Apply to the Development Team

I've been getting messages from people concerned if it is too late to submit their applications. It is not too late.

I would appreciate if all applications are in by 2008-06-19 23:59 EST

This will give me time to compare them to what I already have, and possibly put a call out for people with specific attributes. The hope is to have the list finalized for 2008-06-22.

Also, so that I don't have to send people the application to fill out, I'll just post it here. Please PM me your applications.

I have not yet received any applications from new players. While I don't want a huge number of new people, one or two is highly desirable.
Nation leaders: If you have new players that seem to have taken an interest in the game (are seeking help, making efforts to improve their play, etc.), please point them towards this post. One or two new players would, I think, be a huge asset to the team.

Next two posts are what was sent out to the original group of applicants. As such, the preamble may be strange.

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=== This is part one of a two-part message ===
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Greetings,
You are receiving this PM because Mr. P has asked me to take over the lead of the Dev Team, and because you have applied to join it. I would first like to introduce myself, as I don't know how well the various applicants know me (this message is being sent to everyone who has applied, without exception).

This is my second serious set playing the game called Nation-Wars, but I had played World-Of-War, which was the previous incarnation of this game, for about a year, possibly more (my memory for such things is quite poor, please excuse); as such, I draw on a fairly large base of experience but some of the names and nations you may reference are from before my time.

My previous nations include USA, FED, and Bang, with I believe a few others scattered around, but again my memory is poor. In USA I have been nothing but just a member, in FED I was in a leadership role, specifically with regards to warring, and in Bang I was, as far as I'm concerned, just a member, but had the array of privileges. The vast majority of my World-Of-War time was spent with FED.

FED was a large nation, and in my time there I lead first strikes (FS) as well as retaliatory strikes. As such, I feel that my experience and knowledge of warring is my strongest. However, I've not only been a war state, having multiple top ten networth finishes, as well as one or two top three finishes.

During the time of World-Of-War, I also made my original calculator (The Legend's WoW Calculator), and I have more recently made the Nation-Wars incarnation of the same.

Outside of the game, I am a 21 year old university student entering my final year, set to graduate with a major in Computer Science (specialization in Information Systems Security), as well as a minor in Psychology. In addition to NW, I also play World of Warcraft, and from time to time I play Call of Duty 4.

I suppose this enough about me. You may or may not have read my posts on the forums since joining this game, or back in World-of-War if you've been playing that long, but if you have, then you know where I stand on various issues involving the game.

The game, after all, is what we are here to discuss, and hopefully improve for both new players and old.

What do I expect of you? Everyone has answered Mr. P.'s question of can you be active, and that is what I expect of you. I would appreciate if you are active in the game, as well as the forums, but it isn't required so long as you know what is going on in the game. I also expect you to consider and explain what you believe to be the possibly implications of suggestions. "Yes" or "No" will simply not cut it as a response to suggestions.

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=== This is part two of a two-part message ===
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You will find below a series of questions; I expect you to answer these questions honestly, and thoughtfully where such an answer is required. There are no "correct" or "incorrect" answers, except where you fail to explain your response to a "difficult" question. You may think that expressing your views to be the same as what you perceive to be mine will get you on the team. The contrary is quite true: if you think the same way as I do, then there is really no point in having you on the team. I am looking for a team with a broad set of backgrounds, interests, and issues about which they are passionate.

Warring
How many wars have you actively participated in?

About what percentage of your nation and/or alliance actively participated in these wars?

How many of these wars were initiated by your nation and/or alliance?

How many of these wars did you win?

Do you feel that a way to force or strongly encourage non-participatory states to help in the war would be beneficial to the game as a whole?

What do you consider to be a good state setup for warring? Can you think of any reason why deviating from this setup would be the correct choice?

Two nations or alliances have been warring all set, neither ever conceding defeat. How do you determine the winner?


Netting
How many sets has your goal throughout the set been to obtain the maximum networth possible?

How many times have you placed in the top 10?

How many times have you placed in the top 5?

How many times have you come first?

When netting, do you use the GDN or the TDN?

What do you feel is the appropriate military distribution for a top 10 state mid-game (7 days into the set to 7 days before the end of the set)?


Suiciding
What is your definition of suiciding?

Have you been suicided against? If so, how many times? Can you think of a reason why?

Have you ever suicided against another state? If so, how many times? What were your reasons?

Is suiciding ever justified as either the or a correct course of action?

Are the GDN and TDN sufficient protection from suiciders?

If a state is suicided against, should the game administrator (Mr. P) intervene to assist the target?

Should there be any protection from suiciders?

If suiciding could be removed from the game entirely, would you consider this an improvement?


Game Balance
What building/tech strategy or strategies (Casher, Farmer, Indy, Techer) would you select for your state and your nation if you began the set intending to war?

What building/tech strategy or strategies (Casher, Farmer, Indy, Techer) would you select for your state and your nation if you began the set intending to net?

If you were able to choose a single strategy for either one of the above questions (ie.: "My state would be a Farmer", as opposed to "Either Indy or Farmer"), do you feel that the difficulty in playing this strategy balances the strength you feel it holds in that area of the game?

Is Techer (without a mid-set conversion) a viable strategy throughout the whole set? Should it be?
Is stocking (with any building strategy) well balanced with regards to netting?

Is warring well balanced with regards to which nation gets the first strike (FS)?

Are the various units well balanced (offensive strength, defensive strength, purchase price, number produced, and upkeep costs)?


Cheating
Should states that are themselves not officially cheaters, but did benefit from cheaters disproportionately to other states, be in any way penalized?

Other
I introduced myself, this is your opportunity to do the same. Things like how long you have been playing, notable nations, leadership roles, and age all belong here. Answers to questions you think I should have asked but didn't also go here (these would show how you bring a significantly different perspective of the game to the table).