The Writers' Block

[Candlewhisper Archive]

What does the game consider body modification to be? Is it the same as the wiki article or does it include regular surgery as well?

I think it only includes surgery for cosmetic (or at least non-medical, like religious obligation) purposes, although one effect line (as a comical exaggeration typical of NS) suggests that appendectomies count. I'm not sure if the editors consider sex changes to count, since there are separate issues about those.

Huh, good point. No, it's never even occurred to us (or me at least) tor treat sex changes as part of body modification, but logically it should fall under that policy.

I can make some reviews later, and make sure that any approval of surgical sex changes will deactivate the "no body modification" policy.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Do we have issues on/are these good issue ideas?:

The preservation of a minority culture that existed before @@NAME@@ was founded, this culture coincidentally finding basket weaving to be a major part of this

Attempted annexation of an unincorporated territory by a mayor to try to reduce the city's debt in a fashion like Paradise, Nevada's

Whether or not the government should support the creation of a tourist site near their international airport from #379: Stakes On A Plane to support the gambling industry

Whether or not foreign language should be taught in schools

A popular tourist destination's source of water is no longer able to support the ever-growing number there (partially based off of my expectation that the Las Vegas region of Nevada is running out of water, but the reality may be different)

Something about conversion disorder?

Physical testing in schools (e.g. mile runs, push-ups, those sorts of things)

Increasing minimum age of high school dropouts

Supporting or not supporting further journeys for ancient scrolls of @@NAME@@'s religion after some are found in a cave/mountain (similar to Dead Sea Scrolls)

Smuggling of meat into vegetarian nations

What to do with animals bred for meat in newly vegetarian nations

Excessive electrical usage of tourist destinations...
... & a followup issue on a huge light in said tourist destination shutting off despite having formed its own ecosystem

A film is made with some inaccuracies that a culture is offended by, much like Disney's Hercules & Greece

Discovery of gold or some other valuable resource in a weaker enclave nation that became a sovereign nation through a treaty with the government a century or some decades back

[Bears Armed]

Do we have issues on/are these good issue ideas?:
Whether or not foreign language should be taught in schools

#115.

A film is made with some inaccuracies that a culture is offended by, much like Disney's Hercules & Greece

#176.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Do we have issues on/are these good issue ideas?:
Whether or not foreign language should be taught in schools

#115.

Would an issue debating about whether or not foreign language is being taught well in schools be too similar?

[USS Monitor]

#115.

Would an issue debating about whether or not foreign language is being taught well in schools be too similar?

I think it could work.

[Australian rePublic]

Are there any issues about local currencies?

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Are there any issues about local currencies?

After a quick examination, doesn't seem like it.

---

Do you guys think my other issue ideas could work?

[Singapore no2]

Are there issues on electronic voting?

[Jutsa]

I don't think so.

[Shwe Tu Colony]

There was an issue on how the legislation should vote for laws, I believe. One of the options was creating app-based voting, but if we're talking about voting for representatives, I don't think there's an issue for that.

[Minus Tirith]

Hello!

I wanted to write an issue about an extreme viral video maker getting busted climbing on a tower, but then he gets released without any charges. This causes the following debate: Should something be done to stop it from happening again?

Some will argue trespassing laws should be looked at and some will argue that these kinds of videos generate lots of revenue and should actually be encouraged and then again, some will say everything is fine how it is.

Does a similar issue already exist? I tried searching but didn't come up with anything.

Thanks!

[Shwe Tu Colony]

I got the smuggling of meat into vegetarian nations partially done, but do you guys think it's too similar to issue 625, Delivering the Goods?

Title: Some Beef with Smuggling
Validity: Vegetarian nations
Description: An enormous black market dealing in the smuggling of meat into your vegetarian nation has recently been uncovered, and you must now decide what to do about it.

[Jutsa]

Say, is it possible to get the cryogenic issue with compulsory organ harvesting, or the compulsory organ harvesing issue with a cryogenic nation?

What about nations with vat technology? Is it possible to have compulsory organ harvesting, or even selling your organs, with that instated?

If any of the answers are yes, would it make for a good issue?

[Minus Tirith]

I got the smuggling of meat into vegetarian nations partially done, but do you guys think it's too similar to issue 625, Delivering the Goods?

Title: Some Beef with Smuggling
Validity: Vegetarian nations
Description: An enormous black market dealing in the smuggling of meat into your vegetarian nation has recently been uncovered, and you must now decide what to do about it.

I think it depends on the options being presented. I do see the option in the "Delivering the Goods" issue that you are referring to, and I see why you might think your issue could be to similar to it, but I don't think it will be a problem if you write the options for your issue in such a way that it avoids stepping all over "Delivering the Goods's" toes.

[Australian rePublic]

I have created a few nations recently to test things out, and all of the similar ones which I created have different numbers for the fishing industry, but all the polar opposites have similar numbers for trout fishing industry. Is there something I'm missing?

