Bist us dead?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

We are... what... a few weeks away from the Presidential election? And there are only two tickets? And there's been sod all election "noise" here. Or anything. Now the point of this game was, and is, elections. Elections are what drives the beast, what fuels the machine. And there's... nothing, really, nothing. What on earth is going on, what on earth is wrong?

How bad is the state that we're in now? I mean, just one ticket running against what has been, with all due respect, a failed administration? And both tickets, incumbent and challenger, are (within the special fantasyland definition of the term) broadly speaking "centrist". There's been nowt from the right and (perhaps more surprisingly) nowt from the left. If this is all that's left, then I just don't think there's any point in any of us carrying on with this game. Dull elections between two shades of the same pale-ish blue? Is that all? Is that it?

And all this "region versus feds" nonsense is just a distraction, just a sideshow, from the main problems we have here. Pretty much all the regional governments (including the one run by the loudest howlers) are pretty much dead. Dead, at least, to all but the people actively involved in regional politics. Giving "more powers" to the regions (they actually have rather a lot already) won't do a damn thing, letting them intrude into the federal legislative process would kill the game stone dead. The Senate only just about works at the moment. And it is slow, tedious and really, really fucking dull most of the time. Add much more bullshit to wade through and it drowns in it.

But the main problem, the biggest problem, is that we don't do fun elections anymore. Well, not for the showpiece anyway. The STV elections Midterm are fun (if perhaps a little stressful for the candidates), but that's it. Are there even going to be regional Senate elections this month, or are we dealing with a bunch of unopposed races? I'm sorry that I have to ask, because I'm not actually heard anything or seen anything from anyone actually running in them.

What, and if you know the answer please do tell me, is the point of this place if we cannot do interesting elections?

[Hash]

The only contested Senate race is in the Pacific, with the hand-picked JCP candidate vs. MaxQue vs. Stark the Nazi. Sadly. All other races are unopposed, unless I missed something.

We are in a sad state. A very sad state.

[afleitch]

Things are almost a parody now. However I do have hope that we can get proper changes in place in the short term as long as certain 'acts' are dropped and people pull together for the good of the game rather than their game.

We shall see.

[Marokai Backbeat]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

Governors do very little except post polling booths and monitor regional legislatures, Lt. Governors are almost entirely worthless (this isn't too far out of the ordinary, but can we find something for them to do?)

We can either expand the offices, and allow more people to get involved and make the game interesting and vibrant again, or we can reduce the number of offices/regions to, while making elections more interesting, make the game even less populated and even less interesting in the long term.

Sometimes I wonder if we should give everyone an office, or just institute some sort of term limit (or consecutive term limit) to make sure people are forced out of office at least at one point. In any case, this game is dominated by less and less people as time goes on and we need something to make sure more people are involved, people can't consistently dominate a political office, and information is easily understood, and easily accessed.

(https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Pacific_Elected_Officials This is really a tragedy. Count the months Bgwah reigned and how many times Alcon's name appears.)

[afleitch]

We need to decide what people like

1. Elections, voting and running for office.
2. Government and debate
3. Both.

A parliamentary system would be interesting with party blocs, leaders, cabinets etc but people have rejected that in the past.

[Purple State]

I think you can either reduce the number of elected seats and make elections more interesting or expand the number of seats and let people be more involved in the cogs of government.

I am not really sure if we can really accomplish a game in which people are really involved and elections are really interesting.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I am not really sure if we can really accomplish a game in which people are really involved and elections are really interesting.

But that's how it used to be! For years!

[Marokai Backbeat]

We need to decide what people like

1. Elections, voting and running for office.
2. Government and debate
3. Both.

A parliamentary system would be interesting with party blocs, leaders, cabinets etc but people have rejected that in the past.

I enjoy both, but to be honest, whatever system we finally settle on doesn't bother me, as long as plenty of people can get involved in the game and things are not needlessly complicated. A parliamentary system would certainly bring a much needed change to things though.

(I apologize for sounding like a broken record, but making sure we have more people and easily accessed and up to date information on the Wiki is a very important thing for me.)

I think you can either reduce the number of elected seats and make elections more interesting or expand the number of seats and let people be more involved in the cogs of government.

I am not really sure if we can really accomplish a game in which people are really involved and elections are really interesting.

You're probably right to some extent, my view is a bit utopic sometimes. I'm just nervous about seeing even more people leave. We need to stop the bleeding.

