Embassy of The East Pacific

Catiania · Oct 4, 2020

[size=small][/size]
By y0

Since its introduction to NationStates as an April Fools event in 2018, trading cards has grown to prominence as a subgame with its own community. Several regions including The East Pacific (TEP), 10000 Islands (XKI), and Lazarus (Laz) have each created programmes devoted to cards as regional organizations. Like similar pursuits in Ministries of Culture, however, the cards game is even more fun when it is played interregionally.

We aimed to bring everyone from our respective regions together - whether it was to increase involvement from members already in our associations or to introduce non-cards players to the subgame - we wanted to ensure everyone could parteacipate. The main competeations and events, although cards-oriented, did not require any prior experience of NS Cards.
We focused on three themes: excitement, experience, and community. Without these essential elements, the card game would not be the fun it is.
And of course, we wanted tea bring the tea puns tea the table. No tea partea would be complete without them!

These objectives culminated in Tea House of Cards (THoC), a dozen day tea party that took place from the 9-12 September on Discord and on the NS region sharing the same name. It consisted of three major competitions, cards related games and events, and lectures which you can still read today.

dCsLn2F9ZWrgrrUmLifuB9WSzRBxsQZxJEwAujeLMdDFZ2eyqVNvBfrdYQj8YmxONyTgO1QH-N8Uq5WccwVuW6sRNvbsMkBkjEYvxJX7tzuPQh0gPlj5893H12L98BqDd2CgUkrp

All times in that image are EST.

pull event introduced eleven players to pull events and helped bring more copies of S1 Hesperonis, S1 Mexregionia, S2 Ramaeus, S1 Improving Wordiness, S1 Testlandia, and S2 Testlandia to the world. Congratulations to Virgolia, Fuentana, The Cosmic Mainframe, Noahs Second Country, The Atlae Isles, Pluvie, Constantinolia, Oofery, Catiania, Free Las Pinas for pulling cards during the event.[/size]
A big thanks goes to Feu de Glace and the Atlae Isles for lending some of their cards and Noahs Second Country, Grea Kriopia, and Debussy for co-hosting!

Chasing our own tails
By Cat and Atlae

Hearing this report from their second, Atlae, Overseeing Officer of EPSA, decided that perhaps it would be a good exercise to collectively chase our own tail. How does EPSA, an organisation, chase its tail you ask? Do organisations even have tails, you say? What stupid questions. I decline to answer.

Acronis, Loreintor, Philville2

Catiania, Virgolia

Despite much of the Cat team having little to no chasing experience, they performed admirably, never giving up despite a lack of success. The Mouse team, thoroughly enjoying the uneven playing field, happily collected several hits.

https://www.nationstates.net/region=The_United_Micronations[/SIZE]

After cheerfully chasing ourselves for a while, our game was rudely interrupted by some Grey Wardens and co. Our pivot to a normal tag raid was not as successful as we might have hoped, the tricksy Grey Wardens putting an end to our romp through NationStates.

Atlae, Philville, Virgolia, Bobberino (NPA)

ROM, Konar, Nimarya, Palutenia

What followed was a highly enjoyable competition between friends. The finish was tight, with the night eventually going to EPSA by a close margin.

https://www.nationstates.net/region=puppet[/SIZE]

https://www.nationstates.net/region=the_river_styx[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=overflow[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=spanje[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=just_a_very_humble_region[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=eur0pe[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=islands_of_rock_and_sand[/SIZE]

Defended:https://www.nationstates.net/region=jingoistic_authoritarian_paradise[/SIZE]

https://www.nationstates.net/region=roavin[/SIZE]

https://www.nationstates.net/region=nordic_union[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=tectorin_order[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=hion[/SIZE]

Defended:
https://www.nationstates.net/region=asian_nation[/SIZE]

Of course, these escapades were not the only things EPSA has been getting up to! Here are the rest of the missions completed over these this past month:

Liberated:
https://www.nationstates.net/region=league_of_christian_nations[/SIZE]

Defended:
https://www.nationstates.net/region=soviet_union[/SIZE]
Atlae, Catiania, Songaria, Virgolia, Loreintor + Libcord

September 7th, 2020 - already listed above

September 12, 2020 - already listed above

https://www.nationstates.net/region=soodan[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=the_old_days[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=the_northern_outskirts[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=spectrocity[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=la_republica_de_espanol[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=smol_fur_empire[/SIZE]
Philville2, Virgolia

https://www.nationstates.net/region=eurolympics_king_of_the_hill[/SIZE]
Atlae, Catiania, Virgolia, Loreintor, Philville2, Vorztovia, Arkantis, Acronis + ERN

Liberated: The Writing Nook
Atlae, Virgolia, Philville2, Acronis, Arkantis, Aivintis, Eastern Alksearia, Sokala, Vorztovia

Liberated: Asia
Atlae, Arkantis, Loreintor, Virgolia, Philville2

Liberation: Syria
Atlae, Virgolia + Libcord

https://www.nationstates.net/region=a_brave_new_world[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=oppression_is_the_best[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=windows_nt[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=jack_pine[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=evans_wet_dreamland[/SIZE]
https://www.nationstates.net/region=thecultofcabbage[/SIZE]
Virgolia, Philville2

Smol Fur Empire is a founderless region that due to its late status, has been home to many tag raids. Even the EPSA visited the small, furry region.

