Id like to preface this post with the following statements: Typically I dont care (enough to do anything, anyways) what other say about myself or my NESes. Unfortunately, as I have discovered via AIM, the forums, and various private messages, things have gotten to the point where they affect the quality of my NES, and more importantly, how much I and others enjoy NESing. Thats when I feel the need to say something to the community as a whole in relation to the criticism about how I moderate NESes. So, Im going to address below who I am, what Ive done wrong, and what Im doing now all in relation to NESing. This will be my final statement on any concerned matter, and if those of you who have caused me to actually believe this to be a concern care to continue to act like high school girls, youre more than welcome to. Ill just resume ignoring you. Good times.
First of all, I was in the very first Neverending Story as Italy. At the time I was 14 years old. Since then I have left middle school, gone through all of high school, graduated college with an undergrad degree, and received a certificate for several graduate courses. I have also been married for two years. I have been to three foreign countries, including nearly two months in Russia. I have read too many books of history (scholarly texts and novels), political science, and alternate history to count. Most of these now fill up six full bookshelves liberally spread around my apartment. The short summary: Since I began NESing, my life and my personality has change and evolved quite a bit. Im not the same person I was when I started. Therefore, do not judge me or my NESes, by the way I was before, as I have lived and learned much, even merely in the past year.
Throughout the past nearly ten years, I have always been either actively moderating an NES or preparing to moderate an NES. Im fairly sure that the number of people with the same expanse of experience still active in moderating NESes are countable on a single hand (if there are any). I have launched around a hundred NESes in this span of time, all with varying degrees of success and failure (most of them failures within first 5 updates). I confess that when I lose interest in an NES, I let it die, but that has never been what I view as a mistake (in most cases). Regardless, I have committed many errors in my time moderating, and I confess, most of these are ones which a moderator should never, ever do. So, let me list for you exactly what such things I have knowingly done through the years. If you hear something not on this list, I assure you it was either because the gossiper misinterpreted my actions or is simply the above written high school female with as much sense as hamster. Lastly, I apologize to those affected by the below actions, regardless of how long ago they took place.
1. In Return to Our Roots NES 2 (2002-2003) I went out of my way to sabotage erez87s nations because of some slight that he perpetrated. Try as I might, I cannot recall what I thought he did. AnarchyRulz received similar treatment because I didnt like him on a personal level. In this NES, I shamelessly buffed up and supported my nation (yes, I played in my own NES) against players. Finally, I apparently was engaged in some sort of flame war with a guy named lmsw. Not sure if he or I started it, but we engaged in extreme hate on the NES thread, probably shouldnt have.
2. From the end of 2003 to the middle of 2005, I launched numerous NESes, most of which didnt last too long. I believe I may have had a couple of long ranting threads here and there against some perfectly nice people who just had different views on what an NES should be. I dont really recall where these threads are or who I ranted against, but they are there, somewhere. As for the NESes themselves, I dont believe I ever actually did anything wrong, mostly because they didnt last very long.
3. In the Shadow of Rome (2005 I think), I determined that I really didnt like nuclear_kid, who had just joined. I visited upon him my moderator wrath.
4. We come to the more recent sins now, in The World Turned Upside Down. Most of what I did here still haunts me and makes me feel that the NES could have been much better if I had gone with my gut instead of caving to various people. I let TheLastJacobite especially, but also Shadowbound and nuclear_kid get away with WAY more than I should have. People may complain about mod-blocking, but this NES needed more of it, not less. I could go into individual things, but Id rather not write a book here.
5. In the first part of A Brave New World (and TWTUD before it) I confess that I typically chose election results (and new monarchs) based solely upon what I felt would be an interesting outcome. I did similar things in regards to all battles and wars which took place in both of those NESes. Furthermore in ABNW I carried on letting TLJ get away with more than I should of, same goes for Shadowbound (before he quit), crezth, and qoou. All four should have been stopped in varying degrees for their assorted actions. The one good thing I could say is that in letting them do what they did, we were provided with a very interesting setup for A Brave New World Part 2.
Immaculate referred to me on my thread as a railroad mod. Others have stated through private messages and instant messaging conversation (Ill respect their rights to remain anonymous) that some individuals refer to me in this manner in their own less than constructive criticism (Its only constructive if you tell me!) of how I moderate.
