Grea Kriopia for Blue Canaria North

[Grea Kriopia]

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Hey everyone!


My hope for this thread is to candidly lay out some of my intentions for running for BCN but also to provide a space for asking and answering any questions you may have.


So first off, why am I running?

I'm sure as many of you have seen, I like to help out around here. When I first joined XKI, I was blown away by how friendly and welcoming of a community this was and this in turn made me passionate about giving back to the community so others could have the same experience that I did. So while it's nice to have paying jobs, a lot of the work I do as a recruiter and buddy is done to help grow and improve the region, because I care about this place and the people in it. I like to think I've done my best to demonstrate that to new members and reflected that in my hard work, and I'm hoping that the BCN seat will give me more opportunities to do all of these things–and more.

And more?

As many of you know, right after the election season began, the future of the BCN seat came up for discussion and if you haven't read it, I'd recommend you check it out here. Any changes that happen to the seat will certainly take some time and go beyond this election, so I wanted to affirm that regardless of the future of the seat that I would remain committed to fulfilling its duties for the best of the community. All of this being said, I personally find myself unsure of what would be best for the seat as there are strong advocates on both sides and lot of unknowns currently. There is a definite need for a Gameside advocate shown in the recent influx in new nations, but the irony of the Gameside advocate being elected by the off-site community is a bit too strong for me. An advocate is only an advocate if it's representative of the group it comes from, and the only way to ensure that is if they're elected by the Gameside community.

Personal opinions aside, if you haven't already gone to weigh in on the discussion, I'd highly encourage you to so that the end result is truly representative of what the community desires. What's most important to me about the future of BCN is that it is designed by listening to the community it's intended to serve so that we know it can improve our community to the best of the seat's ability. As a final note, I appreciate you taking the time to read this thread and hope this has shed some light on my decision to run for BCN, and I also hope I can count on your vote next week!


The rest of this thread is dedicated to any questions you may have, so feel free to ask away and I'll be checking this thread as often as possible

[HumanSanity]

Name an important challenge facing 10000 Islands right now. What do you believe are some steps to address that problem?

If elected, will you adhere to the transparency pledge including its subsequent amendment? Why or why not? More broadly, what are your thoughts on the Transparency Act? Do any portions of the Transparency Act require amendment or modification?

What is the proper function and role of the 10000 Islands Discord? Of the 10000 Island forum? What is the best way to ensure each fulfills its proper function?

What do you feel is distinctive within 10000 Islands' Constitutional system about the role of a Senator as opposed to other unelected members of the Council of Nine (e.g. the Chief Executive and Ministers)? What is the role of elections to select Senators or the WA Delegate? How should the public influence a Senator's or Delegate's prerogatives? How will you imagine your role differently than if you were a Minister appointed by the Chief Executive to take care of your portfolio?

What do you believe to be the purpose of an embassy? Why do we open embassies with a region? What do we expect from an embassy partner and what do they expect from us? At what point is an embassy “not worth it”?

What is the role of a treaty? Do treaties have specific symbolic value? Generally, should 10000 Islands negotiate more treaties?

How would you likely have voted on the following recent Council votes? (Feel free to say "I don't know becuase..." whatever reason):
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38767/308-establish-embassy-nwi-passed
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38710/307-embassy-region-creation-passed
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38709/regional-message-board-rules-passed
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38566/306-amendments-senator-responsibilities-passed
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38334/304-clarification-function-supreme-rejected
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38539/conch-kingdom-embassy-request-rejected

Do you believe it is the role of the Council of Nine to offer votes of support for particularly high profile or consequential actions of the Chief Executive, such as the banning of prominent Islanders?
Examples: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38553/306-concerning-banning-twobagger-passed and 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38954/309-concerning-banning-doc-passed

If the role of the BCN Senator does not change, would you make any modifications to the standard format of the Emissary Report?

[Grea Kriopia]

May 6, 2020 18:35:41 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

Name an important challenge facing 10000 Islands right now. What do you believe are some steps to address that problem?

