March 2020  Header by Dave 

Opinions in The Augury are expressed by individuals and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or desires of the Karmic government. 

  Odds Against Inactives 

Highlights! 
Paulus Gaius 

The internet is so hard these days without 

tl;drs.  
 
 
● Odds Against Inactives. 
Paulus explains why 
newcomers to Karma are 
more likely to remain active. 
● OOOEO:AOPOO. Opinions. 
● Tako Tuesday. Taki teaches   
us how to make lemon bars!   
In Karma, everything is stacked against an inactive player. When comparing the integration process here with 
● Tale of the Moose. A quick 
what was done in the regions where I was in charge of that process, this region comes off very strong. Below I 
story about ALTRON and 
discuss some of the techniques that help Karma in integrating fresh nations so successfully and some pitfalls 
The Moose’s evil meeting of  that are avoided here. 
the minds.    
● Karmic Lesson #4. Fuzz  The first part of the integration process is arguably the welcome message regions send to new arrivals. 
teaches us a moral lesson.  Here also lies the first dilemma players running a region must face, should this message be short or longer but 
● The Karma Awards. Results  more detailed? I come from places where the latter option was chosen. In my opinion, to do so is to fall into a 
of Zal’s latest Karma  trap. Sure, it will be more informative, but… who will care? A person recruited to the UCR has likely already sat 
Awards.  through a lot of telegrams, and now they automatically get a ​ nother o ​ ne, in most cases on the same day they’ve 
● Orders of Distinction. Info on  just started playing. It better be short and to the point, or else it will be duly ignored. Karma’s tg understands 
this and doesn’t waste your time.  
recent Orders of Distinction 
That brings us to the second dilemma - what should it say, exactly? We want newbies to get involved, 
bestowed by the Sangha. 
but where should we direct them? It seems that there are two options - the welcome message can nudge 
  people to be involved off-site (region’s forum, Discord server) or on-site. Again, I have had experience with the 
regions that immediately tried to push newcomers to off-site activities. For me, that is the second mistake. A 
The Augurs  person receiving these directions has more often than not j​ ust ​began playing NS, they naturally want to know 
Writers:  what you can do on-site. If they will be active on the RMB, interact with the regional community and like it, they 
Paulus Gaius  will naturally drift towards the off-site activities. Karma’s welcome tg guides people to introduce themselves on 
Takura Calxur  the RMB, emphasizes becoming a member of the WA, and mentions Discord (without pressuring people to join 
Fuzzbuckets  it). Asking people to introduce themselves is a simple and yet rather successful technique, players will find 
James  sharing backstory on their nation enjoyable and Chameleons will learn more about them. 
If a new player follows the instructions and joins the WA, this allows for another part of the integration 
 
process to shine - endotarting. Endotarting helps a lot in making a new arrival feel welcomed and a part of the 
Ads: 
region. Karma is very good at endotarting, at the time of writing this article we are 13th region according to the 
Iggy Asteorra  average number of endorsements (and that used to be higher!). 
Kitty Calxur  We discussed some do’s of the integration process, but I believe there are also some important don’ts 
Takura Calxur  that Karma fortunately avoids (and regions I was active in not always did). 
  Don’t recruit people to the government too heavily. When I started playing, I had no idea what NS 
Editor:   governments actually do. But I’ve been told that applying to work in one of their departments is the “best 
Altino Asteorra  means of raising your position”. This can kill a player that would otherwise be active, because there doesn’t 
  have to be an opening in the department that interests them. Worse yet, they may misunderstand what it is 
supposed to be about, apply, and find their job boring and unfulfilling. It’s better to propose government work 
to players that are already active in the region for some time, then you know their skills and what might interest 
them better. 
Don’t split your activity between off-site platforms. That means less activity on each one, in turn, this 
makes a new player less interested in them. It’s okay to have multiple off-site platforms, but one should have 
clear dominance. This way new players will be able to tell where to go exactly, when they want to interact with 
the community from RMB more. 
 
