Vote URI for Delegate 04/22

[United Royal Islands]

Hello Islanders!

I am United Royal Islands also known as URI. After some consideration I have decided to run in the special election for delegate to give islanders a choice and help work to restore some sense of normalcy within the region.

It has been a while since I have been highly visible so I wanted to take some time to reintroduce myself and my record to those new islanders whom I haven’t met yet.

Since November of 2016, I have been proud to call XKI my home, and have made many great friends here. I came to the region as my first choice, almost by accident, yet have not felt the pull to go anywhere else. When I first joined, I was lost and confused about everything -- the way Markanite as Minister of Education at the time, and Boltor as Delegate welcomed me into the region made all the difference in feeling welcomed and seen.
During my time here I have served a couple of stints as Regional Reserve Chair, many times as Senator for Himes West and Lyonesse East. With the help of regional mentors I was able to draft and pass World Assembly Resolution #397 - World Assembly Central Library Compact. I am also a former Delegate and Minister of Education.

Throughout my time in XKI and in the Council of Nine, I have brought my ideas and focus to the tasks at hand, and sought to show leadership through service to the region. I strive in all things to maintain and modify only where necessary. These values have guided me in my prior campaigns and in my contributions to the region. I am proud to offer my services to the region once again and hope that you will consider me for your next delegate.

Fundamentally, I view the delegate’s duties as primarily administrative, and that the clear and consistent performance of the duties will be our best guide for foreign policy – as our allies and friends can count on our word and trust in what we say. So there will be a high value I place on the following areas:

• Regional Engagement with New Members
• Active Endorsement and TIBOE Coordination
• World Assembly Resolution Voting and Regional Polls
• Embassy Administration and Foreign Affairs Engagement
• TITO and Defenderism

Yet, even with all that in mind, if elected as Delegate, I feel the following areas will be areas which I can bring new energy and focus to:

• Engaging WA Activity and Resolution Writing
• Promotion of the Forum and Regional Engagement
• Promotion of XKI and Immigration

In many ways, some of this work has already begun, and in others we need to start the work. I want to build on the legacy of our delegates and be a gracious steward of the work that has come before me. I know that without it, 10,000 Islands would not be the region I know and love. I know first hand how a little bit of extra attention can make an enormous difference in the outcomes for our region and internationally. Please join me in celebrating this complex work and working together to build and promote the region we all love – and vote URI for Delegate!

[United Royal Islands]

URI Candidate Answers
I will be quoting and posting all the questions and answers here for ease of reading and access during the campaign.

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From Astrobolt - Questionnaire Questions

SPOILER: Click to show

{Astrobolt Questionnaire provided to both candidates}

Apr 3, 2022 21:02:44 GMT -5 Astrobolt said:

1) What will be your top priority as Delegate should you be elected?

If elected my initial focus will be in connecting with our regional partners who helped us during the the most recent delegate transition and reinforcing ties with these valuable allies. Overall my main focus as delegate will be providing stable stewardship to overseeing the core delegate responsibilities.

Apr 3, 2022 21:02:44 GMT -5 Astrobolt said:

2) What is the biggest internal challenge facing XKI right now?

I have felt that internal activity and engagement remain one of the long-standing challenges facing our region. While we had a great influx of new nations following my last term as delegate, with the Drew-pocalypse, we have since fallen back in population. Helping to build and maintain activity in the region is one of the most complicated things, since it requires a mix of incentives aligned with things people want to do.

Apr 3, 2022 21:02:44 GMT -5 Astrobolt said:

3) What is the biggest interregional challenge facing XKI right now?

Inter-regionally, XKI has been quite strong. We have had several highly connected delegates who have built our interregional relations. However, even with our strengths in this area, I do foresee that we can easily become challenged by activity if we have a few emissaries leave. Therefore it’s a major area of focus for me to oversee and help our emissary team keep up our strengths and maintain relationships.

Apr 3, 2022 21:02:44 GMT -5 Astrobolt said:

4) What does being a defender mean to you?

So there’s a really long answer that I am going to link to, since I like my answer from back then. However, needless to say, I hold a really “old-school” interpretation of gameplay that has mostly has faded from popular discussion within the on-site forums. The short version of which is that I find raiding absolutely immoral, and that the existence of r/d is retroactive justification rather than thoughtful gameplay as it is implemented currently. Being a defender to me means standing up for those harmed by the status quo and advocating for all those who would rather be left alone.

Long answer; see responses to Louisistan, and anonymous question asker.
Link: 10000islands.proboards.com/post/1673788

Apr 3, 2022 21:02:44 GMT -5 Astrobolt said:

5) What is your inclination towards independent regions? Will you seek closer relations with them? If so, which regions?

Independent regions have been some of XKI’s long standing partners and allies. I have very little opposition to considering these regions for closer relationships. However, when we consider regions for embassy ties, we also have a constitutional obligation to carefully vet those regions before establishing deeper ties. I will uphold that obligation.
Where I have strong preferences is on regions that have are more neutrally gameplay aligned, or have a history of raiding.
In general, I am skeptical of building new embassies. Rather I favor or err on the side of maintaining current relationships over expansion. However, that preference isn’t swayed by whether a region is independent or not. As a Senator, and in my prior term as delegate, I carefully consulted, and studied regions before making a recommendation on building embassies.

