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1[[quoteright:309:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NationStates_Logo1_5041.png]]
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3Imagine 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.
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5This is the premise of the browser-based game ''[=NationStates=]''. Despite (or because of) the [[ExcusePlot very limited premise]], [=NationStates=] can be played several ways, be it narratively (decide how your nation evolves through daily ethical issues [[ButThouMust that you alone can solve]]), competitively (try to become the world number one in Basket Weaving or some other area), creatively ([[RolePlayingGame Roleplay]] your nation on web forums, act out wars, resolve diplomatic crises, participate in World Cups or develop your [[GamingClan Region]]) or even to play an aggressive metagame (using the game mechanics to "Raid" the regions of other players and vandalise them, or "Defend" against this).
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7As you might guess, [[http://www.nationstates.net/ NationStates]] means something different for everyone.
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9Partly based on and partly an advertisement for ''Literature/JenniferGovernment'' by Max Barry.
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11See also VideoGame/CyberNations, a nation sim game with more focus on gameplay.
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13----
14!! [=NationStates=] (the actual nation-building simulator) contains examples of:
15* AddedAlliterativeAppeal:
16** The "Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes" issue provided us with this gem:
17-->“Bwaahh?!?” exclaims moustache-twirling driving-goggle-wearing charlatan RANDOMNAME, who was definitely not trying to tie your secretary to his toy train tracks. “Police with cameras? This is a breach of my civil liberties! What about privacy? Do we not have the inherent right to go about our daily, lawfully abiding lives without fearing these paparazzi pigs parading our precious picturesque moments to the putrid public as perfidious publications? Say no to copper cameras! Keep your eyes off my private business!”
18** "Space Spectacular Sours Small Stargazers", featuring a National Association of Adolescent Astronomers.
19* AIGeneratedEconomy: Nations have private and/or public sectors which their policies can influence, whether for good or for bad, so every nation has one of these out-of-universe. However, it's also possible to get an A.I. planned economy in-universe as well.
20* AnachronismStew: [[EmergentGameplay Forum gameplay]] notwithstanding, the game's issues can send your nation back to TheMiddleAges or give it [[ArtificialIntelligence AI-run government]] and [[UterineReplicator cloning vats]]. Or you can do both and make [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically engineered]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]]. The ability to do the latter at all suggests a TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture time frame, but you can ignore it if you choose.
21* AnarchyIsChaos:
22** Played straight. An anarchist nation is described as "in a state of perpetual fear, as a complete breakdown of social order has led to the rise of order through biker gangs." Contradicted and averted by the various performance indicators of a nation, however, most notably in that almost all nations of this sort have very strong economies.
23** In game terms, the Anarchy classification comes from having maximum freedom/no regulations in every aspect, including business. Completely unregulated businesses can fuel extremely powerful economies, at the expense of [[NoOSHACompliance safety, happiness, and life expectancy]].
24* AntiPoopSocking: Taken to the extreme. Issues cannot come up faster than four per day after the first 20 are resolved, and it only takes a few minutes to read each issue and make your decision. Same goes for your occasional World Assembly votes. Beyond that there is nothing to do in this game. The MetaGame, on the other hand, can easily take all day if you let it.
25* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In one decision, the description starts out with "In a recent high profile trial in [nation] City, notorious mobster Maxine ‘The Octopus’ Barryotti was accused of murder, racketeering, grand theft, and jaywalking."
26* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: The game's simplistic economic engine leads to oddities such as nations with the strongest possible economy ratings having 100% tax rates (but sometimes higher for the wealthy), 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. [[StylisticSuck Some nations even deliberately fail economics]] for the sake of roleplaying.
27* AsYouKnow: If you rule your nation with a sufficiently iron fist, you can encounter an issue where you survive an assassination attempt. The opening text?
28-->As you very well know, a masked stranger with a pistol made an attempt on your life but moments ago while you were out on your lunch break.
29* AuthorAppeal: The name of the nation, the type of government and its leadership (Monarch/President-for-Life/Sporting Superstar/Chief General/[[Franchise/StarWars Jedi/Sith]]) is all named after the creator. It's their nation, after all.
30* AuthorAvatar:
31** Pretty much the premise of the whole thing. Not all players though; many people use it to play as different characters than themselves.
