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Region: New Alvarez Union

Arazian wrote:
Lesson 1: Introduction to Raiding

What is Raiding?

Raiding is when a group of people work together to take over a region by joining the World Assembly and moving into the region before it updates. One of them then takes the position of WA Delegate, and can do either of two things:

1. "Tag" the region and leave by:
  • Customising the World Factbook Entry (WFE)

  • Changing the regional flag

  • Controlling the proposition, construction and closure of embassies

  • Suppressing as many posts as one likes on the Regional Message Board (RMB)

2. Occupy the region for an extended period of time; potentially destroying it
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How to Raid?

Step 1: Join the World Assembly
  1. Click the "World Assembly" link in the sidebar

  2. Click the "Apply to Join" button to be sent an invitation email

  3. Click the link in the email to join the World Assembly

Step 2: Endorse the point nation

Step 3: Move to the targeted region

Step 4: Gain delegacy of the targeted region
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Benefits of Raiding

Contrary to what many others might say, there are indeed benefits to raiding, and more than one might imagine or even acknowledge. Below is a list that is in no way exhaustive:
  • The joy of working together with friends and as a team

  • Occupying territory in the form of a region

  • Paving the way to refounding the region

  • Testing reflexes in fast-paced switching

  • Kicking others out of the region

Lesson 2: Occupations

Introduction

Occupations are one of the most basic raids and – strangely enough – one of the most commonly-practised. They involve securing the delegacy of a region and holding it for a period of time, often with the intention to refound the region.
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Goals

  • Occupying and releasing
  • Recruitment
  • Refounding
  • Publicity

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How to Occupy?

As a reinforcement:
  • There isn't much to do other than to endorse the point and wait.
  • However, when there is an update on, one is free to leave for the update, as long as one re-endorses the point after the update.

As the point:
  • The point must be on the lookout during the Major and Minor updates for defenders attempting to liberate the occupied region.
  • When defenders enter the region in order to liberate an occupation, the point must banject every one of them as soon as they enter the region.

Lesson 3: Update Raiding

Introduction

Update raiding is always done during the updates, and allows you to use and re-use multiple puppets throughout the update, allowing for multiple regions to be raided in a single update. It is the most well-known, but least-practised form of raiding. It is often called "tag raiding".
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Tag Raiding

  • DO NOT JOIN THE WORLD ASSEMBLY WITH MORE THAN ONE NATION
  • Move all switcher puppets to Nugut before the update starts. Nugut is a region that updates very late and thus, is used to stage all tag raids.
  • Communication for all tag raids is via Skype. Read this handy guide for more information.
  • Switcher puppets can be personalised, or randomly generated.
  • You can now apply the World Assembly (WA) at any time.

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Updates

To lead a raid, you need to know about the updates. The updates are when all the Issues for nations are processed, and when the endorsement counts for delegates are updated. Each region updates at a different time over the duration of the updates. Each update lasts approximately an hour in total.
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There are two updates each day:

Lesson 4: Stealth Raiding

Introduction

As the name implies, stealth raiding is infiltration, and done by the spies of NationStates. Often, it involves getting close to natives, only to stab them in the back. Other times, it involves rising through the ranks of another Gameplay region or organisation.
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Creating a "Clean" Puppet

You need a puppet to infiltrate a region. Thinking of using a puppet you last used to raid a region? No. You need a new puppet never used for raiding before: a "clean puppet" to be exact. Never use a "dirty" puppet for infiltration.
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I. Make the puppet look genuine. Pretend that this is your very first nation. This means:

  • No references to any part of NationStates or Gameplay
  • No default options

II. Answer your Issues regularly. This means:

  • It's not necessary to answer them every time you get them. Answering Issues once every two days is the barest minimum.
  • A puppet not answering Issues looks suspicious enough. A puppet not answering Issues but remaining active looks extremely suspicious

III. "My main nation is Gest. Therefore, my puppet will be named Kommandant Von Gest!" — How NOT to name a puppet
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Insertion into the Target

Step 1: Allow your puppet to receive some recruitment telegrams. Then move your puppet to one of the regions that sent that telegram.
  • Do NOT move your puppet to any raider or imperialist regions
  • Stay in the region you moved to for a few days at least
  • Continue to answer Issues

Step 2: Move your puppet into the target region.
  • Do NOT communicate with the natives
  • Continue to answer Issues

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Joining the World Assembly (WA)

It is advised to wait before applying to the WA. The WA is not well-known to new users, and it is very unlikely for them to want to join it. Do not apply to the WA with your puppet straight away, but do not apply too soon before the raid, either. Do not join immediately upon receiving the WA invitation in your emails. Your puppet should be in the WA a minimum of several hours before the raid is about to take place.
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Lesson 5: Choose Your Target

Finding a Target

When choosing a region to raid, look at its size, activity, whether it's an ally or an enemy, as well as how many endorsements the delegate has. Nations in regions gain Influence. Influence is needed to kick others out of a region. Influence is gained through residing in a region, logging in regularly and having more endorsements.
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Founderless Regions

Some regions – whether they were created before the advent of founders, or through loss – have no founder. These are the only regions that can be occupied. A list of Founderless regions can be found here.
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Calculating Update Times

To find when a target updates, DEN has a variety of tools to calculate the approximate times. Through promotions, you can gain access to them. For now, though, there is another method that can be used:
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Step 1: Have a nation in the region you're trying to calculate the update time for.

Step 2: Answer an Issue with that nation and wait for the update to pass over the region and process the Issue.

Step 3: After the Issue is processed, open the following link in your browser. Replace "den_secretary" with the nation being looked up: cgi-bin/rss.cgi?nation=corvus_corax
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Lesson 6: Know Your Enemy

Defenders

The first and foremost of those among the enemy, but also the most open about their motives. They alternate between preventing raiders from raiding a region, and removing all signs of their raids long after they've left, regardless of whether the natives care enough to reverse the signs or not. There are always more defenders than one might expect, so never lapse in concentration when there are defenders active during update. They are often called "fendas" for short, but to them, it's a derogatory term.
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Moderates

The most enigmatic and questionable of motive among the enemy. They alternate between raiding and defending and back again at the slightest provocation or whim. One never knows where a moderate stands, nor who they truly side with at any given time. One minute, they help reinforce an occupation, but the next minute they are among the defenders trying to liberate the occupied region. They believe that both raiding and defending are the best of both worlds, while they are treated with suspicion.
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Natives

Though they are barely a threat on their own, natives have a pack mentality, with safety and strength in numbers... If only they knew how to harness that strength. They have a unity, driven by extreme animosity towards raiders for raiding their regions – as well as those of acquaintances – but such a unity is comparable only to Raider Unity in strength, but not prominence. It is admirable, in a sense. Because of their status, many find themselves on common ground with defenders, with some eventually becoming defenders themselves.
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However, a rare few natives find themselves on common ground with raiders. Whether due to a misunderstanding with defenders past, understanding that raiding is just a part of a game, or for any other reason, they exhibit civility, and even courtesy, towards raiders. They are more open-minded than many others – natives, defenders and raiders alike – and, at the risk of being ostracised by their social circles, they may acquaint themselves with raiders. A few brave individuals, risking old friendships, even become raiders in their own right.
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Written by Stalker queen
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Raiding is easy to understand after you've played the game for a while

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