In all NESes there have been times when Ive missed critical orders by people and did not correct them. In those situations I stand by my actions in response to complaints. Yall arent paying me for the service of moderating an NES, and a good update can take anywhere between 5 to 10 hours of actual working and writing time to complete (longer in some cases). That doesnt include time spent on thinking of potential outcomes and other prep-work which has to be done before I can actually begin updating. I do my best to make sure that all orders at least get looked at, respond to the player if they are actually impossible to carry out, and otherwise include everything you wished to be included. At 3 AM in the morning after 9 hours in which I had been updating, you can bet that something will be missed.
The last thing Ive done knowingly that a moderator should never do was my handling of events in the Chinese Civil War in A Brave New World Part 2. I caused more problems than I should of for flyingchickens Korea, particularly when they invaded China and formed the Republic of China when no real cause existed to do so (in an area with little capacity for waging a modern war). When I looked back at the NES soon after he quit, it came as a wakeup call for me, and I began revising and changing my processes and outlook on NESing and NESes. The latter half of A Brave New World saw me put in numerous new behind the scenes things, including increasing use of RNG to determine election results and so forth. After A Brave New World Part 2 ended, I began looking for a way to eliminate myself from the equation, in a manner of speaking, to minimize the amount of intervention into which I would have to partake. Running the Beginning of the World as We Know it gave me insight into how it could be done, and the net conclusion became Capto Iugulum. Which leads us away from the discussion of the past, to my current philosophies on NESing and how I conduct my new NES.
First, and most importantly, is the role of the moderator in NESing. Ideally, the first moderators in NESing were supposed to simply prevent the stories of the writers from conflicting with other stories. They were supposed to prevent bias and so forth. Writing updates was never actually part of it. I feel that the way I moderate now is a throwback to the olden days in a manner of speaking. While stats and maps have become more sophisticated, and updates have come into being, I feel that my role in the NES is to weld together the various orders, combined with RNG results into something resembling a story. On the odd occasion, I believe that a moderator must step in on occasion to block unrealistic or unreasonable actions by an involved player. When this situation emerges I will immediately PM the player and inform them of the error of their ways. Based on my experience, a moderator intervening due to personal bias is a dangerous road and should be avoided at all costs. A moderator should be completely open and honest about his processes and, if asked, reveal them to the players of his NES. Above all, a moderator shouldnt solely focus on the details of a turn, but should ponder upon the implications for the future.
Now, about you. Yes, all of you who play in NESes. I believe most of us are now adult or at least very nearly adults. Even if you arent, youre online not only looking at porn. That puts you a step ahead of your peers alone. Regardless, we all have a hobby in common, and with in our interests converge. There should be a level of honor among NES players between each other. Not saying there isnt any honor among you lot, (It warmed my heart seeing the amicable way the Durrani-Persian War was handled between das and Terrance888) but this is simply addressing the way I feel about the issue. Even when conniving against each other, relations between players should never be determined by their actions in an NES. If you want to hate someone for being a pompous ass who writes about how there should be honor, go right ahead. In other words, if you want to hate someone, keep it out of playing NESes and in neschat where it belongs. If I, who can be an extremely petty and frequently angry person, can try to get past my dislikes to moderate without bias, then yall sure can. Otherwise, treat your moderators and fellow players with respect, and the forums as a whole will be enriched by it.
To me NESes have always been about the Story part of the title. Ive vociferously protested against what I called board game NESes, and once upon the time I waged a crusade against them. Since then Ive come to terms with the fact that NESes ARE a game. Theres no denying that most of us, when playing, are focused on increasing their own power and influence as a nation. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, I believe that an inherent story exists in every NES, regardless of how gamey it may be. Until my involvement with STRATFOR, I had no words which I could put to describe NESes and what they were. Today I have determined that NESes, even at their most basic levels, are the purest form of geopolitics. Therefore the story which exists in every NES is the story of nations and the world in which they exist. Nations, players, and governments all come and go, but the same goals and stories remain. While the players have the luxury of being able to focus on the story of their nation if they choose, and whether it fails or succeeds, a moderator must always keep at least one eye on the overarching story of the world. Regardless of how the players view the NES and their own styles of play, the moderator is the one responsible for keeping it a realistic and coherent story in the long run.