32** The creator of the game has been known to appear in issues in various forms. Most notably there are many references to author Max Barry, such as Max Barry the author in issue #46 (''[[BreakingtheFourthWall Jennifer Government Censorship Row]]''), Max Barry being named a beauty pageant queen as a result of pro-equality choices in ''Tiara Sign Of Oppression, Declare Feminists'', and even a computer game called Super Barry Brothers.
33** The staff working on the game have references to themselves inserted within the issues. For example, the Pokemon-pastiches of Charchivemander, Noqoran, Gnejgar and Sleepypuff are all derived from the nation names of the Issue Editorial Staff.
34* BadassArmy: Many nations want one, some have one. {{Defied}} by pacifist nations, though.
35* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The entire Issues game is set up around this premise, with effect lines showing a "corrupted wish" outcome on a decision. Increase aviation safety standards with more inspections? You get told that planes can be grounded for months simply because an inspector "didn't like the color". This is design-as-intended, and the exaggeration and satire is the game's purpose.
36* BigBrotherIsWatching: Comes up as an issue in gameplay frequently. Defied by certain highly libertarian nations, some of whom don't even bother to conduct a census.
37* BlandNameProduct: There are several different types of products like this in the game which may appear in some issues. There's some irony here, in that [[Literature/JenniferGovernment the book that the game is based on]] openly uses the names of several real world brands as villainous mega-corporations, but in [=NationStates=] it's standard practice to use parodic names. Examples include video-sharing site ''[[Website/YouTube WhoTube]]'', a role-playing game called ''[[TabletopGame/TunnelsAndTrolls Trials and Trolls]]'', films called ''[[Film/TerminatorSalvation Exterminator 4: Salvation]]'', ''[[Film/AlienResurrection Xenoform Resurrection]]'' and ''[[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen Transmorphers Vengeance of the Failbots]]''. There's also ''Maxémon Woah'', a ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' stand-in.
38** As well, the game sometimes barely even tries to hide the names of real-life products (e.g. a food company called Qraft) while some are more arcane, like the soda company Eckie-Cola (the in-game answer to Coke).
39** Some aversions to this include early issues, like Issue 3 ("Literature/HarryPotter Censorship Row").
40* BreadAndCircuses: The issue "We Who Are About To Die Would Rather Go Home" allows your nation to institute gladiatorial fights to simultaneously entertain and to deal with rebellious elements.
41* ButtMonkey: World Census interns. They always end up being sent to investigate a nation's stats in the worst possible ways.
42* CardCarryingVillain: Through certain acts, a nation or region is able to be condemned through a vote held at the World Assembly, this game's version of the UN. However, many players view being condemned as an achievement, such as [[https://www.nationstates.net/region=the_black_hawks the Black Hawks]], who has achieved two condemnations and is proud of this fact.
43-->'''[[https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?t=366917 Aura 001]]:''' It provides them with a 'Condemned' icon next to their region name, and a 'Condemned' tag in their regional tags. It offers no actual penalty towards the region. Due to this, many of the self-proclaimed 'evil' players on Nationstates attempt to 'achieve' a Condemnation. It is one of the WA's failures, as it was originally conceived that Condemnations in this format would drive users away from any regions [or players] with the label. It has typically done the opposite.
44* CommonTongue: Every character within the game speaks English, even if they have foreign-sounding names or if the player's nation represents a non English-speaking one. This may be an [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Acceptable Break From Reality]] as the game is created by and for English-speaking players. Also, within the game reality, several issues assume that while an issue is presented and written and English, the fictional people are speaking [[TranslationConvention the native tongue of NATION NAME]].
45* {{Conlang}}: Given that this is a nation-building simulator, ''[=NationStates=]'' has many user-created languages in varying levels of complexity and refinement.
46* CorruptCorporateExecutive: There's lots of opportunity for embracing or battling corporate corruption, which is perhaps unsurprising given that [[Literature/JenniferGovernment the novel]] the game is based on is all about this.
47* CrapsackWorld:
48** As an often-grim parody of the real world, there's all sorts of horrifying things going on, including nations which openly have [[MadeASlave slave-based economies]], [[PollutedWasteland dumping of radioactive waste in international waters]], [[BigBrotherIsWatching intrusive surveillance societies]], and so-on. Play your cards "right", and you can do this even in an otherwise "free" nation.
49** This trope is [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when you look at some of the worldwide stats in detail. For example, the [=NationStates=] world has far better average income equality than the real world, and crime has been eliminated or virtually eliminated in a majority of countries.
