History Website / NationStates

* TechnologyLevels: A nation can be PT (Past Tech), MT (Modern Tech), PMT (post-modern tech), FT (Future Tech), FanT (Fantasy Tech/{{Magitek}}), Alternate Tech (e.g. {{Steampunk}}), or even a combination.

** [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=lyras Lyras]] stands far above everyone else in this department.

* Technology Levels: A nation can be PT (Past Tech), MT (Modern Tech), PMT (post-modern tech), FT (Future Tech), FanT (Fantasy Tech/{{Magitek}}), Alternate Tech (e.g. {{Steampunk}}), or even a combination.

* {{Expy}}: Western Australia Edgerton is, at least, an expy of American Samoa - using the flag, anyway, even though it's also an expy of Kirklees, West Yorkshire too.

*** CreatorProvincialism, WriteWhatYouKnow, WriteWhoYouKnow, ArtistDisillusionment - all of which caused the storefront to fail, but then again, with help on the forums, Celsan's role may be CommutingOnABus until things work out again.

** [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=astholm Astholm]] does this trope to an average level; his designs may be unoriginal, in styling terms, but at least he gets the car technology right, well, interiors and running gear, if not engines.

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: A somewhat simplistic economic engine leads to oddities such as nations with the strongest possible economy ratings having 100% tax rates, no private sector, and no government funds spent on economic production. And that's before we get into the economic models some players propose their nations run on. [[InvokedTrope Some nations even deliberately fail economics]] to avert MarySuetopia. Or become one.

Based off the story ''JenniferGovernment'' by Max Barry. But not really. Here. have a [[http://www.nationstates.net/ link.]]

Sounds strange?

* VideoGame/{{Dystopia}}: When there's a PoliceState, it is probably this.

* {{Utopia}}: Many non-evil nations are the vision of the player of a perfect government. Some of the ''evil'' nations are '''also''' their player's version of a perfect government, even if it horrifies other players. See VideoGame/{{Dystopia}}.

** The [[MontyPythonsFlyingCircus "Nobody Expects The (your country name here) Inquisition!"]] issue regarding the possibility of a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin national religious inquisition]].

** When a player creates a new nation, the "default" flag of the nation is the AustralianAborigines' flag.

Imagine a game where about the only premise you get is that every player controls a nation. If they want, they can interact with others on a forum on the internet, ''about'' those nations.

This is the premise of the browsergame NationStates. Despite (or because of) the [[ExcusePlot very limited premise]], NationStates can be played two ways: Mechanically (Decide how your nation evolves through daily ethical issues [[ButThouMust that you alone can solve]]), or Creatively (RolePlay your nation on web forums, acting out wars, diplomatic crises, or World Cups).

As you might guess, [[BrokenBase which part of Nationstates is]] [[GambitPileup the real game]] means something different for everyone. The Roleplaying aspect is commonly seen as a combination of 19th century [[TheEmpire Imperial politics]], 20th century [[WorldWarII military strategy]] and cutting-edge 21st century military technology, along with some [[SchizoTech older bits]].

* PrivatelyOwnedSociety: With the graphs, you can see your nation's economic division between private and public companies.

** Speaking of the WA, we might as well mention [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=christian_democrats Christian Democrats']] various and futile attempts to ban abortion via WA, and promptly getting laughed out by everyone else.

** "Voter Apathy Rising But No One Cares": People are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin too apathetic to vote]], and one of the options is to energize people by putting "[[{{Idiocracy}} POWERTHIRST [TM]]] to the national water supply!".

* SuperSoldier: Selecting the right answer for a certain issue will result in your soldiers becoming this. This is also common in Future Tech nations such as [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=bajireyn Bajireyn]]

* AIIsACrapshoot: Both played straight and subverted by many people in future tech roleplay.

* AnyoneCanDie: Varies from one nation to the next, but most of them have killed off their national leader at least once.

* AprilFools:

* BlueBlood: Personified by the nations of Imeriata and New Nicksyllvania
* BlobMonster: Sometimes straight out horrors, or [[BodyHorror cute little pets that are attached to their master's hips]]. Trash Slimes, for instance.
* BloodSport: Specifically, one involving immigrants, if you choose the option in a certain issue.
* BritsWithBattleships: [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=ozymos Ozymos]], the definition of the British Empah [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE]].
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=strykla Strykla]] has his own race of bipedal Euorpean dragons and consistently maintains that dragons are better than anything else.

