Take a stance - vote URI

[Louisistan]

My fellow islanders,

I make this last minute campaign thread to urge you all to vote for United Royal Islands for Delegate of 10000 Islands.

While I hold great respect for Witchcraft and Sorcery as a person and value him as a member of our community, I do not feel he is the right choice to represent our region abroad. Let us put aside party politics for a bit and look at the stance which 10000 Islands has historically taken on raiding and why.

Few of us were around in 2003 when the raider group Empire of Power attacked the small RP region of 10000 Islands. But that attack marks the birth of TITO and the point where 10000 Islands became a defender region. Ever since that time, TITO and 10000 Islands have done their best to fight for the right of natives. Both militarily and diplomatically. Our own history of being disgruntled natives forced to defend their homeland has lead to us holding an uncompromising stance towards raiding. Our Delegates have been expected to stand up for the natives, who all too often are not heard when the wider gameplay community discusses raiding and defending.

In recent years, many defender groups have adopted a somewhat more laissez-faire stance towards raiding. They support the notion put forth by raiders that raiding is part of the game. That there is a "raiders vs. defenders metagame" which is just as much part of NationStates as Issues or the World Assembly. Despite this shift in what appears to be public opinion, 10000 Islands has thus far remained steadfast in its message.

The two emerging front-runners for the Delegacy are Witchcraft and Sorcery and United Royal Islands .

Witchcraft and Sorcery is of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with raiding a region - as long as it is only temporary. As a former TITO Tactical Officer and Delegate myself, I cannot agree with this. Being a raider means you get your fun at the expense of others. Either that's what you get a kick out of or you accept and ignore the fact that the players getting raided may not find it all that funny. This game isn't inherently a military simulator where attacking others is an accepted part of the game for all players. There is a rather large majority of players out there who wish to be left alone by raiders, because they prefer to roleplay, or to casually interact with their peers. It is those natives which we seek to protect.

Framing it as "The R/D game" completely ignores the reality of natives (and many natives will tell you as much), because the reality is not "Raiders vs. Defenders". The reality is that raiding disrupts native regions and drives away players who might otherwise have enjoyed the game, were it not for the complete strangers who decided to drop in unannounced, deface their region and disrupt the roleplay they had going on their RMB. The fact that large portions of the gameplay crowd seem to ignore this is all the more reason for 10ki to remain steadfast at the side of natives who look to us for support and help. Not only in the form of defending, but also in the form of using our size and power as one of the world's largest UCRs to stand up for them.

Because of this, it is important that we elect a candidate who holds and shares these beliefs. The job of Delegate is hard enough without having to represent an opinion which you do not hold yourself. United Royal Islands is that candidate.

In conclusion, again, I urge you to cast your vote for United Royal Islands in order to ensure 10000 Islands remains comitted to those who need it.

Louisistan

28th Delegate of 10000 Islands

[Dominion of Compassion]

As the 31st Delegate of the XKI, I hereby endorse United Royal Islands for delegate of the 10,000 Islands.

Good luck URI!

[Witchcraft and Sorcery]

Louis, I'm very sad that you've chosen to go this route. Not because we disagree. I'm perfectly happy to have an open and honest discussion about what our values should be; in fact that is why I have said the things I said. I think we need to change our approach to foreign affairs and stop doing exactly this kind of thing.

No, why I'm sad is because you've chosen to take the low road. Instead of providing a positive endorsement of a great candidate, (URI you're fantastic. none of what I'm saying is about you, you would be an awesome delegate) you've chosen to use your name recognition and prestige to attack me for not falling in line with "tradition." In doing so, you have taken my words out of context, put new words in my mouth, and interpreted them in exactly such a way to suit your own political motives. So yes, I'm upset. I wanted to have civil discourse, but I believe this has crossed a line.

I thought we were above this. I thought 10000 Islands was above this. I thought we had opened our arms to accept people who believe in our cause but might have slightly different motives. That's why I came back, but maybe I was wrong.

URI, once again this is not about you. We've spoken both in public and in private and I thank you for a wonderful, hard-fought, positive campaign. I would have no qualms about losing a race to you. The beef I have is exclusively with Louis.

[Elite]

Mar 18, 2019 8:55:52 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

Witchcraft and Sorcery proposes to soften our message on raiding in order to grow our diplomatic influence.

Unless I missed something, I don't believe W&S ever said this, nor has he been asked. He did propose to soften XKI's image to a region with a lot more going on than just TITO (admittedly, this was poorly worded), but I believe he has said the opposite in his campaign thread.

Mar 8, 2019 3:19:15 GMT -5 Witchcraft and Sorcery said:

I am not going to answer hypotheticals about what situations I do and don’t have issues with because as delegate I am not going to endorse raiding in any form. The region doesn’t, I don’t endorse any particular behavior, and I don’t want to go down that road. It’s a misrepresentation and it helps no one.
My personal opinions do NOT have to shape this region’s policy or direction. It was more of a “what motivates me to do what I do” type thing, and I understand if you think that a delegate shouldn’t have those motivations. I don’t think they’re out of line for a delegate. If you think they are I will not be offended if you don’t vote for me.