50* {{Cult}}: The game's issues have a whole host of wacky cults (the Cult of Pizza [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin worships pizza]], and "Vive la Chèvre" venerates cheese), but the most prevalent by far is the Order of Violet. While not quite a ReligionOfEvil, the Order is involved in some less-than-savory deeds like HumanSacrifice and religious terrorism (although both are implied to be extremist views). Its influence even sneaks outside the cult; [[OhMyGods "For the love of Violet!"]] occasionally shows up as a mild oath. Violet is a common [[ColorMotifs Color Motif]] in general, with Earl Violet tea and movies like ''[[Film/FiftyShadesOfGrey Fifty Shades of Violet]]''.
51* CuteKitten: The national Compassion stat is determined through "exhaustive World Census tests involving kittens".
52* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The Averageness of a nation is measured on the Average Standardized Normality Scale.
53* DirtyOldMan:
54--> "You know, there's always a compromise," says local pervert Tim Christmas while watching you from a nearby tree. "As I see it, the best way to keep both sides of the argument happy is to remove all restrictions on what adults can view and increase restrictions on minors. But at the same time, lower the age of majority by a lot. {{What could possibly go wrong}}?"
55* DisproportionateRetribution: It is possible to create a nation that punishes even minor crimes like jaywalking with public flogging.
56* DoubleStandard:
57** You can, after enforcing nudity, make it so that only women are forced to be nude. The game gives this decision, should it pass, an appropriate description.
58** The fact that you can't make it so only ''men'' are forced to be nude is an example within the game itself.
59* DrillSergeantNasty: One of the issues is soldiers complaining about sergeants forcing them to crawl through muddy minefields and climb grease-coated walls. You can side with the grunts or the sergeants, or eliminate training altogether and [[WeHaveReserves send out troops who don't know how to shoot]], or start [[TykeBomb raising children from birth to fight]].
60* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Many of the early issues written by Max himself are noticeably different to the later issues contributed by the community. Many of the issues are often more grounded or mundane, have very limited and polarizing options, and perhaps the most striking, references real life subjects like Literature/HarryPotter or Christianity in contrast to how later issues uses the in-universe stable of references.
61* EmergentGameplay: The World Assembly Delegate election system gave birth to Raiding/Defending, where organizations compete to take over or protect regions by forcefully electing someone and using the delegacy's powers such as regional appearance or ejecting nations.
62* FalseDichotomy: The limited options for some issues have been known to frustrate players despite the ever-present [[TakeAThirdOption third option]] (simply dismissing the issue). It's considered part of good issue writing to make sure that every choice [[MortonsFork feels like a bad choice]]. The issue writing guide suggests that any decision made should always leave a player wondering if they've made the right choice. Of course, this doesn't always happen, usually because the choice given just isn't bad at all. One issue is about slavery and clicking the appropriate answer reads "Slavery is outlawed." That's it. Yet others will have puns instead; for example, allowing the flying of reigonal flags gives the message, "It's been a banner year for local vexicology."
63* FantasticMeasurementSystem: How almost every statistic is measured in the game. Authoritarianism, for example, is measured in "[[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin milliStalins]]", and nudity in "cheeks per square mile".
64* FelonyMisdemeanor: In an issue regarding the possibility of direct democracy:
65-->''Our citizenry nowadays don't know what's good for them. They're too busy milling around at the mall and buying sneakers WITH LIGHTS IN THEM.''
66* FunWithAcronyms:
67** The "'''C'''itizens '''R'''aging '''A'''gainst the '''P'''olice" in the "Police too Pushy?" issue.
68** The "Time To Get Serious" issue gives us "'''S'''cientific '''C'''entre of '''A'''nalytical '''M'''etadata".
69** "'''A'''gents '''U'''ndercover to '''N'''eutralize '''T'''roublemakers" in "The Woman From AUNT" issue.
70* GambitPileup: Roleplays tend to turn into this once they've been alive for long enough. Regional political structures often do it right from the start. There are numerous players trading favors and outmatching each other to get World Assembly resolutions passed or killed. Most regional alliances are set up as growing space for these. The more branches of the BrokenBase one is familiar with, the more it appears that the ''entire game'' is one big GambitPileup that's been building up for eighteen years.
71* GreyAndGreyMorality: More freedom isn't necessarily a good thing by the game's standards; maximum freedom in all respects is classified as "[[AnarchyIsChaos Anarchy]]". Even an "[[GoldenMeanFallacy Inoffensive Centrist Democracy]]" can have ethically dubious policies. In the end, much of it depends on personal opinion and interpretation.
72* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: There is one issue which deals with abortion and whether or not it should be legal in your nation; you can enforce or defy this trope depending on what you choose.
73* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: More likely than you'd think.
74* GuideDangIt:
75** A nation's World Assembly Classification is determined by (among other things) Economic ''Freedom'', but the stat displayed on a nation's front page is Economic ''Output''. This can get confusing if your nation is a Psychotic Dictatorship with no freedom whatsoever but a powerful economy.
76** While the forum has a list of the game's issues and their respective options, it doesn't list the prerequisites for actually getting the issues or their [[ViolationOfCommonSense often counter-intuitive effects]]. This is intentional for the sake of surprise; it's still irritating if you're roleplaying.
77* AHellOfATime: If your Region's Founder or (if empowered) Delegate is displeased with you, they can banish you to an outbox region called "[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace The Rejected Realms]]". After years of GameplayDerailment, players have given this region its own culture, identity and government, and it's now a well-respected participant in interregional politics that prominent players frequently emigrate to on purpose.
78* HelloInsertNameHere:
79** You can pick your national animal and currency, which appears in the description like this (and may also appear in some of the daily issues you are given):
80--->''[Nation]'s national animal is the [animal], and its currency is the [currency].''
81*** Every time an issue involves animals, they insert the name of the national animal even if it wouldn't work with the given situation. Said animal will actually be affected by the nation's environment, even if they are fictional animals, so you can sometimes see dragons and phoenixes "teeter on the brink of extinction due to air pollution".
82*** For the currency part, this may result in WeirdCurrency. For example, some nations use things like ''[[ArtisticLicenseChemistry Diamond Ingots]]'' or ''[[PracticalCurrency Corn Chips]]'' as their currency.
83** The nation's capital city, leader, and national religion (if you want them) can be unlocked when your population reaches a high enough level (250 million, 750 million, and 1 billion respectively; it takes about 6 months to get to 1 billion).
84** Full nation names follow the format of The [Nation classification (e.g. Federation)] of [Nation], and you can make your own custom classification when you reach 500 million. Some have made weird or amusing names using this, such as [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=h2so4 The Water Bottles are Full of H2SO4]][[note]]sulfuric acid[[/note]].
85* HumanSacrifice: Just another thing you can legalize in your country.
86* HypocriticalHumor: A general in the "Budget Time: Accountants Excited" issue supports increased military spending with a warning that "tinpot dictatorships" will invade otherwise, which can come off as a little awkward if you yourself are playing as a dictatorship.
87* ImAHumanitarian: One of the issues gives you the option to legalize cannibalism in your nation.
88* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Sometimes, the headline for a choice on an issue will contract the statistical effects of the choice. For example, choosing to promote eco-tourism results in "Hordes of Tourists are Ruining the Environment..." but the stats say that environmental beauty has ''increased.''
89* ImNotAHeroIm: Parodied in one newspaper headline: " I'm No Hero, Says Heroic (Insert Demonym Here)"
90* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: Referenced in the issue "Tiara Sign of Oppression, Declare Feminists"; the second option has a MoralGuardian supporting a nationwide dress code for women, with [[InvertedTrope "necklines that never drop below the base of the neck"]].
91* InNameOnly: Whether you're a President, a Prime Minister, or a dictator, you always have complete say over the nation's issues, and neither the Congress or Parliament or any other organization can overrule any of your choices. There are seemingly no checks and balances.
92* ItMakesSenseInContext: Probably three-quarters of the forum-related stuff on this page, especially nation-specific examples, fall under this.
93* ItsUpToYou: Everything of importance that happens in your nation demands a personal response from you, the president/dictator/first citizen/god-emperor/whatever. Responding to these things is the entire game, but it can still come off silly, as lampshaded in "A Proselytizer To Burn":
94-->News media is abuzz this week as prominent atheist and anti-religious author Gary Montague has threatened to burn a copy of <state religion>'s most sacred text in order to desecrate it and offend its adherents worldwide. As usual, everyone and their mother are demanding that you do something about this.
95* JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife: In the description particular issue, an ex-convict was denied a job and is facing a lifetime of poverty for jaywalking. [[{{VideoGameCrueltyPotential}} You can also choose the option which allows this to happen.]]
