Difference between revisions of "Issues"

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== The Role of Issues ==
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'''Issues''' are the heart and soul of [[gameplay|nation play]]. Every player has the option of choosing the direction his or her nation will move, based on the choices made with issues. Needless to say, things don't always work out like you thought they would! It is through issues that nations acquire different [[UN Category|UN categories]], pass laws, administer funding, raise or lower taxes, and generally govern their nation.
  
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The following issue-related questions are from the [http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/36993/page=faq NationStates FAQ]
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But, of course, as in [[Real Life]], everything has a trade-off. The skill of balancing every decision you make with all the others you've made is very difficult and, because NationStates is such an exaggerated game, will usually result in your nation going down a totally different direction than the one you expected.
  
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== Why is my nation so weird? ==
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== Writing Issues ==
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Everything is exaggerated a little. Well, okay, a lot. Your decisions affect your [[nation]] very strongly, so your country might seem like a more extreme version of what you were aiming for. Unless you have radical politics. In which case you probably think nothing's wrong.
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== My decision had unintended consequences! ==
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A good place to learn about the art of writing issues is [[Sirocco]]'s thread on the subject here: [http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=338362]
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Yep, that'll happen. For one thing, see "Why is my nation so weird?" above. For another, pretty much every decision you make will involve a trade-off of some kind. It's kind of an exercise in choosing the best of a bunch of bad options. You might find this frustrating, especially if you're the kind of person who thinks the solutions to all the world's problems are obvious.
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== I don't agree with any of the options on this issue! ==
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A list of existing issues compiled by [[Ballotonia]] can be found here: [http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=345941]
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Dismiss it, then. This is the equivalent of ignoring an issue until people stop talking about it and there's not so much pressure to do something. If you were a real government, you'd do this all the time, of course, but in [[NationStates]] it's more interesting if you respond to issues by actually making decisions.
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== Who wrote all these issues? ==
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== Issues FAQ, recaptured ==
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[[Max Barry]] wrote the first thirty, back in the days when he thought nobody much would be interested in playing a political simulation game. He imagined NationStates as the kind of game you might stumble across, have fun with for a week or two, then move on. Then this entire community just popped into existence, as vibrant and dedicated as any on the internet, and it became clear that 30 issues just weren't enough. Rather than devote the rest of his life to writing them, he decided to ask players to submit their own issues, and let the [[moderator]]s edit them into a form suitable for use in the game. That's the current system: new issues are constantly entering the game.
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If an issue has been written by a player and/or edited by a moderator, it says so whenever you view that issue. If it doesn't credit an author, it's by Max.
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{{Quote|1=If there's anything you don't understand, isn't in the [http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/91575/page=faq#gameplay NationStates FAQ], or that you wish to be clarified, ask it on this thread and, if it's not already in my thread on how to write issues, I'll put it here.
  
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== My decisions on issues aren't being processed! ==
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;How do I submit an issue?::In your sidebar there is a link that says 'Issues'. Click it, and if you have 500 million citizens or over, a link will be there that asks you if you wish to submit an issue. Remember to read the guidelines.
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Decisions aren't processed immediately: it takes time for them to become law. How quickly your decisions are implemented depends on how many you choose to receive per week. If you receive one issue per weekday, your decisions are only processed five times per week, too.
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You can change this in your nation's "Settings".
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;Why does my nation have to have a population of over 500 million?:Because hopefully by then submitters will know what a good issue looks like.
  
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== I'm not receiving new issues! ==
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;Can you give me any advice on writing issues?:Sure, I made a thread for that very purpose: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=338362
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If your nation already has five unaddressed issues, it won't get any more. You need to dismiss some first. Once you do that, you'll start to receive one new issue per weekday (or whatever time period you've set in your nation's "Settings").
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If that's not it, make sure you don't have "Vacation Mode" enabled in your nation's "Settings".
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If you want personal advice on how to make your issue better, you can always e-mail me at siroccothemod(at)gmail(dot)com
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;How many issues are there?:Check here: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=345941
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;Can I submit suggestions for edits to already existing issues?:No. As far as new options for old issues are concerned, it's not going to happen. As for spelling errors or contextual mistakes, you can post them to [[NuMetal]]'s sticky here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=284927
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;How many options can I use when writing an issue?:Any number greater than one.
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;How do I know if my issue has been accepted?:If your issue has been accepted and put into the game, you'll get a telegram congratulating you, and you will get the issue you wrote to decide on as well, even if it's not valid for your nation.
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;How do I know if it's been rejected?:When an issue submission is deleted, the author is not informed. A good idea is to memorise when you submitted it.
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;Why?:Because the issue editors get to look at player-submitted issues in batches of varying numbers of issues each which span across varying time-periods. If your issue was submitted in a batch which has been finished, then it has either been deleted or coded into the game. [[violet]] (or [[SalusaSecondus]]) shows us these batches one at a time. Once we've worked through one, we can go to the next one. If you want to know whether your issue has been rejected yet or not, simply look here:Issues from July 2003 to the 14th of October 2004 have been finished. All issues submitted during that period have either been deleted or coded and put into the game.
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The batch we're working on now extends from the 14th of October 2004 to the 18th of March 2005.
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;If my issue has been rejected, can I submit it again?:Yes, but I'd think about why it was rejected before doing so and make the necessary changes.
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;How long will it take for you to get to my issue?:It takes me about 2-4 months to get through a single batch, depending on how big it is and how many good issues are in it.
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;What happens to my nation if I dismiss an issue?:bsolutely nothing. A popular myth is that dismissing issues lowers your population's growth rate. This is not true.
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;I've already had this issue, so why am I getting it again?:There is a sticky covering this here: [http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=313282]
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;What do I do if someone copies my issue when I post it in this forum?:There's not much you can do unless we notice two issues being exactly the same and being submitted by two different people. If we come across an issue which has been copied, we can check out this forum to see who proposed it originally. If it's your idea that's been stolen, well, there's not much we can do. If you're particularly worried about your issue, you can ask for advice on it by e-mailing me at siroccothemod(at)gmail(dot)com
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;My issue got accepted but it looks nothing like what I wrote! Why?:Some issues have to be extensively re-written so that we're sure that the issue is not biased, takes some of the results into account, made legible etc. For example, my first accepted issue (Don't Puff On Me, Say Non-Smokers) was very different from what I'd submitted. But now I know what I'm doing better, the latest one I got accepted was hardly altered at all. Except that Reploid Productions Americanised 'ageing'.
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;How many [[Issue Editor]]s are there?:[[Melkor Unchained]], [[Myrth]], [[Reploid Productions]], [[SalusaSecondus]], and [[Sirocco]].
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;How do I get to be an Issue Editor?:Only game [[moderator]]s can be issue editors, as it requires access to the modcentre.
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;Oh, so how do I get to be a-:There's a thread about it in the 'Moderation' forum.
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;Why is my issue still 'pending legislation' after the update?:This is a bug, a fairly common one. To fix it simply move your nation out of your region and then back in. The issue should enact after the next update.
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;Why can't we have more than two issues a day?:There's plenty of reasons as to why this is including the number of descriptors that fit on your nation, coding, values, etc. but in the end the answer will always be the same to any requests to make it bigger. The answer is no.|2=[[Sirocco]]|3=[http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=421198 Issues FAQ]}}
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==See also==
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[[List of issues]]
  
 
[[Category:Game]]
 
[[Category:Game]]
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[[Category:Issues|*]]

Latest revision as of 08:34, 3 November 2007

The Role of Issues

Issues are the heart and soul of nation play. Every player has the option of choosing the direction his or her nation will move, based on the choices made with issues. Needless to say, things don't always work out like you thought they would! It is through issues that nations acquire different UN categories, pass laws, administer funding, raise or lower taxes, and generally govern their nation.

But, of course, as in Real Life, everything has a trade-off. The skill of balancing every decision you make with all the others you've made is very difficult and, because NationStates is such an exaggerated game, will usually result in your nation going down a totally different direction than the one you expected.

Writing Issues

A good place to learn about the art of writing issues is Sirocco's thread on the subject here: [1]

A list of existing issues compiled by Ballotonia can be found here: [2]

Issues FAQ, recaptured

If there's anything you don't understand, isn't in the NationStates FAQ, or that you wish to be clarified, ask it on this thread and, if it's not already in my thread on how to write issues, I'll put it here.
How do I submit an issue?
:In your sidebar there is a link that says 'Issues'. Click it, and if you have 500 million citizens or over, a link will be there that asks you if you wish to submit an issue. Remember to read the guidelines.
Why does my nation have to have a population of over 500 million?
Because hopefully by then submitters will know what a good issue looks like.
Can you give me any advice on writing issues?
Sure, I made a thread for that very purpose: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=338362

If you want personal advice on how to make your issue better, you can always e-mail me at siroccothemod(at)gmail(dot)com

How many issues are there?
Check here: http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=345941
Can I submit suggestions for edits to already existing issues?
No. As far as new options for old issues are concerned, it's not going to happen. As for spelling errors or contextual mistakes, you can post them to NuMetal's sticky here: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=284927
How many options can I use when writing an issue?
Any number greater than one.
How do I know if my issue has been accepted?
If your issue has been accepted and put into the game, you'll get a telegram congratulating you, and you will get the issue you wrote to decide on as well, even if it's not valid for your nation.
How do I know if it's been rejected?
When an issue submission is deleted, the author is not informed. A good idea is to memorise when you submitted it.
Why?
Because the issue editors get to look at player-submitted issues in batches of varying numbers of issues each which span across varying time-periods. If your issue was submitted in a batch which has been finished, then it has either been deleted or coded into the game. violet (or SalusaSecondus) shows us these batches one at a time. Once we've worked through one, we can go to the next one. If you want to know whether your issue has been rejected yet or not, simply look here:Issues from July 2003 to the 14th of October 2004 have been finished. All issues submitted during that period have either been deleted or coded and put into the game.

The batch we're working on now extends from the 14th of October 2004 to the 18th of March 2005.

If my issue has been rejected, can I submit it again?
Yes, but I'd think about why it was rejected before doing so and make the necessary changes.
How long will it take for you to get to my issue?
It takes me about 2-4 months to get through a single batch, depending on how big it is and how many good issues are in it.
What happens to my nation if I dismiss an issue?
bsolutely nothing. A popular myth is that dismissing issues lowers your population's growth rate. This is not true.
I've already had this issue, so why am I getting it again?
There is a sticky covering this here: [3]
What do I do if someone copies my issue when I post it in this forum?
There's not much you can do unless we notice two issues being exactly the same and being submitted by two different people. If we come across an issue which has been copied, we can check out this forum to see who proposed it originally. If it's your idea that's been stolen, well, there's not much we can do. If you're particularly worried about your issue, you can ask for advice on it by e-mailing me at siroccothemod(at)gmail(dot)com
My issue got accepted but it looks nothing like what I wrote! Why?
Some issues have to be extensively re-written so that we're sure that the issue is not biased, takes some of the results into account, made legible etc. For example, my first accepted issue (Don't Puff On Me, Say Non-Smokers) was very different from what I'd submitted. But now I know what I'm doing better, the latest one I got accepted was hardly altered at all. Except that Reploid Productions Americanised 'ageing'.
How many Issue Editors are there?
Melkor Unchained, Myrth, Reploid Productions, SalusaSecondus, and Sirocco.
How do I get to be an Issue Editor?
Only game moderators can be issue editors, as it requires access to the modcentre.
Oh, so how do I get to be a-
There's a thread about it in the 'Moderation' forum.
Why is my issue still 'pending legislation' after the update?
This is a bug, a fairly common one. To fix it simply move your nation out of your region and then back in. The issue should enact after the next update.
Why can't we have more than two issues a day?
There's plenty of reasons as to why this is including the number of descriptors that fit on your nation, coding, values, etc. but in the end the answer will always be the same to any requests to make it bigger. The answer is no.

—Sirocco, Issues FAQ

See also

List of issues

Retrieved from "http://archive.nswiki.org/index.php?title=Issues&oldid=334563"