What are endorsements?
Endorsements are the most fundamental and basic mechanic of NationStates' World Assembly (WA). They symbolize a nation's support (that is, an endorsement) for another to represent their region at the World Assembly.
Both chambers of the World Assembly - the General Assembly and the Security Council - use the same endorsement list. In other words, when endorsing a nation to the World Assembly, it is being endorsed for both the General Assembly (GA) and the Security Council (SC) simultaneously. It is not possible to endorse a nation solely to the General Assembly or the Security Council without involving the other.
How do I endorse a nation?
To endorse another nation, you must first meet two conditions:
Be in the same region as the nation you want to endorse.
Be both members of the World Assembly. Apply to join the World Assembly here.
First, go to the main page of the nation you intend to endorse:
nationstates.net/nation=NATIONNAME
If and only if the two previous criteria are fulfilled, a button appears right at the end of the page, below National Happenings, that says "Endorse NATIONNAME". Simply click that button, and wait for the game to process it (generally ~1-2 seconds at most).
Generally speaking, it is particularly important that a nation is endorsing its region's Delegate.
The effects of endorsements
Being the most fundamental mechanic of the World Assembly, endorsements have a number of very important effects:
Endorsements determine who becomes the region's World Assembly Delegate. The nation with the most endorsements in a region (at the very least, one endorsement is needed) becomes its World Assembly Delegate, in charge of representing their region at the World Assembly, during the next twice-daily game update. In case of an endorsement tie between a nation and the incumbent Delegate, the latter remains Delegate of the region. In case of a tie between two nations that are not the incumbent Delegate, the mechanics are not exactly clear, but apparently the one who received the oldest latest endorsement (that is, the one who got endorsed first with the tying endorsement) becomes Delegate.
Delegates have special voting powers at the World Assembly: their vote is equivalent to that of 1 + number of endorsements (minimum 2 votes) nations. Proposals at the World Assembly also need the approval of 6% of Delegates before it can even be voted on. Outside the World Assembly, Delegates may have Executive powers, making them the paramount authority in the region, second only to the Founder (if there is one).
Keep in mind that most of the largest regions in the game have a more organized method of picking the Delegate. For example, in 10000 Islands, the Delegate is elected every 6 months.
Endorsements help grow a nation's Influence. Provided it doesn't switch regions, a nation's Influence grows by 1 + number of endorsements every update, that is, 2*(1 + endorsements) per day. Delegates need to spend Influence to perform actions such as ejecting a nation from a region. Nations with higher Influence are, in turn, more expensive to ban or eject. Note that this restriction does not apply to Founders.
Endorsements allow nations to submit proposals to the World Assembly. To be specific, nations require at least 2 endorsements before they are allowed to submit their very own proposals to the World Assembly.
Endorsements award stat badges. Stat badges are awarded to a nation when any of its stats hit the top 10%, 5% and 1% in the game. Endorsements help obtaining stat badges in two ways. First, the number of endorsements received is a stat in itself, and given that a majority of nations are not members of the World Assembly, it is an easy badge to get. Second, endorsements play a huge role in obtaining an Influence badge given the mechanics of this stat.
Endorsement caps
As stated previously, most of the largest, most powerful regions in the game, including 10000 Islands, choose their Delegates through elections or other organized, pre-planned decision. To ensure that the desired nation becomes Delegate, regions enforce endorsement caps that apply to all other members of the World Assembly. In 10000 Islands, the endorsement cap is half the endorsements that the current Delegate has, and it does not apply to members of TITO, our military forces.
Endotarting
How do I gather endorsements?
When receiving an endorsement, it is generally considered respectful to return the favor and endorse that nation back. This exchange of endorsements is commonly known as endotarting. Hence, the easiest way of gathering endorsements is to simply endorse every nation in your region. Check the list of World Assembly members in 10000 Islands by checking the World Assembly Supremacy Program (WASP) awards here, or the World Census list here.
How could I lose endorsements?
There are four main ways you can lose the endorsement of a nation. From most to least common:
The nation in question Ceases to Exist;
The nation in question moves to another region;
The nation in question resigns from the World Assembly; or
The nation in question manually withdraws their endorsement.
If your nation changes regions, resigns from the World Assembly, or Ceases to Exist, it will lose all the endorsements it had previously received.
Why should I engage in endotarting?
Nations in 10000 Islands are strongly encouraged to endotart as much as possible (without breaking the endorsement cap), for a number of reasons:
As said, the fastest and most common way of gathering endorsements is engaging in endotarting, which will allow your nation to enjoy the advantages of getting endorsed. For example, you will easily obtain stat badges for World Assembly Endorsements or even Influence.
Endotarting is a way of engaging with other people! Furthermore, members of the World Assembly tend to be more active than non-members.
Endotarting boosts regional security slightly. Nations with more endorsements gather Influence faster, making it more costly for foreign hostile nations to eject them if they ever seized power.
10000 Islands actively rewards endotarting by giving away prizes through the WASP!
Wischland