But it soon emerged that Smol Fur Empire was being occupied by the large, furry raiders of Lone Wolves United, Social Technocratic Union, and others! Out of sympathy for their small, furry brethren (and totally not because the embassy with Frozen Circle was withdrawn), the EPSA joined the relief effort.

The occupation was large, being the second time since South Pacific when a large group of civilians were recruited for a liberation. The past few updates have been incredibly tight, with defender victory seeming inevitable, while the occupiers stick it out with numerous banjections. As of publication, the battle still wages on.

Either way, it was a fun occasion for both sides to flaunt their power and numbers.

An Epiphany on Democracy
By Inquisitive Examinations

The easy thing to write about would be the massive craters that have dotted The East Pacific and many of its allies and the radiation spread throughout. But Tretrid did a fine job and wrote two

[size=small]An unprecedented TWELVE individuals have accepted their nominations to run for Delegate. In order to be a fair, balanced, and very very objective news source, we will inquisitively examine each and every candidate.

Acronis
In their campaign election as Provost, however, Acronis withdrew his campaign.

Eastern Alksearia
In their campaign, they listed what direction they would take each Ministry.

Evrigenis
In their campaign, they progressed the merger of The East Pacific into the AI hivemind by creating election.exe. Top scientists have yet to decipher what secrets it may contain.

Great Algerstonia
In their campaign campaign campaign], the parrot also creates a catchy hashtag while running for re-election.

Marrabuk
In their campaign, they come out of retirement to offer a different vision for TEP.

New Leganes
In their campaign, they offer an inspiring story of how their time in TEP and their ideas forward.

Pakitsk
In their campaign, they railed against heresy against Ademar, starting with the doubleposters on the RMB.

Taduwe
In their campaign, they promised to convert TEP to raiderism and Violetism, as well as banning many things.

The Atlae Isles
In their campaign, they note they had written a campaign but it had been stolen. Any rumors of military dictatorship have remained unconfirmed.

Zukchiva
In their campaign, the primary challenger to Libertanny last election honked into a tape recorder.and made a campaign.

First thing to note is that a lot of these campaigns were long. Zukchiva noted that his campaign was 11 pages long, down from last election, when it was 19. But the length only serves to hide a casual mindset that serves to doom TEP in the long run.

So we have seven Deputy Ministers jockeying for Delegate. Great. But wait. Out of those 10, FIVE are Viziers (or Delegate), and SIX are EPSA (Zuk is actually a Vizier and an EPSA soldier). Over half

[size=small]What we see here is the formation of an oligarchy. So many are appointed Deputy Minister to assure their place in government. One might even call this meritocracy. The East Pacific has 9000+ nations, yet only these forum elites and their cabal?

The East Pacific may claim to be vibrant and bursting with activity. But we all know that something is rotten within. Stagnation is the natural state of TEP, and the activity is just a ploy to lure in unsuspecting nations and kill their creativity and capability for self-thought as they mindlessly bow towards their avian overlords and its allies.

How dare TEP have candidates who deign to be active? How dare these fools take TEP into a completely new direction, invigorating it with new life instead of wallowing in its pit like the good little region it is? How dare TEP have new friends with all these...lesser regions? The East Pacific has debased itself, preferring to play in a lower level than the rest.

appear

bloated

people

Fedele was one of the best Delegates The East Pacific ever had. He was not afraid to show TEP what it should be, a region slowly simmering over a dying fire, and point out the oligarchy that opposed him. Alas, forces of other NationStates regions rushed in to jockey their ideas.

The anniversary of that day, October 14th, approaches. When we bow our heads in remembrance, we must remember not only those we have lost on that day, but also The East Pacific that could have been. For as much hate as we can pile on them from EnnEssGeePee, they will choose their own direction.

That does not mean we should not fight.

citizenship and we can shape The East into what we know best for them.

