[Special Report] SC Con - A Work of Arf






SC con - A work of arf
The Rejected Realms hosts 1st SC Convention

Written by SkyGreen24




On November 13, Officer of World Assembly Affairs Minskiev of The Rejected Realms (TRR) published a dispatch announcing the first ever TRR Security Council Convention. The event was scheduled to last for a week, opening on November 16 and closing on November 23, with several events planned every day apart from the final one, which was the designated convention closing day. It would include daily discussions with speakers on the topics of the Security Council. These discussions would be held in an open manner, allowing attendees to ask questions themselves.

The EBC reached out to Minskiev about the Convention for some questions. He explained that planning started in early October, and elaborated that "TRR has always been a Gameplay-dependent region, (...)" and as it doesn't grow from spawns, an important way to supplement its activity is Gameplay or accounts thereof, in form of the Rejected Times, TRR's newspaper. Minskiev went on to say that "The Security Council is directly intertwined with Gameplay", and noted that the SC was declining in activity, which resulted in the decision to hold a Security Council Convention.

First Day - Opening

As the event opened on a dedicated Discord server, attendees found themselves split into two teams for a drafting event, where one team would write a casual Commendation, while the other would write a casual Condemnation. At the end of the event, the attendees would then vote on the winner.

Guardian Giovanniland of The West Pacific was invited to speak. The discussion with Giovanniland started off with the theme of influence of Feeder regions in the SC, as well as the challenges authors may face depending on the influence of their region, and possible changes given the upcoming Frontier/Stronghold update. Giovanniland stated that "Several feeders do take quality as the main thing to analyze during the vote and that's good" and that authors require good proposals to succeed, but noted that "Being in a feeder region may have a slight advantage (...)". Regarding the Frontier/Stronghold update, Giovanniland's belief is that the update will not "matter that much on what passes, except, of course, altering the dynamics of who has the most power in the SC."

The Guardian and Card Czar of TWP also noted that the region's success in passing SC resolutions can partially be attributed to its Regional Commendations initiative, where the West Pacific internally recognizes the achievements of its members. On the topic of liberations, Giovanniland believes they should "be used as a last resource" and "shouldn't be used often". Minskiev noted the limits of liberations, mainly that they require regions to be founderless, and is less worried about overuse.

Giovanniland next explained his stance on repeals of resolutions, saying that when repealing a resolution he is stating that "I believe the nominee is not worthy of that honor". The exception he notes here is the case when a replacement is also being drafted. His main two reasons for an unworthy nomination are "new developments related to the nominee", such as those that are in opposition to the original points brought up in the resolution, and secondly, inaccuracy of proposals. He noted that it "It may have genuinely looked as of good quality during the vote and then passed" but if it does not hold up later on those are grounds for a repeal.

Wrapping up the discussion, Minskiev asked Giovanniland about his opinion regarding roleplay-based SC resolutions. He explained that "the SC should recognize as many communities as possible, RP included". As the discussion finished, the first day ended with a game of City Guesser.

Second Day - Zukchiva

Former Delegate of The East Pacific Zukchiva joined the discussion. He talked about his stance about the perception of condemnations and the stance at large, as well as good examples of the most recent SC category, Declarations. Zukchiva also mentioned how he believes that SC voting blocs have a mixed (positive and negative) impact on the SC, the positive being the pooling of resources, the negative being the ability to "(...) stomp resolutions at vote, (...)" but both him and Minskiev agreed that blocs still take quality into account.

The discussion then continued with comparisons with the General Assembly and WA campaigning, where Zukchiva said he is "not really into FA politicking in the SC (...)" and that "WA resolution quality tends to be a high priority point for [him]". When asked about "black commends" i.e. condemnations being viewed as awards for in-character bad/evil behaviour, he mentioned being neutral on the topic, but believes that the majority of NS doesn't consider them rewards.

Third Day - Grea Kriopia

This day included a discussion with Grea Kriopia (GK), SC author, Commander of The Grey Wardens and member of TRR, an administrator for the Partnership For Sovereignty, where they also participate as a member of the TRR delegation. The discussion topics included griefing, liberations, "black commends", SC authorship and accessibility, voting blocs, and diversity in the Security Council. GK starts off by defining griefing as "doing irreversible, or nearly irreversible harm, to a region and its residents." though noted that the complications arise in what is and isn't that type of harm.