If elected, will you adhere to the transparency pledge including its subsequent amendment? Why or why not? More broadly, what are your thoughts on the Transparency Act? Do any portions of the Transparency Act require amendment or modification?

What is the proper function and role of the 10000 Islands Discord? Of the 10000 Island forum? What is the best way to ensure each fulfills its proper function?

What do you feel is distinctive within 10000 Islands' Constitutional system about the role of a Senator as opposed to other unelected members of the Council of Nine (e.g. the Chief Executive and Ministers)? What is the role of elections to select Senators or the WA Delegate? How should the public influence a Senator's or Delegate's prerogatives? How will you imagine your role differently than if you were a Minister appointed by the Chief Executive to take care of your portfolio?

What do you believe to be the purpose of an embassy? Why do we open embassies with a region? What do we expect from an embassy partner and what do they expect from us? At what point is an embassy “not worth it”?

What is the role of a treaty? Do treaties have specific symbolic value? Generally, should 10000 Islands negotiate more treaties?

How would you likely have voted on the following recent Council votes? (Feel free to say "I don't know becuase..." whatever reason):
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38767/308-establish-embassy-nwi-passed
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38710/307-embassy-region-creation-passed
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38709/regional-message-board-rules-passed
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38566/306-amendments-senator-responsibilities-passed
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38334/304-clarification-function-supreme-rejected
* 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38539/conch-kingdom-embassy-request-rejected

Do you believe it is the role of the Council of Nine to offer votes of support for particularly high profile or consequential actions of the Chief Executive, such as the banning of prominent Islanders?
Examples: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38553/306-concerning-banning-twobagger-passed and 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/38954/309-concerning-banning-doc-passed

If the role of the BCN Senator does not change, would you make any modifications to the standard format of the Emissary Report?

Oh boy, this is going to be a long one but I'll do my best to hit all the questions.

1 - An Important challenge we're facing

I think one of the most important challenges facing XKI is how to handle our new growth. We've essentially doubled in size over the course of the month (which no one could've predicted) and in that time there's been some growing pains such as excessive spam on the RMB and a complete overwhelm of those responsible for welcoming new nations. I know we all tend to be a bit cynical about how a surge of new nations also results in a surge of CTEs eventually, but we have a real opportunity here to retain a lot of new members and own up to our increased size.

Some of the steps to address this challenge have already been done, such as holding office hours to answer questions for new nations on the RMB, but it feels like after that life just went on per usual. What I would like to see is a more official approach to nation retainment such as occasionally updating the WFE with regional news updates that will entice Gameside players to look at our forums along with an official dispatch beginner's guide posted on the WFE (TNP has a great example of this). I'd also potentially like to see more efforts to increase WA participation by rewarding monthly endotarting competitions like Europeia does Gameside as a revamp of the WA Secretariat Engagement Awards.

2 - Transparency

I will chose to adhere to the transparency pledge if elected, including its amendment, because I believe the position of the Co9 is to serve the community, not lord over it. As for the Transparency Act, the original explanation describes the act as a way to give citizens a larger say in/wider view of our government, but I fail to see how it does either of these things. For example, a non-council citizen can post a proposed idea for consideration but the debate itself occurs inside the Council's chambers with only the final decision being known to the citizen. The only view the citizen gets at that point is one of closed doors. A second example would be that any proposal can be made available to public comment but only if a councilmember requests it. If no one requests it, then nothing is gained and the citizen that is supposed to be getting a larger say gets nothing. I would rather see public debate on all proposals not considered secure and un-chambered debate on citizen's proposals to fully reach the explanation intended for the Transparency Act.

3 - Function+Role of Discord/Forum

I often like to describe our forum to new nations as the hub of our regional government, and that's truly what its role is. Our forum is a place of political process and information (and a bit of fun) and to me, the best way to ensure it fulfills this purpose is to make sure that is functions efficiently, is kept up to date, and genuinely informs people. Our discord comes in as our hub of off-site community where nations can relax and shoot the breeze as well as interact more freely than in the style of the RMB. We do have some official business on the discord, but for the most part I see it as a place where nations can genuinely build community with one another and enjoy NS in a group format.