Catiania · Nov 4, 2020

A Production of the Ministry of News and Records

The East Pacific News Service

October, 2020

Foreign Affairs In the East PacificTwo: TEP VALUES GOVERNMENTAL AND REGIONAL COLLABORATION.Three: Quality > QuantityFour: GCRs are equal to UCRsIn Conclusion

[size=xx-large]1 Infinite Loop - the Legend Lives

By Evrigenis
1 Infinite Loop local library to find out more about the founder of the East Pacific. Strolling among the first aisle, I quickly found several volumes on the subject. What I could read was entertaining as expected. However, much of the history that I wanted was absent. A bit disappointed, I went to the information desk and asked if there were possibly other places to locate information concerning Loop. The Nekomini librarian gave me a couple suggestionshadwas terrified that he would blame me for forcing him to come back. And of course he did

Delegate Election Rundown

[size=xx-large]Interview with Fedele

By Aivintis

It is worth noting that the following interview was more of a structured dialogue with Fedele, and that it took place back in June. The following account has been edited to preserve the flow and manage grammar, but the information itself remains the same. The contents of this interview are not necessarily objectively truthful, so readers are advised to take this with a grain of salt.

[size=xx-large]The Vice-Delegacy - is it harming the East Pacific?itselfTHE VICE-DELEGACY: SECOND IN COMMANDPROBLEMS WITH THE VICE-DELEGACYselectTHE SOLUTIONS

[size=xx-large]An Overview of Libertanny's Term

Catiania · Dec 2, 2020

[size=xx-large][size=xx-large]The East Pacific News Service[/size][/size]
December 1, 2020

A Message From The Editor
By Tretrid

April Fools edition, where I jokingly resigned my post.

Well, the last time I wrote a serious message was the November 2019 Issue

A lot has happened in that year, for sure. The EPNS has grown and has been given a life on its own. The November 2019 issue, which I considered long at the time, is dwarfed by more recent issues. The September issue was so long that the version prepared for the NS forums had to be submitted in two parts to accommodate character limits.

While the volume of EPNS articles has been growing, I find my personal contribution shrinking. After all, I used to consistently write two articles nearly every issue, but recently my main contribution has been editing together the articles into an issue and making sure the code works.

The new EPNS editor, Eunopiar, is quite qualified to replace me. After all, Eunopiar (also known as Aga) is the current Editor-in-Chief of The Rejected Times, and has already given a comprehensive plan for the future of EPNS. He has largely learned the ropes of his new position, and was largely behind the production of the October issue. He has already produced a rather ambitious plan for the EPNS, so expect some significant changes to how the News Service is run.

Three Things to Expect from the Eastern Pacific News Service
By Eunopiar

Not long ago, I was appointed as the Minister of News and Records by Serge, with a promise to execute a plan which will revitalize the Eastern Pacific News Service (EPNS). Some of these things have been tried and tested with other news organizations, and some of these things will take the EPNS into completely new territory. Anyway, here are three things you can expect from the News Service in the near future.

One: Article by Article Publication

This is beneficial as it allows authors to start writing articles whenever, without being tied to a monthly schedule, and it spreads the editing work throughout the month.

Two: A New Magazine

The EPNS Editorial team are excited to announce the re-birth of the EPNS Magazine. Compared to previous editions, this will contain all articles that have been published by EPNS in the previous month. It will be published at the start of each month, and will hopefully bring some articles to life.

Three: More Writing Events

Interview with Tretrid
By Wille-Harlia

Wille-Harlia: First off, how did you discover NationStates?

Tretrid: There was an xkcd webcomic, I noticed NS on it, and I got curious and checked it out.

Wille-Harlia: Interesting. Was your first nation founded in TEP, or did you move to TEP sometime after you first started playing?

Tretrid: There's actually quite an interesting story behind that. My nation was founded in TEP, but I ended up moving to some random UCR that died out, so I moved back to TEP. I then lost interest in NS and let it CTE, and then I rejoined a few months later and rejoined TEP.

Wille-Harlia: Very cool. When was this? And have you been in TEP ever since?

Tretrid: Well, I rejoined TEP around late summer of 2016, and I became a citizen in fall of 2016. I've been part of TEP ever since, except for an absence from late 2018 to October of 2019.

Wille-Harlia: And when exactly did you become the Minister of News and Records?

Tretrid: I applied to join the Executive almost as soon as I got my citizenship again in 2019. I applied to join the Ministry of Information and Communications, among other things, because I had written several articles for the EPNS back in 2018. Anyway, after then-Minister Mecovy resigned, Delegate Marrabuk appointed me to be Minister. Oddly enough, this was only a couple of weeks after I rejoined TEP.

Wille-Harlia: Now that's a quick rise if ever seen one. Do you think that your appointment was a result of your articles for the EPNS, anything you did in TEP from 2016-2018, a combination of both, or something else entirely?

Tretrid: I believe my appointment was largely a result of my experience in the Executive, especially the EPNS. Throughout 2017 and 2018, I worked in multiple ministries in the Executive, and one of the things I did was help revive the EPNS in November 2017 (why is it always November). I ended up serving under then-Ministers Serge and Mecovy, and I contributed plenty of articles to it. When I rejoined the Executive in 2019, one of the things I really wanted to do was to help revive the EPNS again. Then-Minister Mecovy had the same goal and had made the first steps, and since my main goal of reviving the EPNS was the same (combined with my previous experience writing both articles and publishing issues), it seems like Marrabuk thought me the most suitable choice to replace Mecovy.