On the topic of liberations, they are a supporter of them, including offensive ones being used "against conflicting sides", which they said adds an "interesting twist to the liberation mechanic as a whole". When asked about which time periods to write SC resolutions for are the most difficult, they highlighted the period between 2007 and 2010 is a challenge, due to a lack of information.

Unlike Zukchiva, Grea Kriopia disagreed with condemnations being "black commends", saying that they "don't see any favorable argument toward a black commend" and comments on a prevailing theme about the narrative of the SC, which they described as "kind and fluffy" and claimed that "the game has villains who do IC bad things" and trying to "wrap these players up in nice words" makes the game, in their opinion, less interesting and less complex.

When asked about SC accessibility, they said that "there's soo much you could bring up here" stating that many regions have different answers for this question, while Grea Kriopia mentions that the SC "could benefit from a wider membership and being less gameplay centric" and also the PfS's writers' corner as a concrete example of encouragement. They ended the discussion with a lengthy argument encouraging a more diverse SC by including non-gameplay communities like NSSports.

Fourth Day - Whatermelons

Whatermelons/Honeydewistania, multiple SC resolution author was the speaker for the day. The discussion started quickly, with Whatermelons saying that they "think all the 'spheres' can be condemnable", with spheres here referring to NS community spheres such as gameplay, issues, cards, the World Assembly, and region building. Whatermelons goes further saying that those who can be commended, could also be condemned, stating that "its two sides of the same coin".

They further highlighted Forest as the UCR producing the most Commended/Condemned nations in the future, as they "they have lots of issue authors and they have a nice culture that people want to stay in". Minskiev noted Europeia, The Grey Wardens and Thaecia as the UCRs that will produce C/C nations. When asked about what they think are influential SC resolutions that have made a difference in the SC, Whatermelons mentions Condemn Chan Island by Ransium and Lord Dominator, as it opened the possibility of storytelling in SC resolutions.

Talking about quorum raiding, while they "understand why someone would do it" they "don't really support it". When it comes to who should be a target for commendations, Whatermelons believes that a "wider net should be cast" so that "underappreciated people can get recognition" and in case people want to get involved in SC authorship, they suggested that people "Try and read other 'good' resolutions and take inspiration from them" and in case the resolution involves a lot of research it is best to talk to the nominee directly.

Fifth Day - HumanSanity

HumanSanity was the speaker for the day. They are the Prime Minister of The South Pacific and former Delegate and Founder of Renegade Islands Alliance, former Delegate of 10000 Islands, where they also held many other positions. HumanSanity is also a two-time SC author and was one of the original architects of the previously mentioned PfS.

Related to voting blocs, Minskiev asked HS about what it takes to build one, and if HS sees more popping up. They explained that blocs require regions with shared beliefs and ideologies that are relevant to the SC. It also involves a lot of "diplomatic wrangling" and even more work on creating the infrastructure and using the voting bloc consistently. HumanSanity further explained that the possibility of new ones popping up is present, but "none immediately spring to [their] mind".

Minskiev asked what kind of proposals PfS would sponsor, and after some back and forth, HS said that "things are too nuanced to answer that", but noted that the PfS' Charter explains their principles and rules. Digressing from that topic, the duo discussed the differences between the GA and the SC, as well as the shift in standards in both bodies, where they both agree that the GA changes more slowly.

Coming back to the topic of voting blocs, HS elaborates that they believe that they do not contribute towards polarization and power struggle, which they consider inevitable, while they disagree with the premise that voting power belongs to only a few groups. Similarly to Whatermelons, HumanSanity mentions reading previous resolutions to learn about writing ones yourself, but they clarify that writing one is not easy, which also makes it worth doing.

Sixth Day - Andusre and Gorundu

Co-founder and President/Delegate of Thaecia Andusre was the first of two speakers on this day. He has authored two SC resolutions, Commend Marrabuk and Liberate New Western Atlantic. Minskiev asked about the pros and cons of "massive feeder influence" and potential pros/cons of the upcoming Frontier/Stronghold update. Andy elaborated that that he believes that five regions having "that much power concentrated" is "boring as hell" and not conductive to UCR health. For the update, he doesn't have many predictions, but he notes that he's been critical of it, while Minskiev is a fan.