Apr 3, 2022 21:02:44 GMT -5 Astrobolt said:

6) Do you have any potential plans for the PfS? Perhaps any Delegation changes, or new initiatives you would like to see?

I don’t have any immediate plans for the PfS, at this time. I do believe this is an area where my initial focus of outreach and connection can benefit from. If elected my outreach efforts will focus in on our partners here. My hope is that by reinforcing these connections we reaffirm our commitments and make it more likely that we will become aware of any opportunities that may have been missed in the past. If there are new initiatives to propose it will be from the feedback we receive in these relationships.

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From Porflox - On Tools

SPOILER: Click to show

{ Regarding Neutral/Raider Developed Tools }

Apr 4, 2022 20:06:07 GMT -5 Porflox said:

As delegate, would you endorse the use of tools developed by other regions (including those that may not have the best relations with XKI) to simplify the process of endorsing members of our region? Eg. Endorse the World by TNP: forum.thenorthpacific.org/pages/endorse_world/

In general I prefer to defer to TITO Command’s stances on acceptable tools for use by TITO members when considering the acceptability of those tools in civilian contexts.
Additionally, I am highly leery of any tool that originated wholly from a known raider. For two main reasons:
1) the widespread acceptance of tools developed by raider nations represents social approval by the world community and undermines the moral case against raiding in favor of a more relative case advocated by raiders;
2) while there is unlikely to be overly exploitative code within these tools, there is no guarantee either — nor would I put my trust solely in the word of a raider.
As to the specifics of the tool mentioned, it does appear to rely on neutral API functionality and seems fairly benign. However that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have other downsides. As I am not more familiar with it beyond an initial look, I am inclined to reach out for further consultation.

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Vivolkha - Specific Plans

SPOILER: Click to show

{Regarding Specific Plans for Regional Activity}

Apr 6, 2022 8:43:09 GMT -5 Vivolkha said:

Apr 3, 2022 21:02:44 GMT -5 Astrobolt said:

2) What is the biggest internal challenge facing XKI right now?

United Royal Islands , regarding the quoted question: do you have any specific plans to help overcome our internal challenges? In particular, do you have any projects in mind that could be implemented (by the Delegacy or otherwise) to boost internal activity and regional engagement?

As I mentioned in my answer to that question, I feel this is one of the most complicated policies to get right, often because what works in one point in time stops working or shifts in a later point in time. For our current region and membership, I am seeing a lot of RMB and discord engagement. Policies that reflect those nodes of activity will likely have a beneficial impact on the region. As for a specific plans, I can say that I don’t have anything that immediately come to mind, but I am continuing to look over those signs and see how we can reach out and connect to activity within the region. It will remain apart of my focus as delegate to look for opportunities in policies to expand activity and engagement.

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[Markanite]

Good luck URI!

I have tough competition!

[Astrobolt]

Hey URI!

Glad to see you run!

I wanted to ask a few questions if you had the time. (These are the same questions I asked Mark in their campaign thread.)

1) What will be your top priority as Delegate should you be elected?

2) What is the biggest internal challenge facing XKI right now?

3) What is the biggest interregional challenge facing XKI right now?

4) What does being a defender mean to you?

5) What is your inclination towards independent regions? Will you seek closer relations with them? If so, which regions?

6) Do you have any potential plans for the PfS? Perhaps any Delegation changes, or new initiatives you would like to see?

[Porflox]

As delegate, would you endorse the use of tools developed by other regions (including those that may not have the best relations with XKI) to simplify the process of endorsing members of our region? Eg. Endorse the World by TNP: forum.thenorthpacific.org/pages/endorse_world/

[United Royal Islands]

Thank you Astrobolt and Porflox for your questions, they have been answered in the second post.
Please let me know if there are any clarifications you would like.

[Astrobolt]

Apr 4, 2022 21:40:06 GMT -5 United Royal Islands said:

Thank you Astrobolt and Porflox for your questions, they have been answered in the second post.
Please let me know if there are any clarifications you would like.

Thank you so much for your responses URI! Best of luck to you in the election!

[Vivolkha]

Apr 3, 2022 21:02:44 GMT -5 Astrobolt said:

2) What is the biggest internal challenge facing XKI right now?

United Royal Islands , regarding the quoted question: do you have any specific plans to help overcome our internal challenges? In particular, do you have any projects in mind that could be implemented (by the Delegacy or otherwise) to boost internal activity and regional engagement?

[United Royal Islands]

Thank you @vivolkh for your question. I have provided a response in the second post.
Please let me know if there are any areas or topics you want further addressed!

[harjanika]

Hello URI, Harjanika calling.

Question #1: What will you be doing to increase the power of smaller, less resourced nations in the 10000 islands? As a fairly new person on the islands, I have seen how smaller nations play their part, and I believe that while we should still have certain people at the top, that smaller nations will be able to shape the islands more and play more of a role in the community as we have a lot of potential (especially in roleplay).
Question #2: If you get elected, what will be happening to TITO and the raiders? You said in your manifesto that you want TITO to continue its main values, so does that mean that TITO will attack the raiders that are destroying the game as we speak?
Question #3: When does voting end?

Truly,
Harjanika