Wille-Harlia: Reviving EPNS sounds like a monumental task. How exactly did you go about doing that?

Tretrid: Well, I had created certain bbcode templates for formatting EPNS back in those days of 2017-18, and my first thought was to just copy over those templates. Of course, since the way Tapatalk implements forum code is different from the old forum system, Zetaboards, we had to make some changes. In the end, there were some changes in the ways we handled headers, and we also changed the heading banner of the EPNS to incorporate the new compass symbol of the new flag of TEP.

Wille-Harlia: And after that, it was merely a matter of recruiting writers?

Tretrid: Well, since I was appointed Minister around mid-late October, I decided that there was no way I could be producing an article in time for the end of the month, so I decided to aim to produce the first EPNS issue in November. This gave me quite a bit of wiggle room, and after some effort and recruitment I had enough articles to create an EPNS issue. However, I have to say that in the first several months, the most difficult part of running the EPNS was getting enough people to write enough articles.

Wille-Harlia: So, seeing how the EPNS has reached a decent activity level, with monthly issues containing 3-4+ articles, do you have any other plans for the Ministry?

Tretrid: Well, I'm actually going to be stepping down from my position as Minister at the end of the month, so if you want future plans, you should probably ask Aga.

Wille-Harlia: Interesting. I suspected as much, given how on the EPNS nation, the leader recently changed from yourself to Aga. Given that, what do you see yourself doing next in TEP, if anything?

Tretrid: I'll probably step back and be doing less things in NS for now, though I plan on still serving as Vizier. Of course, I will probably continue participating in TEP Forum RP.

Wille-Harlia: Nice. Just two more questions. First, what is your favorite part of TEP? Second, it seems to be a custom that TEP leaders are represented by animals. Marrabuk is a horse, Libertanny is a parrot, and Zukchiva is a duck. What animal do you think you would be?

Tretrid: A few months ago, I would probably say the Executive, but right now, I think my favorite part of TEP is forum RP. There's something special about creating a realistic, internally consistent world and being very much a part of it. Also, if I were an animal I would probably be some sort of bird of prey. Though I have no intentions on adopting an animal persona anytime soon.

Thank you Tretrid for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions, and thank you for your insight into your history in NationStates and your job!

Kidnappings and Executions: A Primer To The Second Alksearian-Balistrian War
By SirShadow

The year 2020 has been an interesting time for the nations on Urth, and no country is safe from the curse. Alksearia and Balistria are no exceptions. In the RP thread, Of Bears and Elves, we see the Council of Viziers in Balistria holding a vote on what to do about Alksearia. As Balistria is a fanatic democracy nation, they saw the dual role of the monarchy and the Parliament of Alksearia as a threat to democracy. As the story unfolded, we see the King of Alksearia, Eldras VI, be contacted by a mysterious source where he goes to the Asendavian embassy and gets kidnapped.

Why I stuck the East Pacific - reasons that I remained on NationStates
By Catiania

The point here, which I seem to have lost in the RMB history somewhere, is that despite not knowing anything about NS mechanics and talking only through the RMB, people in TEP cured me, showed me what was going on, and then I could help them. This, I think, was an early display of the cooperative, helpful and generally nice attitude that TEPers have towards each other, and especially newcomers. This is probably the most important factor that kept me in TEP.

Factionalism and the Three East Pacifics: Bridging Gaps Between Communities
By Tretrid

(Disclaimer: This is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Eastern Pacific News Service as a whole.)

There is a problem with the East Pacific that has been plaguing the region for years. One that made the region vulnerable to a coup, one that poses such a problem that multiple delegate campaigns have been run over it.

This problem is factionalism.

It is worth asking this question: what is

The Three East Pacifics

The first of the three communities was Forum RP, also sometimes called TEP Evolved. It found its origin in the formative days of The East Pacific, when the region was under the Delegacy of 1 Infinite Loop. At the time, it was perhaps the one distinguishing thing about the East Pacific.

Of course, TEP Evolved has, well, evolved

Forum RP is mainly centered around the Urth map, and the vast majority of Forum RP happens there. Since the community shares a planet, much effort is made to make a consistent, coherent, shared history, and worldbuilding is highly emphasized. There are AUs that have other technology levels and such, but they are significantly less popular than Urth RP.

The use of the forums as a platform for RP has also largely shaped the community. Threads allow people to focus on one RP at a time. The posts are generally long, but they often take a long time to write.

Things have changed since the first democratic elections in TEP in 2009. After all, under Mexregiona, the Executive was largely overhauled and became much more than just the Delegate and advisors. This new Executive consisted of Ministries led by Ministers appointed by the Delegate.