When Minskiev noted that "the recruitment slump is way over", judging by populations graphs of prominent UCRs, Andusre responded that it is "Tentatively so" and recalled the two social media booms and said that he "wouldn't encourage UCRs to start celebrating the end of their recruitment woes just yet", emphasizing that it may be too soon to draw such conclusions. On the topic of author limitations of SC proposals he explained that it "depends on the specific author & nominee", but it mainly depends on quality, though he dislikes players commending their own region.

Talking about raider/defender interactions in the SC, he believes it would be more helpful if people provided additional feedback. He mentioned a "move towards defender dominance of the SC" and noted several regions have been "beginning to vibe" with defenders more. As an independent player from an independent region he considers the SC "a tool with which to advance regional interests by various means." and he went on to recall certain votes such as Commend Twobagger and how that affected their foreign policy decisions.

The second speaker of the day was Gorundu, former Minister of World Assembly Affairs and Minister of Communications in The North Pacific and current Editor-in-Chief of The Rejected Times. Gor is also a three times GA author and a one time SC author. He considers repeals to be easier than resolutions, though as the quality of resolutions increases, repeals themselves become harder to achieve.

Asked about declarations, Gorundu mentioned that it is "hard (...) to get that many regions to agree on something". A digression was a short mention of the 2019 coup of the East Pacific, after which he mentions that Liberate the Eastern Pacific was about Queen Yuno. The question on the influence Independents have in the Security Council was left unanswered.

Final Day - Moon and closing

After a few days of delays, the discussion continued on the 25th of November, when Moon/Emodea was invited as a speaker. They have been involved in The South Pacific, The Order of The Grey Wardens, and Refugia, while also being a two-time SC author and current Councillor of World Assembly Affairs of Refugia.

Minskiev asked about the difficulties Moon faced while preparing Commend Pope Hope, which Minskiev describes as "one of the most difficult to research and successfully researched resolutions". Moon explained they talked to a lot of people to write the parts where it was hard to find information about, and notes that Dilber and Goober have been very helpful and states that "[they] couldn't have done it without their help."

A follow-up question was asked about recommendations for writing, where Moon mentioned talking to the nominee and getting a rough overview, as well as researching old forums and people who were around during the time the target's achievements are from. Above all, they say it is important to "keep an open mind" and to not get frustrated.

Moon considers the SC to be very open, more than the GA when it comes to new authors and they enjoyed that very much, while also mentioning Grea Kriopia as a great help who also "encouraged [Moon] to keep going" when they were writing Commend HumanSanity. They also go on to mention several helpful people and conclude that the "cooperative and happy-to-help nature is really awesome and it's what [they] want every new author to experience for themselves". This marked the end of the discussion, and all discussions with selected speakers.

Finally, Minskiev announced that the event is over:
Minskiev said:
@Attendee and with that, the event is over. I'm a little disappointed that there were things I wanted to do that I didn't, but it turns out solo-managing this sort of thing is pretty difficult. I am however extremely happy with the debate and while I looked like an idiot half the time I can assuredly say I'll look like an idiot maybe a third of the time in the future. I really appreciate all of you who showed up to the discussion and asked questions, gave insight, brought your points forward, etc. Hope we can do this again. Goodbye for now :D
Alongside the goodbye, Minskiev also posted the resolution drafts of both teams. He described them as "tear-jerking drafts from both ends, for different reasons however." The popular vote went to the condemnation.

When the EBC followed up with Minskiev about the event, he mentioned that he would like to do it again, with more organizers, speakers, experience of his own "as [he is] planning a few drafts" and new topics to discuss. Should he do it again, Minskiev says it will be in Spring, as he thinks that "doing it in Fall 2022 is too far away."

The event has included many influential speakers and around 40 to 50 attendees in total.

 
Great coverage on a really fun event!
 
Very interesting to read about this!! I wasn't aware this was happening so good to read about it here.
 
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