** The nation of [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=tergnitz Tergnitz]] is known for having a Church as the fourth branch of government.

* CoolShip: The FT RPers wouldn't be caught dead without them.

** Take a lesson from FT nations, some like to Glass planets and others bombard it to nothingness.
* DeusExNukina: Subverted: even threatening to use a nuke sparks massive flame wars.

* DisproportionateRetribution: The amount of RP's which go from the sending of angry communiques to full-scale invasions would surprise you.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Ertzatz copies of nations both real and fictional abound.
* {{Dystopia}}: When there's a PoliceState, it is probably this.

** Semi justified in FT since there is FTL travel involved and it varies from a day to hours for some nations.

*** Taken to an extreme on both sides with the rise of the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Coalition of Ponyist States]].

* FullCircleRevolution: Nations can and have gone from being a Monarchy, to a Socialist People's Republic, to a Fascist Dictatorship and then back to a Monarchy all within the same thread.

* GorgeousPeriodDress: Some armies march into battle dressed resplendently. Overlaps somewhat with BlingofWar and HighlyConspicuousUniform, especially in Anglosphere nations.

** Ironically it is a national animal of a nation, it is apparently a rock animal.

* GovernmentInformationAdverts: News articles from seemingly 'independent' sources are usually just veiled and sometimes overt government propaganda.

* IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: Numerous examples.

* IntellectualAnimal: Bears Armed roleplays as this.
** And [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia the Kangaroo Republic]].
** Any FT nation not from (The many, many fractal) Earth(s) technically applies, go even further and even Humans count.

* InformedFlaw: If there is supposed to be a notable flaw, then there is pretty damn good chance that it will not get in the way when things get serious.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: The invasion/defense community. The game doesn't have an officially supported war system, and so a niche population of players hacked together a combat mechanic out of what amounts to bureaucratic white noise.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: There's an issue that allows you to let your military/law enforcement agencies torture people. It's also done in roleplay quite often, with variable quality.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Both subverted and played straight by many people.

** Some people actually have taken up huge originality, examples include [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=-byzentania- Byzentania]] and [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=purpailia_draconica Purpailia Draconica]] .
* LaResistance: Usually limpwristed, but there.
* LastStand: Happens very VERY often.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: If its not the number of players, then its within those nations who like to keep track of EVERYONE they've ever introduce, from Ambassadors to Parliamentarians.

* MnogoNukes: All Russian nations.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: EVERYBODY wants to be one of these. Few achieve it.

* NotSoDifferent: Ruthless genocide can be fun even if you are supposed to be TheFederation.

* ILoveNuclearPower: Nuclear powered everything! Regular access to orbit by means of Project Orion! Nuclear tank rounds! Even [[UpToEleven 81mm nuclear mortar rounds]] (with [[ShownTheirWork Shown Work (and exotic uranium isotopes)]]!

* PaidHarem: It pops up from time to time, most commonly with a SexSlave scenario.

** Said nations can definitely be described as a flavour one variant of {{Eagleland}}, where the US is replaced by nation ''x''.

* PsychoForHire: Quite a few nations that are essentially big mercenary companies are like this.
* PuttingOnTheReich: Why invent a new flavour of evil when you can just use a historical one?
** [[InvokedTrope Referenced most prominently]] by [[http://www.nationstates.net/region=the_greater_german_reich The Greater German Reich]], the largest Nazi-based region in NS.
* PettingZooPeople: Often a minority in several nations, occasionally a nation made up of these will appear but they usually get destroyed by an evil nation to [[KickTheDog show how evil they are]] or [[ForTheEvulz because they can.]] Also, see FantasticRacism above.

* RetCon: More likely than you'd think. This happens quite a bit when someone gets bored with a roleplay and wanders off without bothering to finish it, or when someone doesn't like the way a role play is going. Given that players are allowed to ignore anything they don't like by the site rules, this can be a source of frustration for some, as there are no permanent consequences unless a player is willing to allow them.

