Something that I consider a lot during my time in Europeia is "what's the best way to play?" This being a game, we all come into this with our own play style, and things that we want to accomplish. And yet, only some of us can be truly successful, because this is politics, and if everyone won, then there wouldn't be much of a game. The question then becomes "what is success", or "what is winning?" Who really are the most successful players in Europeia? Our leaders? Perhaps, but then what about those who are very successful in their non-elected endeavors, like our recruiters or sailors? Aren't they also successful? Honestly, if you set out a goal for yourself in this region and you meet it, then you should call that a win, because the beauty of this game is that you set your own win condition to a certain extent, and you get to do whatever you want as long as you follow the law.
But, obviously we have some people that "win" a lot more than others, and are generally regarded as the most successful in the region. I am talking about our Honored Citizens. They are nearly universally upheld as the standard of a "great player", and examples that we should all strive to work towards. So, what makes these players so successful. Well, they each carved their own path to reach this level, naturally, but there are several things they have in common that I think can be educational to examine in a setting like this for all players seeking to earn this honor themselves. Note, I am an Honored Citizen myself, so I am speaking a little from personal experience on this topic, but I know that I am not a perfect player, and none of these players I'll talk about are either. In actuality, many of these players are quite flawed, yet were able to thrive in spite of their failures, through their will and their work. So, please keep that in mind as you read along.
Let's zoom out a little and examine what being an Honored Citizen means, and how it is earned. By receiving an Ovation or a Triumph, a player receives Honored Citizenship. Ovations "may be awarded for highly-distinguished service or a particularly grand service to the State, or for other civilian service within the discretion of the Chief of State or First Minister and Senate." Triumphs, meanwhile, "may be awarded for highly-distinguished service or a particularly-important military action, or for other military service within the discretion of the Chief of State and Senate." Both also "require absolute majority approval of the Senate". All quotes come from the Awards and Honours Act sections on Ovations and Triumphs.
So, essentially, high quality service to Europeia is what it takes. All told, thirty-two people have been awarded this status over the course of Europeian history, with twenty nine of them still in possession of this honor. That may seem like a high number, until you consider that Europeia has been around for over a decade, with over 5,000 registered forum members during that time. That's roughly .5% of all people who have been involved in Europeia. So, all in all, a fairly elite club. Of course, I could throw numbers at you all day and we wouldn't be any closer to actually understanding who these people are, and why they earned this. So, let's introduce the crew.
In alphabetical order, here are all our Honored Citizens:
**hyanygo's Honored Citizenship was stripped following repeated instances of vulgar conduct and mass bullying.
***Oliver Grey's Honored Citizenship was stripped following repeated remarks made abroad, intended to damage Europeia.
Among that list of names, there's likely a few you know and a few you don't, so I will do my best to summarize each of their accomplishments to give an idea of what sort of work they did, and why they were deserving of the honor they eventually received. To make things easier on myself, as well as you, I'll try and sort these players into categories of what I believe to be their most effective area, but please note that no player is entirely one-dimensional, so just because a player is under one category does not mean they were not at all influential in another part of the region during their time here.
The Chancellors
HEM
Lethen
As Chancellors of the region, HEM and Lethen served for many years in a role both symbolic and practical, as a way of maintaining order in Europeia, during troubled times. Much in the same way that the United Kingdom has a Queen in the modern age, we have looked to these two throughout their time in Europeia to serve as a force for stability and strength when we couldn't always rely on our elected leaders to provide. For the unique role that these two have served over a long period of time, it seems only fitting that they be rewarded with our region's highest honor.
The Presidents
Anumia
Pichtonia
Pope Lexus X
Writinglegend
Serving as President in Europeia is often the mountaintop that players aim to achieve as the true mark of success. Earning the trust of your peers, with them putting their faith in your leadership skills is an incredibly rewarding experience that grants great responsibility onto the holder of this office. While there have been many Presidents in Europeia, only a few have truly risen above the rest as the highest performing individuals, amongst the few skilled enough to be elected in the first place. These three showed what great leadership could look like across their many combined terms.
The Advisors
Kazaman
North East Somerset
r3naissanc3r
From perhaps the most visible role in the region of the Presidency, we find these two occupying perhaps the most invisible role in the region: advisers. These two players used their knowledge of NationStates abroad to advise countless leaders in their time, providing context to foreign incidents, counseling on who to let into the region, and many other discussions that will never see the light of day. Beyond this, it should be noted the incredible tools that r3naissanc3r developed in his time here ranging from the recruitment helper, the scouting tool, and many of the forum's customized features.