96* KarmaMeter: On a national scale, represented by World Assembly Categories. It's not a good vs. evil system; instead, it's a three-axis system based on Economic Freedom (conducting private enterprise without government influence), Political Freedom (choosing the system of government without government influence), and Personal Freedom (making life decisions without government influence). [[GreyAndGreyMorality Note that more or less freedom isn't necessarily good or evil, and even moderate nations can have less-than-savory policies despite their "freedoms".]].
97* LampshadeHanging: Several cases. For an example in the "Hey Kid, Have a Cigar" issue, one of the options is:
98-->"I have a reasonable third option!" interrupts passing minister RANDOMNAME, right around the time someone normally interjects with a crazy third option.
99* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Quite literally in the issue "Dogman Deconstructed".
100--> “Look, we’re not living in a comic book. This is real life, not a work of fiction,” reminds by-the-book police officer [[HelloInsertNameHere RANDOM NAME]], leaning on one of the four walls of your office.
101* LordBritishPostulate: It's a nation-building political simulator where players answer issues a few times a day (at most) and maybe chat on a forum. Players managed to create a [[PlayerVersusPlayer combat system]] anyway.
102* MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome:
103--> "After the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a young blond girl made national headlines in [[HelloInsertNameHere COUNTRY]], the concerned parenting organization Mothers Against Youth Doing Stupid Stuff (MAYDSS) has raised concerns over the use of social networking sites by the nation's teens."
104* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: Befitting a game based around running your own country, several issues involve fictitious countries that serve as stand-ins for real world nations. For example
105** Brancaland is a cultured, friendly nation that's popular among tourists and retirees. Considering its multilingual policies, cold climate, and a [[BreadEggsMilkSquick violently separatist province]], it serves as the NPC nation equivalent of [[CanadaEh Canada]].
106** Dàguó is an authoritarian country akin to the People's Republic of China and often acts as your nation's rival. ([[BilingualBonus The nation's name means "big country" in Mandarin Chinese.]])
107** The United Federation, portrayed in issues as a freedom-obsessed, gun-toting, heavily capitalist country, functions as this game's equivalent to [[{{Eagleland}} the United States]].
108** Althaniq, an authoritarian, socially conservative oil-producing country whose issues are mostly based around foreign investments and corruption, is one for [[{{Qurac}} the Gulf States]].
109* NonEntityGeneral: Originally played straight, now merely optional with the addition of nameable leaders.
110* NoodleIncident:
111** One particular issue is full of this:
112---> ''"Following a public safety disaster of unimaginable magnitude - so extreme that members of your government only mention it in hushed voices, and only then in the vaguest of terms - [Nation]'s tourism industry has hit the rocks."''
113** The same issue goes on to mention within the options: [[ThreateningShark A shark breaking into an oil refinery,]] an ant epidemic ruining farmers, and the nation's capital being coated in pink frosting.
114* NoodleImplements: The issue "Dial L for Loan" centers around the government going bankrupt after an incident involving "[[Literature/CasinoRoyale a foreign casino, a gambling-addicted crime lord, and a secret agent that was a bit too confident in his poker-playing abilities]]".
115* NonPlayerCharacter: There are several NPC nations, most of them hostile to the player's nation, who will appear in certain issues. For example:
116** Bigtopia is a hostile dictatorship and the closest your nation has to an NPC ArchEnemy. Among its offenses include harboring anti-player-nation activists, calling for the extermination of your people, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking sucking away your nation's jobs]] with its [[EthnicMenialLabor cheap labor]]. Some issues imply that it has been (and might still be) at outright war with your nation. On the other hand, its emigrants suffer discrimination from both the player nation and other NPC nations.
117** Blackacre is another dictatorship, seemingly engaged in a UsefulNotes/ColdWar with your nation. In addition, [[EvilIsPetty its dictator harasses and threatens other nations on]] [[BlandNameProduct Twitcher]].
118** Brasilistan is [[RuleOfThree yet another dictatorship]] that abducts people (including its own citizens' children) to work in its diamond mines. Its mistake of kidnapping some of your nation's tourists prompts the "An International Incident" issue chain, the closest thing [=NationStates=] has to a proper StoryArc.
119** Other notable NPC nations are East Lebatuck, Lilliputia, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Marche Noir/Noire]], Maxtopia, Tasmania, Smalltopia, Skandilund, et cetera.
