THE REJECTED REALMS MEDIA CORPORATION
ISSUE #1 | OCTOBER 2015
The Delegate’s Corner (By Guy)
A new publication, Regional Officers, and everything in between
Howdy, all. Firstly, I’d like to welcome you to the Rejected Realms’ new publication, The Monthly Reject. Our object is to provide you with the very best of Rejects’ creative output, whether it relates to NationStates news, commentary, real-life happenings, or interviews. Please take a read and enjoy, wherever your interests lie.
Our hugely successful predecessor publication, The Rejected Times, went into a slump of inactivity and eventual death with the departure of the predecessor in my role. The Times was by far the most prolific and successful media publication in NS Gameplay, and we will be sure to look to take after many of its successes.
There have also been some changes made, aimed at ensuring the highest level of quality of our output (such as through the transition to monthly editions) and at clearly delineating what stands as official TRR communication and what is simply the opinion of our members. Put simply, we have become a more community-based publication that seeks to showcase our very best. Apart from this editorial and the foreign update, the contributions to this publication are not reflective of any official stances of our government.
Undoubtedly, the biggest news in NationStates over the past few weeks has been the introduction of Regional Officers. A feature that could have much potential was thrown into immediate controversy due to one small part: the ability to give multiple nations Border Control powers in a founderless region.
Anyone with even a smidgen of understanding of the invasion game will realise that this part makes liberations all but impossible as up to 13 nations can now kick incoming liberators at an influence cost of zero. Anyone with half an eye on recent happenings in the invasion game – or anytime in the past 3-4 years, really – would also know that there is no longer anything resembling ‘R/D’. Liberal Border Control access is not equally advantageous to raiders on the one hand and to natives and defenders on the other; rather, it creates a platform that provides for increasingly easy invasions against natives with an off-chance of defensive action being the only thing standing in the way.
The invasion game has been in need of a serious rebalancing act. Instead, it has been tilted even further toward offensive invasions with this new feature. An immediate fix is needed before the last few defenders hang their switchers. So where to now? The latest news post recognises these issues and lists some potential fixes. While there is likely to be a great divergence of opinion, it’s important that this matter be resolved sooner rather than later to mitigate the abuse that we are likely to see over the coming days and, perhaps, weeks.
The potential for abuse, of course, is not limited only to invaders in founderless UCRs. Our fellow Feeders and Sinkers – but not us, of course, as we thankfully don’t have an eject button! – are sure to pay particular attention to the effects of giving Border Control powers to multiple nations. Not only can Delegates find themselves vulnerable; but, as part of a coordinated push, the feature can also make coups almost impossible to repel. One needs look no further than to the New Lazarene Order, which would probably still be with us had ROs already been implemented, to understand the implications.
That’s all from me for now. Enjoy the rest of the issue! 
[hr]
New Pacifican Leader: Never a Firm Francoist?
Christian Democrats sits down with Emperor Pierconium
CD: Hello, Emperor Pierconium, and thank you for agreeing to this interview. Would you mind, for our readers, giving a concise overview of your time in the New Pacific Order?
Pier: I joined shortly after the revolution and observed, initially as a spy on behalf of the ADN. I then joined the Praetorian Guard. I was appointed by Francos Spain as Governor of Province V in March 2004. Towards the end of the original NPO era Poskrebyshev named me as High Judge of the Pacific. When the People’s Republic of the Pacific was formed, I became Senator of Justice. I then became Viceroy of the Pacific and then Emperor of the NPO after the closure of the PRP. I stepped down after some months in favor of others but have periodically returned to serve within the Pacific Senate until taking the Regent position and Emperorship earlier this year. I have served as Delegate of the Pacific three times with Pierconium and have had control of the Delegate nation two other times in the past.
CD: One of your first acts as Emperor has been to reinstitute the provincial system and appoint governors. What do you hope to accomplish by this act, and should Pacificans and the international community expect any other major reforms during your reign?