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: Most of them aren't.

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem

* ShownTheirWork: A substantial number of players have put quite a lot of thought into their nations, and it shows. To a smaller extent, some people spend months and months designing tanks, ships, planes, and other items for their fictional militaries to use.

** At least some FT nations use the String Theory as a reason on how it can work.

* StrangeBedfellows: A recurring theme of any ingame alliance based on nation owners being friends out of game.

* StrawFeminist: Several nations oppress their male population. [[LadyLand Some don't even ''have'' a male population.]]

* SuperSoldier: A popular trope that is rarely done well.
* TankGoodness: Many players design their own tanks, practical or not. Some also like using tanks from their favourite games and movies. If it's been on paper or screen, it's probably shown up here at some point.

* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: A common view of Dystopias.
* TheFederation

** And taken to new heights by the FT roleplaying population. Care for a weapon that can drive a sun into supernova? Hows about a wormhole weapons ala Farscape? Of course you know there will be exaton level explosions and weapons capable of dishing out that same sort of damage.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: It is rare that any kind of political or economic turmoil, not matter how trivial it may seem, does ''not'' end up turning into some form of armed conflict.
* TheSpartanWay
* TheVirus: [[http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=117931 We are the Rethast. Your species is now obsolete.]]
* TheWarRoom

* TheWikiRule: The site has a dedicated Wiki for all member nations to expand on their nations called [[http://www.nswiki.net/index.php?title=Main_Page called NSWiki]]. Some nations break away and create a Wiki solely for their nation.
* {{Utopia}}: Many non-evil nations are the vision of the player of a perfect government. Some of the ''evil'' nations are '''also''' their player's version of a perfect government, even if it horrifies other players. See {{Dystopia}}.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Even most brutal dictators can be absolutely loved by their people.

* WeHaveReserves: Who cares about casualties anyway. They're all just statistics. Many players pursue a zero sum course of action-- fight to the last man in the nation regardless of anything.
* WoodenShipsandIronMen: Some nations still have a naval mentality dating back to this period.

** The important thing to note is that this is all your fault. [[YouBastard You bastard!]]

* BigInternationalClubs: Definitely one of these. Membership is voluntary, though.

* Roleplay/ElfenHigh.
* {{Troperia}}
* Roleplay/AWorldBeyond

* Roleplay/AHogwartsTale

* Roleplay/FallOfGods
* Roleplay/DemonCastleWars
* Roleplay/CoalitionOfPonyistStates

** A lot of FTers, such as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Intergalactic of Kreanoltha]], have casual ''intergalactic'' travel at over 100,000 lightyears per hour.

* YouFailEconomicsForever: A somewhat simplistic economic engine leads to oddities such as nations with the strongest possible economy ratings having 100% tax rates, no private sector, and no government funds spent on economic production. And that's before we get into the economic models some players propose their nations run on. [[InvokedTrope Some nations even deliberately fail at economics]] to avert MarySuetopia. Or become one.

* TakeAThirdOption: Even when you feel an issue could only have two logical solutions, there's often another option that may or may not make sense. Example: allow public nudity, ban public nudity, or ENFORCE public nudity. Others are just a nonstandard extreme/ideal that would be really hard to bring about in real life. Not to mention you can just dismiss the issue altogether if it appears to be FailureIsTheOnlyOption.

* GeneHuntInterrogationTechnique: The latest trend there, and for some reason [[FountainOfExpies expies]] of him appear recently.

Sounds strange? It's BetterThanItSounds.

** BetterThanItSounds - the resulting political simulation is probably more realistic than most games deliberately created as such.

As you might guess, [[BrokenBase which part of Nationstates is]] [[GambitPileup the real game]] [[YourMileageMayVary means something different for everyone]]. The Roleplaying aspect is commonly seen as a combination of 19th century [[TheEmpire Imperial politics]], 20th century [[WorldWarII military strategy]] and cutting-edge 21st century military technology, along with some [[SchizoTech older bits]].

** And [[EverythingsBetterWithKangaroos the Kangaroo Republic]].

* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: Most of them aren't. Many of them are HighOctaneNightmareFuel, in fact.