Finally, the RNG is one of the tools I now extensively use in moderating my NESes. I used them to determine regime change, victors in battle, random events (natural disasters, acts of god, and the like), the results of player domestic orders, NPC actions, and pretty much everywhere a moderator decision on course of events is required. Now, taken alone, if I used the same scale for every situation, this is madness. A period in ABNW Part 2 can speak for that. According to Jason the King, Not everything is random. Hes right, but sometimes everything doesnt go as expected. Every once in a while the wrong person wins an election and strange things happen. What should happen, typically never does. No one would have predicted the rise of the Nazis in 1910 and in 1970, the idea that China could have been a powerhouse would have been equally absurd. When something is done that could have a variety of results, I simply spend some time thinking of what possibilities there are, assign them each a likelihood of occurrence and then let the RNG do its job. Yes, there is a degree of fiat here, but overall the actual course of events is taken out of my hands. I have no set formulas for anything outside of yearly random events (which are in fact, random) and events based on stability. Unexpected and unthinkable events happen quite frequently in history. Not on the grand, geopolitical scale but definitely on more regional and localized ones. As moderator, I feel it is my job to integrate the events created by my parameters combined with RNG into the overall theme. This is of course in combination with a series of requisites I have set to allow for progression of geopolitical themes, once they are fulfilled at home.
There you have it. Everything about me, what Ive done, what Im doing, and how I believe it should be done. As everyone does, I naturally think my way is best. Regardless, I listen to criticism when someone actually says it to me. Occasionally, I even change my ways and mind based on what they say. Ive put all my cards on the table for all of you, and everything you see here is everything there is. If you disagree with it, feel free to tell me why, and/or dont participate in my NESes. I could address each of you who others claim have been badmouthing me specifically, but Id rather, if you do have legitimate criticism of me, to come out and tell me to my face of No-Bark right here, in this very thread. As a note to everyone else, if the said critics fail to come out, then they are obviously full of crap and not worth your time and especially not worth my time. While I confess that I have never been and will likely never be perfect, I believe Im now closer to it than I have been before.
Other than that, if you have a different idea of what NESing is, what it should be, etc, feel free to post, Id love to hear some actual, deep thought on this. Nothing like irrelevant to the real world philosophy and theories to get the get the old brain thinking and debating! Plus it kills time!
First of all, I was in the very first Neverending Story as Italy. At the time I was 14 years old. Since then I have left middle school, gone through all of high school, graduated college with an undergrad degree, and received a certificate for several graduate courses. I have also been married for two years. I have been to three foreign countries, including nearly two months in Russia. I have read too many books of history (scholarly texts and novels), political science, and alternate history to count. Most of these now fill up six full bookshelves liberally spread around my apartment. The short summary: Since I began NESing, my life and my personality has change and evolved quite a bit. Im not the same person I was when I started. Therefore, do not judge me or my NESes, by the way I was before, as I have lived and learned much, even merely in the past year.
Throughout the past nearly ten years, I have always been either actively moderating an NES or preparing to moderate an NES. Im fairly sure that the number of people with the same expanse of experience still active in moderating NESes are countable on a single hand (if there are any). I have launched around a hundred NESes in this span of time, all with varying degrees of success and failure (most of them failures within first 5 updates). I confess that when I lose interest in an NES, I let it die, but that has never been what I view as a mistake (in most cases). Regardless, I have committed many errors in my time moderating, and I confess, most of these are ones which a moderator should never, ever do. So, let me list for you exactly what such things I have knowingly done through the years. If you hear something not on this list, I assure you it was either because the gossiper misinterpreted my actions or is simply the above written high school female with as much sense as hamster. Lastly, I apologize to those affected by the below actions, regardless of how long ago they took place.
1. In Return to Our Roots NES 2 (2002-2003) I went out of my way to sabotage erez87s nations because of some slight that he perpetrated. Try as I might, I cannot recall what I thought he did. AnarchyRulz received similar treatment because I didnt like him on a personal level. In this NES, I shamelessly buffed up and supported my nation (yes, I played in my own NES) against players. Finally, I apparently was engaged in some sort of flame war with a guy named lmsw. Not sure if he or I started it, but we engaged in extreme hate on the NES thread, probably shouldnt have.