The Senators
Drecq
Lloenflys
Malashaan
Pineapleboy
Rand
Swakistek
Europeia is a region famed for its strong set of laws, and to find the people most responsible for our incredible resource in this field, look no further than these four players. Taking our discourse to new heights as they debated the merits and pitfalls of many ideas, the players in this group provided the framework by which this game is structured in a lot of ways.
The Justices
hyanygo
OnderKelkia
Skizzy Grey
Similar to the Senators, our premiere Justices use the laws put in place to bring balance and order to a chaotic region, where the law doesn't always mesh with the realities of day-to-day life. It takes a keen legal mind to cut through the noise and rule judiciously, but you can trust that these players were able to provide.
The Delegates
Aexnidaral
Mousebumples
Vinage
Of course, Europeia isn't confined entirely to its forum, as we are based out of NationStates, we require a World Assembly Delegate to provide the bridge between the goings-ons of the General Assembly and Security Council and our otherwise isolated community. Balancing the foreign affairs know-how with legislative ability is a fine line to walk, so performing at a high level is necessary to truly bring out the best of this role, like these players were able to do.
The Ministers
Asianatic
Asperta
Calvin Coolidge
Darcness
Deepest House
Kuramia
PhDre
Sopo
To really lead, a leader needs able troops to command, and these players were able to carry out their ministerial duties to great affect, often expanding their roles in innovative ways, taking the orders from the leader and turning them into workable, fantastic products that benefited all who worked alongside them.
The Admirals
Common-Sense Politics
Kraketopia
Oliver Grey
Finally, we turn to a very specific Minister, our Grand Admirals. Quite literally commanding troops requires not only a steady hand and top-notch leadership, but an ability to adapt on the fly as the situation changes in real time, to avoid disaster and defeat.
Each of these players is worthy of their own article detailing their work for the region to truly understand what made them successful and how, but I hope that this introduction gets the message across that you can carve out your own niche in Europeia, and find success wherever you go. We pride ourselves on allowing anyone to be a leader, and we back that up in so many ways, with Honored Citizenship being only the icing on the cake of a long, fruitful career in any field. I hope that you continue on your own path, and share what inspires you with others, so that one day you too will be among these names. Until next time, Europeia, this is Calvin Coolidge, looking up at the stars.
But, obviously we have some people that "win" a lot more than others, and are generally regarded as the most successful in the region. I am talking about our Honored Citizens. They are nearly universally upheld as the standard of a "great player", and examples that we should all strive to work towards. So, what makes these players so successful. Well, they each carved their own path to reach this level, naturally, but there are several things they have in common that I think can be educational to examine in a setting like this for all players seeking to earn this honor themselves. Note, I am an Honored Citizen myself, so I am speaking a little from personal experience on this topic, but I know that I am not a perfect player, and none of these players I'll talk about are either. In actuality, many of these players are quite flawed, yet were able to thrive in spite of their failures, through their will and their work. So, please keep that in mind as you read along.
Let's zoom out a little and examine what being an Honored Citizen means, and how it is earned. By receiving an Ovation or a Triumph, a player receives Honored Citizenship. Ovations "may be awarded for highly-distinguished service or a particularly grand service to the State, or for other civilian service within the discretion of the Chief of State or First Minister and Senate." Triumphs, meanwhile, "may be awarded for highly-distinguished service or a particularly-important military action, or for other military service within the discretion of the Chief of State and Senate." Both also "require absolute majority approval of the Senate". All quotes come from the Awards and Honours Act sections on Ovations and Triumphs.
So, essentially, high quality service to Europeia is what it takes. All told, thirty-two people have been awarded this status over the course of Europeian history, with twenty nine of them still in possession of this honor. That may seem like a high number, until you consider that Europeia has been around for over a decade, with over 5,000 registered forum members during that time. That's roughly .5% of all people who have been involved in Europeia. So, all in all, a fairly elite club. Of course, I could throw numbers at you all day and we wouldn't be any closer to actually understanding who these people are, and why they earned this. So, let's introduce the crew.
