Topics

[Question:]

Question: Hello, what is this board!?
Answer: It's a board about NationStates

Question: What is a NationStates:
Answer:

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

Question: What can I do here?
Answer: You can build this region into your dreams.

In Refugia, we more or less set all the rules. Not just CalRef mods and admins, but actual players. The rules that govern this region are called the Refugia Revised Statutes, and we are one of the few regions that have a direct democracy, meaning anyone who is a member state of the region can submit a proposal to revise, add onto or dismantle the law of the land or run for a council seat.

Question: How would I make such a proposal?
Answer: To draft a proposal, telegram it to me and have your Second verify that they support it, and it will go up for vote.

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

If you want to collect people's ideas and plan out what you're going to submit, place a thread here with the [Draft] tag and collect feedback from people in the region.

Question: How do I run for a Councillor?
Answer: By sending a message on the RMB (the message spot at the bottom of the region page) preferably with a short message about why you should be elected. You may also post in this NationStates board to do the same thing. Make campaign posters if you want.

The election schedule is here:

Foreign Affairs         Jan 1 - 7         May 1 - 7         Sept 1 - 7
Culture            Jan 7 - 14         May 7 - 14         Sept 7 - 14
Operations         Jan 14 - 21         May 7 - 14      Sept 14 - 21

The first and second days are the candidacy period. You must announce your candidacy then or you will not appear in the poll. Look for an announcement from me when a candidacy period begins.

Question: Can I just submit a proposal to make a new Councillor position to run for?
Answer: Of course.

Question: How do I join the World Assembly?
Answer: Look at the World Assembly Page and apply to become a member. You must have a valid email address to confirm you are a real human and you may only have on World Assembly account at a time. Creating multiple accounts to influence WA votes or delegacies will get you MEGA BANNED. Endorse Refuge Isle to give a +1 to the regional vote.



This topic remains open for any questions you have which aren't in the above How Does.[/list]

This board has been up for a few days without any ideas on what to post, so it must be time for a new megathread in this officially sanctioned board to post nonsense.

This is the corruption game. The point is to grant the wish of the previous poster in the most useless or unsatisfying way. Then, make a new wish for the next poster.

I wish I owned a sports car.

Granted, but it is in space.

I wish I had a lamp for this room.

[Refugia]

This document establishes this association of nations and their shared beliefs and values. We define these values as refuge and shelter to all who have need of it, environmental stewardship of our nations while working to improve global atmospheric carbon levels, as well as the fair treatment and political inclusion of all peoples. We resolve ourselves to form governments with transparency and integrity in leadership and work to leave things as better than we found them.

The nations here will compose a region to be known as Refugia.

- The Refugia Revised Statutes -

1. Acceptance to the Region is a right afforded to any nation willing to uphold the values named herein. Nations that oppose, disregard, or obstruct these values may be subject to ejection and transportation via variation magic to The Rejected Realms.

2. Member States are defined as World Assembly nations that have resided within the Region for a period not less than seven days.

• a. A Nation will lose its status as a Member State if it elects to depart the Region, its status is self-requested to be revoked, or the nation is ejected.
• b. Nations that lose their status may apply to obtain it through the same process again unless they are barred from the Region.

3. Nations may apply for Member State status in conditions where admission to the World Assembly is declined, rejected, or impossible.

• Exemption nations must still have resided within the Region for a period of time not less than fourteen days and have received the unanimous approval from the Regional Council to provide the exemption.

4. Member States are entitled to submit any proposal, amendment, repeal, or revision to any revised statute, including this document in its entirety. Votes must be easily accessible and include the option to abstain. Only one vote is allotted to each Member State per referendum.

• Proposals must be supported by at least one other Member State, which may be referred to as a "second."
• Votes will last a period of seven days from the time of announcement and will be enacted or discarded upon conclusion.
• Proposals which have been defeated will trigger a cooldown period on the sponsor nation from submitting a new proposal for seven days after the end of the poll defeat.

5. All nations within the Region have the right to solicit a ruling or official Regional position on:

• Opinions regarding the legality of a proposal
• Opinions regarding World Assembly affairs
• Opinions regarding foreign regional actions
• Opinions regarding the status of Member States
• Suits regarding ejection or barring of Regional nations

The results of rulings solicited by member states will be formed by the Regional Council and delivered by a representative of the Government.

6. The Regional Council is defined to comprise of the following members:

• The Arch-Administrator, defined as Refuge Isle, which acts as the head of state for the region. The Arch-Administrators responsibilities are defined as the appointment and dismissal of all positions that are fairly elected into office and maintaining records of significance.
• The Councillor of Foreign Affairs, whose responsibilities are defined as management and maintenance of the travel portals within the region, foreign affairs and authority over embassies established to outside regions, diplomatic negotiations and foreign correspondence.
• The Councillor of Culture, whose responsibilities are defined as orchestrating cultural events, inspiring activity, and developing the identity of the Regional culture.
• The Operations Councillor, whose responsibilities are defined as developing and executing strategic operations to use and expand the Region's influence, internal and external threat assessment, and maintaining the registry of Member States.