Each one of these Ministries has their own purpose, and is overseen by one Minister each. Under the Minister is (usually) at least one Deputy Minister, and they oversee the staffers.

RMB RP is highly decentralized, and uses more than one setting. One of the main worlds in RMB RP is Valsora, which is set in MT and sees a large portion of RMB RP activity. However, other people can set up other maps, and these other settings tend to see plenty of activity.

In 2019, the RMB RP community had a somewhat central Discord server, but nowadays most RMB RPers do the vast majority of their chatting on the RMB itself.

The RMB itself is very active, and for non-RMBers, it is better thought of as something more akin to an extremely active Discord server than the forum-like aspects of the RMB may indicate.

Why is Factionalism a Problem?

Even though it failed, the coup shows just how dangerous factionalism is. It is no fluke that Fedele and his co-conspirators did all the work they did to stir up animosity within the region. Factionalism makes TEPer hate TEPer, and can make TEPers distrustful of the government, which makes it vulnerable. While a united TEP is very formidable, a divided TEP is much more susceptible to attack.

Mending the Divides

one East Pacific, and that we are all on the same side.

However, words can only get us so far. Though the results of the coup largely ended a lot of the open animosity between the communities, the underlying problems that caused it remain. There is a lack of communication between the three communities, and a lot of users stick to only one community due to how much goes on in each one of them. It is rare for any user to be active in all three at once.

The result of this is that the three communities are still rather separate. After all, they share very few people, and a lot of people are disinterested in joining another part of TEP.

At the beginning of November, Delegate Libertanny held a conference with representatives from these three communities to discuss the lingering divides. The representatives all found common ground, and all agreed that a lack of communication was the main factor in factionalism.

The conference also provided some insight into the perspectives of the other communities. It was here that we discussed how the government seems opaque and inaccessible to the RMB, how forum RP and government rarely interact with the RMB, and how RMBers tend to dislike the forums.

And with these steps, we can truly move forward to a stronger, more united TEP.

A Region Undivided
By Zukchiva

GOVERNMENT

REGIONAL MESSAGE BOARD ROLEPLAY

The second contribution of the RMB was to run heavy unendorsement campaigns against Fedele, and endorsement campaigns of loyal East Pacificans. The constant spirit of patriotism shown by the RMB played an important part in moving many World-Assembly residents to action, which led to Fedele losing nearly 200 endorsements in a single day.

Forum Roleplay

The Forum Roleplay community played a heavy role in fighting against Fedele as well.

One of the most important roles the Forum community played during the coup was its constant voice-chats on Discord. Through these voice-chats, roleplayers actively discussed the coup, helped the government plan against Fedele, and offered advice to many citizens. All of this helped raise distrust of Fedele within the East Pacific, which meant that over time the coup grew less and less effective.

Forum RP would also hold a massive voice-chat during the coup itself, providing a safe haven for many East Pacificans, away from the main server where Fedele and Co. were actively posting. In short, Forum RP helped to coordinate many citizens in fighting the coup, which further helped the East Pacific fight the coup game-side.

IN SUMMARY

Each sub-community within the East Pacific fought hard and valiantly against the coup in their own way. However, one of the most important aspects to note about the coup was that it united the East Pacific under one banner. No matter what sub-community they belonged to, each citizen and resident fought for their region.

The Postmodern Diplomat: Cultures of The East Pacific
By Cassie

Which brings me to the point of my column: culture and The East Pacific. Enter Dylan and Great Morstaybishlia.

This is a nation (or, more accurately, a group of nations including Staynes

For example, Great Morstaybishlia has a long, tasty history. Ancient cuisine has been refined over the centuries by colonialism and trading, and further refined by wars and rations. Notably, the cultures of Acronis and New Leganes have heavily influenced Morst cooking; squid baguettes involve imported ingredients from New Leganes, which heavily evolved from simple roast meats and vegetables from ancient Morst societies. And of course, there are still the traditional dishes still beloved in Great Morstaybishlia today: hobstiberry pie is probably the most beloved Morst dessert, prepared from berries cultivated in South Staynes.

avatars? that have warmly welcomed me into their community.

Pinkies Out,
President Cassie Celeste
of Greater New Cassandra

Catiania · Feb 3, 2021

The 14th Edition of EPNS is here, and it's a MAGAZINE!

The magazine which is pretty and has pictures can be found at this link.
The boring plain text version is here .

Catiania · Mar 19, 2021

Hello friends! Today I have for you EPNS, now on Google Sites, just to keep you on your toes!
link!

Catiania · May 31, 2021

Hello my Lazarene friends, a new edition of EPNS is out!

Have a peek on the dispatch, and our forum!

