Is it just me.. or is the MCS an unfriendly place...?

[Kaiser Mors V]

I went by there and was looking around, and I noticed a lot of mean spirited comments toward young nations and toward more fantasy based nations. This greatly displeased me, especially since some of those comments seemed to come from administrators.

I think I may have even seen the term "bug nation" once a while back... And the general disrespect to "noobs" was also displeasing...

Sometimes, tucked away here in Shireroth, I forget how immature and young many Micronationalists are.

I know this sounds odd, but we ought to go help out the new nations and people. We are one of the eldest nations around, with some of the eldest and more experienced micronationalists. We should go out and help new nations and people. In a totally non-patronizing way. If they want our help. There was a term for this, I forget what it was.

I almost feel like it's our responsibility to go out and help newer nations, as an older nation.

[hypatias mom]

Could that word possibly be "mentoring?"

[Liam conToketi]

Actually, despite Toketi's relative youth, we've taken a hand in some nations' developments. Take Novatainia, for example.

But yes, we should definitely start taking a hand in some nations' developments. It makes Shireroth look good and will put a stopper in the mouths of those fools on the MCS.

[Kaiser Mors V]

problem is I don't even know who these young nations are. I'm so out of the loop these days, to many years in isolation, or away...

[Chrimigules]

Worry not. There are plenty of micronationalists who have no idea who these people are. Though I'm sure the ones in the more hegemonic, imperialist swine nations know exactly who they all are, and are already plotting for their annexation.

[Kaiser Mors V]

lol...

Well, I've decided I need to learn who people are again... So.. who are you?

[Andreas the Wise]

I'd have to agree Erik, as someone involved in a fantasy-based nation which was once a new one ...
Though some of it was not unwarranted, looking back now over the past year, I've developed greatly from the micronationalist I was a year ago ... 9 months ago ... six months ago ... 3 months ago ...

Maybe not 3 months, maybe 4 ...

But yes, mentoring is good. For Shireroth, with such a distinct personality, the best would be to find young nations with similiar ideas. The Reindeer Herders spring to mind - they like mythology. Other than that ...

[Kaiser Mors V]

I don't really like the name mentor.. but it does seem to be the best fitting.. Cause it almost has a sound of "we are better then you" I was thinking more as embracing them as more or less equals...

[Jacobus Loki]

Partner? Associate? Ally?

[benkern]

Friend'll do...

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Svengali?

[Jacobus Loki]

Guru?

[Kaiser Mors V]

nevermind...

I was thinking a word the indicated a more Sibling relationship.

[Chrimigules]

Big Brother?

[Kaiser Mors V]

nevermind.. I'll figure something out.

[Andreas the Wise]

It is a good idea, name or not. I know, the way Novatainian culture developed, we would've loved to have Shireroth as a [insert word here] while we were growing.

[Liam conToketi]

Instead you got Toketi

[Andreas the Wise]

I'm still not sure how much you were an older brother, though I'd definitely count our relationship as brotherly. After all, everyone I learnt about foreign affairs I had to teach myself first hand ...

[HIH Hesam Jahandar]

Babkha started doing this as well, we've been advocating on behalf of Tellia for a few months now. We did this because about two months ago, they really showed alot of civility and helped us out despite barely having any contact with us, so we try to support them as much as possible. They're one of the newest nations in the sector and have more decency than some of the nations around here that have been active for years. If Shireroth did this, I think it would be a great idea.

[Jonas]

A Kaiser that wants to learn who his people are?

I think it's a great idea! I support it!

[Prodigy Almighty]

I don't really like some of the older, more stuffy and straight-laced micronationalists and micronations with their working political systems that don't actually see use, their black-and-white authentic photographs, their air of superiority, and their rigid realism.

This world isn't real! Bend the rules a little! Something that is only hypothetically possible in the real world can be made possible here! Hell, you think we'd be able to sit down and build a giant robot with a huge laser cannon and a rail gun? Of course not! We don't have the money, resources or expertise, much less the laser cannon or rail gun. But you know what? I built one on Micras. Because I can! Because MICRAS ISN'T REAL LIFE.

They seem to forget that sometimes.

[hypatias mom]

I think they get so wrapped up in their self-importance sometimes that they forget that, and that one of the reasons people come to micronations is to experiment, see what works, and just have a blast.

[Scott of Hyperborea]

I hate to be the one to break up all of the love and solidarity here, but I can see both sides of the issue. Sometimes the old micronations behave arrogantly. And sometimes the young micronations just plain behave like n00bs. Txtspeak, lack of creativity, and no interest in learning about the community before trying to lead it.

A mentoring program wouldn't be a bad idea, but I think most countries that want to learn from the older ones already have a chance to do it. Most just don't want to. Some of them honestly just want to make their own way, and others are too dumb to realize they don't know everything.

