NationStates is a multiplayer online game where a player can create their own country and manage it in acoordation to their own political ideals. More than a few hundred thousand people play NationStates, which is gearing up for its next major release. In Nationstates, the player can choose the name and type of country they want and then during gameplay they recieve issues which they decide upon and which help form their own country.
NationStates also has a big population of RPG players who have created a community where nations can trade items and money and also make up stories on news going on in the country. Nations can send telegrams to each other and make alliances in their regions. Regions are groups of nations that work with one another and make nations cooperate in more manner. There is a founder of a region and a regional delegate who can manage the region. There is also a UnitedNations, which any nation can join to vote on issues that effect all of the nations in the UnitedNations.
NationStates is a great, fun game and maybe a way for people to realize their own political views and what impact they can make on a country.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Sounds like a very timely game Nikhil, thanks and welcome!
2 - jadester
it's alright, but i stopped playign after a coupla weeks because i ran out of stuff to do - the problems started repeating themselves.
I guess from some of their polls they might be introducing a pay-for mode, which may be worth it, but the problem is, with all the already-available online games you can pay for, many of which these days have "proper" graphics and even a whole client program, such as that business/simcity-style one from a year or so ago, i forget its name, the Nation States people would have to introduce ALOT of extra features to the pay-for version to make it worth it, otherwise it just stops holding play interest before long
3 - Eric Olsen
Jadester has become jaded.
4 - jadester
i'm not the only one...a certain gamers' forum which i frequent had quite a number of members join Natino States, but soon give up (in fact, all before i did) because they played through all the problems, which then started looping, and after that there's nigh-on nothing to do but watch a few numbers possibly increase or decrease over time.
Mind you, being gamers, we maybe have harsher judgement of such diversions than the average member of the public.
5 - Nikhil
Maybe it has changed a bit since you last played, jade. Now users can submit their own issue suggestions to Max, and there are new issues every week.
6 - jadester
They had the issue suggestions thing when i played. They had the UN. they even had a more general suggestion submission system, for suggesting any kind of new feature.
As a free game, it is enjoyable, especially if you don't have the time for a full-on web strategy game (which DO take up quite a bit of time to play even semi-decently)
7 - UberGermany
Well, I've been playing Nationstates for a rather long while now ( http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_nation/nation=ubergermany ) and even though it does get boring, it's not a huge commitment. Just checking it once or twice a day, or at the very least once a week. It isn't even hard, either. In fact, there isn't really a point. It's like musical chairs with 4 people and seven chairs. Everyone's a winner!
8 - Donthoran
Nationstates can be expanded much more than the issues and the RPG that you spoke of.
In joining a region you can mirror a government, where you set up rules and regulations and set up alliances and issues with other regions. There is often fights to get to the top and there can be corrupt nations as well as decent ones.
There is also the region crashing element, where "invaders" can crash regions for their own fun and therefore affect numerous regions which surround it in terms of alliances. As a result Defence alliances and regions have been set up to defend invasion prone regions.
Its much more expansive than the issues whihc other comments have mentioned
9 - Andrew Ian Dodge
Nationstates is good for a laugh really but nothing special. (What the hell you expect its free...) I do notice a wee bit of a bias to the left with the original issues and their ultimate effect. I do however enjoy playing an anarcho-capitalist state.
10 - Joe
Nationstates is a very fun and educational way to learn about goverment and it is a lot of fun when you get new issues everyday, i have not have had an issue repeat once and i have been playing 2 years. It is fun being a Psychotic Dictatorship. Allso they have a daily poll which is fun to read.
"The Empire of Joe is a very large, safe nation, notable for its compulsory military service. Its hard-nosed, cynical population of 114 million are ruled without fear or favor by a psychotic dictator, who outlaws just about everything and refers to the populace as "my little playthings.""
11 - A May
This article is really bad an inaccurate.
12 - rowan
i have being playing for a couple months now, i have 3 different nations. i thought u could only get issues, but once i found out about regions and joined the forum, i was right into it. just talk to people and pretty soon you will un earth some pretty fun parts of the game!
13 - Caronicilia
My region has a shitload of stuff,including a system of war and international politics.Join Western Europe today!