4 - The Role of a Senator

I would argue the difference between appointed Ministers and elected Senators is a model called the 'delegate-trustee model'. The delegate portion of the model applies to our senators in that they are elected–in theory–to make decisions in the best interest of their constituencies by virtue of the fact that they are elected. Elections hold them accountable, can help direct policy, and generally ensure that the decisions they make are not entirely their own. Conversely, the trustee aspect of the model applies to our Ministers in that they make decisions mostly based on their own judgement because they have no constituents who elected them to hold them responsible, they serve at the pleasure of our CE. Because of this difference, I would argue that public influence should have more influence on Senators/Delegates prerogatives because it is the public who elected them in the first place. This is why in my main post I spoke about how the future of BCN should be reflected in the publics wishes, because it is an elected position meant to serve them and if I filled that position then my obligation would be to listen to those who elected me.

5 - Purpose of an Embassy

On NS, embassies are generally used to show a commitment to diplomatic relations with another region and with that comes a lot of unspoken agreements. In my perspective, we open embassies as a way of saying 'yes, we want to work with you' to other regions and with that comes the expectation of cooperation. We expect that region to recognize the diplomatic relation they've just committed to and our interests that come with it and they expect the same from us, with varying consequences if the relation is abused or snubbed. The times where I would say an embassy is 'not worth it' would be times that the region has repeatedly shown they don't intend to cooperate or when there has been a severe breach of values that cannot be resolved.

6 - Role of a Treaty

Treaties are important because they are a more hard-lined, codified version of the unspoken agreements that came up when talking about embassies. They represent a verbalized commitment that has specific conditions and requirements of both regions and are a stronger way of holding regions accountable to their diplomatic relations. To a certain extent, they do have strong symbolic power (call them a friendship bracelet if you will) but that doesn't make them any less important than they are. As for XKI negotiating treaties, I would say we should only negotiate treaties where we know there is progress to be made and are certain a treaty will improve a situation. There is no value in us trying to form as many treaties as possible if we know they won't be honored or will serve no genuine purpose. Treaties have a time and place and that is not everywhere.

7 - Example Council Votes

a. Embassy to NWI - For, I see no reason not to approve an embassy for a region that values roleplay and generally shares our values.
b. Taco Archipelago - Overwhelmingly For, this was a clear need shown on our RMB.
c. New RMB Rules - Again For, this ended up being quite necessary during Drewpocalypse and continues to be now.
d. Senior Sen. Responsibilities Amendment - For, I'm aware the amendment was for administrative changes mostly but these are all important duties and codifying them adds more clarification to the responsibilities of the Senior Senator for future councils.
e. Supreme Court Clarification - For. The Constitution has a substantially smaller clarification on how the courts should function and if it's believed that any situation that might require the courts should rather be clarified through legislative action, then the Court should not exist at all as it is not a court. I cannot claim to know all of the surrounding context to this conversation as most of the public comments didn't fully expand on why they were against.
f. Conch Kingdom Embassy - Against, our military commitments are a strong part of our values in XKI and if a region's actions can result in sustained hostile relations, then there's no future in pursuing an embassy with that region.

8 - Co9 voting on CE actions

I do believe it is the role of the Co9 to affirm the actions of the CE in high profile or consequential actions. Often these are decisions not to be taken lightly, and having a larger consensus on the action can help mitigate the negative effects, if any. Additionally, this holds the CE semi-accountable to the Co9 and acts as a subtle check to ensure that more voices are heard in the decision making.

9 - The Emissary Report

If BCN were to remain untouched, I don't I would change much about our current Emissary Report. Its current format contains a lot of critical but also interesting information that gives a really clear window into what life in XKI is like and about general going-ons in the region. This format lets us celebrate the achievements of our Islanders as they get jobs and win contests, provides a condensed voting record on WA votes, and records government activity that might be important to other regions. It's a little bit of everything necessary combined with the personality of XKI.

