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Osiran Spotlight: Sylvia: March 2019
Osiran Spotlight: Sylvia: March 2019
March 2019
As part of Oracle’s drive to both report on and celebrate the region of Osiris, we will be revisiting the Osiran Spotlight series to help our readers learn
more about their regionmates. We hope this initiative helps draw the community together and provide for stronger bonds between citizens and
residents alike.
Q: Where did you start out in NationStates, and what made you decide to come to Osiris?
A: I started out in The Black Riders, the largest raider military at the time. Shortly after creating my first nation RiderSyl, back in February 2014, I
looked through recruitment telegrams to decide where to go. The Black Riders and The Indepedent Order were my favorite recruitment telegrams of
the bunch, but I chose The Black Riders because my nation name matched so well.
I was actually instructed to infiltrate Osiris by The Black Riders in 2014. I was to infiltrate Osiris, and Aurum Rider/Atagait Denral was to infiltrate
The Rejected Realms. I ended up loving Osiris' community too much to try anything shady though, and The Black Riders stopped caring about
infiltrating GCRs, so I simply stayed in Osiris and kept participating.
Q: What parts of Osiris' community really encouraged you to give up the infiltration operation?
A: The social aspect, especially in the Skype group chat and the IRC channel. Osirans and TEPers in both locales had lots of good-natured fun there. It
was my first real exposure to the social side of NationStates, as The Black Riders were just about raids and spam games.
Q: What are some things that have changed about Osiris over the years you've been here that you're happy about?
A: The immediate thing that comes to mind is our form of government. There's no longer the constant, nagging worry in the back of people's minds
about if the Pharaoh-Elect might be a couper in disguise. There's no choosing the lesser of two evils in election cycles with a dearth of decent
candidates. There's no risk of vote-stacking or voter importation. There's still a democracy here, just not for the delegacy, and that kills a lot of threat to
Osiris' security and well-being. There's no more constant drama and fear. That's made me immensely happy.
There's nothing really comparable to that that's changed about Osiris. What I always loved about Osiris has persisted, and what I haven't been happy
about has changed.
Q: What are specific traditions in Osiris that you're most happy with?
A: Our consistently awesome themes, regional awards, and regional events. Osiris isn't unique in these things, but Osiris has always been good at them.
I wish Osiris had more distinctive traditions, but the constant instability before the OFO 2.0 made it difficult to establish any. I'm sure we'll have some
special ones in the future.
Q: What do you think the future holds for Osiris, generally speaking?
A: Osiris is a sinker on the rise. Unless something absolutely crazy happens to our high-level leadership in the future, there's no doubt we'll keep
growing and attracting awesome people. Altino is just the start of the great Pharaohs we're going to have a string of. It's an exciting time to be an
Osiran.
Q: Which leaders can you see as having a greater role in the future?
A: Rigel, Lynxi, Lord Dominator, Mike, and Rach.
This month, I’ll actually talk about NS. Shocking, I know, but apparently in an NS oriented paper our editor wishes for at
least some NS oriented content. I’ve happily obliged. This topic is close to my heart, as perhaps one of the more outspokenly
cosmopolitan citizens you might know. Set against me, we have a great guest writer this week; Ark, of West Pacific and all-round
cute doggo fame. He’ll be arguing a more regionalist interpretation of the best path for a player to take.
Josh Ark
Cosmopolitanism is often treated as a dirty concept in mainstream GP, especially Regionalism has a long history in NationStates as an in-universe
in certain GCRs. This is a disappointingly short-sighted view of one’s region members stand-in for nationalism. It is perceived very differently from
and potentially contributing citizens. The argument often goes that a player cannot care region to region, but there are a number of undeniable upsides to
enough to perform the duties a job might expect of them if they’re tied to other places, or it. For starters, regionalism is great for morale. Promoting pride
perhaps that their work will be of a lower quality. While it is certainly true that in the
in one’s region of origin has been demonstrated to increase the
extreme case of a player taking on far more jobs they can handle in far more places than
mood and internal attitudes of people in a region. The Pacific is a
they can reasonably keep track of that they will be incapable of fulfilling their
obligations, this is not an all-encompassing view of Cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanism, prime example of this, and a prime example of successful
when conducted responsibly by players and appropriately looked upon by regions, is a regionalism in general. It has been a hyper-regionalist place for
great boon to both the players and the regions of NS. Certainly, not every player can or well over a decade, and its inflation of self-importance is one of
even wishes to be a Cosmopolitan, but the subset that do should not be looked over for its greatest tools for recruiting (and retaining) new people.
