Let us address the first question.

The World Assembly is like the United Nations of NationStates. More information can be directly found by visiting their main page. There, people can submit proposals, vote for or against international laws, and do other cool stuff that other nations normally cannot do without membership.

For certain players, being a WA Delegate is one of the main perks of being part of the World Assembly. Being a Delegate allows you to have executive and administrative control over particular regions, especially Frontiers like the Far East Oriental Federation. For context, I, the writer, Awesomeness, am the WA Delegate of the Far East Oriental Federation. There are many Delegates like me in all other Frontiers as well, like UEPU, and Council of Asia.

Not all regions are Frontiers. (There are also Feeder regions, Catcher regions, Restorer regions, and Warzone regions, but these are currently irrelevant to this dispatch.) Most regions are governorships, which are ruled by a Governor who oversees everything with executive authority. However, the Governor can abdicate their role and convert their region into a Frontier, where new player nations can spawn.

Frontiers cannot, by game design, have Governors. Without their Governor, the members of a Frontier must join the World Assembly and elect a WA Delegate as a replacement.

That, my friend, is where endorsements come into play. Endorsements play a very important role in the game of NationStates.

The normal, non-Delegate World Assembly members play a huge role in keeping a WA Delegate in power and keeping a region secure. If you are already part of the World Assembly and you click on another nation's page—for example, mine—you will see at the very bottom of the page a list of people who endorsed the nation and a button to endorse said nation.

You see, whoever has the most endorsements becomes the WA Delegate of a region.

Ever since our founder Kwangmyong abdicated their role as the Governor in order to transform the Far East Oriental Federation into a Frontier, I have been entrusted with keeping the Frontier safe and active since I was in the World Assembly and had the most endorsements.

When you endorse a Delegate, you are helping to secure and ensure peace within the region.

Endorsing a Delegate is very easy, and should not take a significant portion of your time.
1. Join the World Assembly (you will be admitted in the WA within seconds or a few hours, it depends)

2. Click on their nation page.
3. Find this button:

4. Click it. Perfect!

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In NationStates, there is a game mechanic called R/D Gameplay (Raiding and Defending). A raid is what happens when a group of friends join a region and collectively endorse their leader, allowing their leader to abuse the WA Delegate role to their heart's content.

This is especially devastating to governor-less regions like Frontiers as the WA Delegate position always has executive authority. (Note: In regions with a governor, the Governor can strip the WA Delegate position of all their authorities and powers, effectively safeguarding the position and their entire region against abuse.)

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When raiders successfully take over a Frontier's executive Delegate position via having the majority of endorsements, they can password-lock the region, preventing anyone from going in, and kick the overthrown Delegate and regional officers out, effecting a regime change and sealing the poor Frontier's fate.

Therefore, it must be imperative that—if you like the region you are in or want something good to do for the people—you must endorse the current (good-intentioned) Delegate and keep the region safe.

It is all a numbers game. There is strength in the majority. A Frontier is safe from raiders when its WA Delegate has enough endorsements to stave off and overcome raider invasions and avoid being overthrown.

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Raiders are not to be underestimated. They can quickly dispatch hundreds of their players to any region they wish to conquer. This is overwhelming, especially to relatively small Frontiers like FEOF.

Raiders can amass 100+ endorsements. WA Delegates of small Frontiers usually have only 2-30 endorsements, which is nothing compared to the sheer numbers of raiders.

Examples of raider groups include Ijaka, Lone Wolves United, and The Black Hawks. These griefer communities have, for many years, acquired and conquered other regions using the WA Delegate Endorsement game mechanic.

While coordinating hundreds of players in real-time to sweep across regions is undoubtedly a major feat and has its own thrill and intrigue, so is creating and maintaining a region and its community. Raiders can undo years of region-building work in just a matter of weeks.

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That's why Defenders exist. They have existed for as long as the Raiders have. Defender groups include 10000 Islands, The Order of the Grey Wardens, and The Rejected Realms, among others.