[HumanSanity]

Overall, I think your answers were great! I heartily agree with a great many of the things - and I'll highlight a few. I also have follow up questions, because I'm that annoying guy.

May 6, 2020 21:26:47 GMT -5 Grea Kriopia said:

What I would like to see is a more official approach to nation retainment such as occasionally updating the WFE with regional news updates that will entice Gameside players to look at our forums

How would that differ from the way that we currently do rotating "News" links at the bottom of the WFE? And/Or is there any way that we - the people who update the WFE regularly - could change that on a level of execution? All ideas can be heard and I'd hate people thinking that because they don't have the permissions for it they don't get to make suggestions about the nitty gritty details.

May 6, 2020 21:26:47 GMT -5 Grea Kriopia said:

along with an official dispatch beginner's guide posted on the WFE (TNP has a great example of this).

I wholeheartedly agree with this and think we're trying to address that now through the new member guides job posting. Any input about how we do that would be helpful!

May 6, 2020 21:26:47 GMT -5 Grea Kriopia said:

I'd also potentially like to see more efforts to increase WA participation by rewarding monthly endotarting competitions like Europeia does Gameside as a revamp of the WA Secretariat Engagement Awards.

A question I have about this is: given that we are a UCR where broad WA endotarting doesn't serve a regional security purpose, why is endotarting a valuable form of community building/engagement that we should encourage?
I'm not opposed to it, and I think the WA Secretariat's WASP/WAS Engagement Awards did a good job boosting this, but I've never been able to convince myself it should be a high priority for us relative to other things, especially given the regional emphasis we place on TITO.

May 6, 2020 21:26:47 GMT -5 Grea Kriopia said:

I would rather see public debate on all proposals not considered secure and un-chambered debate on citizen's proposals to fully reach the explanation intended for the Transparency Act.

I am pleased to hear this and agree heartily with this section. I also hope others take notice of this fresh perspective from a newer member and note that it's not just old snarky soft-minded liberals like Paffnia and I who see the value in this. For me, the value to transparency is fundamentally easier to understand when you're a newer member who is increasingly alienated from regional politics (a valuable part of regional gameplay) because you are deliberately excluded from the process and that more experienced members learn to accept the status quo and rarely revisit those feelings of alienation.

May 6, 2020 21:26:47 GMT -5 Grea Kriopia said:

9 - The Emissary Report

If BCN were to remain untouched, I don't I would change much about our current Emissary Report. Its current format contains a lot of critical but also interesting information that gives a really clear window into what life in XKI is like and about general going-ons in the region. This format lets us celebrate the achievements of our Islanders as they get jobs and win contests, provides a condensed voting record on WA votes, and records government activity that might be important to other regions. It's a little bit of everything necessary combined with the personality of XKI.

I think that's all good! Another thing I like - and think we'll want to think about if we phase out the emissary report - is that it is the public listing of all the members of TITO Command, which serves an operational purpose. If we phase out the emissary report, we'll need to come up with a suitable replacement for that specific function.

[Grea Kriopia]

No worries, these are great clarifications!

How would that differ from the way that we currently do rotating "News" links at the bottom of the WFE? And/Or is there any way that we - the people who update the WFE regularly - could change that on a level of execution? All ideas can be heard and I'd hate people thinking that because they don't have the permissions for it they don't get to make suggestions about the nitty gritty details.

I think more what I was getting at was what constitutes actual news. For example, right now, one of our listings is to Endorse Kuriko, which is still very important but that should be a constant statement on the WFE, not considered 'news'. The Islands Space Program and celebration of Population growth are both deservedly there, but it would also be nice to see elections posted since those are a major regional event.

