A Look At NationStates Great Exhibition's 3rd Year Iteration
A detailed recap of one of the most well-known NationStates events
Written by Astrellan
The NationStates Great Exhibition (NSGE), one of the most notable pan-NationStates events of the year, was held from 5 March through 8 March this past week. Celebrating the underlying culture of the game, the event has, for the third year in a row, provided a space to showcase and praise regions of all types and alignments. The real signature styling point, however, was the array of informational talks held by players of great renown in the community, ranging from topics such as military leadership to card collecting.
The event started out strong, with the majority of participating regions posting their booths on the first day. Europeia’s own booth opened, showing a Year in Review for Europeia, detailing our media and culture organisations, and scheduling their own Fortune Telling event on Mixlr. Other booths were also opened to the public: notably The Pacific’s, which started both a Challenge and a pet picture competition; The East Pacific’s, creating a meme game; and The Black Hawk’s, holding a short story contest. The talks for that day were varied and detailed. Khan A Bloodred Moon (joWhatup) of Lone Wolves United hosted a talk “on military leadership,” speaking about the responsibilities of dealing with “recruitment, activity, and security.” NationStates Issues editor Electrum instead tackled a very different topic; a guide on how to run a Regional Olympics, covering the details of hosting a NationStates sports event meticulously.
Onto the second day, and a couple more regional booths open - The West Pacific’s and Thalassia’s. Europeia’s own Chief Justice Onderkelkia wrote a strong and lengthy lecture on Monarchy and Regional Governance, drawing on his “experiences in the monarchical regions of the LKE, TNI, GB&I and Balder'' to deliver one of the most engaging talks of the event. The Rejected Realms Former Delegate The Church of Satan held and then transcribed an audio talk on journalism in the wider world of NationStates, speaking about his own lengthy career in an effort “to inspire new players to pursue a career in NS journalism.” Guardian of the West Giovanniland of The West Pacific dived into one of his passions as a notable member of the game’s card community - the popular concept of a Regional Card Collection - after hosting a Discord panel looking back on the history of the aforementioned game mechanic with Senator of Diplomatic Affairs Xoriet of The Pacific, Minister of Foreign Affairs of The North Pacific Praetor, Minister of Cards of The North Pacific DGES, and Sergeant Racoda of the North Pacific Army (NPA). And, finally, Forest Keeper Verdant Haven of Forest, an author of multiple NationStates issues, detailed their issue writing process, making specific note that ‘writing’ is just one of three equally important components“ when it comes to creating a successful product.
Keeping up the consistent output, the third day presented 3 more educational talks. Aynia Moreaux drew from her efforts as Founder of Caer Sidi and Imperator of Edlhus, two regions noted for their strong role-play activities, to deliver a comprehensive guide on Roleplay Construction. Captain Lieutenant 9003 of the NPA posted a much shorter talk also on cards, speaking about their passion of creating impressive collections. And our own ex-Vice President Kuramia hosted an insightful talk on second chances in foreign affairs, quoting real-world articles and noting their own experiences from Europeia, sharing how the latter helped to influence them “to take responsibility for [their] actions.” However, the third day pulled a real delight - the first games of the event took place, with the NSGE-hosted Werewolf game drawing in strong participation; Caer Sidi hosting a game of ARMA, a regular favourite in their region; and Europeia itself hosting a voicechat-based Jackbox game.
The final day was no less active. Former Minister of Military Affairs Phoenix of the Sun of The South Pacific led an interesting talk on fostering Culture within Regional Militaries, making special note of customs, branding, and internal communities. Nation States Senior Issues Moderator Sedgistan talked about the History of Security Council Moderation, from its “unwilling” conception in 2009 up to the present day, and how the Security Council as we know it today was formed. Finally, Valentine Z went far into the depths of code, data, and statistics to deliver a technical talk on their NationStates Stat Analysis, giving interesting information on trends and correlations within the mechanics of the game. The ongoing game of Werewolf continued, with yet more casualties and players desperately defending themselves.
Moreover, throughout the event Q&A sessions were also opened, inviting the event’s participants to interact with experienced speakers. The West Pacific’s Delegate Dilber ran an Ask Me Anything, discussing a range of topics from events from NationStates history like his role in the Allied Defence Network to the ever-popular question of “is mayonnaise an instrument?” Ex-Delegate of The East Pacific Serge hosted a Q&A on his role as a Graphic Designer in NationStates, talking about symbolism and meaning in flag designs, and giving in-depth information on programs and tools to use for any who would wish to start experimenting in that area. Ex-Delegate of The East Pacific Fedele opened a conversation about building an identity on NationStates, answering thoughtful questions on splits between Out of Character and In Character identities, changing your persona, and the effect of the rise of Discord on identity politics. Last but not least, WA Delegate of Greater Dienstad Lamoni hosted a session on how the NationStates Mentor team can help both Roleplay and Gameplay regions, and responding to questions about the right complexity for regional roleplays and the importance of maps for setting the scene and organising roleplays.
Overall, this event proved to be yet another successful instalment in NSGE’s history. This year, more focus was given to the talks and Q&As of the event rather than the numerous Discord booths of previous iterations, leading to a wealth of interesting pieces on a massive range of topics, proving once again the educational value behind this work.
The general NSGE forum and Discord are still open for any who may want to look them over, and the archive of previous years’ events are publicly accessible.
