Gameside Perspectives on the Europeian Platform Divide
The EBC Interviewed Europeian Non-Citizen Residents to Get Their Takes
Written by Pland Adanna
The Europeian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) reached out to active Europeian residents who spend most of their time on the NationStates website and who have not applied for citizenship. These nations shared their perspectives on the relationship between the forum, Discord, and gameside communities, among other topics. The EBC is excited to bring you these important viewpoints, which forum-focused citizens do not always get to hear. The interviews, found below, reveal a similar, but clearly distinct, attitude towards Europeia, a sense that forum involvement requires too much commitment or activity, and a general desire to mix the forum, Discord, and gameside communities.
Question: What is your favorite part of Europeia, and what brings you to spend time on NationStates?
Gertyx: [R]mb and people
Pudimlland: I like the European social environment, the conversations with its inhabitants and their stories but I also love RP
Ducklingville: Favorite part is probably the people here and what always brings me back is curiosity about what's happening in the game
Nova Pirapemas: politics and rp
Nilao: I feel like I can't answer this as I haven't participated in region activities enough, but I like the idea of a pseudo-European democratic region.
La Salaodor: The people are the reason I joined Europeia (Also my region is dead) what brings me to spend time here Cards, the people I can talk to and Friends
Analysis: These Europeians named a number of activities as favorites but interacting with other Europeians topped the list. This finding suggests that gameside Europeia may also be experiencing the trend towards a more social focus that many have noticed on Discord and the forums. The interviewees also mentioned role-play and politics as key parts of their Europeian experiences. Still, some of the responses remarkably resembled responses one might receive from Europeians on the forums or Discord.
Question: On the forums, nations can apply for Europeian citizenship, which allows them to participate in Europeian politics, law, diplomacy, Navy, media, and more. Have you ever considered applying for citizenship? What keeps you from applying or makes you decide not to apply?
Gertyx: I am too lazy.
Pudimlland: I already participate in something similar in another region so I know that if I entered I wouldn't participate as much
Ducklingville: I have considered but the reason I haven't applied is that I don't think id be as active in the forums.
Nova Pirapemas: Yes, I don't have much time.
Nilao: Nothing is keeping me, I will be applying for citizenship
La Salaodor: Yes I have thought about joining but I already disliked sharing one of my emails to NS and I rather not to this site for Security reasons
Analysis: A common theme in the responses was concerns about personal activity, clearly with a perception that joining the forums and gaining citizenship is a large time commitment that may not be worth the benefits. Another person raised their discomfort with sharing an email as part of forum registration. For Europeians looking to draw more people to the forums, as well as those involved in the ongoing Grand Hall discussion about forum simplification, solutions to these barriers may be worth considering. Notably absent from these responses was a lack of interest in regional government or the forum’s lack of discussion of gameside topics, such as issues, trading cards, and roleplay.
Question: Some Europeians say that the region's community on the forums and Discord and the community on the RMB and other gameside features are too separate from each other. Do you think Europeia should try to bring these communities together, and, if so, do you have any suggestions for how to do so?
Gertyx: We can create some things in Discord, which directly affects the RMB of Europe[ia].
Pudimlland: I don't know very well because if the discord was very united, the region in NS would have many problems
Ducklingville: I do think these communities should intentionally be brought together but if it happens naturally then that's fine too
Nova Pirapemas: Yes
Nilao: Having a centralized community for the two seems like a good idea if they are not doing vastly different things, it's a question of whether people will be okay with switching over to a different platform just to comply.
La Salaodor: I Honestly feel that it's fine if the groups are separate as that would bring Independent views on many subjects which would help the discussing civil rights and other Important Issues. I feel an easy way of bringing it together is by having polls or really anything which attracts people to one site or the other
Analysis: Gameside-focused residents had unique, sometimes conflicting, views on the gulf between the communities on different Europeian platforms, but many saw value in uniting them. The suggestions centered around shared activities to attract folks to other platforms, such as gameside polls and Discord channels for gameside topics, both of which already exist to some extent. As Europeian citizens continue to debate whether and how to bring these separate communities together, the gameside perspective is one to take into account.
