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🧯 Addressing Concerns

Overview

This page consolidates the typical objections players raise during a NAP transition.
All responses are structural, non-personal, and based on observed conditions of Server 1866.

The goal is not to argue, but to explain why this system exists and why lighter systems repeatedly failed here.

1️⃣ “I've been on two dozen servers and we didn’t need a NAP this robust to succeed.”

Response​

Server 1866 is (most likely) not structured like the servers you’re comparing to.

Many stable servers reportedly share at least two of these three observed traits:

  1. High diplomatic homogeneity: more concentrated alliances, easier coordination
  2. Smaller time-zone spread: concentrated alliances share a time-zone, synching decisions is easier
  3. Less Insane Drama: more stable relationships, consistent expectations

1866 has none of these advantages:

  • we've seen whales/dolphins leave due to leadership ineffectuality
  • recurring conflict cycles with long memory
  • time-zone distribution among the top 3 alliances
  • inconsistent leadership availability
  • a culture of reactive diplomacy instead of procedural diplomacy

A “lightweight” NAP works when the environment supports it.

But there is an argument to be made that 1866 does not.

Just because other servers coasted doesn’t mean 1866 can.

Also:

Nobody has ever built a full model-UN-style NAP for Last War before.
That doesn’t make it bad, it makes this one innovative, fun, and better suited to our conditions. (:

2️⃣ “Isn’t this overkill? There’s so much.”

Response​

NAP 9 looks heavy only when read all at once.

In practice, each role touches only the parts relevant to them:

  • Players use 3–5 macros from the Quickref.
  • Submitters only need the evidence rules.
  • Council members follow simple vote procedures.
  • Clerks have a workflow that is being partially automated.

The NAP is intentionally modular:

high detail for the system, low cognitive load for the user.

Dense documentation does not mean dense workflow.

3️⃣ “Do you expect to actually find Clerks to do all this with no compensation?”

Response​

We’re not expecting a team of administrative martyrs.

Two reasons Clerks are viable:

1. The Clerk workload is being automated.​

We are actively developing a NAP bot that will handle ~80% of Clerk ceremonies:

  • case ID generation
  • evidence validation checks
  • vote-window automation
  • archive structuring
  • reminders and quorum tracking

Clerks become process supervisors, not full-time bureaucrats.

2. Accountability replaces compensation.​

Clerks are selected intentionally:

  • individuals who already enjoy structure
  • people who prefer predictable workflows
  • players who want to contribute without doing diplomacy
  • individuals whose alliances want stable governance

In online communities there are always volunteers for structured, respected roles.

I haven't been paid for any of this website, hosting, CI/CD, authoring, revisions, lobbying. Just saying.

4️⃣ “Nine seats is too many. This isn’t sustainable long-term.”

Response​

Nine is not arbitrary. it's based on stability research and repeated NAP failures.

A 9-seat council is the minimum number that avoids:

  • dominance by 2–3 alliances
  • timezone gaps
  • quorum failures
  • political homogeneity
  • burnout when 1–2 people vanish

NAP 5 would centralize too much power.
NAP 15 proved unmanageable.

Nine is the sweet spot:
small enough to coordinate, large enough to stay alive a year from now.

Additionally:

  • seats cycle automatically as rankings change
  • alternatives cover absences
  • participation rules keep seats from going silent
  • the NAP can be amended in extreme situations, so maybe it becomes NAP 5 eventually

It is precisely the number most likely to remain stable on this volatile server for the foreseeable future.

🧩 Summary

NAP 9 is not “more than other servers need.”
NAP 9 is “exactly what this server needs.”

1866 tends towards high-conflict, high-chaos, low-consistency.
A lightweight NAP failed.
A heavier system without automation would burn out.
NAP 9 sits in the middle: dense documentation + simple workflows + automated clerking.

Players get clarity.
Diplomats get structure.
The server gets stability.

NAP 9 exists because anything lighter already proved insufficient.

💬 Have a complaint we missed?

Open a discussion in #public-questions or submit a suggestion in #nap-proposals.