[Australian rePublic]

Do we have issues on/are these good issue ideas?:

The preservation of a minority culture that existed before @@NAME@@ was founded, this culture coincidentally finding basket weaving to be a major part of this

Many issues regarding this already exist, but I am not sure if any concern basket weaving

Attempted annexation of an unincorporated territory by a mayor to try to reduce the city's debt in a fashion like Paradise, Nevada's

I don't think so. It would be nice to see more issues regarding local government

Whether or not the government should support the creation of a tourist site near their international airport from #379: Stakes On A Plane to support the gambling industry

Which international airport?

Whether or not foreign language should be taught in schools

I think that already exists

A popular tourist destination's source of water is no longer able to support the ever-growing number there (partially based off of my expectation that the Las Vegas region of Nevada is running out of water, but the reality may be different)

There are many issues about drought

Something about conversion disorder?

Sounds interesting, but I don't see what that has to do with govt.

Physical testing in schools (e.g. mile runs, push-ups, those sorts of things)

Increasing minimum age of high school dropouts

Both of those would make good issues

Supporting or not supporting further journeys for ancient scrolls of @@NAME@@'s religion after some are found in a cave/mountain (similar to Dead Sea Scrolls)

Doesn't work for those who insert their real religion into this

Smuggling of meat into vegetarian nations

Although, I think this would be better off, and open to more nations, if it delt with contraban in general

What to do with animals bred for meat in newly vegetarian nations

There's already an issue about that

Excessive electrical usage of tourist destinations...
... & a followup issue on a huge light in said tourist destination shutting off despite having formed its own ecosystem

That seems fun

A film is made with some inaccuracies that a culture is offended by, much like Disney's Hercules & Greece


Discovery of gold or some other valuable resource in a weaker enclave nation that became a sovereign nation through a treaty with the government a century or some decades back

Both should be good

[Shwe Tu Colony]

Whether or not the government should support the creation of a tourist site near their international airport from #379: Stakes On A Plane to support the gambling industry

Which international airport?

As stated in #379 itself, "the country's primary airport, @@CAPITAL@@ International."

[Australian rePublic]

Are there any issues about greening the desert?

[The 19th Century]

Are there any issues about greening the desert?

Not that I remember off the top of my head. Interesting concept.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

#170 is about the onset of desertification, and trying to halt that.
#235 is surprisingly similar. These days we'd probably have blocked that as a duplicate.
#630 is about an unexpected spontaneous greening of a desert, and your reaction to that.

No issue specifically addresses reclaiming desert, but take care to remain narratively distinct from the above issues, and try to add an additional angle to it as well, if you can.

[Australian rePublic]

#170 is about the onset of desertification, and trying to halt that.
#235 is surprisingly similar. These days we'd probably have blocked that as a duplicate.
#630 is about an unexpected spontaneous greening of a desert, and your reaction to that.

No issue specifically addresses reclaiming desert, but take care to remain narratively distinct from the above issues, and try to add an additional angle to it as well, if you can.

Thanks!

[Sammuramat]

tosses a handful of ideas out, that I may or may not write but think are interesting

- how to react to child soldiers on the other side

- similar to the meat smuggling in a vegetarian nation - the import of products that may contain indirect meat products

- prioritization of endangered species - big flashy ones that get loads of public love, or unpopular but vital species?

- an ancient colony of nation may have ruins in another nation - do we have the right to excavate it?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

General reminder, these are the hotly sought issues, from a technical standpoint:

Last updated 29/12/17:

Multiple gaps exist within the issue base. Please consider closing these with good quality issue drafts, which will be prioritised for publication:

Absolute primogeniture - Activated in 596, if you choose to have the eldest child inherit the throne regardless of gender. Cannot currently be reversed. Medium priority: Reversal issue needed please.

Autarky - Freedom from any dependence on external trade or markets. Activated in 126, 648 and 815. Deactivated by a whole bunch of options that incidentally mention solutions based on imports and exports. This isn't ideal, and those options will slowly be migrating to option validity exclusions, so we need a proper reversal. Medium priority: Reversal issue that explicitly reverses the concept of autarky.

Body Modification - Body modification is banned. Medium priority: An issue that makes this legal again.

Dinosaur park - Activated by 474. Specifically that the nation has a theme park with real live dinosaurs in it. Can be reversed at present, but only as a side effect of closing all zoos. Low priority: Specific narrative reversal issue needed please.

Dinosaurs - Activated by 474, 556 and 655. Means that dinosaurs have been brought back to life. Can currently be reversed, but it's very roundabout and tricky to achieve. Low priority: Specific narrative reversal issue needed please.

ID Chips - Activated by 666. Subcutaneous id-chips are implanted under the skin of citizens. Note that both covert and overt implantation are treated the same by this policy. Cannot currently be reversed. Medium priority: Reversal issue needed please.

Mccarthyism - Activated only in the CAPITALgate chain, and currently checked only there, but creates a persistent condition suggesting that the nation indulges in Mccarthy era witch-hunts for dissidents. Low priority: An issue reverses this policy.

Metric - Activated by 319. Indicates metric system is in use. Can't be reversed at present. Medium priority: Reversal issue needed please.

