NationStates Influence (Safalra's Guide)

[Alexander of Byzantine Glory]

This guide was first posted in the Regional Influence (NSv1.9 changes) thread in the NationStates Technical forum.

Note that this list is unofficial, as the NationStates moderators refuse to confirm the ordering of any of the NationStates rankings.

Safalra's Guide To Influence

When a nation moves to a region, it has no influence within that region. Nations accrue influence in a region by remaining in the region, and by receiving endorsements from the region's members. Being a member of the UN has no effect unless the nation gains endorsements, and the influence of the nations endorsing has no effect either.

At each UN update the each nation's influence is increased by a constant factor (to represent its remaining in the region) and a factor proportionate to the number of UN endorsements it has. The precise equivalence between these two factors (for example, whether having n endorsements is equivalent to remaining in a region for n days) is unclear.
The regional power is equal to the sum of the national influence of all its members (updated each UN update), and is displayed as a ranking on a scale ranging from 'Backwater' to 'Extremely High'.

The national influence ranking (ranging from 'Minnow' to 'Hermit') is determined by the ratio of national influence to total regional influence and the previous UN update. If the nation joined the region since the last UN update it has no power. If the region was created since the last UN update all its member have ranking 'Hermit' until the next UN update.

The ordering of national influence rankings is as follows:

Hermit

Hegemony

Dominator

Superpower

Power

Powerbroker

Eminence Grise

Enforcer

Dealmaker

Instigator

Contender

Negotiator

Auxiliary

Ambassador

Diplomat

Envoy

Duckspeaker

Handshaker

Truckler

Vassal

Minnow

The ordering can mainly be deduced by looking at regions where all nations have identical influence (mainly regions without UN members where the membership hasn't changed since the influence system was introduced):

Size
Shared ranking
Example region

1
Hermit
00000000000000000000000000
2
Dominator
000000000000000000000000
3
Superpower
000000000 GrandIslamicAlliance
4
Power
00000000000000000000000000000
5
Power
Abudabi
6
Powerbroker
00 Nirvana 00
7
Eminence Grise
A Home for Those About to Rock
8
Eminence Grise
Abcede
9
Eminence Grise
Anti Nerd Alliance
10
Eminence Grise
Acheron
11
Enforcer
Conservicstan
12
Dealmaker
Alrindor
13
Instigator
Ashtan
14
Instigator
Lost Caribbean Islands
15
Contender
Poke World
16
Contender
Civics Class Sandbox
17
Contender
EOTLOUD
18
Negotiator
Sheep Protectors
19
Negotiator
Chemistry
20
Negotiator
Major IMPACT
22
Ambassador
The NSPD
23
Ambassador
Terra 13
25
Ambassador
The Cheese Alliance
26
Diplomat
Pantheon
31
Envoy
ECU

This also allows us to derive bounds on the share of total regional influence that leads to each title.
The positions of the remaining rankings can be deduced by using the regional XML feeds to determine the relative ages of nations in a region and see how this correlates with the rankings of those that aren't UN members. To complete the list above the regions of England, The YoungWorld, Indus River Valley, and 00000000000000000 ALL 4 TEENS were used.

[Alexander of Byzantine Glory]

In the next we present the game rules on Regional Influence, not only of every individual member nation state but of a whole region in comparison with other regions of the game. Influence is accumulated by time and population, as also by strong United Nations Delegate (many endorsements). Even though some historical regions of the game, that now have very few members, they have kept with high Regional Influence level mostly homoring their past than their current power.