In alphabetical order, here are all our Honored Citizens:
- Aexnidaral
- Anumia*
- Asianatic
- Asperta
- Calvin Coolidge
- Common-Sense Politics
- Darcness
- Deepest House
- Drecq
- HEM
- hyanygo**
- Kazaman
- Kraketopia
- Kuramia
- Lethen
- Malashaan
- Mousebumples
- Lloenflys
- North East Somerset
- Oliver Grey***
- OnderKelkia
- Pichtonia
- PhDre
- Pineapleboy
- Pope Lexus X
- r3naissanc3r
- Rand
- Skizzy Grey
- Sopo
- Swakistek
- Vinage
- Writinglegend
**hyanygo's Honored Citizenship was stripped following repeated instances of vulgar conduct and mass bullying.
***Oliver Grey's Honored Citizenship was stripped following repeated remarks made abroad, intended to damage Europeia.
Among that list of names, there's likely a few you know and a few you don't, so I will do my best to summarize each of their accomplishments to give an idea of what sort of work they did, and why they were deserving of the honor they eventually received. To make things easier on myself, as well as you, I'll try and sort these players into categories of what I believe to be their most effective area, but please note that no player is entirely one-dimensional, so just because a player is under one category does not mean they were not at all influential in another part of the region during their time here.
The Chancellors
HEM
Lethen
As Chancellors of the region, HEM and Lethen served for many years in a role both symbolic and practical, as a way of maintaining order in Europeia, during troubled times. Much in the same way that the United Kingdom has a Queen in the modern age, we have looked to these two throughout their time in Europeia to serve as a force for stability and strength when we couldn't always rely on our elected leaders to provide. For the unique role that these two have served over a long period of time, it seems only fitting that they be rewarded with our region's highest honor.
The Presidents
Anumia
Pichtonia
Pope Lexus X
Writinglegend
Serving as President in Europeia is often the mountaintop that players aim to achieve as the true mark of success. Earning the trust of your peers, with them putting their faith in your leadership skills is an incredibly rewarding experience that grants great responsibility onto the holder of this office. While there have been many Presidents in Europeia, only a few have truly risen above the rest as the highest performing individuals, amongst the few skilled enough to be elected in the first place. These three showed what great leadership could look like across their many combined terms.
The Advisors
Kazaman
North East Somerset
r3naissanc3r
From perhaps the most visible role in the region of the Presidency, we find these two occupying perhaps the most invisible role in the region: advisers. These two players used their knowledge of NationStates abroad to advise countless leaders in their time, providing context to foreign incidents, counseling on who to let into the region, and many other discussions that will never see the light of day. Beyond this, it should be noted the incredible tools that r3naissanc3r developed in his time here ranging from the recruitment helper, the scouting tool, and many of the forum's customized features.
The Senators
Drecq
Lloenflys
Malashaan
Pineapleboy
Rand
Swakistek
Europeia is a region famed for its strong set of laws, and to find the people most responsible for our incredible resource in this field, look no further than these four players. Taking our discourse to new heights as they debated the merits and pitfalls of many ideas, the players in this group provided the framework by which this game is structured in a lot of ways.
The Justices
hyanygo
OnderKelkia
Skizzy Grey
Similar to the Senators, our premiere Justices use the laws put in place to bring balance and order to a chaotic region, where the law doesn't always mesh with the realities of day-to-day life. It takes a keen legal mind to cut through the noise and rule judiciously, but you can trust that these players were able to provide.
The Delegates
Aexnidaral
Mousebumples
Vinage
Of course, Europeia isn't confined entirely to its forum, as we are based out of NationStates, we require a World Assembly Delegate to provide the bridge between the goings-ons of the General Assembly and Security Council and our otherwise isolated community. Balancing the foreign affairs know-how with legislative ability is a fine line to walk, so performing at a high level is necessary to truly bring out the best of this role, like these players were able to do.
The Ministers
Asianatic
Asperta
Calvin Coolidge
Darcness
Deepest House
Kuramia
PhDre
Sopo
To really lead, a leader needs able troops to command, and these players were able to carry out their ministerial duties to great affect, often expanding their roles in innovative ways, taking the orders from the leader and turning them into workable, fantastic products that benefited all who worked alongside them.
The Admirals
Common-Sense Politics
Kraketopia
Oliver Grey
Finally, we turn to a very specific Minister, our Grand Admirals. Quite literally commanding troops requires not only a steady hand and top-notch leadership, but an ability to adapt on the fly as the situation changes in real time, to avoid disaster and defeat.
Each of these players is worthy of their own article detailing their work for the region to truly understand what made them successful and how, but I hope that this introduction gets the message across that you can carve out your own niche in Europeia, and find success wherever you go. We pride ourselves on allowing anyone to be a leader, and we back that up in so many ways, with Honored Citizenship being only the icing on the cake of a long, fruitful career in any field. I hope that you continue on your own path, and share what inspires you with others, so that one day you too will be among these names. Until next time, Europeia, this is Calvin Coolidge, looking up at the stars.
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