Their primary objective is to counter the raiding efforts by amassing their own players to endorse the attacked region's Delegate or attempting to overtake a Raider's Delegate with their own. The Defenders would engage in an "endorsement tug-of-war" against the raiders. Essentially, they raid the raided region to take it away from the raiders in order to give it back to the natives.

Defenders have been the saving grace for many smaller and less fortified regions. Frontiers are often small and less fortified, as most nations are not educated on the importance of endorsements and the World Assembly.

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But we should never rely on Defenders to always be there to protect us.

Defenders, too, have their own regions to protect and manage. They cannot always come to the rescue when a region is under attack, as raiders often have a wide reach. Therefore, every nation within a region has to take some responsibility for defending their region by joining the World Assembly and endorsing the current Delegate. Especially you.

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By now, I hope you understand that all Regional Delegates are not created equal. The difference in power between the Delegate of a small region like Far East Oriental Federation and a large region like The North Pacific is vast.

In large regions, the Delegate holds more endorsements and thus more security against raiders. However, in small regions like ours, the Delegate is always at risk. That's why your endorsement is so essential. Your endorsement contributes to regional stability and ensures that decision-making remains in the hands of someone you trust.

Remember that joining the World Assembly doesn't mean you have to participate in every single vote or debate. If you're not interested in international politics, that's perfectly fine! The most important thing you can do is simply endorse the Delegate of your region. This one-click action can make a significant difference in the safety and stability of your home region.

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What are endorsement caps?

Endorsement caps restrict the number of endorsements a nation can receive in the World Assembly. This feature is typically used to ensure that no single nation—especially newcomers—becomes too powerful, thus maintaining a balance of power and stability within a region.
For example, in the Far East Oriental Federation, our endorsement cap for typical WA Member Nations is set at 2 ENDORSEMENTS (as of the time of writing.) However, as a sign of gratitude for their contribution, the cap is increased to 18 endorsements for those who endorse the WA Delegate (me). Additionally, Namvosk and I will both make sure to endorse you in return. Two endorsements are enough to allow WA Nations like you to write proposals.

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What are the other uses of endorsements?

Endorsements increase Influence. As your nation receives more endorsements, your influence within the region also rises. Specifically, the number of endorsements you have, plus one, is added to your nation's influence every 12 hours, at 12 pm and 12 am EST. Suppose you have 5 endorsements. You will gain six influence points every 12 hours. That's 12 influence points a day. If you have zero endorsements, you will only gain a measly two influence points a day.

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And what is the use of Influence?
Remember when I said that raiders or defenders can password-protect a region? Remember when I said that raiders can eject and ban the natives of the region? Well, that's where Influence comes in. Influence plays an essential role in the ejection and banning of nations within a region. Influence also plays a role in password-protecting a region or transforming it from a Governorship to a Frontier and vice versa. When used correctly and wisely, influence can preserve a region's security, stability, and continuity.

Performing executive or border control actions uses up a certain amount of Influence proportional to the target nation's Influence. This provides a sort of "protection" against rogue Delegates or Raiders, who cannot eject and ban nations at will without having sufficient Influence.

Consider this: Let's assume you earned 900 Influence points in your stay at FEOF, a raider group has just infiltrated our region, and their leader has become our new WA Delegate. To eject you, that rogue Delegate must have more than 900 Influence. If the rogue Delegate only has 899 or less Influence, they can't eject you. If they do have, say, 1000 Influence and decide to eject you, the action will consume 900 Influence, leaving the rogue Delegate with only 100 Influence. They would have to wait for a long time before ejecting anybody else.

The mentioned "protection" becomes stronger the more endorsements you have—and the more endorsements everyone else has—as we all collectively gain more Influence every day.

But be warned, any influence you earn is tied strictly to the region you earned it in. If you decide to move your nation to another region, your Influence will rapidly decrease over time and will eventually reach zero. This is why I advise you to stay in the Far East Oriental Federation and help us make it safer and better! Or, if you're not a member of FEOF, you should do your region a service and endorse your respective Delegate. Endorsements make the world go round!