[Andreas the Wise]

True Scott, but it also depends how the mentoring is approached. If it's in a diplomatic relation as somewhat of equals, then they'd be quite happy and don't have to know that it's mentoring at the same time. But if it's in a "we're a big nation, we've picked you to help" way, it's probably not going to work ...

[benkern]

You guys are too concerned about making people outside Shireroth happy. If we're a little bit arrogant (but not to the extent where we're alienated from the community - make friends with worthy nubs of course, just don't make like Hanover) it would be beneficial for us in that we'd probably end up with a good old fashioned enemy. Gralus would make a good candidate, since they're big and, compared to Shireroth, new. Enemies bring nations together, if we've got someone to be annoyed at all the time then we're more likely to band together, add another element to our national enemy. And activity will come with that - not that activity's much of an issue now, but it never hurts to secure our position.

I like this mentoring idea, however I think it should be extended only to one or a few nations, and on an equality basis. Being friendly to EVERYONE ain't gonna do us no favours.

Anyway, I didn't have it easy when I were a noob micronationalist, and I've learnt the error of my noobish ways since then. One day they'll understand, or be gone, and if the latter, the community will be better for it! By tolerating people like Marc on the MCS, we're damaging ourselves as a wider community. (Don't get me wrong here - I want to keep our community in tact, but as discussed in my first paragraph, a community divided is an active one. Um... sometimes the division outweighs the activity, where it gets BAD, like certain unmentionable mapping societies, but even then its undeniable that activity's been produced by that.)

[Scott of Hyperborea]

Andreas, I agree with you about the diplomatic relations. Shireroth's foreign policy has always included attempts to catch really promising nations early and forge close bonds with them while everyone else is still dismissing them as newbies. It's incredibly rewarding, because if they succeed we get a new powerful friend, and if they fail their citizens may consider joining us. But the trick is finding the very rare countries that are good enough to be worth it but haven't already fallen into someone else's sphere of influence or learned everything they need to know. Having that kind of relationship with the average micronation would be useless and a waste of our time; they might remain another two person nation inhabiting some back corner of Micras that never came to anything useful before collapsing after a few months. So we have to always be on the lookout for promising people.

It looks like Babkha's found someone worth their time in Tellia. The last time we had a relation that good was with the newborn Antica; we spotted promise in them, helped them out, and were unbreakable allies right until the time there was a big revolution and we became abhorred as the hated enablers of the Old Regime.

Instead of creating some abstract mentoring system, I think the best contribution someone could make, from our point of view, would be to find a promising mentorable nation and inform the Minister of the Exterior about it.

[HIH Hesam Jahandar]

The way Shireroth seems to work these days is that you don't leave the forums, you let other people come to you. Don't know how you did it, but it works, keeps your activity up. The only problem is that you end up being isolated from everyone else. Staying contemporary with the community is a big deal, if you don't you end up being those "stuffy old nations" you reject so much. And while I'm on that issue, there is very little antagonism toward fantasy in this sector anymore, some people choose to use it while others don't. The community is too small to let an issue like that get in the way. I'd say its probably a good idea to drop the prejudice toward "realist" nations as most have dropped their prejudice against fantasy. Who knows you might get more friends that way.

Shireroth is arrogant. So is Babkha, so are most nations. It happens when you're a nation that helped build the community. The aim is not resting on your laurels. No matter how large the nation is, the threat of inactivity is constant. Shireroth was dead only a few months ago and it can (and likely will) happen again. It happens to everyone. The trick is when you have activity, you invest in the future, so you have friendly allies and community ties during the dead days of inactivity. Babkha recently went through a month long span of inactivity and if it weren't for allies visiting, we would likely have been discounted as a power.

[Chrimigules]

Aye, I can attest to being party to a micronation that acted like pure utter n00bs and tried to take over the sector. Why else do you think the Mediterranean Incident happened?

[Andreas the Wise]

I know what you mean, Hesam, Scott and Benkern:
@Ben - as I said, I can really see how n00bish Novatainia was at the start and how we've grown, though I don't think we were ever quite as n00bish as some nations or micronationalists seem to have stayed their whole time *cough*marc*cough*. We'd rather not be Shireroth's major enemy though, since we seem so much in common.
@Hesam - Oh, you'd be surprised. But you're right, in general, most people don't care, and we get along fine with them as a fantasy nation. But there are a few who bring it up now and again ... I don't (and I think this applies to all Gralans) dislike realism on principal - I just dislike those nations and people who demand that it must be so to be a decent micronation.
@Scott - Definetly. Finding the good ones is hard though ... we found a nice one, Norvay, heaps of potential, tons of activity ... month later they just dropped out of existence ... it's hard to find the stickers ...

[Aurangzeb Khan]

Well Norvay was Kieran Collin's attempt at a MN comeback... you may have had a lucky escape, depending on your opinion of his tenure as foreign affairs chappy for Lovely.