Catiania · Jul 31, 2021

The East Pacific News Service

|Home || Current Issue || Archives || Our Staff || SwiftNews Editor's Note: This article was edited especially for NS forum readers. The original, unedited version may be seen here.

The East Pacific News Service
July 31, 2021

Atlae Elected Delegate by Slim Margin, Transition Begins

FEATURE | BY: Tretrid | Edited by: Zukchiva | You can read more about our authors by clicking on the "Our Staff" tab at the top

As a result of the latest round of June Delegate elections, erstwhile Overseeing Officer Atlae has become Delegate-elect, beginning the transition process for the Delegacy.

As per schedule, the East Pacific began its latest Delegate elections for June with nominations beginning on June 1st and lasting for a week.

Outgoing Delegate Zukchiva made it abundantly clear that he was not going to seek a second term well before the elections started. That left the Delegacy essentially up for grabs.

Here is a list of every person nominated during the nomination period: (Editor's note: There's a big gap here. I don't know why. This is only in the NS Forum edition.)

[TABLE=collapse]
[TR]
[TD]Nominee (Forum Username)[/TD]
[TD]Response[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]AC5250[/TD]
[TD]Accepted[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Acronis[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Aggie[/TD]
[TD]Undisclosed[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Algerstonia[/TD]
[TD]Accepted[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]A Mean Old Man[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Asendavia[/TD]
[TD]Undisclosed[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Atlae[/TD]
[TD]Accepted[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Aurora Yukihime[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bachtendekuppen[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dylan[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]East Malaysia[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]GioSivo[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Libertanny[/TD]
[TD]Accepted[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mangegneithe[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Marrabuk[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nociav[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]packilvania[/TD]
[TD]Undisclosed[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pakitsk[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sammy23[/TD]
[TD]Accepted[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]SirShadow[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Taduwe[/TD]
[TD]Accepted[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Todd McCloud[/TD]
[TD]Undisclosed[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]vw53a[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wallenburg[/TD]
[TD]Declined[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]YSG Hermitcraft[/TD]
[TD]Accepted[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Zukchiva[/TD]
[TD]Withdrawn[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Zukchiva initially accepted a nomination so he could open a thread in the Delegate Elections subforum. This thread was to act as a Questions & Answers session with him, and Zukchiva later withdrew his nomination.

The two primary campaigns of note in this election were those of Overseeing Officer Atlae and that of Vizier Sammy, both experienced and qualified candidates in their own right. Other candidates of note include the up-and-coming YSG Hermitcraft and joke campaigns from Taduwe, Algerstonia, and ArenaC.

Former Delegate Libertanny also ran as a sort of “safety” candidate in case either Sammy or Atlae had to withdraw. Libertanny asked voters not to rank him first, but to rank him second or third instead.

Despite Libertanny’s fears and the massive slew of candidates, the region’s attention mainly fell on Sammy and Atlae, who wrote extremely long-winded campaigns to comprehensively cover a cascading range of issues. They covered what essentially amounted to every issue that faced The East Pacific, while also putting forth their desired structure for the Executive. Many questions were, of course, asked to further clarify their policies.

When voting came around a week later on June 8th, it seemed mostly that Atlae and Sammy would continue to dominate the elections. For the first time since October 2019 (when Marrabuk was elected Delegate), elections did not conclude within the first round of vote counting.

Sammy won a plurality of votes in the first round, but he did not win within the first round since he did not gain a majority of votes. The procedure for Instant-Runoff voting was thus initiated, and extra rounds and vote counting continued until there was a clear winner.

In the end, there was. Atlae ended up with 19 votes just enough to gain a majority and edge Sammy from victory. These margins were the slimmest margins a TEP Delegate had been elected by to date.

The Delegate transition immediately commenced after then-Viceroy Wallenburg announced the official results. Atlae, as Overseeing Officer of the EPSA, did not have World Assembly membership on his main nation, so he had to start from a grand total of 0 endorsements. Two weeks later sees Atlae gaining close to the 500 endorsement mark- a great improvement but a yet incomplete transition.

While Atlae is still Delegate-Elect, he has fully assumed the role of legal Delegate within the Executive and has already announced his new Cabinet. There remains a lot of work to be done, but Atlae and his picks have already begun their labor to improve the region. EPNS wishes the Cabinet and Atlae good luck on their endeavors during the remaining four month period.

A Social Analysis of the Summer Election's Outcome

FEATURE | BY: Vanzeria | Edited by: Zukchiva

After the recent elections on TEP, Atlae rises victorious with 19 voices against Sammy, who earned 18 voices. Out of curiosity, the 48 electors were asked the reasons of their votes. Only 10 responded.

Two voices emerged from the responses: One voice was happy with the outcomes, and Atlae's win as Delegate. Some of these voters testified that they voted for Atlae due to the importance of the Army, and for proposing more relatively realistic projects compared to other candidates.

