A History of Ixnay (OOC): Difference between revisions

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ICly, the early High Golden Age was dominated by a rivalry between Urcea and the UIF regarding the status of Pel, a large protectorate of Urcea's that took the place and IC position of the player nation of the same name. The Darklanders appear to have still been around at this time, and presumably the Audonians were with them, and this soft cold war presumably still made up the majority of IC interaction. This era also saw many new nations come and go on Crona, which had been added during the latter portion of 2014 and had become something of a tutorial island. The Snowlandish Betrayal occurred due to Heku's position in Crona before his relocation to southwestern Sarpedon early in 2015. During this period, Ixnay was really trying to reconceive of itself as the entirety of the IC world rather than just as a continent floating in a sea of continents which constituted a larger NationStates continuity. In early 2015, this movement and conception was just in its earliest stages and would not be contemplated as a full measure until the reboot later in the year.
ICly, the early High Golden Age was dominated by a rivalry between Urcea and the UIF regarding the status of Pel, a large protectorate of Urcea's that took the place and IC position of the player nation of the same name. The Darklanders appear to have still been around at this time, and presumably the Audonians were with them, and this soft cold war presumably still made up the majority of IC interaction. This era also saw many new nations come and go on Crona, which had been added during the latter portion of 2014 and had become something of a tutorial island. The Snowlandish Betrayal occurred due to Heku's position in Crona before his relocation to southwestern Sarpedon early in 2015. During this period, Ixnay was really trying to reconceive of itself as the entirety of the IC world rather than just as a continent floating in a sea of continents which constituted a larger NationStates continuity. In early 2015, this movement and conception was just in its earliest stages and would not be contemplated as a full measure until the reboot later in the year.
 
[[File:Ixmap3-10-15.png|thumb|left|400px|A March 2015 map. This is typical of the High Golden Age period OOCly with its accompanying IC lore continuum; observe the Darklands, geopolitically complicated IxProp (Sarpedon), and also features an early-ish Corumm and Heku.]]
OOCly, Absurrania dominated the first half this period and remained influential throughout it. The Fundamental Statute called for some mostly powerless Vice Delegates, and during Absurrania's tenure as Delegate he ruled alongside Insui, Luxew, Palmeria, and Latin as Vice Delegates, each evidently for one term. I cannot emphasize enough how much the elections and OOC politics of this time were a central feature of regional interest and discussion. Term limits were implemented in February 2015 as a check on Abs, and accordingly Latin became Delegate with Abs as his Vice Delegate at the end of April 2015. Abs would still remain extremely prominent within his role as Vice Delegate and would attempt to return later that year. The April 2015 election saw Heku and Corumm as a joint ticket defeated overwhelmingly by the incumbent team.
OOCly, Absurrania dominated the first half this period and remained influential throughout it. The Fundamental Statute called for some mostly powerless Vice Delegates, and during Absurrania's tenure as Delegate he ruled alongside Insui, Luxew, Palmeria, and Latin as Vice Delegates, each evidently for one term. I cannot emphasize enough how much the elections and OOC politics of this time were a central feature of regional interest and discussion. Term limits were implemented in February 2015 as a check on Abs, and accordingly Latin became Delegate with Abs as his Vice Delegate at the end of April 2015. Abs would still remain extremely prominent within his role as Vice Delegate and would attempt to return later that year. The April 2015 election saw Heku and Corumm as a joint ticket defeated overwhelmingly by the incumbent team.


The major controversy of this period was over statistics. Prior to the IxStats reforms, all members of the region simply used the stats of their NationStates country, which are determined mostly as a function of how long a nation exists within game. Accordingly, Urcea and Kiravia were the largest countries as the oldest players in Ixnay. This created a bloated statistical situation as both countries were well into the high 10s, low 20s billions of population by 2015. This created a power deficiency between them and newer players and also created what some complained to be an unrealistic world population. Reform was often talked about, but the discussion was a bitter, bitter one for most of the period of the debate. Ixnay was allegedly, and I don't know to this day if this is true, one of the last semi-serious RP regions to use game stats. Latin appears to have championed significant reforms with my assistance, although the balance of who-did-what is now beyond my recollection. A poll of the region in May of 2015 approved "RP Stats" compared to "Game Stats" by a margin of 19 to 12. A subsequent amendment to the Fundamental Statute, approved 20-3, created a new RP Stat convention which set every player's population stats at 10% of their Game Stats, which I thought was a relatively fair compromise. This principle, I believe, continued on for some years after that, and Urcea and Kiravia being in the single billion plus range survives by convention today. Later in the year, a single, cohesive time scale was approved nearly unanimously, 24-1, with only Corumm voting no. The much-mocked "LatinTime" established the first ticking-clock RP time scale for Ixnay, setting it at 2024. A distant derivation of this system survives today.
The major controversy of this period was over statistics. Prior to the IxStats reforms, all members of the region simply used the stats of their NationStates country, which are determined mostly as a function of how long a nation exists within game. Accordingly, Urcea and Kiravia were the largest countries as the oldest players in Ixnay. This created a bloated statistical situation as both countries were well into the high 10s, low 20s billions of population by 2015. This created a power deficiency between them and newer players and also created what some complained to be an unrealistic world population. Reform was often talked about, but the discussion was a bitter, bitter one for most of the period of the debate. Ixnay was allegedly, and I don't know to this day if this is true, one of the last semi-serious RP regions to use game stats. Latin appears to have championed significant reforms with my assistance, although the balance of who-did-what is now beyond my recollection. A poll of the region in May of 2015 approved "RP Stats" compared to "Game Stats" by a margin of 19 to 12. A subsequent amendment to the Fundamental Statute, approved 20-3, created a new RP Stat convention which set every player's population stats at 10% of their Game Stats, which I thought was a relatively fair compromise. This principle, I believe, continued on for some years after that, and Urcea and Kiravia being in the single billion plus range survives by convention today. Later in the year, a single, cohesive time scale was approved nearly unanimously, 24-1, with only Corumm voting no. The much-mocked "LatinTime" established the first ticking-clock RP time scale for Ixnay, setting it at 2024. A distant derivation of this system survives today.
 