Pier: It is my hope that the provincial system will provide a more active engagement with the region as a whole and generate more activity. A feeder is very large and even the most active of them only engages a small minority on their offsite community. This is a means of more direct communication between the government and the nations of the region. Each Governor is charged with setting up his or her own system of government within the province and facilitating larger interaction between nations that is difficult from a purely top down approach. Though we are still in the early stages, so far it has been successful in reaching out to nations that might otherwise be missed in such a large system.
CD: Another early act of your government has been the introduction of a new regional currency: the denarius. Does the Pacific’s abandonment of the franco represent an abandonment or a rethinking of Francoism (a perestroika of sorts), or does the NPO remain firmly committed to the Francoist doctrines on which it has been established?
Pier: I have never been a firm Franocist. In the past, I found it to be a useful tool in managing the dichotomy between feederites and userites but to me it has always been just that, a tool. But, as with many such doctrines, as times change so must they, or those that support them risk becoming obsolete. The shift in regional currency is a measure of our shift away from the dogma and hero worship of the past. I am more concerned with the Pacific’s place in the present and future than distant memories and ghosts.
CD: Is Krulltopia’s leadership over the NPO’s armed forces a shift away from dogma? My readers will certainly have their doubts. What sort of foreign policy should we expect to see from the Pacific during your reign: a continuation of interventionism, a move toward liberal cosmopolitanism, or an autarkic or isolationistic focus on internal improvements?
Pier: The armed forces of the Pacific have been defunct for quite a while, and even in their previous incarnations they left much to be desired in my opinion. It is my hope that Krull can organize a military that can assist in the defense of other GCRs (as we did recently in TWP) and work in conjunction with various groups towards goals that meet with my vision. I do not see the Revolutionary Guard as an extension of Pacifican power so much as a means of assisting our friends in times of need.
As to our foreign policy, I am well aware of the errors made in the past regarding our interventionist practices and if nothing else, I learn from our mistakes. So no, the NPO has no plans to be interventionist (beyond normal diplomatic influence) or meddle directly into the affairs of other GCRs. I am currently focused primarily upon internal improvements to the region but have also made repairing the damage to our relations with the other GCRs (and the larger UCRs) a priority.
CD: I see that you’ve already reestablished relations with the East Pacific. Did TEP approach you, or did you approach them? Are you currently working on mending fences with any other feeder or sinker regions?
Pier: I approached them. And yes, I am working towards better relations with all of the GCRs. I am hopeful to have at least Embassies/diplomatic communication with each of the GCRs within a few months time. I am understanding that this is much easier said than done in some instances but the olive branch is there.
CD: Do you have any final thoughts that you would like to share with our readers?
Pier: I think we have covered most of the questions fairly well and I thank you for taking the time to conduct the interview. I will say that I have been the evil dictator, the indifferent dictator, the inactive dictator, and myriad other sorts here in NS and The Pacific in the past. And while I make no claims of being a great reformer and have no plans to disrupt the structure of the New Pacific Order, I would actually like to be the enlightened and engaged dictator for a change. Thanks!
CD: I very much enjoyed this interview.
[hr]
The Rules They Are a-Changin’ (By Kenny)
GA players grapple with mods over new proposal guidelines
Gaby and Carlos are on the outs again after Gaby discovered that the only reason she got pregnant was that Carlos was tampering with her birth control pills because he is going to prison for nine months and wants to make sure she doesn’t stray. But the thing is, Gaby doesn’t even know if the baby is his; it could be her teenage gardener’s! Crazy, right? Well, that’s not all. ‘Cause Susan is devastated now that Mike has broken it off with her for going through his things and discovering a gun and stacks of cash in his kitchen cabinet. And now the loathsome Mrs. Huber knows that Susan was the one who accidentally burned Edie’s house down and is trying to blackmail her. Lynette’s still hooked on her kids’ Ritalin because she doesn’t know how to get all her housework done and still keep after her four screaming kids without it. Yeah, she’s boring. But get this: Bree wants to punish her oldest, Andrew, to let him know that getting drunk and running down the neighbor lady with his dad’s car was wrong. But she doesn’t have a strong male role model around the house anymore because Rex was forced to move out after Bree found out he was sleeping with a prostitute. Oh, man! This shit just keeps getting juicier and juicier!