[Associate Justice PiT]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

[Marokai Backbeat]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

[Associate Justice PiT]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

     NC Yankee also asked me tons of questions. My home computer was broken at the time though, so I linked him to the wiki. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the wiki, he's now decently active in Atlasia.

     It just goes to show that you can quickly become a productive member of Atlasia if you are willing to put in the effort. Most people aren't willing to or don't have the time, though.

     Someone (it might have been you, I don't remember) suggested hitting the reset button on Atlasia, & I would be inclined to agree. People might feel better about putting the time in if they don't feel like they're joining midstream.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Yeah it was me I believe. I think it's been so long that it's finally time to start over.

[Purple State]

I am not really sure if we can really accomplish a game in which people are really involved and elections are really interesting.

But that's how it used to be! For years!

But looking back and hoping we can just make it be like that again is, in a sense, far too nostalgic. That can be a goal, but everyone involved in any sort of recovery action must realize that, as Marokai said, we just need to stop the bleeding right now.

Our best hope to is to create a more exciting atmosphere. We need to freeze government and work on a new Constitution. I would go so far as to say that Atlasia should shut down during the next CC. All offices should be vacated. All citizens should focus on working to build the Constitution and recruit new members to join in on the deliberations. In fact, while the original representatives of the CC should be chosen as outlined by the recently passed resolution in the Senate, a system should be set up that continuously recycles the members, calling new votes every few days. This is how the Mideast 3CC has been functioning, with occasional dead periods averted by new elections for presiding officer.

Atlasia must be completely trashed and redone with a massive wave of participation. Focus on excitement and interest. That will lead, in time, to greater competitiveness, increased participation and more interesting elections.

[Countess Anya of the North Parish]

yup it seems dead. mainly because it is a monoply. It is cause the RPP controls a lot of offices. And they don't do there business on here.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

     NC Yankee also asked me tons of questions. My home computer was broken at the time though, so I linked him to the wiki. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the wiki, he's now decently active in Atlasia.

     It just goes to show that you can quickly become a productive member of Atlasia if you are willing to put in the effort. Most people aren't willing to or don't have the time, though.

     Someone (it might have been you, I don't remember) suggested hitting the reset button on Atlasia, & I would be inclined to agree. People might feel better about putting the time in if they don't feel like they're joining midstream.

If I am considered a productive member of Atlasia then this place is in serious trouble. All I have done is vote 3 times one of which got thrown out because I waited too long to respond to Pit's PM's about getting involved here. Oh and that worthless poll I am doing for the Pacific Senate race of which so far only 2 people have voted in it, the candidates.

1. I still don't know what I am doing.
2. The only part of the wiki I could "get into" was the previous election results pages.(probably cause thats my specialty in real life, spending hours on wikipedia looking up Senate results from 1946) and even thats not up to date.
3. I am board as hell. 
 
 I just thought that I should speak up and respond to what Pit said. My case is more an illustration of what is wrong here then an exception to the games problems.   

[Marokai Backbeat]

Actually, I voted in the poll as well, NCY.

[Associate Justice PiT]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

     NC Yankee also asked me tons of questions. My home computer was broken at the time though, so I linked him to the wiki. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the wiki, he's now decently active in Atlasia.

     It just goes to show that you can quickly become a productive member of Atlasia if you are willing to put in the effort. Most people aren't willing to or don't have the time, though.

     Someone (it might have been you, I don't remember) suggested hitting the reset button on Atlasia, & I would be inclined to agree. People might feel better about putting the time in if they don't feel like they're joining midstream.

If I am considered a productive member of Atlasia then this place is in serious trouble. All I have done is vote 3 times one of which got thrown out because I waited too long to respond to Pit's PM's about getting involved here. Oh and that worthless poll I am doing for the Pacific Senate race of which so far only 2 people have voted in it, the candidates.

1. I still don't know what I am doing.
2. The only part of the wiki I could "get into" was the previous election results pages.(probably cause thats my specialty in real life, spending hours on wikipedia looking up Senate results from 1946) and even thats not up to date.
3. I am board as hell. 
 
 I just thought that I should speak up and respond to what Pit said. My case is more an illustration of what is wrong here then an exception to the games problems.   

     That highlights another problem, that being the lack of anything for non-officeholders to do. It makes it harder to maintain interesting elections since people are not inclined to hang around long enough to actually run for office.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Actually, I voted in the poll as well, NCY.

Well thank you. If stays this way you guys might just win both the poll and the race cause the rest of the JCP is either MIA or maybe even KIA. For example has Meeker showed up to handle his duties in the Senate or is he now hiding from the PPT?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

     NC Yankee also asked me tons of questions. My home computer was broken at the time though, so I linked him to the wiki. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the wiki, he's now decently active in Atlasia.

