what is influence and how does it work?
The official explanation of influence is NationStates | Regional Influence: Description of Changes.
They lie. Kinda. Here’s the skinny.
You have World influence and Region influence. They are probably related, but I’ve seen nations ranked lower in their regions against other nations that they far outrank in the World Census. And region influence isn’t transferable: move to another region and the influence you had may evaporate. If this makes little sense to you, good: your mental status is intact. Influence isn’t linear: part of what they don’t tell us about influence makes up more than what they tell us about it.
To paraphrase former Delegate of The West Pacific Darkesia, influence is a black box and everyone who tries to figure it out either gives up or goes insane.
Here’s the list of influence categories, in order from most to least influential:
- Hermit
- Hegemony
- Dominator
- Superpower
- Power
- Powerbroker
- Eminence Grise
- Enforcer
- Dealmaker
- Instigator
- Contender
- Negotiator
- Auxiliary
- Ambassador
- Diplomat
- Envoy
- Duckspeaker
- Handshaker
- Truckler
- Vassal
- Minnow
A Hegemony in one region might have more world influence than a Contender in another. Last I checked that freaking clown Bluto was a Contender in his region. There is no question that Todd McCloud, currently a Negotiator, has far more influence than Bluto.
Anyone who tells you influence is simple and it’s a measure of how long you’ve been in your region is ignoring the anomalies that occur in NationStates that defy that simplicity.