The members of the Regional Council may conduct business in the name of the Region with the titles that reflect their status and authority.

7. The succession of the Arch-Administrator is subject to the succession laws of Refuge Isle, and verified by the presence of an anchor stone and Administration Tower. The Arch-Administrator will call elections for the three democratic Council seats according to the following convention:

Foreign Affairs         Jan 1 - 7         May 1 - 7         Sept 1 - 7
Culture            Jan 7 - 14         May 7 - 14         Sept 7 - 14
Operations         Jan 14 - 21         May 7 - 14      Sept 14 - 21

8. Elections will consist of a two day candidacy period, followed by a five day voting period. On the eighth day, the results of the elections will be announced and, if applicable, the next ones will begin.

• Member States are prohibited from occupying the same Council seat more than two times consecutively, and more than four times in total.
• In the event of unexpected absences or positions that cannot be filled, the Arch-Administrator may appoint an individual who may serve in that capacity until such time as the following election produces a regular appointment.

9. At any time, a Member State can charge a Regional Councillor of neglect in their duties or mismanagement of their position. Their charge will be submitted in writing to the Arch-Administrator only after a second member state has seconded the motion. This charge must contain:

• A list of grievances against the accused.
• Argument as to why these grievances should result in the removal of the accused prior to the next election.

If all requirements laid out in RRS 4(c), 9, 9(a), and 9(b) are met, the Arch-Administrator will call for a vote of "No Confidence" among the member states. If this vote passes by a simple majority, a new election will be called for that Council seat within the following five days. The previous seat holder can run again granted they qualify under circumstances detailed in RRS 8a.

10. The Region defines the goals and expectations in it Members' conduct and operations in the following ways:

• Reach an average environmental beauty score of 1,500 by the end of 2019, and maintained thereafter.
• Reach an average eco-friendliness score of 5,000, by the end of 2019, and maintained thereafter.

11. The Councillor of Culture must develop a Regional Eco Report in order to support 10. a) and b) which identifies ways in which Member States of the Region may contribute towards the environmental targets established herein. Further, the Councillor of Culture must publish regular updates to the report in order to maintain its relevance and timely advice.

[here]

Hello! This didn't have a topic yet, so here's another thread for your Minecraft needs.

As of September 13th, 2019 there's a CalRef Minecraft server again!

This server runs our custom modpack called Refugia and in this three thousand word essay, I will explain how. Step one, download the technic launcher, which solves everyone's problems forever. You can get it here. When you launch Technic, type "Refugia" into the search bar and click install. If you get an error message that talks about incompatibility issues, make sure you're on the latest version of the modpack

Because Technic's a bitch.

When you launch game, click multiplayer and type minecraft.calref.network into the address bar.

Let me know if you have any trouble getting this working. If there are any updates to the server or the modpack, I'll let you know in this thread. Also, you can talk about the server here (obvs). I will eventually be building a photo album of all of the places that we have been to and made in this server. So if you want those pictures to be included, post them in this thread. You can attach up to five images to the attachment function of the forum, or just link them here from somewhere else.

This is the OoC thread for the A Voice from the Storm RP. The purpose of an OoC thread is to let you talk about the RP outside of the actual RP thread so that things don't get too muddled. If you want to make a post, but aren't sure what direction it should take, talking about things beforehand here might ease your mind a bit or let you get used to what's going on before jumping in.

You can also post any reactions you have to the recent posts in the RP here, including confusion, apocrypha, etc. Best practices for writing for other people's characters is to check with them first to make sure their characters would actually say the things you're writing before you speak on their behalf.

Have fun and make stuff up!

[Profile]

There are currently three themes available for the forums. They are all at some level of moderately developed for use, specifically, here and have the work of at least a year of contributions. All three of these are sponsored and maintained officially, but some are more good-er than others. So what should be set as the official look and layout of CalRef, including to guests who find us randomly from internet darkspace? Vote now!

To preview and use each of these themes, click the Profile button at the top of the screen.

Under the Modify Profile tab, click Look and Layout. The top option lets you change your theme.

This poll runs for seven days.

[CalRef Development Journal]

If we're going to be working in the forum more, I'm aware that there are some places where we're lacking and some areas that are broken but I haven't noticed or I have and I've forgotten about. Post here the things that you want to see some work on, or if you have ideas on how I can improve the functionality of the forum. New boards, utilities, tie-ins, etc.

It doesn't mean I'll be able to do anything ever suggested, but who knows~

Additionally, if you notice items features or images that are broken, post them here.