     It just goes to show that you can quickly become a productive member of Atlasia if you are willing to put in the effort. Most people aren't willing to or don't have the time, though.

     Someone (it might have been you, I don't remember) suggested hitting the reset button on Atlasia, & I would be inclined to agree. People might feel better about putting the time in if they don't feel like they're joining midstream.

If I am considered a productive member of Atlasia then this place is in serious trouble. All I have done is vote 3 times one of which got thrown out because I waited too long to respond to Pit's PM's about getting involved here. Oh and that worthless poll I am doing for the Pacific Senate race of which so far only 2 people have voted in it, the candidates.

1. I still don't know what I am doing.
2. The only part of the wiki I could "get into" was the previous election results pages.(probably cause thats my specialty in real life, spending hours on wikipedia looking up Senate results from 1946) and even thats not up to date.
3. I am board as hell. 
 
 I just thought that I should speak up and respond to what Pit said. My case is more an illustration of what is wrong here then an exception to the games problems.   

     That highlights another problem, that being the lack of anything for non-officeholders to do. It makes it harder to maintain interesting elections since people are not inclined to hang around long enough to actually run for office.

Well what can be done PiT? We might as well admit it. The RPP has the Dirty South in its pocket. Why don't we use it as a tool to experiment with possible solutions, instead of letting the current officersholders, no disrespect to Duke, Dan Adams, Slumber in ther plush offices doing nothing.

[Associate Justice PiT]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

     NC Yankee also asked me tons of questions. My home computer was broken at the time though, so I linked him to the wiki. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the wiki, he's now decently active in Atlasia.

     It just goes to show that you can quickly become a productive member of Atlasia if you are willing to put in the effort. Most people aren't willing to or don't have the time, though.

     Someone (it might have been you, I don't remember) suggested hitting the reset button on Atlasia, & I would be inclined to agree. People might feel better about putting the time in if they don't feel like they're joining midstream.

If I am considered a productive member of Atlasia then this place is in serious trouble. All I have done is vote 3 times one of which got thrown out because I waited too long to respond to Pit's PM's about getting involved here. Oh and that worthless poll I am doing for the Pacific Senate race of which so far only 2 people have voted in it, the candidates.

1. I still don't know what I am doing.
2. The only part of the wiki I could "get into" was the previous election results pages.(probably cause thats my specialty in real life, spending hours on wikipedia looking up Senate results from 1946) and even thats not up to date.
3. I am board as hell. 
 
 I just thought that I should speak up and respond to what Pit said. My case is more an illustration of what is wrong here then an exception to the games problems.   

     That highlights another problem, that being the lack of anything for non-officeholders to do. It makes it harder to maintain interesting elections since people are not inclined to hang around long enough to actually run for office.

Well what can be done PiT? We might as well admit it. The RPP has the Dirty South in its pocket. Why don't we use it as a tool to experiment with possible solutions, instead of letting the current officersholders, no disrespect to Duke, Dan Adams, Slumber in ther plush offices doing nothing.

     I don't think any of the region's elected officials intend to hold their seats forever.

     I do think it is a good idea, though. I'll have to ask Duke to organize a convention to get the citizenry of the Dirty South more involved in its operations.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Actually, I voted in the poll as well, NCY.

Well thank you. If stays this way you guys might just win both the poll and the race cause the rest of the JCP is either MIA or maybe even KIA. For example has Meeker showed up to handle his duties in the Senate or is he now hiding from the PPT?

I know from personal experience the JCP tends to strike from the bushes.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

     NC Yankee also asked me tons of questions. My home computer was broken at the time though, so I linked him to the wiki. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the wiki, he's now decently active in Atlasia.

     It just goes to show that you can quickly become a productive member of Atlasia if you are willing to put in the effort. Most people aren't willing to or don't have the time, though.

     Someone (it might have been you, I don't remember) suggested hitting the reset button on Atlasia, & I would be inclined to agree. People might feel better about putting the time in if they don't feel like they're joining midstream.

If I am considered a productive member of Atlasia then this place is in serious trouble. All I have done is vote 3 times one of which got thrown out because I waited too long to respond to Pit's PM's about getting involved here. Oh and that worthless poll I am doing for the Pacific Senate race of which so far only 2 people have voted in it, the candidates.