The other voice was surprised to see the election's outcome, and would have preferred to seen Sammy win instead. Some voters testified that the voting system was unfair, due to Sammy having a relative majority on 4 rounds out of 5, with Atlae only winning with the absolute majority in the 5th round with only one vote to spare.

Some other people decided to abstain, due to some other factors. Among them :

- All the candidates were equally respected, hence said voters had no preferences,
- The voter was a candidate and didn't want to influence the elections.

However, due to the small amount of voters who voted for a specific candidate (41 ± 2), and the smaller amount of answers (11 ± 0), these survey results should be taken with a lot of caution and not representative of the majority of TEP's mindset!

So, throughout this study, it appears that, even if it is widely accepted, the Atlae's win as Delegate doesn't make full consensus.

The Problem With An Unaligned Focus

FEATURE | BY: Zukchiva | Edited by: Albrook

The East Pacific has, for the most part, remained an unaligned region since its founding two decades ago. However, our region does sometimes lean ideologically in one way or another- sometimes being completely neutral from the battlefield, sometimes leaning raider, and sometimes leaning defender. While these changes in ideological leans were numerous, TEP has almost always remained content with applying no label to itself.

While unalignment has always existed beyond the East Pacific, it has not always remained a big force in the R/D battlefield. Traditionally, unaligned regions like TEP took a background supporting role to Raiders and Defenders- the main stars of the battlefield. However, with Raiderdom currently lapsing, the unaligned/Independent sphere (namely with Thaecia, Europeia, The North Pacific, Caer Sidi, and the East Pacific) has begun to emerge from the shadows as a unified faction.

This growing faction has let our region coordinate with other unaligned or Independent regions in ways we have been unable to do so before. For a large part, this causes excitement. Afterall, multiple Delegate campaigns during the last election called for focusing on cooperation with the unaligned sphere. It’s a no-brainer: let’s work with our own kind!

But there lies a problem.

When we say “unalignment”, unalignment can mean many things. The penultimate fact is that while a region can be officially unaligned, its previous ideologies and historical relations can severely change the way it views R/D. The East Pacific has always remained special in this way with how we dip into a variety of ideological perspectives.

Part of that is simply because the East Pacific doesn’t put any great weight into any ideology nor sphere. Raiders, Defenders, Imperialists, Independents- we’ve always attempted to interact equally with all these kinds of regions and more. Additionally, while our military may engage in more raiding than defending or vice versa at certain points in time, there is almost always an attempt to make sure we’re working with all our allies militarily when we have an opportunity to do so. This versatility of The East Pacific’s foreign affairs and military operations can be seen with how TEP is perceived: some people think we’re Raider-sympathetic, others believe we are fully Defender. In short, TEP is not constrained to a singular ideology but is rather neutral to all of them.

This leads to the big issue with a focus on cooperating with unaligned/Independent regions. While the day is still young and this sphere hasn’t held the spotlight for too long, the fact is hyper-focusing on this sphere could limit our region’s options with our regional relations. Why? Because factually speaking, bulking up on relations with a specific sphere has a lot of effects. We may begin to have weaker relations with our more ideological friends by focusing on the unaligned sphere- leading to more chances for miscommunication. This could snowball to lost or lessened relations in the future- especially with our Defender allies who often have a negative perception of the unaligned sphere. Not to mention that our regional culture can also be affected based on our long-term relations, and we can eventually see ourselves firmly integrated into the unaligned sphere and nowhere else. In other words, we lose our balanced unalignment in favor of cooperating primarily with fellow unaligned regions.

Now, this is not to say that our region should not work with the unaligned sphere. It’s awesome to work with regions more similar to our own thinking and in times when Raiderdom isn’t as active, only natural. My primary fear is if Defenderdom begins to weaken or if Raiderdom starts to strengthen… will we return to working semi-equally with Defenders and Raiders? Or will we cease cooperating with Defenders/Raiders as we turn our eyes to operations with our fellow unaligned regions?

This is probably an unwarranted concern. Our region has leaned multiple ways in the past, why would it stick with focusing on one sphere? My answer is that the unaligned sphere is so much more similar to us than regions in the Raider or Defender sphere. It isn’t a big leap of faith for our region to start adopting to working more and more with unaligned regions until they become our closest allies- leaving our current allies in the dust.

That being said, ultimately maybe this is just a bunch of fearful nothing. Our military will probably start working with Defenders more if Raiders do start appearing again. But maybe it will not. So while there is always a benefit with focusing on cooperating with unaligned regions, we should keep in mind the problems that come with an Unaligned focus and the limits it may place upon our region. Ultimately, we should continue our policy regarding ideology as we always have post-coup: pay it no heed. Then we will have no problems with our regional focus.