promotion, or treated as somehow insufficiently committed, and should be welcomed by Regionalists also place a high value on loyalty, which is
any region worth its salt. demonstrably a great strategy for a region that emphasizes active
Cosmopolitanism’s benefits manifest themselves in different ways based upon military personnel. This sense of loyalty is also an effective way
the perspective one takes. First, let us examine the effect on a single player’s experience to retain long term members. This is demonstrated in regions like
of NS. Clearly, a Cosmopolitan player will be exposed to more people and places, as the
the pacific or 10000 Islands, where large portions of the active
very essence of the term demands. For the player, this has myriad benefits. Networking is
populace are players who have been in the region for several
an essential part of NationStates, and whether in a democracy or a more
meritocratic/autocratic style of region, it very much matters who you know a lot more years. While not a direct facet of regionalism, isolationism is also
than might be immediately evident. A certain degree of cosmopolitanism to build up often a side effect of a regionalist structure. This has been shown
contacts with other players may prove to be very beneficial down the road; even without to be a useful security measure. It also helps to avoid potential
directly leading to any concrete positions on its own, name recognition is extremely OOC abuses in the regional structure. Again, one can point to the
useful for a player to cultivate. Naturally, players are people too, not just autonomous Pacific and 10000 Islands as examples, given neither region has
politics simulator playing machines, and so real friendships blossom from these had many major OOC problems in its history. Overall,
established relationships. A Cosmopolitan player is also exposed to new perspectives on regionalism as an ideology and regional structure is very
regional governance, on organisation, and on cultural engagement, permitting them to effective for retention, security, and morale. Hyper-Regionalist
form a wide and considered view of those methods which work best for certain
governments might be slow, or small, but they often outlast their
communities and why. This experience can prove useful, even vital, in government
more cosmopolitan counterparts.
positions in many regions, and especially when either directly founding a new region or
assisting with one’s construction. When compared to a player who has seen only one way One can even say regio-
of doing things for perhaps years over their time on NS, a Cosmopolitan player brings to
the table a certain flexibility and open-mindedness that can be indispensable. It is OH WOW A BALL
therefore evident that Cosmopolitanism is a valuable path for the more adventurous of
players to take.
From the perspective of a region, Cosmopolitanism might seem, initially, as a
thing to be discouraged in the citizenry. Such a view is, however, short sighted and
irresponsible, and alienating to a not insignificant portion of the playerbase. As already
discussed, Cosmopolitan players are exposed to many different perspectives of how a
region can operate – and how its lesser departments function – and could thus bring such
perspectives with them into another region, enhancing the efficiency of its own processes,
and perhaps introducing new concepts that greatly enhance a region. It would be
completely irresponsible for a region to ignore such an opportunity. Naturally, this works
both ways, and so a balance must be struck between the player learning from the region
and vice versa, but with appropriate management this shouldn’t be an issue. Potential
links to other regions do not stop at mutual efficiency gains in procedure, however. A
Cosmopolitan player, again by necessity of the term, has links to more than one region.
As obvious as this may seem, its connotations are more complex. One can reasonably
assume of a Cosmopolitan player that they will exist in regions with at least neutral, if not
friendly, views of one another – proscriptions would likely filter out being a member of
two opposing regions. In these instances, people may cite conflicts of interest, but in (Note from the Editor: We, uh, haven’t seen Ark in several days.
reality two neutral or friendly regions sharing individuals who like both places can only If you find an adorable, hyperactive puppy please bring him back
be beneficial – especially if those people are in positions of significance. Naturally a to TWP. Halo’s gonna kill me if I can’t find his Guardian.)
region can and indeed must make calculated decisions in this regard to ensure relations
building works for its foreign policy goals, but utilising Cosmopolitan players to assist in
the process can be extremely helpful.
It is my hope that readers come away from this piece more aware of the benefits
of a Cosmopolitan playstyle, for them and their regions, as I have demonstrated them. (No, seriously, please find him.)
The world would certainly be a far less engaging place if we were all insular regionalists.
Sekhmet News Ask Someone Else
By Benja Ask Someone Else is Osiris’ monthly advice column from our
darling contributor Someone Elsa.
February was slower than January for the Legion for a number of reasons.
Winter break ended and so did the free time of many of our members, and then This month we got more responses, and some decent questions!
recently a few of our more active members left to pursue other NS projects. I’m proud of you, Osiris. Except for Lynxi. I’m not proud of her.
Thanks for stepping it up, and here’s to hoping you continue to
Legion focused less on tag raids this month. We did 3 in total, hitting 67 send me questions so I can rationalize my existence by the only
regions out of a total of 97 targets. It’s an impressive number considering it came benchmark it can be measured by!
off of only 3 operations but with less people and our focus on occupations, it’s a
much smaller figure than months before. Why won't they just shut up? All I want is for them to be quiet. -
McChimp
However, our focus on holds yielded some great opportunities to work
with other regions and a successful operation led by the Legion. Well, who? I think that this question is lacking a pretty
We were the chief organizers of a refound of the region DankMemes. important piece of information and because of that it’s nigh
Along with friends from The Black Hawks, Pacifica, Voltarium, The Empire of unanswerable. But this isn’t NPO, I can’t halfway do something
Mare Nostrum, and Hartfelden, we entered the region on the major update of and call it a success. So I’m going to assume you mean the
February 9th/10th and refounded it on the major update of February 16th/17th. people sending you telegrams. You’re probably a baby nation
The Legion and its many allies amassed over 40 pilers for the mission, which was and don’t know the good news! You can turn them off! Just go
completed with a remarkable speed. to your telegram settings and click the box that lets you block
On the major update of February 22nd/23rd, we joined The Black Hawks “Recruitment” telegrams. You’re welcome!
in their occupation of Westphalia.
How do I survive my drinking without stopping?- Josh
The Legion did not do great this month, but we continue to chug along,
and hopefully with some additional recruitment we will become more active. Drink water.