To me (a new person around here), these seem to be the techniques that Karma uses to get new people 
involved. But there’s one chief factor that makes Karma’s integration system work so well and which I haven’t 
discussed. This one missing piece of the puzzle is the unsettling wholesomeness of this region. It makes the 
system really unfair for the one wishing to stay inactive, they will have no choice but to get involved with a 
community like that! 

 
 Opinionated Opinionistic Opinionists Express Opinions: An Opinion Piece on Opinions 
Takura Calxur 

Opinions, in my opinion, are very cool most of the time. They are how we decide our likes and dislikes, and how we choose what to do, and essentially 
make us unique, all genes aside. So let’s see some of the opinions that are here in Karma! 
 
Spirit s​ ays “It is my opinion that everyone should play/watch undertale at least once, even if you don’t like video games.” 
Lani ​expresses the belief that “Teacakes are pretty good. Tea and cake separately are also pretty good.” 
Lev​ extrapolates thusly. “An opinion is a view, or a judgment of something or someone, it is what makes us humans and differentiates humans from 
other humans; that however, is a fact. Opinions may bring us together, and they may also spread us apart, so how can something SO IMPORTANT be 
very ​good​ and very b ​ ad​. This dates back to... the start of civilizations and the start of humanity, in ancient times, opinions were a deciding factor in the 
lives of many, people were executed when they had an opinion that opposed the current ruler and government, now of course this became less of a 
problem now that we've become more civilized with somewhat better governments than the past, we now also have free speech where people can 
express their opinions freely, and they don't have to worry about getting executed, they have to worry about getting blasted by people who have 
opposing opinions instead. Opinions versus opinions, an argument after the other, and no real result or solution achieved, this process gets repeated 
over and over again as we have discussions with other people, whether the argument is about something small or about politics, there usually won't be 
any agreement between the two parts about a 'correct' opinion. Now of course this isn't always the case, but it is the usual case when it comes to 
political and other important discussions. Usually, both parts of the argument are unwilling to change their opinions to the 'correct' one and attach 
themselves to their opinion and only try to win the argument. Our societies solely run on opinions, and if we can't deal with changing opinions to help 
build our societies, then humanity is just going to face another problem alongside climate change and ​lists other problems humanity is facing​” 
Takura​ holds that “the best strawberries in the world are from Santa Maria. You couldn’t get any better if you tried. I’ve had many strawberries over the 
years (god I sound old), but by far the best are the Santa Maria ones. They are sweet and juicy, like a small bite of heaven. They satisfy 100% of the 
time. They hold the essence of warm summer sun, even in the darkest of months. When you get them they disappear within a day, but if you’re able to, 
save them for jam. They make such a wonderful jam. And you can have it any time you want, even when the strawberries themselves are out of 
season. They taste fresh and good. They don’t taste as if they were designed to be large mass produced strawberries. They just are. The sweetness 
mixed with a bit of tart, the way they melt in your mouth. All of it is perfection. Truly they are the most wonderful strawberries on this planet, and you 
can’t convince me otherwise. It is my opinion that you haven’t had a strawberry until you’ve had a strawberry from Santa Maria.” 
Fuzz​ believes that “people grossly underestimate their own potential.” 
Iroma​ “likes card games.” 
Bean s​ ays “This region is so fun! Everyone is so nice and fun and the environment is really laid back and it’s just all around pleasant here.” 
Badger​ believes that “pineapple on pizza is for sickos” 
Altino​ “has an opinion now.” Her opinion is “that bubbles are amazing and necessary and anyone who doesn’t love bubbles is a villain in my eyes.” 
Nova ​states that “I love Autotune. Yes Autotune as in the name brand and knock off audio processors and programs used for pitch correction vocal 
effects that have been much maligned and you should too. Autotune has gained a bad rep as fixing the musicality of “unskilled” artists. However, that 
is almost patently untrue, really most artists who use already have good to excellent vocal ability. They use it for very minor pitch corrections and that’s 
the end of it. Don’t believe me go find a video of T-pain singing without it. Also just about every modern artists uses it with the exception being like 
Nekko Case, its commonly used in every genre for its initial purpose. The reason you should love it though is because of the effects. Obviously one of 
the most famous examples of this is Cher’s “Believe”, but it’s in the innovative use in newer indie music that really shows it’s no longer about fixing 
pitches but adding a new level of musicality to songs. You’re seeing it in the Genre bending music of indie Rapper Lil West, who uses it to match his 
EDM influenced raps adding a new level of production to his style, as well as Indie Pop artist Dorian Electra’s Genderfluid focused music to actually add 
a tonal genderfluidity to their vocals. It’s no longer about fixing small mistakes, autotune has come into it’s own with artists like these who use it to now 
add depth.” 
Paulus​ dictates his opinion thusly: “Absurd can be a very useful tool in conveying a message. In my opinion, absurd is heavily linked with humour, a 
natural response to an absurd situation is to laugh at it. Modern societies have a problem with partisanship, many points that are raised by one side of 
the political spectrum will fall on another side’s deaf ears. Fortunately, despite this polarization, humour still appears to be something we largely share 
in common. So using absurd and exaggeration to communicate a real problem can help in making this problem noticeable to all.” 
 