All of this, of course, has nothing to do with the subject of the article. But how else are you supposed to make the GA Rules Summit sound interesting? Perhaps if I told the story in Marklar? Ahem!:
Some marklars are concerned about the marklars’ rewriting of the marklars – actually, “marklarred” is a marklar; “marklarred” is more like it because of secret marklars and five key marklars are being dumped. Those marklars will just have to pleasure themselves with the marklars in their marklars from now on. … Yeah, that’s not working either.
OK, so what’s been going on is, after much discussion about all the rules, Mallorea and Riva has finally posted an updated version of them. Most of the “new” rules read just like the old ones, actually, but with some minor tinkering and rewording to make some things clearer because some players still can’t hear the term “House of Cards” without fantasizing about Kevin Spacey, etc.
But five rules were dropped in the initially proposed new ruleset, namely those banning branding, NatSov repeals, ideological bans, so-called “pure blockers,” and “committee-only” proposals. What are these things? I’m so glad you asked! Here they are in a nutshell:
[ul][li]Branding is naming more than one co-author in your proposal, thanking the members of your region and/or alliance for their input, or “signing” your proposal with your own nation name or stuff like: “Submitted on behalf of the High King of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon. Long may he reign.” That’s always been banned under the UN/WA rules (though not necessarily under the SC as they obviously have different conventions); but, under Mall’s proposal, it won’t be anymore.
[li]NatSov repeals are repeals whose arguments can basically be boiled down to: “This resolution sucks because it infringes on members’ national sovereignty.” Since practically any resolution can be criticized that way and since the GA is under no obligation to respect national sovereignty (or so the original justification went), that’s been a no-no, at least until the current draft.
[li]Ideological bans are attempts to ban certain types of governments, like dictatorships, theocracies, monarchies, democratic republics, etc., etc. Not exactly sure why that’s always been banned, but that’s the way it is.
[li]“Pure blockers” are proposals that do nothing but try to forbid the WA from passing certain types of legislation. Since WA laws actually have to include some kind of, uh, law, and not just ban certain types of WA laws, this is also right out. (Some bright guy actually wrote a guide on legal blockers, which you can read here.)
[li]“Committee-only” proposals are proposals that do nothing but establish committees. It’s always been preferred that such committees only be established to complement actual legislation, not just a substitute for it.[/li][/ul]So anyway, Marklar indicated that his marklar was only to delete marklars and not to enforce arbitrary marklars … umm, sorry. ahem!
Mall told players that the reason the rules were being dropped was because they only existed to create arbitrary standards for resolutions and that it should not be the mods’ job to enforce them: “I don’t see it as my place to be enforcing particular viewpoints or anything besides minimalistic standards upon the GA.” But when a particularly sharp and good-looking chap pointed out that the rules do a bit more than just “enforce viewpoints” on legislators, he got no response.
Add to that, at least two other moderators, Mousebumples and Frisbeeteria, indicated that Mall’s viewpoint on those rules was not necessarily the official or majority view and that other mods had expressed a desire to keep those particular rules. (Mall has since indicated that he was “outvoted” by the other mods on Branding and that that rule, at least, would be coming back.) But since the minutes of those Modcave proceedings are under lock and key, it’s not really known at this point if Mall’s proposed ruleset is even official, if the other mods are on board or even just tacitly going along, if there are other proposed revisions out there that got outvoted, if Ardchoille will ever post in the GA forum again, if UFoC is going to have to replace his ambassador yet again after a few months, if there is indeed a companion star to the Sun orbiting beyond the Oort cloud that occasionally sends comets hurdling toward Earth every 65 million years, if Kenny’s ever going to get tired of threatening to suicide-bomb the WA every time he doesn’t get his way – WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!? WHY IS EVERYTHING ALL BLURRY?? WHAT IS THIS STRANGE THROBBING FEELING IN MY EARS?? WHY DO MY EYES HURT ALL OF A SUDDEN?! WHY IS THAT DUDE’S FACE SO FUGLY?! – (at this point, Kenny’s head explodes)
(Sighs.) Ahhh, that was fun. In the meantime, other new rules are being submitted and discussed by players (for example, a “single subject rule” to prevent proposals from addressing more than one issue at a time as well as a new appeals process), a new convention appears to be emerging about “dissenting opinions” from mods who disagree with a GA ruling (like in the Supreme Court), even some proposed revisions of the “dropped” rules are being batted around, and I’m pretty sure in one thread someone’s crazy uncle gets drunk and starts dancing naked on the table. So what the heck are you all waiting for?! Head on over to the General Assembly forum and join in the FUN!!!