I can understand how you could infer that from what he has said while campaigning, but as no-one has actually asked him if he will try to soften XKI's message on raiding (as far as I've seen), I don't think it's accurate to say this.

[Alkasia]

I doubt this is an unprecedented move, but I do find it to be rather uncalled for and needless. I don't think there was any reason to resort to this sort of attack.

I've always admired the civility and friendliness with which XKI runs campaigns and elections. Even when Louis and I were neck in neck during the Delegate election a year ago, I don't recall either of us resorting to such measures. We settled our differences through debate and let the Islands choose without this sort of negative campaigning.

As someone who was the victim of attacks behind my back from third-party sources unconnected to my opponent in that election, I was hoping that instance was a one-off and wouldn't find its way, public or private, into future elections. I guess that was naive.

I know my opinion doesn't hold the weight it once did, but I still believed in the convention of civility and positive campaigning. Let's hope this sort of thing doesn't continue on from here.

Edit: This is definitely not a commentary on URI as a candidate, I've known her to be nothing but strong and reliable, and she would make a good Delegate. But W&S is all of those things as well and it's a shame to see this be what supporters of a candidate resort to.

[Louisistan]

Mar 18, 2019 22:42:48 GMT -5 Alkasia said:

I doubt this is an unprecedented move, but I do find it to be rather uncalled for and needless. I don't think there was any reason to resort to this sort of attack.

I've always admired the civility and friendliness with which XKI runs campaigns and elections. Even when Louis and I were neck in neck during the Delegate election a year ago, I don't recall either of us resorting to such measures. We settled our differences through debate and let the Islands choose without this sort of negative campaigning.

As someone who was the victim of attacks behind my back from third-party sources unconnected to my opponent in that election, I was hoping that instance was a one-off and wouldn't find its way, public or private, into future elections. I guess that was naive.

I know my opinion doesn't hold the weight it once did, but I still believed in the convention of civility and positive campaigning. Let's hope this sort of thing doesn't continue on from here.

Edit: This is definitely not a commentary on URI as a candidate, I've known her to be nothing but strong and reliable, and she would make a good Delegate. But W&S is all of those things as well and it's a shame to see this be what supporters of a candidate resort to.

Woah there! As far as I'm aware I'm perfectly within my rights as a citizen to publicly make a statement on the candidates in an election and my take on their policies. This is a paid-fir campaign ad and I will not let you accuse me of anything as grave as an attack on WS. I'm criticizing the policies which he's suggested, such as more cooperation with independents (which IIRC he has suggested on Discord) and the opinion he has formulated, not his person.

I simply don't see how he plans on implementing that without compromising our stance on native rights. And while I believe that he may really intend to not let his personal views on raiding influence the regions foreign policy, I can tell you from experience that that's just not how it works. If you want to make a stand against raiding as a Delegate you need to believe in it or else anyone you engage in debate in will exploit your inconsistency.

There has been plenty of public debate on the matter and WS is well aware of my stance. Painting this as some sort of sinister character assassination is not appreciated, Alk.

[Louisistan]

Mar 18, 2019 17:55:38 GMT -5 Witchcraft and Sorcery said:

Louis, I'm very sad that you've chosen to go this route. Not because we disagree. I'm perfectly happy to have an open and honest discussion about what our values should be; in fact that is why I have said the things I said. I think we need to change our approach to foreign affairs and stop doing exactly this kind of thing.

No, why I'm sad is because you've chosen to take the low road. Instead of providing a positive endorsement of a great candidate, (URI you're fantastic. none of what I'm saying is about you, you would be an awesome delegate) you've chosen to use your name recognition and prestige to attack me for not falling in line with "tradition." In doing so, you have taken my words out of context, put new words in my mouth, and interpreted them in exactly such a way to suit your own political motives. So yes, I'm upset. I wanted to have civil discourse, but I believe this has crossed a line.

I thought we were above this. I thought 10000 Islands was above this. I thought we had opened our arms to accept people who believe in our cause but might have slightly different motives. That's why I came back, but maybe I was wrong.

URI, once again this is not about you. We've spoken both in public and in private and I thank you for a wonderful, hard-fought, positive campaign. I would have no qualms about losing a race to you. The beef I have is exclusively with Louis.

If you still think this is about tradition then I have obviously not gotten my point across. In this debate I don't give a flying f**k about tradition. The reason I want a delegate who will adhere to our stance is NOT tradition. It's my firm belief that someone in this game needs to stand up for natives. And to do so without compromise. Sadly, I don't see that someone being you. Paint me as a bad guy all you want. I have no problem accepting you and your beliefs to the region. I do have a problem with you being in charge of foreign policy around here, which is all I object to.

[Louisistan]

It would seem some misrepresentation unintentionally slip into there. I owe Witchcraft and Sorcery an apology on that count. There has indeed been no explicit mention of softening our stance on raiding on his behalf.

The point about a delegate's view needing to be consistent with the region's still stands.

In the interest of fairness, I shall edit my post to reflect that so as to not go into tge runoff with inaccuracies like this.

EDIT: I have redacted the OP accordingly. I also apoligise for the triple post, but the mobile interface made it necessary.