Discussion Deadeye Jack for Prime Minister (Dec 2021)

[Deadeye Jack]

Hello everyone!

I've decided to run for PM. If we're being honest with ourselves, Lazarus could be more active than it is right now. We've achieved a sense of stability and that's a good thing for a region that has suffered the upheaval that Lazarus has in NS, but now it's time to take the next steps and build the vibrant community together that Lazarus could have. I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and do the work and I think I can do the most good leading us through these times as PM.

Internal Affairs

This is where I plan on focusing most of my efforts and think Lazarus as a region can most benefit. I have two primary goals:

1. Increase # of discord posts as much as possible on the Lazarene server
2. Increase # of RMB posts as much as possible on the Lazarene RMB

If my time as PM is to be judged as a success or a failure based on anything, I want it to be those two things. Why? I believe that activity breeds more activity and the best place for the community to start that journey is to talk and interact with one another in various, fun ways.

Here are some basic ideas/plans I have to serve these goals:

- Hosting contests (memes, writing, art, flags, etc). The contests will be slower paced so that people have time to take part in the activity. They're pretty simple to run and I already have done a meme contest that I would say was fairly successful https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1627216

- Lazarene Card Stock Ownership Game. This is something we've been discussing and planning in the cards guild channel and was just released today. My hope is that it gives our card players something to work towards and compete over and talk about. As long as people enjoy it we can keep it going. https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1632962

- Regularly held polls and questions of the day. In order, to keep these initiatives flowing we should open up the floor for people to contribute their ideas for polls and questions of the day and keep lists. These will help us to engage people gameside and find out who the most active nations are in the region. Knowing this will help us better target outreach to them and possibly turn them into shareholders and take part in more of the things we have to offer.

This is not an exhaustive list of the activities and things I want to do so don't be offended if I haven't talked about your pet interest. These are just the main initiatives I plan for my administration to focus on. However, anyone who comes to me with a reasonable plan for something that they want to run, I'm willing to have my administration lend support and promote the idea.

Foreign Affairs

Lazarus has generally good or neutral relations with most of the major gameplay regions in NationStates. We also have a good mix of allies and NAP partners. My goal with Foreign Affairs is not to go looking to make more treaties (though I will not prevent things from organically developing). My goal is to nurture and deepen the relationships we already have. This means focusing on cultural cooperation both small and big. We can invite our allies to the contests and other events we're running and they can invite us. And that will help keep our community active and engaged. We can also endeavor to jointly create and run events with our allies.

Aside from this, we need to do some serious housekeeping internally with our Foreign Affairs. From what I've heard described to me by others on discord, it's extremely inactive. People aren't being masked on the Foreign Affairs discord server. Embassy assignments are possibly unstaffed, and from what I can tell we're not exactly distributing information to the world about what Lazarus is up to. I intend to have my administration work through these issues as best it can. I would also like to make publicly available information that has no need to be secret so that the common shareholders of the region can have a better idea of our internal organization without having to sign up to be an ambassador. An example of this would be posting a list of our embassy assignments and who the ambassador is for them that is viewable on the regional forum.

The Regional Guard

Military gameplay is a good way to keep people active on NationStates. The Regional Guard should work with others to conduct anti-fascist operations as much as possible. A good example is the tag run done on November 21st that Jo reported on. There is a lot of appetite for anti-fascist action on NationStates and Lazarus can carve out its place. Having said all that, I believe The Regional Guard should continue to be neutral and follow the current guidelines set out in the Charter of the Lazarene Regional Guard.

Accountability

We've had some discussions about government accountability to the shareholders in the Assembly since I've joined. I think it's important for the shareholders to have an idea of what we are working on and what we have accomplished. I plan to release at least once every two months a report that does just that. It will also include key metrics like discord posts and RMB posts.

Conclusion

These are my goals. I think they're possible but I'm gonna need everyone's help to enact this vision. If you have some of your own ideas that you're passionate about feel free to message me to discuss them. That's about all I have to say. If you have some questions I'm ready to tackle them to the best of my ability.

 

[Apatosaurus]

As a WA nerd ( ), what do you intend to do in relation to our participation in the WA?

 

[Wang Yao]

I can only approve of a revival of our Foreign Affairs department.

