The Top Issues Players in NationStates

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Hello! Inspired by NSToday’s Power20, which ranks influential GPers, I have decided to create a list of the top issues players in the game right now. Issue answering in order to gain World Census rankings is one of the most drawn out aspects of gameplay, with the highest rankings taking literally years of daily activity to achieve. However, other than fancy badges on their nation pages, the best issues players get little public recognition for their skill and dedication, which this article seeks to at least partially remedy.

Unlike the Power20, which uses a panel of respected gameplayers to decide on the rankings, this list is entirely made by me with zero oversight at all. The rankings are based mostly on the World Census rankings people have, but also the rate of improvement or dominance nations have in their chosen rankings. Without further ado, here is the list.

10 - Despoticania
Despoticania is a highly technologically advanced economic powerhouse. They have two World #1 rankings, Scientific Advancement and Average Income of Poor, along with a further 7 World top 10 rankings, all of which are economic. They are one of only a few nations in the elite $1,000,000+ average income club, and even their poorest 10% earn more money than the average citizen in all but the wealthiest 14 nations in the World. Their level of scientific advancement is literally beyond compare, and it is presumably used to fuel their powerhouse Information Technology industry (3rd in the World), and… Basket Weaving industry (2nd in the World).

9 - Bedetopia
Bedetopia is the exact type of nation you would expect it to be, given that it is run by ‘a synthetic life form made up of nanomachines’. Bedetopia has turned the healthcare ranking into a one-sided walkover, with a score that is currently 17,000 ahead of the second-place nation (for reference, a score of 17,000 gets you in the World top 0.2%). This dominance, combined with a recent acquisition of the top spot for largest military in the World, puts Bedetopia firmly in the issue answering elite.

8 - Pencil Sharpeners 2
*Insert that meme of Obama giving a medal to himself*
Yes, I’ve put myself on the list. How corrupt! But it’s my list and I can do what I like with it. Here’s some justification. Across my army of puppets, I now hold seven World #1 rankings, from Nudity to Timber Woodchipping, to Ideological Radicality. I have no idea how other players manage their issues, but my colossal spreadsheet allows me to quickly zip through 40 issues per day with few slip-ups in my quest for census dominance. Currently, however, none of my nations have more than two World #1s individually, so I couldn’t justify a position higher than this for me.

7 - The Dark System
The Dark System has turned inequality into an art, with their Average Income of Wealthy being so high it actually breaks the graph (the graph tops out at $9.99 million, but a quick peak at the hidden ‘compare’ page shows that the true value is currently over $11 million. The Dark System is also the World #1 for Retail industry, and is second in the World for both Average Income and Economy. What makes these achievements particularly impressive is that The Dark System is relatively ‘young’, and is continuing to quickly climb the rankings. It wouldn’t surprise me if they gained a few more #1 badges over the next couple of years.

6 - Blogotopia
The first individual nation on this list to have more than two World #1s, Blogotopia sits at the top of the tree for Welfare, Public Education, and Youth Rebelliousness. What is even more impressive is that Blogotopia enjoys an enormous advantage in two of their rankings. In Public Education, they are 20,000 clear of second place (a score of 20,000 would rank you in the top 1%), and in Welfare they are 19,000 clear of second place (a score of 19,000 would rank you in the top 0.1%). On top of this, Blogotopia is also in the top 100 for a further 17 rankings, including Crime, Pacifism, Black Market, and Integrity, which is an impressive combination by itself.

5 - Bright Angel
Bright Angel is the NationStates economic powerhouse. Number 1 for Average Income, Economic Output, Manufacturing Sector, and Black Market; it is not hard to see the priorities of this nation. Throw in a further eight World top 10 rankings, and its undeniable that Bright Angel is an issue-answering all-star. Their wealth is so great that despite ranking pretty much middle of the pack for income equality, they have the third highest Average Income of Poor in the World. If there was a pan-NationStates stock market, Bright Angel could probably crash it just by sneezing.

4 - Tzo
You would be forgiven for thinking that Tzo is fighting a losing battle against issue-answering colossus Kindjal, given that there are seven rankings where Tzo is runner up to their slightly older rival. However, Tzo has managed to carve themselves a niche of their own, being World #1 for Intelligence, Culture, and Inclusiveness. They have a total of seventeen rankings in the World top 10 - the most of any nation on this list - showing an ability to excel across a broad range of measurements and cement their place as one of the top issue-answerers in the game.

3 - Cashdeer
Despite having been around since 2006, Cashdeer is a relatively new name at the top of the World Census. In the past few years they have developed a dominating lead in the Rudeness ranking, and also taken the top spot for Crime, Weaponisation, and Death Rate. Having left experienced players trailing in their wake in all four of these rankings, you would be wise not to bet against them expanding this collection in the future. Also, looking at the regional happenings for their region, Pontbridge Islands, suggests that the same player also controls 4 other nations, including Gynostan, the World #1 for Foreign aid.

2 - Northern borland
If you’ve clicked on this article, you probably don’t need me to tell you anything about the achievements of the Borland nations. Most likely controlled by the same player (I haven’t checked because I don’t put effort into my work), the three Borland nations have nine World #1 rankings between them, with five of them belonging to the business-oriented Northern Borland. Even if they stopped answering issues now (something which is unlikely to happen after 16 years of consistency), it would take years before they were toppled in some of these rankings. Northern Borland is the only nation to have Average Disposable Income above $1,000,000, while Deep South Borland’s 176,000+ ‘Prayers per Hour’ is enough to overwhelm any deity’s admin team.

1 - Kindjal
Are you surprised by this? No, of course you’re not surprised by this. Kindjal is the only nation in NationStates history to be Commended solely for issue-answering, and it’s hard to argue that anybody deserves it more. With just a single nation, Kindjal’s ten World #1s trump anybody’s puppet army, and this dominance has been consistent in the six years I’ve been playing the game, and probably longer. In such a competitive environment, Kindjal makes unrivalled dominance seem far easier than it is, and for that reason is deserving of not just the SC Commendation, but also the position as the top issues player in the game.

Footnotes:
- I have used the $ symbol for currency, even though most nations don’t use dollars. This is pretty much just for aesthetic reasons.
- I haven’t included any non-issues rankings, such as Influence, International Artwork etc., as they are not relevant here.
- There are, of course, many great issues players who didn’t make it into the top 10. That’s just the way it is unfortunately. If people like this article, I may make more or expand it in the future.

Thank you for reading!