"All About Influence
April 2006
Introduction
As of version 1.9, all nations have "Regional Influence," which is a measure of how important a nation is considered in its current region. Influence is determined by two factors: how much time the nation has spent in this region, and how many UN endorsements it has had over that time.
Effect on Gameplay
Although being boast-worthy in its own right, Influence serves an important gameplay purpose. The ability of UN Delegates to eject and ban nations from their region, and to password-protect it, is limited by their Influence. That is, the longer a Delegate has been a resident of the region, and the more endorsements he has held over that time, the more able he is to eject, ban, and password-protect.
Delegates consume some of their Influence to exercise their power, so the more often he ejects, bans, and password-protects, the more difficult it is for him to wield those powers in the future.
In relation to ejecting and banning, the exact amount of Influence consumed depends on the target's Influence. A newcomer to a region may be ejected for very little cost, while ejecting a well-supported, long-time resident is very expensive.
Invasion Rules
With the introduction of Regional Influence, our rules governing "Invasion Griefing" are abolished.
That means we no longer have complicated rules dictating, for example, how many residents a Delegate can eject before the moderators consider it illegal "griefing." Delegates need not worry about whether they are allowed to eject, ban, or password-protect—instead, if the game lets you do them, they're legal.
This removes a major source of angst and uncertainty for players and moderators alike. In the past, some players didn't even know there were rules about ejecting nations until after they'd broken them. Even experienced players (and moderators!) sometimes found it difficult to separate genuine invasions from region griefing. We're very glad to be able to put this situation behind us.
Examples
Nation A has been a resident of her region for two months, then becomes Delegate. She is likely to have a large pool of Influence to spend.
Nation B is the Delegate of a region that is suddenly invaded. As the invaders have no Influence, B can easily afford to eject all of them.
Nation C is part of an invasion force that crashes into a region. The invaders all endorse C and he becomes Delegate. C will have no or very little Influence, and be unable to immediately eject any native residents. (However, he will be gaining Influence faster than anyone else in the region, as he now has the most endorsements.)
Nation D is a long-time regional resident. She leaves the region for a few days, then returns. D will have slightly less Influence in this region than when she departed. (She will also have accumulated a small amount of Influence in the region she temporarily visited.)
Other Changes
Regions now have a "Regional Power" label. This reflects how much Influence that region's residents have in total, compared to other regions.
Delegates and Founders can use Region Control to password-protect their region, and have that password automatically displayed on the region page to all residents. (It remains hidden from outsiders.) It costs less Influence to apply a password that is visible to residents than to apply one that will remain hidden.
Obsoleted Rules
As mentioned above, "Invasion Griefing" rules have been abolished. The forum rules sticky has been updated to reflect this, with the following old rules removed:
Deleted: A distinction was drawn between "invaders" and "natives," and different rules applied to each.
Deleted: "Invader Delegates" were prohibited from ejecting more than a certain number (usually 10%) of residents, and required to unban them immediately afterward.
Deleted: If an "invader Delegate" password-protected the region, she was required to distribute that password to residents via telegram.
Deleted: Delegates were prohibited from ejecting residents in order to re-Found a region.
These rules no longer apply.
Notes
The "Regional Influence" label reflects how much Influence a nation has compared to others in its region only. A nation with few endorsements and a short residency in a small region may have a higher Regional Influence rank than one with many endorsements and a long residence in a large region.
Influence cannot be transferred between regions. When a nation enters a new region for the first time, his Regional Influence there is zero.
While Founders earn Influence like any other nation, they do not spend it. Thus they can continue to do whatever they like in their own regions—eject, ban, password-protect, and deny Delegate access to Region Control—as much as they please.
All nations accumulate Influence, whether they are UN members or not.
Nations have been invisibly accumulating Influence since the start of March 2006. Since we can't tell how long nations were resident in their region, or how many endorsements they had, before then, the amount of Influence nations have now is not affected by what they did prior to that date.
The Region Control page, accessible by regional Delegates and Founders, will provide a useful estimate of the cost in Influence of performing any action. Thus, Delegates can get a rough idea of how much Influence they must spend to eject, ban, or password-protect.
Delegates (and Founders, for that matter) are permitted to eject residents for any reason. That is, they can be good or evil, and moderators don't care which. If your regional Delegate is abusing his power, it's up to you to get her unelected. (Or, failing that, you could change regions.)
The Influence system is the result of collaboration between admin, moderators, and players. A great many people contributed their time and ideas to the project, making this change a truly community-driven one. Thank you everyone!
[NationStates Home]"

Posted on March 15th, 2007 at 01EasternRomanEmpire.blogspot.com site.

[Romenoch]

GLOBAL INFLUENCE GUIDE

HOW INFLUENCE WORKS

When a nation moves to a region, it has no influence within that region. Nations accrue influence in a region by remaining in the region, and by receiving endorsements from the region's members. Being a member of the UN has no effect unless the nation gains endorsements, and the influence of the nations endorsing has no effect either.

At each UN update the each nation's influence is increased by a constant factor (to represent its remaining in the region) and a factor proportionate to the number of UN endorsements it has. The precise equivalence between these two factors (for example, whether having n endorsements is equivalent to remaining in a region for n days) is unclear.

The regional power is equal to the sum of the national influence of all its members (updated each UN update), and is displayed as a ranking on a scale ranging from 'Backwater' to 'Extremely High'.

The national influence ranking (ranging from 'Minnow' to 'Hermit') is determined by the ratio of national influence to total regional influence and the previous UN update. If the nation joined the region since the last UN update it has no power. If the region was created since the last UN update all its member have ranking 'Hermit' until the next UN update.