As PM would you intend to develop further relations with Balder such as a NAP or another form of Treaty? Also, do you plan on signing peace with the NPO, and if so, do you have any specific plans on this matter (Such as whether the peace would be unilaterally declared by Lazarus if approved by Shareholders or have a joint peace declaration with the NPO leadership, and of course, do we develop relations with the NPO after the war such as a NAP)?

Thank you in advance for your answers and good luck!

 

[Deadeye Jack]

As a WA nerd ( ), what do you intend to do in relation to our participation in the WA?

I wasn't sure where to put this in my platform because it didn't fit neatly anywhere.

I think what Tinhampton is doing right now is good. We should try to drive discussion on WA topics as best we can. Seems like we already have a Ping when new threads get posted up to the forum so that means everyone who already has declared interest in discussion receives a notification. That would mean in order to increase participation we should be focusing on reaching out to nations in the region who are not already part of the offsite and tell them about how we vote and discuss on proposals on our forums.

As far as other WA program things that other regions do like recommendations or drafting help, if there is enough interest in doing that then sure that would be nice. I'm not sure we're there yet though. If our WA interested players come up with a sound plan for outreach or something else, like I said I would be all for working with them and promoting their idea.

Wang Yao's questions, I'll answer those after I get done work. Those are a little more involved and will take more time to write out clearly.

 

[Deadeye Jack]

I can only approve of a revival of our Foreign Affairs department.

As PM would you intend to develop further relations with Balder such as a NAP or another form of Treaty? Also, do you plan on signing peace with the NPO, and if so, do you have any specific plans on this matter (Such as whether the peace would be unilaterally declared by Lazarus if approved by Shareholders or have a joint peace declaration with the NPO leadership, and of course, do we develop relations with the NPO after the war such as a NAP)?

Thank you in advance for your answers and good luck!

Balder is a fellow Sinker like us and it is not inconceivable we could seek to strengthen our relationship with them. The only issue I could potentially see with this is that Balder and Osiris had a falling out and Osiris is one of our Allies. I don't think this should prevent us from charting our own course with Balder but it should be considered were we to embark on creating deeper relations with Balder. As far as doing a NAP or some other treaty, I dislike doing such arrangements before the relationship is better fostered. Assuming there isn't something already in the works treaty wise, I would prefer to start with some kind of cultural or military cooperation (anti-fascist op) before we go to a treaty.

On the NPO, it's my strong opinion that one person should not make the call. There should be a discussion amongst the shareholders as to whether they want to continue the War with the NPO or end it. My own personal view is the NPO has done a lot of damage to Lazarus through the years. Some time has passed since then and many around the world have normalized relations with them, forgiving them of their past misdeeds. Does that mean we should do it because others have? I'm not sure. However, it doesn't look like we're actively taking any action to fight a war against the NPO. And if we're not taking any action against them and don't want to then we should really consider ending the state of war.

Consider this scenario: The NPO creates a Frontier when the feature is implemented by NationStates admin. This Frontier would presumably be vulnerable to attack by the Lazarene Regional Guard and other friends we gather. If you wouldn't want us to conduct such an attack like this for whatever reason, then we should end the War with the NPO. If you have appetite for Lazarus to try to conduct such an attack and think this will be a meaningful action, then we should keep the war going. This is what all shareholders should ask themselves and decide on and then we can let each other know we feel and come to a satisfactory regional policy on this.

If we did decide to end the war with the NPO, I don't think that should mean we pursue meaningful relations with the NPO. For example, even if we ended the war, I would argue we should keep the proscription in place against the NPO. Us ending the war should just be us agreeing we don't plan on meaningfully engaging in War but we also don't particularly want to be best friends. I'm not entirely sure if the NPO has even met all the terms we set out years ago to end the war. As such a big production about the end of the war is not something I would pursue. We quietly would end the war and continue somewhat frosty relations.

 

[Frankender]

What's more important to you: RMB activity or forum activity?

 

[Deadeye Jack]

What's more important to you: RMB activity or forum activity?

Both are important, and the type of activity in each medium differs rather significantly.

