NationStates was an integral part of my youth. The forum based roleplay was great and I met many early internet friends there. I wonder if the forums are still as active as they used to be. Many of the more successful RP thread groups eventually ended up moving off-site.
as much of a game as participating in "nanowrimo" is and for the same sordid lot. all the roleplaying in this amounted to fairyland atheistic scientocracies writing novella decrees on declaring big lebowski public curriculum and making so long and thanks for all the fish their national motto
This game is made up of two parts: Government simulation and social interaction among groups. If you are very interested in either one I highly recommend this game. If not, it's not nearly as fun.