Chan Island - For Real This Time

I've had an absolute blast this past week. Pretending to be a fan of the undead, promising to solve all of the world's problems by killing everything and then raising them back from the dead, has been some of the most fun I've ever had on nationstates, period. But it comes from a less than humorous place- in fact every such post was tinged with a little bit of sadness, an ingredient every comedian knows is required to make the perfect joke.

Errinundera is gone, and if the scant bits of evidence we have are of any veracity, quite likely for good. For reasons that can now only be speculated and debated on, he chose to maintain his nation for another several months until what was almost certainly a bot too failed. In the CTE, Forest was changed too, though we were already under ample warning. The stasis of game mechanics meant the last government had to remain in place, as a zombie, for months. The writing was on the wall. Yet, with that final confirmation, the region was left in a more vulnerable state than ever. The next administration will be a defining one for the region, and will set the precedent for all future governments.

It should be obvious that I am running as a joke, but just in case I actually do win, I will unfortunately have to inform you that I will have to break my main promise. Game mechanics means I cannot actually raise the dead. Sorry, my bad. Or Max Barry's, your choice.

But game mechanics means that we are now vulnerable to raiding, something I am unfortunately quite familiar with. In fact, almost 5 years ago now, I first joined Forest precisely because I thought it would be of interest to my raider region. It has since collapsed, I have disavowed raiding in disgust and have been fully committed to Forest- the last thing I want is to see our heritage destroyed by an outside threat.

Thus, I would prioritise security in my administration. I would achieve it by the following:

1) Consolidate WA nations in the region. We are now one of the largest founderless regions in the site, with WA nations that have been in it for a decade. An outright toppling is very unlikely, and concentrating more influence will make us an even harder target. In addition, it stays in line with Forest's current stance of neutrality.

2) Discuss and potentially amend the constitution to introduce an endorsement cap. Obviously the delegate, Ruinenlust, will be exempt, however the most likely way we are to be 'raided' will be if tag raiders endorse another strong native, temporarily throwing Ruinenlust off his perch. A situation that would be disastrous if said native was actively working with the raiders, and the one way we could really be toppled. The exact number of endorsements allowed will be subject to public debate.

3) Promote good relations with defender regions. Forest is already a diplomatic powerhouse, with a much higher than average number of WA or SC resolution writers in our groves, but it doesn't hurt to exercise some of that soft power with our pre-existing defender embassies and other friends. This will not mean a formal treaty, unless circumstances change to demand it, but is more a gentle reminder to those who would stand with Forest to ensure they remember we exist.

4) Create 2 forest ranger positions. These officers would purely take the role of ejecting suspect or hostile nations (and, let's be real, irritating spammers in the RMB) at the request of the rest of the government. They will be given no other powers, and misuse of said powers (as judged by a public debate or administration investigation) is punishable by dismissal. The positions will hopefully proven entirely ceremonial, but could be invaluable if a large raid occurs while the delegate is not logged in.

The second threat that attends founderless regions tends to be the difficulty in attracting new nations, thus slowly over time seeing the region shrink.

1) Create multiple cartographers. Regional maps are a valuable RP tool for a region, and thus a great asset in attracting new people. However, too often, the cartographer position has either stood vacant or not been active. Thus, 2 or 3 map makers will be promoted to ensure something gets done, and the map gets updated.

2) Continue to enforce excellence in the RMB. Our RMB is one of the strongest assets of the region, filled much more than usual with insight, discussion and wisdom that is enviable- and very attractive for the kinds of people we will want to bring into the fold. I will keep this up, and encourage members to contribute to the chatter.

3) Just overall look into and implement the policy suggestions of the Middle Barael. What can I say, they were good ideas.

With these 2 big priorities under control, the region will be in a very strong position to advance forwards and continue to thrive. Then, as with Maslow's pyramid, we can turn our attention towards other issues.

1) Introduce a 'sustained campaign'. The sustained campaign will be concerted a 2-6 month long to encourage members to either actively promote or be more mindful of environmental issues. Forest members participating in the sustained campaign could be doing anything from reducing their personal plastic waste (as an example of a cause that could be championed) to posting their views on NSG- as long as there is a small contribution towards trying to make things slightly better.

2) Launch a new flag contest. OK, this would likely actually be one of the first things we do, but we are now in a new era. And a new era demands a new flag. Luckily, Forest is a region blessed with many talented artists, so why not give them a chance to make a defining new symbol for our new founderless future?

And, last but not least: have fun!

All policy areas not listed would be little or unchanged in a hypothetical Chan Island administration.

Which should never come to pass. But hey, stranger things have happened.