RMB activity is important because it's one of the first impressions nations get of our region. We want to put on a good face and we need to engage with people there so that people that aren't already part of our offsite community, will consider joining us on the forums and discord and signing up to be a shareholder so they can get the full Lazarus experience.

Forum Activity is important because it's where all serious discussion about the region takes place. It's where our shareholders gather to make laws and shape the direction of the region. It can also be used to better organize more complex talks and activities. For instance I've always felt like RP for a region is better suited to an organized forum thread style than a never-ending RMB style (of course any region that decides where to host its RP should consider who will participate on the platforms they want to hold it on). I'd also say a game like Werewolf/Mafia would be better on a forum than on the RMB.

Like I said though I think both are important and it's kind of a chicken and the egg situation. An active RMB allows you to observe and engage people who could become shareholders and after outreach is done, that can make your forum more active. Right now I don't think we're doing enough to engage and reach out to people gameside and we're missing out on a lot of potential shareholders because of it.

 

[Frankender]

What makes you a better candidate than Domais?

 

[Deadeye Jack]

What makes you a better candidate than Domais?

I don't really have any interest in trying to put Domais down to make myself look like the better candidate.

I'll just say that I have a track record of accomplishing the things I've set out in my platform. Region building is my favorite aspect of NationStates more than anything. I get excited when I get someone new involved and participation grows in the region. And maybe more importantly, when I get an idea in my head I work on it and make it reality. I came to Lazarus and wanted to do some things so I talked to some people in the region and I worked with them and did them (See the Meme Contest and the Card Stock Ownership game referenced in the OP). I didn't wait around for anyone to do them for me or wait to be part of the cabinet to contribute. That's why I think I'm the best candidate. I can do the things I say I want to, I enjoy doing those things, and I'm deadly serious about getting them done. Domais may have those same qualities, I don't know them that well to say they do or don't, but I do know that I have them.

 

[New Rogernomics]

I have some questions for you.

Q1: In your campaign you mention that RMB posts should be increased, can you been more specific? As the Lazarus RMB has a lot of posts, but a lot of them are short posts which are not really high quality. The same sort of argument could be made for the discord, which has a lot of posts that are more short, and at times more spam like content.

Q2: Accountability has a lot of crossover with general reporting, though if you are bringing up discord posts and the RMB being reported on, what are the precise metrics you will be using? This is a follow on from the first question.

Q3: You also mention that you do not plan to look towards more treaties, would this exclude a possible treaty negotiation with the NPO, towards peace and maybe more?

Q4: Given what you described about anti-fascist operations and the regional guard, why do you think the region should remain neutral as far as military affiliation?

Q5: Internal affairs or activity generally can be a catch 22 situation, meaning if activity is not there, people are not interested in necessarily creating their own. There has been a lot of finger pointing and criticisms over activity, but not actually much stepping up to fix it. How do you plan to get people motivated to go out of their way to get involved, and not just sit on the sidelines? This is the same question I'll be asking the others in the race.

Q6: Many foreign treaties we passed have a joint regional festival clause, and a concern I brought up when each of these treaties passed, was our lack of co-ordination and people to actually fulfill these clauses. Will you be looking to resolve this situation as Prime Minister?

Q7: Given what you've mentioned in your campaign, do you feel that the Prime Minister and their cabinet should take a more active role to carry out polls on the RMB?

Q8: What is your favorite activity during the holidays?

 

[Deadeye Jack]

Q1: In your campaign you mention that RMB posts should be increased, can you been more specific? As the Lazarus RMB has a lot of posts, but a lot of them are short posts which are not really high quality. The same sort of argument could be made for the discord, which has a lot of posts that are more short, and at times more spam like content.

Look I get that sometimes posts are not of the highest quality and some of it is even puppets talking to each other as part of "RP". I seek to create environments, both on discord and the RMB, that are conversational and that people want to hang out with and talk to each other. As of today the Lazarus discord has less than 30k posts for the year. Other GCRs and gameplay regions can get this many in a month. It's a similar situation with RMB posts but less disparity. We have a lot of room for improvement that isn't just what you would consider spammy posts. Conversation goes a long way and keeps eyes on the region and its affairs among its members. We can't force anyone to be active on discord or the RMB, but we can set an example and engage with those who are and hopefully in the process draw more in.