Alright then, I’m gonna go get drunk. And if I hear from any of you later on that “perhaps you’ve had enough,” I’m gonna marklar your marklar so markling hard, you’ll have to get your marklar out of a marklar for an entire marklar, you markling marklar!!!
[hr]
An Update from the Foreign Office (By Libetarian Republics)
Elections, treaties, embassies, and more
It’s back to school folks, or at least it was awhile back. Things became a little quiet as the summer concluded, but nonetheless I hope to bring some exciting news on what’s happening in the Rejected Realms!
Election Season: Back to School
As mentioned in our last update, TRR’s constitution has regular Officer elections every four months, to be held every April, August, and December. Prior to the August election, Delegate Guy restructured the cabinet to meet the needs of the community: Foreign Affairs, Media, Human Resources, and Culture (WA Affairs and Internal Affairs from the previous term were discontinued for the time being). There are two primary objectives laid out by Guy: restarting the Media Department (i.e., the Rejected Realms Media Corporation) and increasing social interactions and cultural events with allied/friendly regions to sustain current relationships.
Six candidates, including veterans and newcomers, vied for four spots in the Cabinet. Incumbents Libetarian Republics, Sad-States, and Christian Democrats won back their spots relatively easily. The final spot was heavily contested among incumbent Kyrogia, veteran Church of Satan, and newcomer Gradea. CoS attracted the votes necessary to overcome the other two candidates.
The final results were as follows:
[ul][li]Libetarian Republics (Foreign Affairs)
[li]Sad-States (Human Resources)
[li]Christian Democrats (Media)
[li]The Church of Satan (Culture)[/li][/ul]Halfway through the term, Sad-States resigned, citing increased real-life obligations. Gradea defeated Kyorgia 7-4 in a by-election for Human Resources, recently renamed the Integration Office by Delegate Guy.
Assembly Report
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The Rejected Realms is pleased to pass the Fifth Agreement on Friendship & Cooperation with the region of Australia. In the time after Australia’s refounding, TRR has extended a hand to cultivate better relations.
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Minor debates occurred in the Assembly, including one over the legality of Delegate Guy’s action when he changed the regional flag to a variant in apparent contravention of the Flag Act. The Delegate justified his actions as coming under the “cultural purposes” exception. The debate dissipated eventually with the return of the “official” flag.
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Eluvatar proposed the idea of codifying regional laws (compiling our acts into a single document), similar to the North Pacific’s Legal Code. Many citizens expressed opposition, arguing that the maintenance of separate acts with an on-site index (via dispatch) provides clarity to the legal structure for residents. A consensus was reached, however, that the regional Assembly’s forum will have to be reorganized at some point to distinguish laws and treaties, which are currently mixed together in a single subforum. More work for the admin slaves.
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Delegate Guy raised the prospect of requiring the Delegate to submit regular activity plans to the regional Assembly, which would be subject to a vote of confidence. Further, it was suggested that the failure of such a vote would trigger an election for the Delegate position. While Rejects approved the idea of the submission of regular plans, they were divided on the question of amending the Constitution to initiate elections should the Delegate’s plans not be approved.