120* NumberOfTheBeast: [[https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=28990988#666 Issue 666]] references a fairly popular conspiracy theory that links [[TrackingChip microchip implants]] with the Number of the Beast.
121* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: A nation is capable of becoming this not just because of its name but also from giving your citizens high political freedoms while keeping personal and economic freedoms low, turning a nation into a literal example of this trope.
122* PoorCommunicationKills: Taken to a truly absurd level in "Good Guy With A Gun" issue.
123-->A gunman took to the mall and shot dead three people before a nearby coffee shop waitress dispatched him with five rounds from her automatic pistol. Unfortunately, as she stood over him gun in hand, a mall security guard thought she was the threat and took her out with his submachine gun. He in turn was shot by a libertarian who thought the state was finally coming to take his gun away. By the time the police arrived (and gunned down more would-be heroes who they had mistaken for terrorists), the death toll had reached fifty-seven.
124* PrivatelyOwnedSociety: With the graphs, you can see your nation's economic division between private and public companies, which includes the possibility of this happening.
125* RetGone: The highest possible punishment the moderators can dole out is to outright delete the nations of rule violators. On top of that, continuing to violate the rules with replacement nations can lead to a Delete-On-Sight (or [[FunWithAcronyms DoS]]) order—an effective permanent ban from the site.
126* RippedFromTheHeadlines:
127** Quite a few of the issues; one referring to a particular Supreme Court case was written in less than a week. A lot of the time, when a real life tragedy occurs a whole bunch of copycat [=RPs=] emerge with similar things happening to their nations.
128** {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in "Controversial Coup Causes Commotion", where a former general of your country stages a coup in a peaceful backwater, which is based off an ''in-game'' headline of the former Arch-Chancellor of the [[TheFederation FRA]] (a Defender alliance) overthrowing the democratic government of [[TheGoodKingdom the South Pacific]].
129* RunningGag:
130** Until late 2010, "Repeal "Condemn NAZI EUROPE" " and "Victory for gatesville!" were extremely common, and slightly annoying.
131** One particular RunningGag recurring in issues: Whenever an issue concerning your political or social freedoms springs up, you can be almost certain that one of your closest relatives (brother, cousin, sister-in-law, your aunt's best friend, etc.) will come up and kindly suggest that you TakeAThirdOption and simply set up a totalitarian dictatorship. Whether or not you actually ''do'' it [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential is up to you]].
132* {{Satire}}: Of the GovernmentProcedural genre.
133* SchizoTech: It's possible for your nation to have a space program while banning computers at the same time. In fact, the "Failure to Launch" issue requires both of these policies.
134* ShoutOut: There are a lot of these, probably more than there are issues in the game. Some examples include:
135** The "What's in a Name?" issue directly references ''Series/{{The Prisoner|1967}}'', with a suggestion that the nation's children be [[YouAreNumberSix given numbers instead of names]].
136** "A Grave Problem" references ''Film/SoylentGreen'', by having an option to put corpses in fast-food burgers.
137** "The Sky Is Falling": "A particularly bad spate of bombings, hijackings and [[Film/SnakesOnAPlane snake]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking attacks]] aboard airline flights has crippled the air travel industry in (your country name here)."
138** The [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus "Nobody Expects The (your country name here) Inquisition!"]] issue regarding the possibility of a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin national religious inquisition]].
139** The "Please read: A personal appeal from [=NationStates=] founder Max Barry" banner promoting Machine Man is a pretty obvious reference to the "Please read: A personal appeal from Wikipedia founder Jim Wales" banners on Website/TheOtherWiki.
140** "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 "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs POWERTHIRST (TM)]] to the national water supply!".
141** When a player creates a new nation, the "default" flag of the nation is the UsefulNotes/AustralianAborigines' flag. Which can stem from CreatorProvincialism, seeing how Barry himself is Australian.
142** During the Genetic engineering issue, the super soldier project is mentioned as [[Comicbook/XMen Project X]].
143** One of the other issues you can get is called "Eminent Domain: Inherent Right Or Daylight Robbery?" Basically, citizens are complaining about their houses being unwillingly demolished for, among other things, a bypass. Sounds like the start of a certain [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Sci-Fi series.]]
144** ''WebAnimation/DrBees'' even gets one when the titular character shows up (with his briefcase full of bees) to give his two cents on the declining bee population of your country.
145** "The Worst Storm To Hit <Nation> Since...Yesterday?" includes a reference to [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents hail the size of minivans]].