Introduction

As of version 1.9, all nations have "Regional Influence," which is a measure of how important a nation is considered in its current region. Influence is determined by two factors: how much time the nation has spent in this region, and how many UN endorsements it has had over that time.

Effect on Gameplay

Although being boast-worthy in its own right, Influence serves an important gameplay purpose. The ability of UN Delegates to eject and ban nations from their region, and to password-protect it, is limited by their Influence. That is, the longer a Delegate has been a resident of the region, and the more endorsements he has held over that time, the more able he is to eject, ban, and password-protect.

Delegates consume some of their Influence to exercise their power, so the more often he ejects, bans, and password-protects, the more difficult it is for him to wield those powers in the future.

In relation to ejecting and banning, the exact amount of Influence consumed depends on the target's Influence. A newcomer to a region may be ejected for very little cost, while ejecting a well-supported, long-time resident is very expensive.

Invasion Rules

With the introduction of Regional Influence, our rules governing "Invasion Griefing" are abolished.

That means we no longer have complicated rules dictating, for example, how many residents a Delegate can eject before the moderators consider it illegal "griefing." Delegates need not worry about whether they are allowed to eject, ban, or password-protect—instead, if the game lets you do them, they're legal.

This removes a major source of angst and uncertainty for players and moderators alike. In the past, some players didn't even know there were rules about ejecting nations until after they'd broken them. Even experienced players (and moderators!) sometimes found it difficult to separate genuine invasions from region griefing. We're very glad to be able to put this situation behind us.

Examples

* Nation A has been a resident of her region for two months, then becomes Delegate. She is likely to have a large pool of Influence to spend.
* Nation B is the Delegate of a region that is suddenly invaded. As the invaders have no Influence, B can easily afford to eject all of them.
* Nation C is part of an invasion force that crashes into a region. The invaders all endorse C and he becomes Delegate. C will have no or very little Influence, and be unable to immediately eject any native residents. (However, he will be gaining Influence faster than anyone else in the region, as he now has the most endorsements.)
* Nation D is a long-time regional resident. She leaves the region for a few days, then returns. D will have slightly less Influence in this region than when she departed. (She will also have accumulated a small amount of Influence in the region she temporarily visited.)

Other Changes

* Regions now have a "Regional Power" label. This reflects how much Influence that region's residents have in total, compared to other regions.
* Delegates and Founders can use Region Control to password-protect their region, and have that password automatically displayed on the region page to all residents. (It remains hidden from outsiders.) It costs less Influence to apply a password that is visible to residents than to apply one that will remain hidden.

Obsoleted Rules

As mentioned above, "Invasion Griefing" rules have been abolished. The forum rules sticky has been updated to reflect this, with the following old rules removed:

* Deleted: A distinction was drawn between "invaders" and "natives," and different rules applied to each.
* Deleted: "Invader Delegates" were prohibited from ejecting more than a certain number (usually 10%) of residents, and required to unban them immediately afterward.
* Deleted: If an "invader Delegate" password-protected the region, she was required to distribute that password to residents via telegram.
* Deleted: Delegates were prohibited from ejecting residents in order to re-Found a region.

These rules no longer apply.

Notes

* The "Regional Influence" label reflects how much Influence a nation has compared to others in its region only. A nation with few endorsements and a short residency in a small region may have a higher Regional Influence rank than one with many endorsements and a long residence in a large region.
* Influence cannot be transferred between regions. When a nation enters a new region for the first time, his Regional Influence there is zero.
* While Founders earn Influence like any other nation, they do not spend it. Thus they can continue to do whatever they like in their own regions—eject, ban, password-protect, and deny Delegate access to Region Control—as much as they please.
* All nations accumulate Influence, whether they are UN members or not.
* Nations have been invisibly accumulating Influence since the start of March 2006. Since we can't tell how long nations were resident in their region, or how many endorsements they had, before then, the amount of Influence nations have now is not affected by what they did prior to that date.
* The Region Control page, accessible by regional Delegates and Founders, will provide a useful estimate of the cost in Influence of performing any action. Thus, Delegates can get a rough idea of how much Influence they must spend to eject, ban, or password-protect.
* Delegates (and Founders, for that matter) are permitted to eject residents for any reason. That is, they can be good or evil, and moderators don't care which. If your regional Delegate is abusing his power, it's up to you to get her unelected. (Or, failing that, you could change regions.)
* The Influence system is the result of collaboration between admin, moderators, and players. A great many people contributed their time and ideas to the project, making this change a truly community-driven one. Thank you everyone!

[Alexander of Byzantine Glory]

Thank you Ambassador Romenoch for completing this thread ...