2. From the end of 2003 to the middle of 2005, I launched numerous NESes, most of which didnt last too long. I believe I may have had a couple of long ranting threads here and there against some perfectly nice people who just had different views on what an NES should be. I dont really recall where these threads are or who I ranted against, but they are there, somewhere. As for the NESes themselves, I dont believe I ever actually did anything wrong, mostly because they didnt last very long.
3. In the Shadow of Rome (2005 I think), I determined that I really didnt like nuclear_kid, who had just joined. I visited upon him my moderator wrath.
4. We come to the more recent sins now, in The World Turned Upside Down. Most of what I did here still haunts me and makes me feel that the NES could have been much better if I had gone with my gut instead of caving to various people. I let TheLastJacobite especially, but also Shadowbound and nuclear_kid get away with WAY more than I should have. People may complain about mod-blocking, but this NES needed more of it, not less. I could go into individual things, but Id rather not write a book here.
5. In the first part of A Brave New World (and TWTUD before it) I confess that I typically chose election results (and new monarchs) based solely upon what I felt would be an interesting outcome. I did similar things in regards to all battles and wars which took place in both of those NESes. Furthermore in ABNW I carried on letting TLJ get away with more than I should of, same goes for Shadowbound (before he quit), crezth, and qoou. All four should have been stopped in varying degrees for their assorted actions. The one good thing I could say is that in letting them do what they did, we were provided with a very interesting setup for A Brave New World Part 2.
Immaculate referred to me on my thread as a railroad mod. Others have stated through private messages and instant messaging conversation (Ill respect their rights to remain anonymous) that some individuals refer to me in this manner in their own less than constructive criticism (Its only constructive if you tell me!) of how I moderate.
In all NESes there have been times when Ive missed critical orders by people and did not correct them. In those situations I stand by my actions in response to complaints. Yall arent paying me for the service of moderating an NES, and a good update can take anywhere between 5 to 10 hours of actual working and writing time to complete (longer in some cases). That doesnt include time spent on thinking of potential outcomes and other prep-work which has to be done before I can actually begin updating. I do my best to make sure that all orders at least get looked at, respond to the player if they are actually impossible to carry out, and otherwise include everything you wished to be included. At 3 AM in the morning after 9 hours in which I had been updating, you can bet that something will be missed.
The last thing Ive done knowingly that a moderator should never do was my handling of events in the Chinese Civil War in A Brave New World Part 2. I caused more problems than I should of for flyingchickens Korea, particularly when they invaded China and formed the Republic of China when no real cause existed to do so (in an area with little capacity for waging a modern war). When I looked back at the NES soon after he quit, it came as a wakeup call for me, and I began revising and changing my processes and outlook on NESing and NESes. The latter half of A Brave New World saw me put in numerous new behind the scenes things, including increasing use of RNG to determine election results and so forth. After A Brave New World Part 2 ended, I began looking for a way to eliminate myself from the equation, in a manner of speaking, to minimize the amount of intervention into which I would have to partake. Running the Beginning of the World as We Know it gave me insight into how it could be done, and the net conclusion became Capto Iugulum. Which leads us away from the discussion of the past, to my current philosophies on NESing and how I conduct my new NES.
First, and most importantly, is the role of the moderator in NESing. Ideally, the first moderators in NESing were supposed to simply prevent the stories of the writers from conflicting with other stories. They were supposed to prevent bias and so forth. Writing updates was never actually part of it. I feel that the way I moderate now is a throwback to the olden days in a manner of speaking. While stats and maps have become more sophisticated, and updates have come into being, I feel that my role in the NES is to weld together the various orders, combined with RNG results into something resembling a story. On the odd occasion, I believe that a moderator must step in on occasion to block unrealistic or unreasonable actions by an involved player. When this situation emerges I will immediately PM the player and inform them of the error of their ways. Based on my experience, a moderator intervening due to personal bias is a dangerous road and should be avoided at all costs. A moderator should be completely open and honest about his processes and, if asked, reveal them to the players of his NES. Above all, a moderator shouldnt solely focus on the details of a turn, but should ponder upon the implications for the future.