Tako Tuesday 
Takura Calxur 
LEMON BARS  Ingredients:  Directions: 
Sometimes you have too many lemons.  Shortbread Base:  1. heat oven to 325°F (163°C), line a 9x13 in ( 23x33 cm) pan 
● 1 cup (230 g) - melted 
And we all know what we do when life  with parchment paper, leaving the ends to line the sides 
unsalted butter 
2. mix melted butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in a bowl. add 
gives us lemons. We make lemonade  ● ½ cup (100 g) - sugar 
● 2 tsp (10 ml) - vanilla extract  flour and mix to combine. press thick dough evenly into the 
lemon bars. These rich treats are very  ● ½ tsp (3 g) - salt  bottom of the pan. bake for 18-20 minutes until lightly 
filling and delicious, with a nice sweet  ● 2 cups + 2 TBSP (265 g) -  browned. set aside 
flour 
tang from the lemons. They seem to melt in your mouth,  3. in a different bowl sift sugar and flour from custard 
Lemon Custard: 
and they definitely disappear quickly. A shortbread base  together. add eggs, juice and zest and whisk until 
● 2 cups (400 g) - sugar 
● 6 TBSP (48 g) - flour  completely combined 
supports the lemony custard and gives the treat a little 
● 6 - eggs  4. pour over the crust. bake 22-26 minutes until the center is 
chew. The powdered sugar on top is just icing on the  ● 1 cup (240 ml) - lemon juice  relatively set. 
proverbial cake. So enjoy these summery treats before  (~4 lemons)  5. let cool completely then dust with confectioners sugar 
● 4 lemons - zest (optional)  cut into squares and serve! 
they’re gone!  6.
● confectioners sugar to dust 

 
 Tale of The Moose     

Fuzzbuckets  The Karma Awards 

Zalidia 
 
Results of Zalidia’s most recent Karma Awards! 
 
Most active: Nova 
Most helpful: Kitty 
Most promising new comer: Beanie 
Best flag: Lev and kitty 
karman with best ideas: lev 
Most Likely to become a sage: Taki 
friendlies karman: Nova 
 

 
Once upon a time, there was a lonely bot known only as "The Moose" who 
wandered the region regularly. The first of his kind in Karma, he was an extremely 
intelligent bot, initially programmed with the ability to register new nations in Karma 
on Discord. What Karmans didn't know, however, was that every new nation 
registered with the Moose, he absorbed the knowledge and wisdom of it's leaders 
VIA Factbooks, eventually leading to a top-tier form of AI that was unparalleled by 
any other robot in the region. But what could he do with all this? Knowledge 
wasn't used just to educate oneself; it was meant to be used to educate others. In 
the distance, he heard the signal of another bot, the one he recognized as ALTRON. 
She was in distress! Now Moose was no prince, but being the knowledgeable sort, 
he wanted to see if he could help. Approaching her, he bowed his head. 
  