Force: The Instant Shift from Impending Ally to Condemnation

FEATURE | BY: Albrook | Edited by: The Atlae Isles and Pledonia | You can read more about our authors by clicking on the "Our Staff" tab at the top

In the last edition, I wrote an article on the everyday duties of the TEP diplomats in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FA). In specific summary, I wrote that the Senior Diplomats meet to discuss in the event of diplomatic crises. On May 29, indeed, something happened. The Union of Force, a potential social ally to TEP via The Consortium – an interregional social organization, caused major upset in its handling of refounding The Socialist Syndicalist Union (TSSU) and grossly mishandling the resulting fallout.

A full chronicle of the events, featuring Force’s motives, actions, and other communities’ reactions and sanctions, is available on NationStates Today. While my original intention for this article was a chronicle of events as shown here, Quebecshire does due justice in factually explaining the situation. If you are unfamiliar with the events, I highly recommend giving this article a read before continuing. This article instead focuses on TEP’s eventual response. On June 1, TEP ultimately decided to end its relationship with Force. This was no easy decision, and is the result of days of deliberation. TEP condemns seven actions from Force. I will address these in three groups.

Constant changes in Force's narrative of the situation;
Threats by the Founder of Force towards an ally and former Delegate;
The Founder of Force bringing Out-Of-Character into an In-Character diplomatic situation;
Failure to properly and publicly apologize to sides offended by Out-Of-Character claims and threats;
Diplomatic threats within the most recent statement coming from the Government of Force;
Force's failure to condemn Founder's actions;
Failure on the part of all involved to take responsibility for the situation.

If you asked each Force government official what happened on May 29, I bet you would have gotten several different answers. During the public Force Press Conference on May 29, the Press Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister explain that the TSSU raid and the proposed referendum, voting on admitting TSSU into the Union of Force, was a joke and miscommunication by Minister of Foreign Affairs Krovx and Founder Renegalle. Time would eventually reveal, however, that the only miscommunication was between the non-existent Force military chain of command and the rest of the regional government. This was just one of the few discrepancies that made it difficult for TEP FA to determined what happened, and ultimately realize how mishandled everything was.

Points 2-4 address some particularly interesting “regional complements” Renegalle made to Xoriet, the New Pacific Order’s Senator of Diplomatic Affairs and former TEP Delegate, off-site that I unfortunately ought not to repeat on NS itself. While unofficial apologies were made, it is very curious that Renegalle and Force, even in its official statement, continued to feel the need to defend such statements as “hyperbole” and “regional dialect”, and never once officially apologized for such actions.

Furthermore, in said official statement, Force officially proclaimed that it may need to consider partnering with blacklisted NS communities if forced to by the mainstream response. I know of nobody personally who believes including such a proclamation in a defensive statement would ever be acceptable or positive.

If you asked any Force citizen what happened on May 29, I bet you would have been told that the actions of a few members of the capitol don’t represent the feelings of the Union of Force. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Never did Force or its member regions condemn or sanction Founder Renegalle for the miscommunications and mishandling. While the truth was eventually coerced from those involved, Force and its government overall played the blame game as to who did what, with nobody taking responsibility. And to that fact, few even took the time, such as the now fired press secretary, to understand what even really happened.

In conclusion, on June 1, after several days of tough conversations, TEP made the hard decision to break ties with Force. This statement was released days after a Joint Statement from the United Regions Alliance and nearly a day after Force’s statement. As cited previously, the lack of clear information and the Force statement’s inability to satisfy TEP’s concerns were key factors into our decision.

TEP realized a community that was a close friend, that we were preparing to align with through Consortium, needs to shape up and deal with egregious internal issues before it is right to continue a relationship. TEP wishes Force well in its journey of self re-discovery and rebranding as a Force for good.

Catiania · Oct 1, 2021

Once again I come to you bearing gifts: EPNS edition 18!
Dispatch - https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1600530
TEP Forum - https://forum.theeastpacific.com/epns-edition-18-t18808.html
NS Forum - https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=39025247#p39025247
Magazine - https://sites.google.com/view/tep-epns-67-2021/home

Catiania · Oct 30, 2021

Welcome to the 19th Edition of the Eastern Pacific News Service! Read within for interview coverage on N-Day 2021, the candidate profiles from the past TEP election, and happenings and opinions on TEP law.

Following the election of the new delegate, Aurora Yukihime of Albrook, and a period of deliberation, The Cabinet of The East Pacific has been announced!

It is as follows:

Chief Minister of Regional Affairs: East Malaysia
Chief Minister of Foreign Affairs: Raiu East
Chief Minister of World Assembly Affairs: Wallenburg
Chancellor of the University of The East Pacific: Aivintis
Overseeing Officer of the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army: The Atlae Isles
Minister of Broadcasting and Information: Eastern Alksearia
Minister of Culture: American-Cascadia
Minister of Publishing: Nociav

In solidarity,
Catiania

Welcome!

Embassy of The East Pacific