A question I have about this is: given that we are a UCR where broad WA endotarting doesn't serve a regional security purpose, why is endotarting a valuable form of community building/engagement that we should encourage?
I'm not opposed to it, and I think the WA Secretariat's WASP/WAS Engagement Awards did a good job boosting this, but I've never been able to convince myself it should be a high priority for us relative to other things, especially given the regional emphasis we place on TITO.

To me, endotarting is still worthwhile even if it isn't necessarily a priority because it's already something that a lot of Gameside players engage in naturally when chatting on the RMB. If we can take this closer to Gameside instead of off-site then we have an opportunity to take a natural time-killer for some and make it a learning opportunity. As in, this is the awards thread, and oh look–a massive plug for WA authorship and details at the top.

[Louisistan]

Do you have any suggestions as to how a gameside-election could be carried out? The gameside polling mechanism, for example, is open to "poll raiding" - There is a very real possibility of WA nations from other regions dropping in to influence the election. I would be interested to hear if you have any suggestions.

I would also like to point out that non-secure council deliberations are made public after the term ends. I understand that is not enough for you - and that's a sentiment I share to some extent - but I feel like you glossed over that fact in your criticism of the Transparency Act.

I'm also a bit surprised about this "most of the public comments didn't fully expand on why they were against". I feel many of us, most notably Klopstock and myself were pretty open about why we opposed it. And the council's discussion on the proposal is a matter of public record as well.


All that being said: I applaud your enthusiasm and especially your commitment to nation retention and wish you well for this election.

[Lenlyvit]

Can you explain your reasoning behind the answer to question 8? You say that the votes act as subtle checks on the CE, but that's exactly what they aren't. The Co9 does not exist to act as a check on the CE, and in my opinion it should never take on such a role.

The CE is the one security position within the region that's unassailable, and should remain that way. They are the check that holds our entire region and way of life together, and protect us from existential threats and Co9 overreach.

[Grea Kriopia]

Do you have any suggestions as to how a gameside-election could be carried out? The gameside polling mechanism, for example, is open to "poll raiding" - There is a very real possibility of WA nations from other regions dropping in to influence the election. I would be interested to hear if you have any suggestions.

I agree that the possibility of a poll raid is extremely plausible. A half-baked suggestion I had would be potentially to telegram out a strawpoll Gameside. The hope would be that in being telegrammed it wouldn't be as open to being spread beyond our region but nothing is entirely perfect. I would also hope that those who check their telegrams regularly would be those who spend most of their time on Gameside and this would allow the vote to be representative of them. This would also require a nomination process but that could also be handled by regular RMB posting asking nations to telegram their nominations to whoever is handling the election.

I would also like to point out that non-secure council deliberations are made public after the term ends. I understand that is not enough for you - and that's a sentiment I share to some extent - but I feel like you glossed over that fact in your criticism of the Transparency Act.

This is fair criticism and I should have acknowledged it. I believe I intended to go back to it in my response and my brain never circled around that far.

I'm also a bit surprised about this "most of the public comments didn't fully expand on why they were against". I feel many of us, most notably Klopstock and myself were pretty open about why we opposed it. And the council's discussion on the proposal is a matter of public record as well.

I could have clarified more to emphasize the public comments didn't expand much. The council's discussion does have a fair bit of explanation but would not have technically been available to me during the time of the debate–only after.

Can you explain your reasoning behind the answer to question 8? You say that the votes act as subtle checks on the CE, but that's exactly what they aren't. The Co9 does not exist to act as a check on the CE, and in my opinion it should never take on such a role.

I should have moderated more how I used the word 'check' or rather used a different word altogether because I do agree that the CE should remain unassailable. However, I do think the inclusion of the Co9 on these decisions is important even if to affirm the choice because simply knowing the action will be observed and considered by other people helps ensure the action occurs out of good faith. Call it 'social pressure' if you will.

[Louisistan]

Thank you for your responses, Grea Kriopia :-)

[HumanSanity]

May 7, 2020 3:01:16 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

Do you have any suggestions as to how a gameside-election could be carried out? The gameside polling mechanism, for example, is open to "poll raiding" - There is a very real possibility of WA nations from other regions dropping in to influence the election. I would be interested to hear if you have any suggestions.