Updates to this message have since been moved to the CalRef Development Journal.

Tourist		0
Refugi		10
Script Caster		25
Rune Carver		50
Zyqxuwy Sage		100
Local Emperor		150
Forest Sprite		250
Tea Dragon		500
Oracle		750

Hey friendos

This is a pin that just mentions the ranks for the forum in a place where everyone can see them. These ranks effect the title under your name, how many blue squares you have, and literally nothing else. The post rank requirements are intentionally easy to get at first, however, when someone reaches the top of a rank, I'll add another one for them to try to get.

Have a blast!

[here]

If you request a new wiki account and I don't see it, send a message here or message me directly.

Welcome to the Wiki Discussion thread, the officially sanctioned omni topic and verbal dumping grounds for all of your MediaWiki conversational inclinations.

Q: What is the Refuge Wiki?
A: It's Wikipedia, but for stuff you make up in RPs.

Q: Why do we have it?
A: Because wikis are a fantastic way to organise information about topics you already like thinking and talking about without the bizarre anarchy of Google Docs.

Q: What goes here?
A: Basically whatever you want.
Wikis are a tool to put things together in one place. If you're doing an RP and it has some hundred thousand words and you need some obscure reference you made a fifth of the way it, it's so much easier to look at your character's wiki page than dig through your notes or read fifteen posts looking for it. You can build you character pages just like a Wikipedia biography with fancy templates and features. Include information that's difficult or awkward to work into your posts, and work on building your gameworld with other players.

Members need an account to make and edit articles, verified by the admin tower, so that brigands and wild animals don't blast us into the stratosphere with vandalism.

View the getting started link on the main page to view tutorial pages written by MediaWiki on how to use their software. View demo and tutorial pages written by me to learn how to use our templates.

Use this topic for any passing questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, complaints, bug reports, ideas, and flights of fancy you may have that pertain to this service. We can train you to be an expert in this thingymabobbber and effortlessly exceed my abilities overnight.

The link to this wiki is here! And it's also a child board of the Roleplay Board, so you can find it at the top of the page if you're inside the RP board index.

Do we need mooore NS?

I'm semi-considering the possibility of making the NationStates region a slightly more established thing with more organisation, beauracracy, voting for WA issues, small scale recruitment for CalRef, and maybe draft an issue or GA resolution to make some kind of impact.

Is there any interest in doing this / is this a good idea or nah?

[Calamity Refuge]

Overview:

Calamity Refuge is an online community island in the digital sea of the internet. It is a home and refuge to people who need it and a place to create and share things with their friends. This Code of Conduct is the set of rules and guidelines designed to protect this community and members' quality of life within it. This document extends to all areas that the Refuge and its Network administrates.

Rules:

• Members of this community are expected to be here in good faith. Using the community for data mining, excessive self-promotion, or schemes to the community's detriment will result in your ban.
• Discrimination is strictly prohibited, including but not limited to race, gender identity, orientation, and disability.
• You may not harass or bait other members, nor engage in bad faith arguments.
• Do not post pictures of a pornographic, erotic, disturbing, or disgusting nature. We already know where to find those.
• Links to where software can be illegally obtained, piracy sites, threats of violence, and promotion of hate groups is not permitted.
• Advertisement of other community servers is not permitted unless authorised in advance by an administrator, as it may be viewed as an endorsement we do not wish to extend.
• Commercial advertisement, such as requesting cash-equivalent items in exchange for anything, is not permitted.
• Doxxing in all forms is prohibited; you may not reveal the personal information of another member without their express permission.
• NationStates posturing and military gameplay swipes are considered unproductive or caustic and are not permitted.
• If you pose a threat to Calamity Refuge or any of its members, you will be banned instantly and permanently.

Information:

Calamity Refuge is legally owned by the Arch-Administrator, the lead developer. This is currently Luca McGrath, who is responsible for all blame. Administrators are the second level of authority, able to create or destroy entire services, their primary purpose is to ensure the continuity of the Refuge. Global Moderators are charged with enforcing the Code of Conduct and ensuring the well-treatment and equal protections of all members. Local Moderators carry the same role, but with a specific scope or area of focus within the community.

It is up to each staff member to interpret the Code of Conduct to the best of their ability and apply it to the situation at hand to reach the best outcome. Member should observe and respect staff warnings and advice if such should be issued in an official capacity. Failure to abide the rules listed herein will result in disciplinary action up to and including account termination. Appeals about a moderator decision may be made with any administrator. Appeals regarding any administrator decision may be made with the Arch-Administrator.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to send a private message through the forums. We love PMs, please send us PMs so we are not depressed. If you do not wish to send a message through the forum, send us an email. All administrators have an email of name@calref.cc. The current authority roster is located here, along with its history.

