar Tora (1807 - 1882), Gatiton romanticist poet, of the Atlaiatar kinship.

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Submitted by Atlantica
Written 1901 by an Unknown Zhenian poet/prophet.

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Written by Estradia

Written by El Fiji Grande
In recent times, there has been a trend to discredit our regional government of its former successes, and hold the nonsensical statement that 'government does nothing and has never done anything' to be true. This is absurd. I encourage you to read the historical documents on the matter, starting with the Origins of the INWU, compiled by Gatito, followed by the history of the First Delegacy and Second Delegacy, compiled by myself, and the Historic State of the Union Addresses, compiled by Topsail (formerly Topsail empire). Historically speaking, nothing could be farther from the truth. But as we progress closer and closer to the modern age, we've had delegates who more frequently do less (and I'm guilty of that as well, with my most recent failed-delegacy). Each delegate who does nothing with their title degrades the position. Each delegate who does not command respect or settle conflicts, depletes the charisma the office holds. Each delegate that does not support roleplay, foreign affairs, or fulfill their duties to the fullest makes the position less one of responsibility and more one of a laughable joke. With the degradation of responsibility of the regional executive comes the loss of our dignity, our spirit, and our unity. In short, as the Delegacy declines, so too does our region.

I am personally of the opinion that Albiorix's recent election to the Delegacy is the most important election in modern history. I don't believe our region would have survived much longer in these troubled times, and that Albiorix was and continues to be the best candidate. He has already taken strides to restart recruitment, and effort which we can already see some noticeable change in, with several new members entering the region each week. He has helped streamline the WFE, and helped resolve conflicts on the RMB. He was supportive of the recent renovations I made to the offsite forums, and has become involved with Antiyard's new roleplay, No Loose Ends, which helps symbolize his support for roleplay in the region.

Yet I am also firmly of the opinion that Albiorix should do more. A delegate has ultimate responsibility for the region they control, and what differentiates a good delegate from an excellent delegate is their willingness to not only support but to actively participate in and help promote several areas of the region, areas they may not even have personal interest in. Not only should our delegate post more frequently on our roleplays, perhaps he could start his own. He could restart our Foreign Ministry, appointing a Minister of Foreign Affairs, who likewise appoints diplomats to each of our loyal allies who have been patiently and not-so-patiently waiting this whole time for us to get our act together. Our regional newspaper needs a new Senior Editor, and has not been active in months. Much should be done, and there is so little time before the next election arrives.

Perhaps this is unfair to Albiorix. We all have lives outside of NS, and as we each grow older, our responsibilities shift within NS from excelling in governing to managing our time effectively in and out of the game. Previous delegates haven't fulfilled their responsibilities nearly at all, let alone to their fullest, so why should he? And these are fair concerns. But for a delegate who truly cares about this region - and I believe Albiorix does - a paradigm shift is needed. We need to turn the page on a chapter of delegates who took part in less than their fill, and new delegates need to compensate for this by doing more than their share. I'm not saying Albiorix alone should take this burden; I'm saying he should appoint the right people, and direct them in regular telegrams to help him complete his agenda. A delegate cannot be reasonably expected to take full care of the region on their own, but they should try. The delegacy is mostly a thankless job, given how much happens behind the scenes, but their role, when fulfilled responsibly, is crucial to the growth and success of the region.

I'd like to be the first to thank Albiorix for his work so far, and to support him should he make a bid for re-election.

Written by El Fiji Grande
As many members of the International Northwestern Union have come to notice, it's becoming more and more difficult to get anyone besides our region's core members to participate in any serious way. I would even go so far as to say that several of our core members can no longer be bothered either. This is a serious problem if our region is to move forward successfully. Chatting on the RMB will only last so long, because as more active members of our community leave for other regions more focused to their needs or CTE, our region's activity will fade away with them. There are a few paths I see available.

The first is for the group of core nations who have built this region from the ground up leave to form a new region to do the same there. This would generate a massive surge in activity as the new government is formed, recruitment goes through the roof, and elections occur to decide the new leadership of the region. However, I don't believe this option to be the best path. Doing so would only decrease the level of activity in both regions, and accelerate the downfall of the INWU.

The second path is more pragmatic. We remain in the INWU, and use the activity generated by our more talkative members to help recruit new members to the region. These new members will be the lifeblood this region needs to continue. Core members should direct new recruits to the resources they like to see in regions - active roleplays, an active government, and an active RMB. It should be emphasized that an active RMB is a tremendously good thing, but it also must be said that those who are most active on the RMB aren't active anywhere else. They claim not to have the time, but really they just aren't interested, and would gladly see the region crumble around them. Albiorix is doing a fine job re-invigorating the regional government as well as growing confidence in our regional institutions. He has made steps in streamlining and updating resources for new recruits, and has made changes to our recruitment system. He has also done his part to support emerging roleplays. I believe he should go one step further, and require, via executive order, that all government personnel be active in at least one regional roleplay, regardless of interest, in a show of support to a part of our region that has never truly been active.

I see roleplay as the path to success. I believe that all members who want to see this region continue to thrive need to participate, if only to keep newer members interested. I would like to commend Antiyard for having the courage to found his own roleplay on the offsite forums, and for sticking with it even as the roleplay garnered only shallow support from the region's talkative, but ultimately unproductive RMB chatters. Should we create several active roleplays, I believe we will not only have more success recruiting new members, but we will bring older disenchanted members of our community back into the ring. The only way to overcome the apathy this region faces is for the core members of our region to stand together in pursuit of a common purpose. We need to establish active roleplay, put effort into recruitment, and give our regional government as an institution the respect it deserves.

This issue was produced by interim chief editor El Fiji Grande. So please don't hound Savalen over my mistakes.

Has something happened over the past month that you want to write about? Do you think you can make the Newspaper look better? Or do you just want your name here -->
Apply now for loads of different positions, we would be happy to have you on board!

For those who do want to point out my mistakes or if you want to personally thank me :P post your comments here.

Links to other issues:

Issue I • Dispatch
Issue II • Dispatch
Issue III • Dispatch
Issue IV • Dispatch
-Issue V • Dispatch
-Issue VI • Dispatch
-Issue VII • Dispatch
-Issue VIII • Dispatch
-Issue IX • Dispatch

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Issue V signed December 1st, 2017

(El Fiji Grande)