Just jumping in substantively and asking: does using the "native" filter for on-site polls prevent this?
Not saying I know anything here but just throwing it out there since GK doesn't have on-site polls set up parameters access and might not know about this button.

May 7, 2020 3:01:16 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

I'm also a bit surprised about this "most of the public comments didn't fully expand on why they were against". I feel many of us, most notably Klopstock and myself were pretty open about why we opposed it.

I'm not trying to reopen an old wound here, but frankly I didn't understand a lot of your argument which is why I left the event very frustrated. I understood a lot of it (particularly the parts about legislative correction being, in your view, sufficient even if I did not agree with it). I didn't understand other parts of it (particularly the parts about this being a "politician's solution").

Not trying to re-open the question, what's done is done, but everyone is worse at explaining themselves than they think and while GK's language may have been a bit loftier than necessary, it isn't (in my read) wholly without basis.

[Louisistan]

The natives setting is described as nations which have more influence in the region than in any other region. Which is true of any freshly created puppet moving into the region after their first update there, especially after they joined the WA.


I don't say GK needs to work this out right now. I was simply curious whether he had a solution in mind. There's also the obvious underlying constitutional discussion, but let's wait on that until there's a fleshes out proposal up for public comment.


As for the old argument:
The point you object to was delivered by Klop. I won't try to speak for him.

[Wischland]

Hello Grea Kriopia!

In some other forums that I've been a part of, I've noticed a disparity between older members and newbies, and the development of a sort of elitist mindset among those on the forum the longest. Now that XKI is gaining so many new members all at once, I'm afraid that the same thing will occur, with newbies who are genuinely interested in the forum and XKI being grouped with those who aren't. How do you intend to keep elitism from developing, and what are your ideas for ensuring XKI remains an open and welcoming region for all?

[Dorab]

The native setting also wouldn't work because a nation with high influence in another region could come to XKI, become involved and not be able to vote on the poll.

[Grea Kriopia]

May 7, 2020 20:13:11 GMT -5 Wischland said:

Hello Grea Kriopia!

In some other forums that I've been a part of, I've noticed a disparity between older members and newbies, and the development of a sort of elitist mindset among those on the forum the longest. Now that XKI is gaining so many new members all at once, I'm afraid that the same thing will occur, with newbies who are genuinely interested in the forum and XKI being grouped with those who aren't. How do you intend to keep elitism from developing, and what are your ideas for ensuring XKI remains an open and welcoming region for all?

Hey Wischland !

This is an interesting and somewhat loaded question. First off I will say, I do think our community does a good job of being open as things are right now and everyone here is always happy to see new members. I think some of that is due to our culture in the region and general attitude, so I think the odds of what you describe happening are very low. Our community is fantastic, and credit is due where credit is due. However, I do think your concern is fair, especially like you said with the recent influx of new nations.

Part of considering this concern is the idea of a Gameside advocate that has come up a lot more recently, because a lot of our newer members stick to Gameside a bit before coming over to the forum. A Gameside advocate would help alleviate some of your concerns by ensuring there's an open connection and communication between our forum and Gameside, making the forum and those who frequent it most seem less all-powerful and ensure fair representation for those in Gameside. As you can see above, I do agree for the need of a Gameside advocate but there's some fine details about how exactly that would happen which need to be ironed out.

As for forum specific ideas, I think one thing we already do and can continue to do is to encourage members to join things such as Political Parties and Houses that allow for older Islander generations and younger Islander generations to intermingle. This still encourages friendly competition but less on the basis of seniority and more on the basis of party or house pride. Overall, though, I'm not too concerned about elitist mindsets developing because it just isn't in the character of XKI, at least not in my experience.

[Louisistan]

Good morning,

- Over the course of the last two years, the pace in 10000 Islands has increased notably, especially since the Drewpocalypse. Do you think there is a danger that all the activities and events might overwhelm members who don't have as much time to spare for 10ki? If so, what might we do to prevent such members from leaving or retreating into de facto retirement?