Legal:

By registering at Calamity Refuge, you agree that:

You are at least fourteen years of age. No service or content in this community is designed or intended for children under the age of fourteen and requests for membership by people below that age are denied outright. You must maintain the security of your user account and password. You are responsible for your account and its activities in this community. It is up to you to decide what information you disclose about yourself, in case it is seen by every identity thief in the world immediately.

This site is a community. The views expressed herein belong to their participants and are not necessarily those of the management and staff of Calamity Refuge. All information posted is released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. You may use or adapt any material that is found within the grounds for your own purposes so long as you attribute credit to the original creator and release your work with the same Creative Commons license.

Privacy:

Any information submitted to this site, including user information, comes under the stewardship of Calamity Refuge. This information includes, but is not limited to IP addresses, email addresses, hostname, your activity within this site, and the messages submitted to it. All information is securely maintained and encrypted.

Information submitted to the site may be released when, and only when, a relevant law enforcement agency with the necessary legal authority and jurisdiction compels us to do so. User information is never sold or released to third parties and unknowable scripts such as ads, dataminers, and tracking scripts are strictly prohibited. Refuge Administration retains the rights to terminate member accounts just as members may terminate their own accounts at their discretion.

This forum's software places cookies, (text files containing your session information), in your browser's cache. These are used only to keep you logged in/out. The software does not collect or send any other form of information to your computer. These cookies are not chocolate chip.

I have a question for you and I need time to work it out, myself, so I thought I'd make a topic for it. If you were to make a timeline of games, not necessarily the most popular game by year, but the games that most defined you and your gaming life in those years, what would they be?

Mine is like... I'm not sure but it probably starts with:
1997 - Freddi Fish Maze Madness
1998 - Frogger (PC adventure game)
1999 - Centipede (PC Adventure Game)
2000 - Bubble Bobble (NES)
etc. I'll have to think about the rest of my list.

A thread on this subject is probably overdue by now, but it only just occurred to me that I could write a post on where things are and where I hope they go, at least from my perspective. Part of that delay is just putting my nose to the grindstone and doing my best to remake the infrastructure that we can use to make a community. Part of it is me being sick recently. Mostly it's just my habit to live inside my own head. I forget that I can talk to people, I forget that I can ask for help, and I forget to remind people that I'm here and I care a lot. And I do.

I hope that this iteration of CalRef can be a replacement for all of the communities that have come and gone before it and, more importantly, be an alternative to what still remains. I didn't want to be an administrator, and I never really did. But I know that I can and I know that the internet is in a dark place right now. It needs something stable and dependable that you can hold onto. It needs a community that cares about people because they deserve to be cared about. So it's something that I want to do because it's something that I need, too.

I'm not a queen and members are not subjects to pass on praise to me. Respond to any topic you want, including this one, with whatever ideas or criticism you have, even if you think I won't like it. I want as many people to be a part of making and growing this place as possible. If you think we need to add something or something's not working, I'm not very bright but I'll do my best to make or fix it. Right now, there's not much here. Anything that remains of what was a much bigger internet island is washed away, and it's going to take some time to rebuild. But the good news is that we can start fresh, from the beginning, and you can watch and be a part of where things go. We've got the time.

So, I think right now, something I need to work on is how it looks and feels to be here. This theme is mostly fine, but it doesn't feel "us" enough. I'd like something that's a dark theme that's easy on the eyes, but still has some upbeat optimistic feel to it and retains some kind of "this is the refuge" vibe. Which sounds kinda difficult, but I think I can work at it. I have a jobs list that I carry on my phone so I can write things down as I think of them and then do them as I figure out how. Example: one of the things on here is an email server portal. That ranks pretty low on the list because I'm not sure how immediately useful that would be over the default, and also it would take a moderate amount of monumental work to put it into practice, so that'll have to wait.

Ranking a little above that, though, is board banners. There are going to be new boards that we haven't had before, and also, you know, the boards we have with the same names are kinda different from how things were forever ago, so maybe I need to freshen those up, too. I might be able to get them to switch out with light and dark themes with some smf functions, but I'm not sure yet. Right now, I'm kinda thinking that the writing board can have some sort of a hand-written theme to it, something written on old parchment with old ink. Announcements, I thought would be pretty neat if I could make something that looked like it was chiselled into a rock and has some kind of paintball splatter to it so it's not as grey. I don't remember why paint splats, but it still seems like a fun idea. I don't really have ideas on the rest, but it's going to take me a little while to get re-acquainted with After Effects and someone will probably have an idea for them by the time I need it.

I'll post another rambling when I have different things to ramble about. Until then, if anyone sees any bugs or things that don't look like they've been set up right, send me a message or send Valkyrie a message, or send Natalie a message. We're all getting familiar with things, so if something comes up, we'll figure it out together.