[[File:Ixmap5-16-15.png|thumb|right|300px|Ixnay at the time of Ghant's arrival, ca. May 2015. This map is historically significant as well for the major consolidation of landmass in Levantia, with Urcea taking its familiar shape and the kernel of Kuhlfros (Fiannria) forming.]]
In spring 2015, specific date unknown, Ghant joined Ixnay. Ghant is a player who has kicked around basically every region with a roleplay component in NationStates and draws a very polarized view based on his IC play style and OOC ideas. I was impressed by his resume and thought he might be a good addition to the region, but I actually received several telegrams from other regional delegates warning me that he was trouble. Regardless, with my eye on him, I let him stay, and he and I got along fairly well at first. (''2023 Text Beginning''). It is generally true, and true to this day, that this player is a very accomplished person as far as roleplay is concerned. However, in the long run, his character-oriented roleplay and the things he wanted to focus on (such as the all-important and all-consuming desire for realism that consumes every new Ixnay entrant) were generally not a good fit for Ixnay. It would turn out that several other long-time members, such as Malay, Latin, and others, preferred this style of play. It would come to create division in Ixnay further down the road. For a time, however, the arrival of Ghant signaled the new era of Ixnay. As mentioned, the Darkland era had waned. Roleplay, and general OOC peace, were the order of the day for most of 2015.
In spring 2015, specific date unknown, Ghant joined Ixnay. Ghant is a player who has kicked around basically every region with a roleplay component in NationStates and draws a very polarized view based on his IC play style and OOC ideas. I was impressed by his resume and thought he might be a good addition to the region, but I actually received several telegrams from other regional delegates warning me that he was trouble. Regardless, with my eye on him, I let him stay, and he and I got along fairly well at first. (''2023 Text Beginning''). It is generally true, and true to this day, that this player is a very accomplished person as far as roleplay is concerned. However, in the long run, his character-oriented roleplay and the things he wanted to focus on (such as the all-important and all-consuming desire for realism that consumes every new Ixnay entrant) were generally not a good fit for Ixnay. It would turn out that several other long-time members, such as Malay, Latin, and others, preferred this style of play. It would come to create division in Ixnay further down the road. For a time, however, the arrival of Ghant signaled the new era of Ixnay. As mentioned, the Darkland era had waned. Roleplay, and general OOC peace, were the order of the day for most of 2015. In terms of the map, the end of the Darklands and arrival of this mini-Ghant era signaled the beginning of Ixnay as a closed world rather than a region floating in the ocean of NationStates. New continents were added, as were poles; a map demonstrates this change.
 
[[File:Ixmap7-2-15.png|thumb|left|300px|Ixnay immediately following the end of the Darklands, July, 2015. Colonial Punth, what would eventually become modern Crona, also appears here in the Antarctic region, as do new world continents.]]
One could argue the end of the golden era occurred with the exit of Abs from the scene. Absurrania, the country (also called UIF), had been a central part of IC play, and the player was central to OOC politics. Eventually, the UIF's IC ambitions got the better of it. Without its Darkland allies, the UIF was drawn into a war with Amerigo and a new player called Jakee. It has always been my suspicion, though never confirmed, that Abs functionally ragequit because the country he spent a year building was out of options. It is also possible that the puppet situation was going to be exposed, ruining his OOC reputation. A long-running joke and, increasingly, theory is that Abs signed up to fight with the {{wp|Daesh}}. Whatever the case, he disappeared on July 21st, 2015 - his last words being "well I have to go to sleep". Sleep on, king.
One could argue the end of the golden era occurred with the exit of Abs from the scene. Absurrania, the country (also called UIF), had been a central part of IC play, and the player was central to OOC politics. Eventually, the UIF's IC ambitions got the better of it. Without its Darkland allies, the UIF was drawn into a war with Amerigo and a new player called Jakee. It has always been my suspicion, though never confirmed, that Abs functionally ragequit because the country he spent a year building was out of options. It is also possible that the puppet situation was going to be exposed, ruining his OOC reputation. A long-running joke and, increasingly, theory is that Abs signed up to fight with the {{wp|Daesh}}. Whatever the case, he disappeared on July 21st, 2015 - his last words being "well I have to go to sleep". Sleep on, king.