146** One of the "wonders" of your nation is mentioned to be the "[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons (nation name) Tire Fire]]."
147** Randomly generated names for characters in issues include, among others, [[Franchise/StreetFighter "Chun-Li"]] and [[Franchise/StarWars "Anakin"]], or [[ComicBook/JudgeDredd "Dredd"]].
148** "Not Mushroom For Error" has a [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros plumber named Mario hand you a peach he found near an old castle.]]
149** "No, Minister" is a straight reference to Series/YesMinister, featuring government minister Jem Hacker and civil servant Humphrey Pearby.
150** "Dàguó Takeaway" will have the first option from a Dàguó defector panicking at the foreign influence of Dàguó within a nation by claiming they [[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants "They poisoned our water supply, burned our crops and delivered a plague unto us! Well not yet, but are we just gonna sit around and wait until they do?"]]
151** "Foreign Tax Credits Leave Film Industry Reeling" have your nation's film festival voting "[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons (Nation) Getting Hit By Football]]" as best film
152** "Breath of the Wild" references VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild, unsurprisingly. The four petitioners are even named [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWildChampions Mipha, Revali, Daruk, and Urbosa]]
153** "Tilting at Wind Turbines" is, predictably, a reference to Literature/DonQuixote.
154** The "Dial L for Loan" issue has a Shout-Out for Literature/CasinoRoyale. Well, either that or the [[Film/CasinoRoyale2006 movie based on the book]].
155** "Unintelligent Oversight" revolves around the controversy that your Intelligence Agency has been funding, among other things an "[[VisualNovel/SteinsGate interdimensional time travelling microwave]]" which your Minister of Defense thinks is a waste of money given that the only thing they have to show for it is a gellified banana while another option suggested by a [[Characters/SteinsGate red haired Chief Scientist named Sarah Kurisu]] is to just give funding directly to the scientific community instead of the Intelligence Agency for research.
156** "Carbon Copied" is an issue about the possibility to upload a copy of a human mind-state onto a computer databank. One of the objector happens to be someone called [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} Sera O’Connor, who also quips that "There is no fate but what we make. What future do you want to create?”]]
157** "The Woman From AUNT" has the obvious reference to Series/TheManFromUNCLE and additionally mentions training orphans to infiltrate a mob operation run inside an orphanage with a circus kid by the name of [[Characters/NightwingDickGrayson Grayson]] as a potential candidate.
158** "Loose Lips, Character Shipped" involves the controversy around the finale of a popular animated series called "Time Adventure" ending with a kiss between two male characters, Prince Marcel and Bon Bon the Vampire King confirming a long suspected same sex ship, an obvious reference to the finale of to WesternAnimation/AdventureTime confirming the relationship between Marceline and Princess Bubblegum, which too was long suspected by its fanbase.
159* SillinessSwitch: The [[StrawCharacter Liberal and Conservative]] interface themes, which change nation classifications to satirical exaggerations. For example, the "Moralistic Democracy" classification is called "Ordinary Decent Hardworking People" by the Conservative theme and "Narrow-Minded Backwoodsy Bigots" by the Liberal theme.
160* SkeletonGovernment: No one wants to make up and explain all government ministries and offices, unless they want to.
161* StrawCharacter: [[InvokedTrope The entire game runs on this trope]], and unless you dismiss all or most of the issues that come up, your nation will inevitably become this. Even the forum guide to creating new issues states explicitly that all solutions to all issues must be wrong in some way, and the results of your decisions usually sound like they're straight out of a corrupt-a-wish game.
162* SuperSoldier: Selecting the right answer for a certain issue will result in your soldiers becoming this.
163* 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. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the issue "Hey Kid, Have A Cigar!" with the third option saying...:
164-->''"I have a reasonable third option!" interrupts passing minister (RANDOM NAME), right around the time someone normally interjects with a crazy third option.''
165* TakeThat: Toxicity is measured in [[Creator/KimKardashian Kardashians]].
166* TeensAreMonsters: If your nation is hard enough on youth crime or has big enough problems with it, that gets a special mention.
167* {{Unobtainium}}: Issue 435 has miners excavating unobtainium ore, named as-is.
168* WellIntentionedExtremist: One issue in the nation involves dealing with the aftermath of a terrorist attack. One of the options is to make terrorism a legal form of protest, effectively letting anyone in your nation embrace this trope as they please.