1. I still don't know what I am doing.
2. The only part of the wiki I could "get into" was the previous election results pages.(probably cause thats my specialty in real life, spending hours on wikipedia looking up Senate results from 1946) and even thats not up to date.
3. I am board as hell. 
 
 I just thought that I should speak up and respond to what Pit said. My case is more an illustration of what is wrong here then an exception to the games problems.   

     That highlights another problem, that being the lack of anything for non-officeholders to do. It makes it harder to maintain interesting elections since people are not inclined to hang around long enough to actually run for office.

Well what can be done PiT? We might as well admit it. The RPP has the Dirty South in its pocket. Why don't we use it as a tool to experiment with possible solutions, instead of letting the current officersholders, no disrespect to Duke, Dan Adams, Slumber in ther plush offices doing nothing.

     I don't think any of the region's elected officials intend to hold their seats forever.

     I do think it is a good idea, though. I'll have to ask Duke to organize a convention to get the citizenry of the Dirty South more involved in its operations.

I didn't mean that Duke or Dan were in need of replacing for the sake of turnover. I meant they need to get active again so we can do something about the problem. Without them we are powerless to change anything in our region and thus anything in our nation. If Duke wants to run for President soon wouldn't it be wise for him to run on a campaign of having reformed a region or on a platform of inactivity and status quo.

[Associate Justice PiT]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

     NC Yankee also asked me tons of questions. My home computer was broken at the time though, so I linked him to the wiki. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the wiki, he's now decently active in Atlasia.

     It just goes to show that you can quickly become a productive member of Atlasia if you are willing to put in the effort. Most people aren't willing to or don't have the time, though.

     Someone (it might have been you, I don't remember) suggested hitting the reset button on Atlasia, & I would be inclined to agree. People might feel better about putting the time in if they don't feel like they're joining midstream.

If I am considered a productive member of Atlasia then this place is in serious trouble. All I have done is vote 3 times one of which got thrown out because I waited too long to respond to Pit's PM's about getting involved here. Oh and that worthless poll I am doing for the Pacific Senate race of which so far only 2 people have voted in it, the candidates.

1. I still don't know what I am doing.
2. The only part of the wiki I could "get into" was the previous election results pages.(probably cause thats my specialty in real life, spending hours on wikipedia looking up Senate results from 1946) and even thats not up to date.
3. I am board as hell. 
 
 I just thought that I should speak up and respond to what Pit said. My case is more an illustration of what is wrong here then an exception to the games problems.   

     That highlights another problem, that being the lack of anything for non-officeholders to do. It makes it harder to maintain interesting elections since people are not inclined to hang around long enough to actually run for office.

Well what can be done PiT? We might as well admit it. The RPP has the Dirty South in its pocket. Why don't we use it as a tool to experiment with possible solutions, instead of letting the current officersholders, no disrespect to Duke, Dan Adams, Slumber in ther plush offices doing nothing.

     I don't think any of the region's elected officials intend to hold their seats forever.

     I do think it is a good idea, though. I'll have to ask Duke to organize a convention to get the citizenry of the Dirty South more involved in its operations.

I didn't mean that Duke or Dan were in need of replacing for the sake of turnover. I meant they need to get active again so we can do something about the problem. Without them we are powerless to change anything in our region and thus anything in our nation. If Duke wants to run for President soon wouldn't it be wise for him to run on a campaign of having reformed a region or on a platform of inactivity and status quo.

     Yeah, we should have a regional convention to talk about these things, though. It would be nice to be able to involve the citizens in what's going on.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It's unfortunate that we don't have much participation. The problem is this is unnecessarily complicated and information is difficult to access. We don't have enough things to do because regions are dominated by the same political party over and over, and because aside from the Senate, there's nothing even remotely worth holding anyway.

     When trying to recruit people to Atlasia, many of them have been hesitant to participate because they were afraid it would be too complicated & take up too much time.

I had the same concern (the former, anyway) when Xahar recruited me. I must have asked him two dozen questions.

     NC Yankee also asked me tons of questions. My home computer was broken at the time though, so I linked him to the wiki. Despite the difficulty of dealing with the wiki, he's now decently active in Atlasia.

     It just goes to show that you can quickly become a productive member of Atlasia if you are willing to put in the effort. Most people aren't willing to or don't have the time, though.

     Someone (it might have been you, I don't remember) suggested hitting the reset button on Atlasia, & I would be inclined to agree. People might feel better about putting the time in if they don't feel like they're joining midstream.