- We have some exemplary nations in positions of responsibility in this region. They do an outstanding job well beyond anything I could ever have expected of them. However, at some point their terms in office will come to a conclusion. Do you think their successors should be expected to be as active and innovative as their predecessors?

- A lot of newer members come up with a lot of new ideas. Some of which will be implemented, others will not. Either because they are infeasible or because they simply do not pass the democratic process. How do we prevent new Senators in particular from setting themselves up for failure by entering into office with too many too big plans?

These are obviously the questions of an old fart, but they've been on my mind.

[Grea Kriopia]

May 8, 2020 1:32:33 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

Good morning,

- Over the course of the last two years, the pace in 10000 Islands has increased notably, especially since the Drewpocalypse. Do you think there is a danger that all the activities and events might overwhelm members who don't have as much time to spare for 10ki? If so, what might we do to prevent such members from leaving or retreating into de facto retirement?

- We have some exemplary nations in positions of responsibility in this region. They do an outstanding job well beyond anything I could ever have expected of them. However, at some point their terms in office will come to a conclusion. Do you think their successors should be expected to be as active and innovative as their predecessors?

- A lot of newer members come up with a lot of new ideas. Some of which will be implemented, others will not. Either because they are infeasible or because they simply do not pass the democratic process. How do we prevent new Senators in particular from setting themselves up for failure by entering into office with too many too big plans?

These are obviously the questions of an old fart, but they've been on my mind.

Good morning to you too,

First off, to a certain extent, I do agree there is a risk that all of these new events could be overwhelming and I know you in particular have voiced this opinion before. But I also think it's fair to say that sometimes people are just busy and RL responsibilities are inevitably going to come before XKI (as they should). That being said, I think ultimately the best way to keep such members involved is to ask them plainly what we can do to keep them active. These members have been around for a long time, so are there any nostalgic events they miss? Is there a feature that's more slow paced that got removed? They know better than anyone what they enjoyed about their time here and I don't think it's impossible to accommodate that balance between fast and slow paced as much as it seems.

Secondly, as much as I wish I could say that every new civil servant on the Islands should be better than their predecessor, I don't think that's realistic. Each person has different RL obligations, different schedules, and different interests in what to do with their position and all of that determines how active or how innovative they can be. I certainly think the exemplary predecesor will leave a high standard for them to meet and that might help encourage similar exemplary behavior, but it's unfair to expect they also reach that standard.

Lastly, my tongue in cheek response would be to tell them to have a dose of realism for breakfast. But in all seriousness, I think learning to temper your plans and ideas is part of the learning curve of a new government position. You can try your best to explain to someone that their idea might not work out, but they won't always full understand why until they experience the process themselves and see that there's more to this than just throwing out new ideas left and right. Maybe one way to prevent the overeagerness is asking questions like this on all campaign threads or to try to advise new Senators in their first few weeks in tenure, but ultimately I believe the best way to learn that lesson is experience it.

[HumanSanity]

For the record, can you disclose a full list of citizenships in other regions that you may hold? If applicable, would you abstain from Council votes involving our foreign affairs with those regions?

[Grea Kriopia]

May 9, 2020 12:31:00 GMT -5 HumanSanity said:

For the record, can you disclose a full list of citizenships in other regions that you may hold? If applicable, would you abstain from Council votes involving our foreign affairs with those regions?

As of right now, my only citizenship is in XKI and so the abstaining question does not apply in my case. I hold an ambassador nation in TRR but that nation does not have citizenship there and any other nations I hold are used for card farming or TITO. Solid question, though!

[Grea Kriopia]

I'd like to offer my most sincere appreciation to everyone who voted for me and know my door is always open if you have any comments or concerns

[Paffnia]

Congratulations, Grea Kriopia!

[Snakeden]

Congratulations on your new position

[Milovia]

I like this so far. We could see membership soar. If Grea Kriopia,you were elected.