As far as the RMB, again we want it to be a place where we can engage with members, disseminate information to them, welcome them to the region, and answer their questions as well. These are all things that I think are worthwhile and have a snowball affect in getting more people involved and the RMB more active.

Q2: Accountability has a lot of crossover with general reporting, though if you are bringing up discord posts and the RMB being reported on, what are the precise metrics you will be using? This is a follow on from the first question.

I'm not really sure what the question is here. Do you want me to give something other than the raw monthly total of discord or RMB posts? I can't say I have the technical ability to chop that up into something more specific or strip away what you would consider spam. I won't be encouraging spam to boost the numbers.

Q3: You also mention that you do not plan to look towards more treaties, would this exclude a possible treaty negotiation with the NPO, towards peace and maybe more?

I think perhaps people are misunderstanding what I wrote or maybe it wasn't clear enough. I didn't say that during my administration we will not entertain any new treaties. I said my primary objective isn't to just write some treaties with some regions. If we don't really have a relationship with another region but we enter into a treaty with them, I think that's doing things backwards. We should have developed relations with the region to the point where we want to enter into a treaty together to show our commitment to one another. Sometimes you need things like cultural events and military cooperation to test run how well you work together with another region and if the citizens in each region enjoy working with each other.

As I said in my response to Wang Yao's questions, I don't agree that an end to the war should necessarily mean that we are now trying to become partners with the NPO in a NAP or an alliance. It seems odd to go straight from "we are at war" to "hey let's run cultural events together". If this is something the region clearly wants, I will work towards that but I don't think that's a necessary progression from ending the war. There are many regions we do not have any NAPs or Treaties with and we don't have to write one with everyone of them to be secure or to have good relations.

Q4: Given what you described about anti-fascist operations and the regional guard, why do you think the region should remain neutral as far as military affiliation?

I think Lazarus' neutral alignment was designed to avoid the fighting over R/D alignment and try to keep the region in greater harmony. The idea being this would help regional security and keep Lazarus out of the conflicts that other R/D regions have with each other. I think this is a good idea for Lazarus and changing the guidelines to take a firmer stance in R/D one way or another could cause some strife. Anti-Fascist operations however are pretty non-controversial and almost universally supported. And we can work with almost any other region on them. That's why I think we should do them but not change our policy of neutrality or the Lazarene Regional Guard guidelines.

Q5: Internal affairs or activity generally can be a catch 22 situation, meaning if activity is not there, people are not interested in necessarily creating their own. There has been a lot of finger pointing and criticisms over activity, but not actually much stepping up to fix it. How do you plan to get people motivated to go out of their way to get involved, and not just sit on the sidelines? This is the same question I'll be asking the others in the race.

Like I said this is something I enjoy doing. My plan is to lead by example with my own activity, and encourage and contribute to other people's ideas as best I can. When the Managing Director and the Director of Internal Management take an interest in the people in the region and talk to them and support their ideas then I think that will make a difference. But I also think there is value in just getting people to participate in the things that are planned and you don't need them to be creating new things to be valuable to the region and its activity. And again I think when the Managing Director and the Director of Internal Management are promoting an idea and asking you to take part and have built a relationship with you, I think that will go a long way in increasing participation.

Q6: Many foreign treaties we passed have a joint regional festival clause, and a concern I brought up when each of these treaties passed, was our lack of co-ordination and people to actually fulfill these clauses. Will you be looking to resolve this situation as Prime Minister?

Yes this is part of my platform and what I mentioned I preferred to focus on with respect to our foreign affairs. Cultural cooperation big and small.

Q7: Given what you've mentioned in your campaign, do you feel that the Prime Minister and their cabinet should take a more active role to carry out polls on the RMB?

Yes. I'm not sure who would be better suited to it within the regional structure than the Cabinet. If the Delegate or Vice Delegate want to do some polls that's fine but I think the Cabinet should be who we expect to do these things.

Q8: What is your favorite activity during the holidays?

I like hanging out with family. Our family is very close and big and we always get together during the holidays or other special occasions.

 

[New Rogernomics]

I'm not really sure what the question is here. Do you want me to give something other than the raw monthly total of discord or RMB posts? I can't say I have the technical ability to chop that up into something more specific or strip away what you would consider spam. I won't be encouraging spam to boost the numbers.