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The Rejected Realms sadly announced the termination of its Agreement on Friendship & Cooperation with the region of the Royal Alliance, which spontaneously withdrew its in-game embassy and which violated several terms in the Agreement. The Royal Alliance founder ejected the entire native population. A subsequent inquiry was made by Delegate Guy about the future of our relationship. With no response from the founder and with no prospect of restoring the region in sight, the regional Assembly unanimously repealed the Agreement.
Rejected Realms Army News
The RRA deployed several soldiers as part of a wide-scale defender operation in Hogwarts. Hogwarts had been under the control of Lone Wolves United until intelligence discovered that the player controlling the founder nation was leaving the game. The RRA deployed in assistance, returning the region back to native hands.
The RRA also participated in the liberation of Asia, the first liberation following the introduction of Regional Officers. An extensive allied sleeper operation kept alive the region’s hope of liberation with a few RRA soldiers participating as defensive sleepers. The remaining core group of RRA soldiers entered at the major update, including RRA Commander Guy, who sent a non-WA to fool the raiders. The success of the operation came at a slim margin (44-43) for the natives/defenders. More information can be seen here.
News In Brief
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TRR is in the process of trying to start up its Roleplay sector. Roleplayers, both new and experienced, are welcome to participate.
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We officially have embassies with Canada again! We’re glad to see Almonaster, the Canadian ambassador, back on our forums.
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We’re also pleased to have a new embassy with Yggdrasil!
[hr]
Easter Eggs: Part 3 (By Dr George)
A continuation of a series of articles from The Rejected Times
#080: Easter Egg: Aliens Wish Peace/Trade Agreement
The Issue
Aliens have landed in the fields of @@NAME@@ and they wish to trade and have peace.
The Debate
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“Take us to your kneader!” says @@RANDOMNAME_REVERSED@@, alien lawyer. “We have heard wonders of @@NAME@@'s pizza, and must have it. We are certain that a valuable trade route can be set up between our peoples. You could have our first born, for example.” Your Secretary of Trade is shocked, “First Born?! That’s slavery!” but quickly calms down upon discovery that their young are considered a great delicacy there. “You know, maybe we should open up trade with them?”
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The Coalition of No ETs wants you to stay out of this. @@RANDOMNAME@@ says “Them darn aliens thingies are going to take advantage of the situation an kill us all! You must ban all trade with them. If they want my cattle, it will be over my dead body!”
Trigger: Conventional wisdom: “produce a whole heck of a lot of pizza.” When we last had the WA ranking of largest Pizza Delivery Sector, I asked the top 10 nations if they’d ever had this Easter Egg and none remembered having it. The nations I’ve seen have this have not necessarily had Pizza Delivery as their largest industrial sector. There aren’t many pizza-related issues and there’s no clear path to making Pizza Delivery your #1 industry, even if that were the trigger, which it apparently is not, at least not by itself.
If you choose option 1, you will get delivery calls from Saturn and conceivably a small bump in your Economy. Option 2 is for the (literally) xenophobes among us, and I don’t recall ever seeing someone answer it this way.
#256: Easter Egg: Suburbs Are Out Of This World
The Issue
High crime rates have made the inner cities of @@NAME@@'s largest conurbations increasingly dangerous and undesirable places to live. The mass exodus of the middle class from city centers has escalated to the extent that the suburbs and exurbs of major cities are beginning to collide, leaving no land for expansion. In response, a group of well-to-do soccer moms are petitioning the government for funds to establish white-collar living space… on the Moon.
The Debate
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“Crime is perpetually increasing,” says Chastity Elizabeth Prescott as she adjusts the sweater tied like a cape over her shoulders. “Just yesterday my little John Alexander Stuart’s after-school Bigtopianese tutor was attacked by a gang of hoodlums! Our children deserve safe housing and exactly manicured lawns no greater than two inches in grass blade height! With a sufficient colonization effort, we can commute from communities on the Moon to the industries in our big cities. You must support this–think of the children!”