169* VideogameCaringPotential: You can make your nation into a blooming utopia.
170* VideogameCrueltyPotential: You can make your nation into a "Psychotic Dictatorship" where you refer to your citizens as "[[CosmicPlaything Your Little Playthings]]" and the phrases "Political Freedoms" and "Civil Rights" do not exist in your vocabulary.
171* ViolationOfCommonSense: A serious problem when trying to make a specific type of nation, especially given the game's [[MortonsFork damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't issues]]. For example, even reasonable decisions such as banning incest or [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalism]] can result in a decrease in personal or political freedom. Banning ''anything'', no matter how vile, can be seen as a restriction of freedom by the game's logic.
172* ZergRush:
173** You can't go to war with other regions in the actual simulator. However, you can get a large group of nations on your side to join a region, have them vote your nation the one in charge, then kick out the original members. It's cruel, but not against the rules.
174** Which gives rise to the entire raider (who do this) versus defender (who prevent this by either giving additional support to the original members, or by voting the raiders out before handing the control back to the natives) game.
175* ZombieApocalypse: 2013 April Fools gag was a giant zombie apocalypse, with nations having to either kill, cure, or export the zombies in their country. It now repeats every Halloween, lasting 36 hours and giving a special issue. Each nation has some of their population turned into zombies and gets three options; set the military on the zombies (converts zombies to dead), research a cure (after a few hours you get cure missiles which allow converting zombies to survivors not only in your nation but in other nations of the same region) or joining the horde (creating more zombies and getting hordes to infect other nations in the region). The options encourage regions to work together as a team and there are several leaderboards to show success with each strategy.
176
177!!The World Assembly & Security Council (UsefulNotes/UnitedNations Simulator, minus the [[ScrappyMechanic veto]]) contains examples of:
178* BalanceOfPower: Varies between the WA Delegates in each region, depending on their influence and number of endorsements in their regions. Present WA superpowers (Type A) include [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=just_guy Just Guy]] and [[http://www.nationstates.net/nation=alsted Alsted]], whereas Type E consists of regional delegates with less than 10 endorsements.
179* BlandNameProduct: Started out as THE UsefulNotes/UnitedNations [[http://www.maxbarry.com/2008/04/02/news.html before the real UN threatened to sue.]]
180* StopHavingFunGuys: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by proponents & detractors of Rule 4, which attempted to standardize the WA propositions. Has since died out.
181
182!!Some [=NationStates=] [=RPs=] with their own pages are:
183[[index]]
184* ''Roleplay/AcademyOfVillains''
185* ''Roleplay/{{Aeia}}''
186* ''Roleplay/AmericanParanormalSociety''
187* ''Roleplay/AncientOnes''
188* ''Roleplay/BattleOfTheElders''
189* ''Roleplay/CoalitionOfPonyistStates''
190** ''Roleplay/AnInconvenientAccident''
191* ''Roleplay/DemonCastleWars''
192* ''Roleplay/ElfenHigh''
193* ''Roleplay/{{Esquarium}}''
194* ''Roleplay/{{Eurth}}''
195* ''Roleplay/FallOfGods''
196* ''Roleplay/FreeRepublics''
197* ''Roleplay/{{Gama}}''
198* ''RolePlay/{{Gregoryisgodistan}}''
199* ''Roleplay/AHogwartsTale''
200* ''Roleplay/InfiniteJusticeOrigins''
201* ''Roleplay/MassEffectRelinquish''
202* ''Roleplay/MefhorCanonBloc''
203* ''Roleplay/AModernWorld''
204* ''Roleplay/{{Mystria}}''
205* ''Roleplay/NationStatesAllWelcomeChillThread''
206* ''Roleplay/NineteenSeventyGlobalWrath''
207* ''Roleplay/{{Noctur}}''
208* ''Roleplay/PersonificationLife''
209* ''Roleplay/RexEightyFour''
210* ''Roleplay/StrikeWitchesTwentyTwelve''
211* ''Roleplay/SuperHeroHigh''
212* ''Roleplay/{{Tiandi}}''
213* ''Roleplay/{{UNIT}}''
214* ''Roleplay/VaporASteampunkRP''
215* ''Roleplay/WashingtonRoleplay''
216* ''Roleplay/AWorldBeyond''
217* ''Roleplay/AWorldWithoutAmerica''
218* ''Roleplay/TheYonderlands''
219[[/index]]

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