What it is asking is what would you consider a meaningful post, in basic terms this would be do you consider a RP post to be more meaningful than someone posting spam or a single line reply. Effectively, what metric would you use to determine whether those numbers have improved beyond just raw data like x posts a month increase/decrease, which would include all posts regardless of quality.

 

[Deadeye Jack]

What it is asking is what would you consider a meaningful post, in basic terms this would be do you consider a RP post to be more meaningful than someone posting spam or a single line reply. Effectively, what metric would you use to determine whether those numbers have improved beyond just raw data like x posts a month increase/decrease, which would include all posts regardless of quality.

Sure, an RP post is potentially of a higher quality than just a regular spam or one word reply. I'm not going to go through all the RMB posts and count how many were RP related or met some other qualitative criteria. Also a lot of the current RP posts on the RMB are probably what you would consider low quality posts. I think my goal is just to have a conversational RMB where people discuss what they're up to on NationStates and elsewhere and discuss the things they like and dislike. And I plan to help that along with things like Question of the Day, or trying to strike up conversation with people on the RMB when we have some free time. I usually check the RMB at least once every day or two so I have a general idea of what's going on. I can factor in what I'm seeing to have a better idea if any increase or decrease is leading to higher or lower quality posts but there isn't an easy way to objectively portray that in a report.

 

[Constie]

What is your approach to onsite activity regarding the average Lazarene resident?

 

[Deadeye Jack]

What is your approach to onsite activity regarding the average Lazarene resident?

I feel like I've answered a version of this question a lot already. Can you be more specific as to what you mean? Do you want to know what kind of activity I want the average Lazarene resident to have and how I'll engage them? Do you want to know how I will approach the average Lazarene resident who shows activity for integration purposes? Or something else?

I've answered the first one a good bit already. The second one too but maybe in less depth.

 

[Fluffiness]

Domais has been a resident of Lazarus for some time now, and you've come in this region more recently. Can you tell us in which region·s you were before (I think you told me on Discord the other day, but I've already forgotten, sorry), and if there is any project that you did there that you think is worthy to mention ?

 

[Clorinda]

What do you believe your best and worst qualities to be?

 

[Deadeye Jack]

Domais has been a resident of Lazarus for some time now, and you've come in this region more recently. Can you tell us in which region·s you were before (I think you told me on Discord the other day, but I've already forgotten, sorry), and if there is any project that you did there that you think is worthy to mention ?

Sure. I've been to a few places in my 10 years on NationStates although maybe not as many others. I've been involved in European Union as a Roleplayer, I was the founder of Fort Triumph, I became an officer of the Lazarene Liberation Army and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the HRL era of Lazarus, I was the founder of Hogwarts, served in command of The Order of the Grey Wardens for a long time, joined The Rejected Realms and was Culture Officer, Foreign Affairs Officer there, before I served as Delegate of the Rejected Realms.

As far as projects that are worthy of mention I'd say the most impressive stuff is in my time in The Rejected Realms. I started a bunch of cultural events there that became staples of the region. I created a Library that explained how to run the events for future people to be able to get involved more easily. I did something called a Culture Calendar that was having an activity to do once a day every day. Which was crazy and other people have carried that on in some form or another or copied it for their own region. I was the main author of the Unicorn-Star mutual defense treaty between TRR and The North Pacific. I helped build up and create the WA Office in TRR while I was delegate. Became the most ever endorsed delegate of TRR.

I've done a lot of defending stuff too but like I said I think my TRR stuff is more impressive. I may be missing some things. Honestly there was a lot of stuff meaningful to me that happened in Fort Triumph and Hogwarts which were both larger than 100 nation UCRs, that was part of building those regions and recruiting for them and getting new members. But ultimately while meaningful to me not really anything of note for someone who wasn't there.

 

[Deadeye Jack]

What do you believe your best and worst qualities to be?

I think my best quality is that I always want to see what I can do to make things better. I think it's why wherever I go I always gravitate towards getting involved and becoming a leader. It allows you to better organize others and plan and execute.

As far as worst quality, I have none . But more seriously I guess I could say sometimes I can come off as rude or a know-it-all when I don't really intend to be.