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“Rockets?!” shrieks noted bleeding heart Sunflower Earthchild Starbeam, pulling her knit cap more closely over her ears. “Think of the pollution, and the danger! What if there’s an accident? This cockamamie scheme must clearly be banned! And you thought cars were bad- wait! Cars ARE bad!”
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“Everyone knows urban blight is caused by the flight of capital to the suburbs and exurbs,” notes the prominent left-wing economist Engelbert Pinquo. “Running away to the Moon will solve nothing. Capital, and those who have it, must be brought back to the inner city… by force if need be.”
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“Stone the crows! We’re trapped between hippies, communists and soccer moms,” grumbles Vice Admiral Freddy Broadside. “We need breathing room, and everyone knows there ain’t no air on the Moon! So let’s get it the old-fashioned way - by invading our neighbors! Outpost Uber Alles will fall to the might of @@NAME@@!”
Trigger: Crippling crime rate (perhaps continuously for as long as a year).
I’m not a big fan of this Easter Egg. Option 1 conceivably adds some pollution to your environment and possibly increases your tax rate. Option 2 appears to be an anti-economy option. Option 3 is clearly the low freedoms option. Option 4 is the bellicose option. So if you’re an environment-loving, economy-loving, freedoms-loving, and peace-loving nation, there doesn’t appear to be much for you here. I have usually dismissed it. If you want to have another Easter Egg added to your total, I’d choose option 1, unless one of the other options fits your nation’s POV.
[hr]
Greater German Reich Raided (By New Tuva SSR)
NationStates’ most (in)famous Nazi region falls to communists and socialists
http://f.tqn.com/y/militaryhistory/1/W/7/3/-/-/SovietsBerlin.jpg
One of the larger far-right regions on NationStates, the Greater German Reich, has fallen. A coalition led by a leftist alliance known as The Red Fleet took over on September 24, 2015. The raid took over 100 nations from 17 leftist regions and was celebrated as a major victory against the Fascist front on NationStates.
On the eve of September 23, a mass of Communist and Socialist nations snuck into the region using cleverly disguised puppets and endorsed a nation known as Seditia. When the morning and the update came, the GGR was in confusion. Left and right, Seditia was using his newfound influence to take out all of the key members. Then came the exodus. A refugee crisis took place. Most of the pre-raid nations left and are currently spread out across NationStates.
The Greater German Reich, along with Nazi Europa, was, before the raid, the largest far-right region on NationStates. At the time of this writing, no organized attempt to take back the region has taken place. This has certainly been one of the biggest achievements by left-wing forces in the raiding game in recent history, the successful infiltration and overthrow of the (in)famous Greater German Reich by the Red Fleet.
[hr]
Zombie Survival Guide (By Dr George)
How to make it through the impending Halloween plague
http://londonbeep.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/cat-vs-baby-funny-15-379x375.jpg
Regarding the Zombie Apocalypse mini-game, as of last year, there are three basic approaches (there’s no guarantee this year will be exactly the same):
(1) Cure the Zombies;
(2) Kill the Zombies; and
(3) Join the Zombies.
If you decide on option 1, you will tell NS that your nation is “researching a cure.” After about an hour, your nation will start building Cure Missiles which you can fire at other nations in the region. Once a nation is zombie-free, it tends to stay that way unless it has chosen option 3, or someone else who has chosen option 3 re-infects it.
If you decide on option 2, you will develop roving death squads that turn zombies into dead people. As above, you can send your death squads into other nations in the region to kill their zombies too.
If you decide on option 3, you will become very infected very quickly. After an hour or so, you will be able to infect your neighbours or go to other regions and “spread the wealth.”
If you want to survive the ZA and emerge infection-free (highest score), here’s the plan:
I. At the beginning of the crisis, have the founder temporarily close your region’s borders to keep out unwanted “guests.” This is not so true of TRR, since a clever nation can ask its Executive to eject them to gain entry into TRR.
II. I strongly suggest EVERYONE in your region research the cure. The point of the game is to have the most survivors, so dead people don’t count.
III. Anyone who wants to join the zombies should voluntarily leave the region or be temporarily ejected for the duration of the crisis. Again, TRR is uniquely ill-equipped for this strategy.