Now, about you. Yes, all of you who play in NESes. I believe most of us are now adult or at least very nearly adults. Even if you arent, youre online not only looking at porn. That puts you a step ahead of your peers alone. Regardless, we all have a hobby in common, and with in our interests converge. There should be a level of honor among NES players between each other. Not saying there isnt any honor among you lot, (It warmed my heart seeing the amicable way the Durrani-Persian War was handled between das and Terrance888) but this is simply addressing the way I feel about the issue. Even when conniving against each other, relations between players should never be determined by their actions in an NES. If you want to hate someone for being a pompous ass who writes about how there should be honor, go right ahead. In other words, if you want to hate someone, keep it out of playing NESes and in neschat where it belongs. If I, who can be an extremely petty and frequently angry person, can try to get past my dislikes to moderate without bias, then yall sure can. Otherwise, treat your moderators and fellow players with respect, and the forums as a whole will be enriched by it.
To me NESes have always been about the Story part of the title. Ive vociferously protested against what I called board game NESes, and once upon the time I waged a crusade against them. Since then Ive come to terms with the fact that NESes ARE a game. Theres no denying that most of us, when playing, are focused on increasing their own power and influence as a nation. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, I believe that an inherent story exists in every NES, regardless of how gamey it may be. Until my involvement with STRATFOR, I had no words which I could put to describe NESes and what they were. Today I have determined that NESes, even at their most basic levels, are the purest form of geopolitics. Therefore the story which exists in every NES is the story of nations and the world in which they exist. Nations, players, and governments all come and go, but the same goals and stories remain. While the players have the luxury of being able to focus on the story of their nation if they choose, and whether it fails or succeeds, a moderator must always keep at least one eye on the overarching story of the world. Regardless of how the players view the NES and their own styles of play, the moderator is the one responsible for keeping it a realistic and coherent story in the long run.
Finally, the RNG is one of the tools I now extensively use in moderating my NESes. I used them to determine regime change, victors in battle, random events (natural disasters, acts of god, and the like), the results of player domestic orders, NPC actions, and pretty much everywhere a moderator decision on course of events is required. Now, taken alone, if I used the same scale for every situation, this is madness. A period in ABNW Part 2 can speak for that. According to Jason the King, Not everything is random. Hes right, but sometimes everything doesnt go as expected. Every once in a while the wrong person wins an election and strange things happen. What should happen, typically never does. No one would have predicted the rise of the Nazis in 1910 and in 1970, the idea that China could have been a powerhouse would have been equally absurd. When something is done that could have a variety of results, I simply spend some time thinking of what possibilities there are, assign them each a likelihood of occurrence and then let the RNG do its job. Yes, there is a degree of fiat here, but overall the actual course of events is taken out of my hands. I have no set formulas for anything outside of yearly random events (which are in fact, random) and events based on stability. Unexpected and unthinkable events happen quite frequently in history. Not on the grand, geopolitical scale but definitely on more regional and localized ones. As moderator, I feel it is my job to integrate the events created by my parameters combined with RNG into the overall theme. This is of course in combination with a series of requisites I have set to allow for progression of geopolitical themes, once they are fulfilled at home.
There you have it. Everything about me, what Ive done, what Im doing, and how I believe it should be done. As everyone does, I naturally think my way is best. Regardless, I listen to criticism when someone actually says it to me. Occasionally, I even change my ways and mind based on what they say. Ive put all my cards on the table for all of you, and everything you see here is everything there is. If you disagree with it, feel free to tell me why, and/or dont participate in my NESes. I could address each of you who others claim have been badmouthing me specifically, but Id rather, if you do have legitimate criticism of me, to come out and tell me to my face of No-Bark right here, in this very thread. As a note to everyone else, if the said critics fail to come out, then they are obviously full of crap and not worth your time and especially not worth my time. While I confess that I have never been and will likely never be perfect, I believe Im now closer to it than I have been before.
Other than that, if you have a different idea of what NESing is, what it should be, etc, feel free to post, Id love to hear some actual, deep thought on this. Nothing like irrelevant to the real world philosophy and theories to get the get the old brain thinking and debating! Plus it kills time!
. 