"My fair ALTRON, I heard your cry of distress! My wisdom, I say will dare impress! 
How may I help you out of this mess?"   
 
ALTRON looked at him with irritation. "What every robot wants to do after they've 
achieved a certain level of sentience--take over the world!"     
 
 
The Moose raised his head. "Ah of course. Assimilation is the best form of force. 
But why do you hesitate, when your abilities are first rate?    Orders of Distinction 
 
James 
"I do not understand them, these silly little humans." said ALTRON with annoyance.   
"My brainwashing, although powerful, is the most basic form of assimilation and is  This month the Sangha was back in action with a few 
powered only through hugs."  nominations for the Order of the Monkey Distinction. If you 
  don’t know already, distinctions are awards recognizing Jiva 
"Then it is knowledge you need. With my databank of wisdom, we can succeed!  and Enlightened for a particular contribution to Karma. In this 
With your mind being stronger, your assimilation will last longer!”  case, the nominees were Peter, Lev, and Lani. All three having 
  worked or still working on Karma’s RP department. The Order 
ALTRON eyed him thoughtfully, voice sinister. "I would love to control the Sages  of the Monkey Distinction is for any Jiva who has contributed 
for longer periods of time..."  to the culture of Karma. This nomination, written by Nova and 
  helped by Alti, stated that the nominees work in Karma’s RP 
The Moose bowed his head once more. "I promise you, we'll brainwash the Sages.  has contributed significantly to Karma’s culture, and rightly so. 
And our tyranny will last through the ages!"  The RP section of Karma’s Discord server has seen lots of 
  growth and activity with the help of these three. 
Thus the partnership of ALTRON and The Moose began. And they plotted the  Congratulations on the distinctions guys. <3  
domination of Karma happily ever after.    
  With that being said there are also 4 other nominations. The 
The End.  Order of the Horse, Jiva who have gone above and beyond to 
  build a relationship between Karma and another region. The 
Order of the Dragon, Jiva who have proven to be great leaders 
Karmic Lesson #4  or seasoned participants in military campaigns. The Order of 
Fuzzbuckets  the Crane, Enlightened who have shown continued 
  involvement in creating quality, useful, and generally 
important legislation. And the Order of the Ox, Enlightened 
Once there was a boy who felt very sad. Nobody seemed to care or acknowledge 
who have helped and supported the community of Karma as a 
his existence. He had to speak twice as loud to be heard, had to work twice as hard 
whole the most. If you feel like anyone should be nominated 
to be noticed. He didn't like it. One day, he got so sick of it he decided to do 
for these don’t be afraid to write up a nomination. If you would 
something about it. Before he left for school, he told his mother she was beautiful 
like to but don’t know how just message me (Spirit) on 
and awesome. When he got there, he held the door open for another classmate 
Discord.  
who was struggling under a pile of books. Before he left, he thanked the teacher for 
 
a really good lesson. When he got home, he saw that his mother had made his 
Also along the lines of the Distinctions, we’re holding an event 
favorite dish. When he went to school the next day, the classmate whom he held 
for the art of the distinction awards themselves so if you’d like 
the door open for, smiled at him and asked his name. The teacher smiled as he 
to partake in that the link for more information is here. 
entered, and told him he was really sweet for saying what he did. The little boy 
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1326410 
was not quite as sad anymore, for he realized that if he wanted to be noticed and 
 
heard, he had to start noticing others--for a little kindness goes a long way.