IV. Particularly at the beginning, when your Cure Missiles are weakest, target the largest nations first – your first few missile strikes will go a surprisingly long way with those nations with 20,000,000,000+ populations.
V. As the largest nations become zombie-free, turn your attention to other nations, especially apparently inactive ones. Your missiles will be getting stronger, so it won’t be QUITE so tedious to rid medium and smaller nations of Zombies. If you leave even a few million Zombies, they will start multiplying again, so be sure the nation you’re curing goes completely infection-free!
VI. It takes a minute or so between missile shots, so I advocate that you have 2 or 3 nations (or more if you’re really efficient or have someone helping you) online at the same time with different browsers. You might have nation W on Chrome, X on Opera, Y on MSIE, and Z on Safari. Once you fire one missile, immediately switch to the next nation and so forth. By the time you’ve used your last browser, the first one will be ready to go again!
VII. Be aware that when a nation is hit with any of the three approaches, it cannot do anything for 60-90 seconds, so if you see nations being very active, don’t strike them at first. Wait until they stop firing before curing them.
VIII. Perhaps you and 1-2 friends can tag-team a particular nation at a time, continuously bombarding it with cure missiles–it will become infection-free MUCH faster that way.
IX. As the night wears on, network with other awake nations to find any obscure nations with remaining infection.
X. Report any “Join Zombie” nations for ejection. (Obviously, for every region except TRR).
XI. Once the region is completely infection-free (usually the next day), you might consider voluntarily leaving your region to help out some other region, which will be deeply appreciated. Be sure you return to your home base before the end of the crisis so your population counts in the scoring.
XII. Even if you don’t plan to stay up at all late, still be sure to research the cure in the first hour of the crisis, so you can at least heal yourself. STARTING EARLY IS KEY. If you wait until 99% of your population is zombified or dead, you won’t have any resources to research the cure, since all your scientists will be in the bellies of the walkers! 
If you and your region decide to embrace your inner zombies:
A. Starting early remains critical. Be aware, though, that zombies naturally die from the infection eventually.
B. Since the game is biased in favour of zombies, a region that willingly embraces Zombieism will become totally infected rather quickly. Note that even when you reduce a nation’s living population to 0, living people will spring out of the thin air at the updates.
C. You should play with 2-4 nations, too, each on a separate browser. Particularly once you leave your home region to spread the Zombie love, you will want to be able to respond disproportionately if some fool fires a Cure Missile at you. Show them no mercy!
D. When possible, you should case the region you want to infect to find the largest nations. Your first ravenous horde or two will create many more zombies than they would in a smaller nation.
E. Especially when you’re raining on the party of some do-gooder region, work quickly, as you will probably be ejected once the populace realizes your mission, unless you’ve gone to a founderless region with no WA delegate. Suckers!
F. The feeders and sinkers tend to become blood baths, as do larger regions without a survival plan. The mega-large feeders can have massive losses and still make a showing on the “Most Survivors” board, so give them as much Hell as you can!
G. Be aware of what your prey is doing or not doing. If they are also spreading zombies, leave them alone unless you want to send them a bloody valentine so to speak. Inactive nations should be your favoured prey.
H. Should a group of undead bigots totally cure you, you will continue to make more zombies, and you can always ask a zombie patriot to re-infect you too.
I. Should you decide to call it a night early, be sure you’re joining the zombies and in a zombiephilic region when you log out. There’s nothing worse than seeing a string of Cure Missiles have been fired at you all night while you slept the Sleep of the (Un)Dead. 
J. You CAN research two or all three paths. Since the primary score is the number of living, uninfected citizens, sending in a band of death squads to kill zombies may be a more effective strategy at lowering a region’s score, since the Really Dead cannot be cured.
Remember, this is a game, so have fun playing with the zombies! Note that once the crisis is over, there will be no permanent effects on your nation – everyone will return to their complete populations, no more zombies, etc.
[hr]
October Issue Comic:
