[Issue Chain]The Enemy Within

[Diyel Grandiose]

Here's the last chain of the issue I think.

Title is "There's a place".

When the Frontreia Stock Exchange was destroyed by terrorist attack, it was a blow to the heart of Diyel Grandiose. The terrorists responsible were identified, as well as the mastermind behind the attack. Now, the crisis is over.

The Issue

Time moves on, and most Diyelirs have begun to drift back into their normal routines. However, for the families of the victims of the attack, the void caused by the absence of their loved ones will be felt for the rest of their lives. The site where the terrorists struck is now being cleared of rubble, and debate has begun over the future of the area.

The Debate

“We need a memorial to those who died, and perhaps a plaque to thank the rescue workers who did what they could in this darkest of hours,” suggests the mayor of Frontreia. “Also, a Tribute Centre and a Memorial Museum. Money from ticket sales could go to the families of the deceased. We must never forget these events.”

Confirm Wait, no!

“No. We can’t let them think they hurt us!” asserts stockbroker Athena Reagan, who lost several colleagues to the bombing, showing her depth of grief by conducting half a dozen online trades as she talks to you. “The best way of reacting to terror is business as usual. Have a new Stock Exchange built, bigger and better than before, with faster trading connections and more computing power. Let’s look to the future rather than the past.”

“The nation has suffered, but those of our faith have suffered more than the rest of you,” states Violetist community leader Engelbert Wynne. “If we want to move forward into a new era of inclusiveness and forgiveness, maybe the best way to achieve this is to establish a Violetist temple on the site. Allow us to show solidarity with the rest of Diyel Grandiose by condemning the terrorists, and to atone for their actions through quiet prayer, community service and human sacri... uh... human kindness.”

Obviously I'm picking one and here's the results:

For 25 Diyelisses tourists can gawk at the site of national tragedy. (Oh My God)

It increased niceness, comp, tourism, culture, pacifism, average income (and rich and poor as well) while decreasing a sh*t-ton of other stuffs including government budgets

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Very true. I think it's not so much that there's not many stories that make good chains, more the sheer time commitment and work involved.

[Trotterdam]

So, that followup issue continues eluding me.

All nations that received it did so after finishing the chain, although in one case it was 4 days and 16 intervening issues later. I can confirm from my own puppet that the issue is not immediately assigned after answering #746. So, it is part of the storyline, but not part of the chain.

Probably, it is only a matter of time and I'll be able to report it eventually, if none of the rest of you do.

The issue appears to have at least four options. Two for having some form of government healthcare, one for not having it, and one option that I'm pretty sure has to be on the same issue but whose effect line seems unrelated (probably a crazy option). The two pro-healthcare options appear to be the most popular.

Complicating the matter is that two issues remain unaccounted for, #747 and #748. I don't see, however, how this could help resolving the mystery. I don't think any nation has received #747 yet, and it wouldn't surprise me if it turns out to be something completely unrelated. Unless there really is a "two almost-equivalent issues" thing going on, but I doubt that now. Or it could be the one with that one unrelated-seeming effect line, but the weight of evidence is against it for now.

[The Federation of Kendor]

I recently received the issue. Given there will be probably a continuation to it when I received another one 5 hours later and I selected the second choice, what it will be like?

[The Federation of Kendor]

Here's the last chain of the issue I think.

Title is "There's a place".

When the Frontreia Stock Exchange was destroyed by terrorist attack, it was a blow to the heart of Diyel Grandiose. The terrorists responsible were identified, as well as the mastermind behind the attack. Now, the crisis is over.

The Issue

Time moves on, and most Diyelirs have begun to drift back into their normal routines. However, for the families of the victims of the attack, the void caused by the absence of their loved ones will be felt for the rest of their lives. The site where the terrorists struck is now being cleared of rubble, and debate has begun over the future of the area.

The Debate

“We need a memorial to those who died, and perhaps a plaque to thank the rescue workers who did what they could in this darkest of hours,” suggests the mayor of Frontreia. “Also, a Tribute Centre and a Memorial Museum. Money from ticket sales could go to the families of the deceased. We must never forget these events.”

Confirm Wait, no!

“No. We can’t let them think they hurt us!” asserts stockbroker Athena Reagan, who lost several colleagues to the bombing, showing her depth of grief by conducting half a dozen online trades as she talks to you. “The best way of reacting to terror is business as usual. Have a new Stock Exchange built, bigger and better than before, with faster trading connections and more computing power. Let’s look to the future rather than the past.”

“The nation has suffered, but those of our faith have suffered more than the rest of you,” states Violetist community leader Engelbert Wynne. “If we want to move forward into a new era of inclusiveness and forgiveness, maybe the best way to achieve this is to establish a Violetist temple on the site. Allow us to show solidarity with the rest of Diyel Grandiose by condemning the terrorists, and to atone for their actions through quiet prayer, community service and human sacri... uh... human kindness.”

Obviously I'm picking one and here's the results:

For 25 Diyelisses tourists can gawk at the site of national tragedy. (Oh My God)

It increased niceness, comp, tourism, culture, pacifism, average income (and rich and poor as well) while decreasing a sh*t-ton of other stuffs including government budgets

Will that also affect my economy, because I don't want to have my 100 economy (while I don't use NS stats, it's right that you can have it as some kind of an award) reduced

[Diyel Grandiose]

Oh. I thought that was the end of the chain. Apparently, there's this last one:

Title is: "In Spite of all the Danger"

When terrorists attacked the Frontreia Stock Exchange, many courageous volunteers braved the dangers of the ruined building to help search for and recover survivors from the rubble.

The Issue

The danger is long passed, and the site cleared, but there now appear to be multiple cases of mesothelial lung cancer and other serious respiratory ailments amongst the volunteers who attended the site at the time of the attack. Doctors are attributing this to exposure to toxic smoke and building dust.

The Debate

“Hard to... talk...” wheezes breathless patient Luna Holt, struggling to be heard through her oxygen mask. “We helped out... for Diyel Grandiose. Now we want... Diyel Grandiose... to help us. Healthcare... financial... support. Please, Scheifareux Elzeke Blytheriz... please.”

“Yes, yes, a lot of people have health problems for lots of reasons, it’s terribly tragic,” yawns clinical oncologist Sean Perez, waving the patient away. “The answer here is not compassion in a case-by-case basis, but a broader approach of socialised medicine, so that anybody who needs healthcare can get it when they need it.”

Confirm Wait, no!

“That’s communist claptrap! It’s not for you to spend MY taxes on other people’s health,” says Alfred Watts, CEO of Panacea Private Medical Services. “Look, I will help these people out of my own pocket, for no reason other than that because I’m super-duper charitable and a really great guy! See? No government intervention needed, just free individuals in a free market helping each other out without the nanny state getting in the way. Three cheers for the free market!” He starts writing a cheque for 10 Diyelisses for the cancer victim.

after picking the second option:

The new universal healthcare system has been dubbed Scheifareux Elzeke Blytheriz-care by its detractors.

it increased nice, comp, ideo rad, weather, inc eq, pub hc, cheer, ave inc of poor, health, pacifism, tourism, and compliance while decreasing sector manuf, industry arms manuf, ave inc of rich, wealth gaps, obes, eco free, and insurance

[Ransium]

Ah someone finally reported it! I predict Trotterdam will be happy, but frustrated by the incompleteness of your report.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Shame that option 4 didn't make it to you though. It's my favourite part of the whole chain.

[Trotterdam]

Ah someone finally reported it! I predict Trotterdam will be happy, but frustrated by the incompleteness of your report.

Actually kind of less frustrated now that I'm expecting it, what with seeing your post before the report, and Diyel Grandiose having already completely failed to listen to what I'm saying before.

As the saying goes, you can lead a human to water, but you can't make it drink...

Shame that option 4 didn't make it to you though. It's my favourite part of the whole chain.

Well, the effect line is certainly amusing.

I'm still wondering what it has to do with healthcare, though.

Maybe something to do with snubbing the emergency workers' request because you don't think they were a real help anyway? I mean, all they did was save some expendable human resources, not actually defeat the terrorists or anything.

EDIT: Or conversely, one for nations which chose #740 option 1, so that @@LEADER@@ is one of the rescue workers, and clearly the only one that really matters.

---

As a reminder, we're also still looking for options 3 and 5 on #746, one of which is a genuinely-new option while another is a variant of an already-seen option (I can't be sure which is which).

[Candlewhisper Archive]

EDIT: Or conversely, one for nations which chose #740 option 1, so that @@LEADER@@ is one of the rescue workers, and clearly the only one that really matters.

You're a proper Sherlock Holmes. Good deduction.

The reason it's my favourite option of the series is because it forms the second half of the hardest-to-get joke in the issue base.

[Ceaga]

Ah someone finally reported it! I predict Trotterdam will be happy, but frustrated by the incompleteness of your report.

Actually kind of less frustrated now that I'm expecting it, what with seeing your post before the report, and Diyel Grandiose having already completely failed to listen to what I'm saying before.

As the saying goes, you can lead a human to water, but you can't make it drink...

I don't remember him having any obligation of any kind to provide you with everything you'd like.

Sure it would be nice if it did, and it helps everyone, but I'd rather appreciate the info given out than complain because of what I didn't get.

[Trotterdam]

The reason it's my favourite option of the series is because it forms the second half of the hardest-to-get joke in the issue base.

Especially because, without knowing spoilers, the option that's the first half of the joke would be most appealing to exactly the kind of nation that wouldn't pick the option that's the second half of the joke.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to think the unknown option on #746 is related to having picked option 4 on #743 (perhaps it's about building something to honor the militias' help in fighting the Violetists). I'm going to need a few more sightings to be certain, now that I know what I'm looking for (earlier I was only tracking connections one issue apart).

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Well, I've spoiled enough! I'll leave it to you chaps to figure out.

[Trotterdam]

So, it appears that this effect line:

under love's heavy burden @@LEADER@@'s approval ratings are sinking

has been changed to this:

under love's heavy burden @@LEADER@@ sinks lower in the political right's esteem

I can understand why this change was made, to make the effect line sound less like "your decision was wrong, everyone hates it", but this just makes it tautological and, well, really boring. Especially since "political right" is such a vague category to begin with.

"As a result of your latest decision, your approval rates are decreasing among the people who disagree with that decision." I mean, duh. That applies to every single issue option, ever.

Aren't effect lines supposed to describe funny side effects, or thought-provoking ones, or at least something specific to what you just did? "Some people disagree with you, not saying how many" is complete non-information, and should be cut for brevity if nothing else.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Word of God on the overall narrative design on the game: I was instructed to change it. Lots of other changes too based on same principle, which I'm sure you'll find.

I agree it's weaker, but at least it retains the Romeo and Juliet references.

[Frieden-und Freudenland]

Word of God on the overall narrative design on the game: I was instructed to change it. Lots of other changes too based on same principle, which I'm sure you'll find.

I agree it's weaker, but at least it retains the Romeo and Juliet references.

Romeo and Juliet references? Oh.

How strong are those references, though? I did not get the issue, and I keep my puppets in vacation mode right now, so they don't get issues, and I have no way of knowing...

I am asking this, because I had thought about writing an issue where a relative of @@LEADER@@ falls in love with the child of a dictator of an enemy country, and I had thought that this issue could have some Romeo and Juliet references...

[Ransium]

Pretty strong, but you can take a look yourself.

Oh, here's the next issue that I got.


Visiting a Violetist temple on the west side of Frontreia you’re surprised to see your teenage nephew, Montague, at the temple and wearing the traditional purple skullcap of Violetism. What’s more, he looks to be holding hands with an immigrant girl his own age, whom you realise is from the local Violetist neighbourhood.

The Debate

“Oh, hey...” greets Montague, looking a little worried. “Uh... this is Julie, and we’ve been kind of hanging out and we’re kind of together now. Also, I’m... umm... converting to Violetism. Can we maybe just keep this on the down-low? I don’t want her or me in the centre of a media circus.”

Accept

“Scheifareux Elzeke Blytheriz, it’s an honour to meet you,” says the Violetist girl, lowering her eyes deferentially for a moment, before deciding to meet your gaze. “If I may: I am not ashamed of my love for Monty, rather I am proud of it. If you want, we can be the figureheads for community integration for your campaign, so that all can see you as a leader who is close to minority communities.”

Accept

“Oh... wow... uh, really... NO!” interrupts Civil Policy Officer Crupkey. “I mean, I got nothing against this in principle: my dad was an immigrant and my mum a local. But right now? When there’s so much anti-Violetist sentiment? When we haven’t even had the funerals of some of the bomb victims yet? These kids need to cool their hormones, and maybe start dating again in a year or so, when everything is calmer.”

Accept

Dismiss This Issue

I picked the third option and here's what I've got (WOW, that was a hard option to make, to be honest)

Managed media presence leaves Scheifareux Elzeke Blytheriz's family smelling as sweet as roses.

it increased political apathy, ideo rad and soc cons and decreased my civil rights

[Frieden-und Freudenland]

Pretty strong, but you can take a look yourself.

Oh, here's the next issue that I got.


Visiting a Violetist temple on the west side of Frontreia you’re surprised to see your teenage nephew, Montague, at the temple and wearing the traditional purple skullcap of Violetism. What’s more, he looks to be holding hands with an immigrant girl his own age, whom you realise is from the local Violetist neighbourhood.

The Debate

“Oh, hey...” greets Montague, looking a little worried. “Uh... this is Julie, and we’ve been kind of hanging out and we’re kind of together now. Also, I’m... umm... converting to Violetism. Can we maybe just keep this on the down-low? I don’t want her or me in the centre of a media circus.”

Accept

“Scheifareux Elzeke Blytheriz, it’s an honour to meet you,” says the Violetist girl, lowering her eyes deferentially for a moment, before deciding to meet your gaze. “If I may: I am not ashamed of my love for Monty, rather I am proud of it. If you want, we can be the figureheads for community integration for your campaign, so that all can see you as a leader who is close to minority communities.”

Accept

“Oh... wow... uh, really... NO!” interrupts Civil Policy Officer Crupkey. “I mean, I got nothing against this in principle: my dad was an immigrant and my mum a local. But right now? When there’s so much anti-Violetist sentiment? When we haven’t even had the funerals of some of the bomb victims yet? These kids need to cool their hormones, and maybe start dating again in a year or so, when everything is calmer.”

Accept

Dismiss This Issue

I picked the third option and here's what I've got (WOW, that was a hard option to make, to be honest)

Managed media presence leaves Scheifareux Elzeke Blytheriz's family smelling as sweet as roses.

it increased political apathy, ideo rad and soc cons and decreased my civil rights

Ah, OK, thanks...

Thankfully Shakespeare was a prolific playwright, so I hope one day I'll get to write an issue that has references to another play by him

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Ah, OK, thanks...

Thankfully Shakespeare was a prolific playwright, so I hope one day I'll get to write an issue that has references to another play by him

For sure, no-one loves lost labour, and measure for measure your capable if writing as you like them. All's well that well in the comedy of error that is NS. If issues be the food of NS, then write on, but to thine own self be true - the course of writing never did run smooth, and all the world's a stage. With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.

[Ransium]

I have done thy mother.

[Trotterdam]

In other news, #741 3 appears to not show for all nations. Perhaps it's invalid if you banned the internet, since the effect line mentions a website.

[Trotterdam]

Meanwhile, I'm starting to think the unknown option on #746 is related to having picked option 4 on #743 (perhaps it's about building something to honor the militias' help in fighting the Violetists). I'm going to need a few more sightings to be certain, now that I know what I'm looking for (earlier I was only tracking connections one issue apart).

No longer unknown, and the new evidence supports this, though it's not ironclad proof. Also confirmed that #746 4 doesn't always appear, probably mutually-exclusive with #746 5.

Considering how #741 1/2 also respond to a curfew from before the chain, it's possible that #746 4/5 similarly also respond to Violetism already being banned before the chain, though it's hard to get through the chain without taking some stance on Violetists one way or another (well, it might work if you go through #742 instead of #743/#744). At least one unrelated issue does now appear to have a validity check for banning Violetism (the Violetists in #456 are now sometimes replaed by the Tranquility of Yellow).

I think that covers it for all options in the chain proper. Now we just need to wait for the finishing touches on #748.

Map updated accordingly.

[Drasnia]

I got #748! It came a few days after I finished the rest of the chain. Here it is:

#748: In Spite Of All The Danger [Candlewhisper Archive; ed:Candlewhisper Archive & Ransium]

The Story So Far
When terrorists attacked the @@CAPITAL@@ Stock Exchange, many courageous volunteers braved the dangers of the ruined building to help search for and recover survivors from the rubble.

The Issue
The danger is long passed, and the site cleared, but there now appear to be multiple cases of mesothelial lung cancer and other serious respiratory ailments amongst the volunteers who attended the site at the time of the attack. Doctors are attributing this to exposure to toxic smoke and building dust.

The Debate
1. “Hard to... talk...” wheezes breathless patient Adama Gutierrez, struggling to be heard through his oxygen mask. “We helped out... for @@NAME@@. Now we want... @@NAME@@... to help us. Healthcare... financial... support. Please, @@LEADER@@... please.”

2. “Yes, yes, a lot of people have health problems for lots of reasons, it’s terribly tragic,” yawns clinical oncologist Dixie Neumann, waving the patient away. “The answer here is not compassion in a case-by-case basis, but a broader approach of socialised medicine, so that anybody who needs healthcare can get it when they need it.”

3. “That’s communist claptrap! It’s not for you to spend MY taxes on other people’s health,” says Jack Trax, CEO of Panacea Private Medical Services. “Look, I will help these people out of my own pocket, for no reason other than that because I’m super-duper charitable and a really great guy! See? No government intervention needed, just free individuals in a free market helping each other out without the nanny state getting in the way. Three cheers for the free market!” He starts writing a cheque for 10 @@CURRENCY@@s for the cancer victim.

4. Walter Lee, your loyal driver, snarls at the CEO, hefting a small red brick at his head to scare him out of the room. “Um, boss... weren’t you there at the centre of things, digging through the rubble? I reckon if you declare a six-month complete tax break for all people who were there at that time, that’d give people the cash to afford their own healthcare and show the nation’s thanks for their goodness. And you know, I think you deserve a little something too, for being so damn courageous that day.”

I checked the code, these are indeed options 0-3. Walter Lee is non-random, not sure about the others.

[Egyptian Pharocracy]

Cool. We just got this issue in my nation, Candlewhisper.

I've been able to work it into our ongoing regional roleplay on our RMB as an event, which I think is pretty nifty.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

And my favourite joke of the chain - one that most nations will never see the second half of - is finally revealed. I'm hoping it's not too obscure.