If I am considered a productive member of Atlasia then this place is in serious trouble. All I have done is vote 3 times one of which got thrown out because I waited too long to respond to Pit's PM's about getting involved here. Oh and that worthless poll I am doing for the Pacific Senate race of which so far only 2 people have voted in it, the candidates.

1. I still don't know what I am doing.
2. The only part of the wiki I could "get into" was the previous election results pages.(probably cause thats my specialty in real life, spending hours on wikipedia looking up Senate results from 1946) and even thats not up to date.
3. I am board as hell. 
 
 I just thought that I should speak up and respond to what Pit said. My case is more an illustration of what is wrong here then an exception to the games problems.   

     That highlights another problem, that being the lack of anything for non-officeholders to do. It makes it harder to maintain interesting elections since people are not inclined to hang around long enough to actually run for office.

Well what can be done PiT? We might as well admit it. The RPP has the Dirty South in its pocket. Why don't we use it as a tool to experiment with possible solutions, instead of letting the current officersholders, no disrespect to Duke, Dan Adams, Slumber in ther plush offices doing nothing.

     I don't think any of the region's elected officials intend to hold their seats forever.

     I do think it is a good idea, though. I'll have to ask Duke to organize a convention to get the citizenry of the Dirty South more involved in its operations.

I didn't mean that Duke or Dan were in need of replacing for the sake of turnover. I meant they need to get active again so we can do something about the problem. Without them we are powerless to change anything in our region and thus anything in our nation. If Duke wants to run for President soon wouldn't it be wise for him to run on a campaign of having reformed a region or on a platform of inactivity and status quo.

     Yeah, we should have a regional convention to talk about these things, though. It would be nice to be able to involve the citizens in what's going on.

Yes it would be. Currently the Dirty South uses an iniative based system. The problem is the only iniatives we get are trash iniatives that do little to fix the problems with the game and they are few and far between. In my digging I found in November or October DWTL suggested that we should have an Assembly. What prevents us from having one? Can't we just amend the constitution or something? If one were to be created I would run for one of its seats. So I don't buy this crap about more offices generating boring elections. Nothing can be more boring then what we got now. An Assembly might also bring the SDP back into the Dirty South. It wasn't that long ago they came within a hairs breath of winning the Governorship and won the Lt. Governorship, Granted the SDP candidate for Governor turned out to be a fraud. More offices would generate activity by bringing more people into the process.

[bgwah]

Well a few thoughts from me. First, a post of mine from another recent and similar thread that I feel summarizes much of what I'm thinking at this moment.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Marokai and others - you mention how we have certain parties controlling certain regions. The JCP in the Pacific, the RPP in the Southeast, and until last year the NLC in the Northeast. To me this adds a factor of realism. When we look at the United States of America, do we not have certain parties dominating certain states? The Democrats in the District of Columbia? The Republicans in Utah? As I alluded to earlier, the breakdown of the parties is one of the greatest tragedies in this game (IMO). Most parties seem to die within a year and are replaced by a similar party with a different name. It's pointless. Furthermore, these parties never seem to have any real leader emerge. They don't have a GOTV machine. Their members often don't support their party's candidates. Again, it's pointless. I've tried to make sure my party somewhat resembles a real party, and doesn't just die out every eight months.

How can we fix the party situation? Use law to make sure that we have two parties-- a left-wing party and a right-wing party--that have some sort of significant advantage over minor parties like we do in reality? All attempts at party reform have failed and will most likely continue to fail, but it's at least worth discussing.

STV voting was an interesting change... But has it really worked? Last time we only had six candidates, and came dangerously close to only having five (for five seats!) and would have if not for a last minute write-in campaign. It seemed to be successful at first, but the members who lost seem to have left and quit playing. Which is another thing we've seen for years--we have people who still post elsewhere on this forum, but seemed to have left Atlasia. Often they simply got bored and quit playing, or had some dispute and left over it (I'm thinking of people like Harry). How do you get these people to come back? Or is it hopeless?

Do we need to expand our search for new members beyond the Atlas forum? There are plenty of people out there interested in online government simulations. How could we get more? Maybe ask Dave for a link on the main page?

We talk about a position for all members. Maybe instead of initiatives, we could have add a House of Representatives to the legislature. We would keep the Senate. Anyone other than Senators, the President, and Vice President (and maybe some other office holders--but I don't think I would bar regional office holders) would be a member of the House.

And, this part may sound silly to some (but I don't care ), but we've had a lot of "conflicts" on here. And we never have a way to resolve them (aside from ignoring them and getting bored and forgetting about it). I would love to add a way to deal with this.