Monarchy - Activated by 461 and 527. Can be reversed in 596, but access to that issue is locked if you already have absolute primogeniture, which in turn cannot be reversed. So ideally we need an issue that can reverse both these in two options within a single issue. High priority.

National Healthcover - Nation has an NHS, activated and deactivated in lots of places. However deactivations are mostly by side effect, no specific deactivation. Low priority: Reversal issue that explicitly ends the NHS.

Piracy - Pretty much activated and deactivated in 201, this policy is never referenced anywhere else. Low priority: An issue that checks if this policy is active as a validity criteria.

Police Cars - The specific situation where even though cars are banned, the police are explicitly allowed to have police cars as per 357 and 625. This also acts as an entry check to 357, but has no reversal. Medium priority: An issue that reverts a nation to having no cars for the police OR the populace.

Term Limits - Activated in 54 and 306, elected officials have term limits. No reversal exists at present. Medium priority: An issue that reverses term limits.

Native Elections - Activated in 427, elected officials must be nativeborn. No reversal exists at present. High priority: An issue that reverses this.

No Cents - As per 343, small denomination coins have been withdrawn. One reversal exists at present, but requires you to have another rare policy active. Low priority: An issue that reverses this with non-stringent entry requirements.

No Compensation- Nation allows for compensation lawsuits. Currently activated by specific narratives, and deactivated incidentally by options that mention compensation. This isn't ideal, and those options will slowly be migrating to option validity exclusions, so we need a proper reversal. Medium priority: Reversal issue that explicitly restores the concept of compensation.

No Courts - This policy indicates that lack of traditional courts, which basically means a judge, verbal arguments and evidence for prosecution and defence, and formal sentencing prior to punishment. There's actually three reversals in the game but they're all a little unsatisfactory, as they reverse the policy as a side effect of mentioning a solution that involves courts. I'd rather flag these as options not valid if you don't have courts, but to do that... High priority: An issue that reinstates courts.

No Senate - Triggered by abolishing the upper house in 560. No reversal exists. High priority: An issue that reinstates the upper house.

No Smoking - Can be reversed by 139, but not all non-smoking nations can access that issue. Low priority: Other ways to re-legalising smoking, ideally nestled within issues that don't have that as the primary narrative.

No Zoos - As per 431 and 547. One reversal exists, but only as a side effect change. Low priority: An issue that specifically relegalises zoos.

Note specifically that calls for Autarky and No_compensation reversals are new.

Note also that some of these topics have existing submissions on them, but until those are published (if they are published) the call for issues on these topics remains.

[Singapore no2]

Note specifically that calls for Autarky and No_compensation reversals are new.

Just for clarification:
Is an issue needed to cancel or to restore Autarky?

Also, is an issue needed to end or bring back compensation suits?

[The Marsupial Illuminati]

General reminder, these are the hotly sought issues, from a technical standpoint:

Last updated 29/12/17:

Multiple gaps exist within the issue base. Please consider closing these with good quality issue drafts, which will be prioritised for publication:

Absolute primogeniture - Activated in 596, if you choose to have the eldest child inherit the throne regardless of gender. Cannot currently be reversed. Medium priority: Reversal issue needed please.

Autarky - Freedom from any dependence on external trade or markets. Activated in 126, 648 and 815. Deactivated by a whole bunch of options that incidentally mention solutions based on imports and exports. This isn't ideal, and those options will slowly be migrating to option validity exclusions, so we need a proper reversal. Medium priority: Reversal issue that explicitly restores the concept of autarky.

Body Modification - Body modification is banned. Medium priority: An issue that makes this legal again.

Dinosaur park - Activated by 474. Specifically that the nation has a theme park with real live dinosaurs in it. Can be reversed at present, but only as a side effect of closing all zoos. Low priority: Specific narrative reversal issue needed please.

Dinosaurs - Activated by 474, 556 and 655. Means that dinosaurs have been brought back to life. Can currently be reversed, but it's very roundabout and tricky to achieve. Low priority: Specific narrative reversal issue needed please.

ID Chips - Activated by 666. Subcutaneous id-chips are implanted under the skin of citizens. Note that both covert and overt implantation are treated the same by this policy. Cannot currently be reversed. Medium priority: Reversal issue needed please.

Mccarthyism - Activated only in the CAPITALgate chain, and currently checked only there, but creates a persistent condition suggesting that the nation indulges in Mccarthy era witch-hunts for dissidents. Low priority: An issue reverses this policy.

Metric - Activated by 319. Indicates metric system is in use. Can't be reversed at present. Medium priority: Reversal issue needed please.

Monarchy - Activated by 461 and 527. Can be reversed in 596, but access to that issue is locked if you already have absolute primogeniture, which in turn cannot be reversed. So ideally we need an issue that can reverse both these in two options within a single issue. High priority.

National Healthcover - Nation has an NHS, activated and deactivated in lots of places. However deactivations are mostly by side effect, no specific deactivation. Low priority: Reversal issue that explicitly ends the NHS.

Piracy - Pretty much activated and deactivated in 201, this policy is never referenced anywhere else. Low priority: An issue that checks if this policy is active as a validity criteria.

Police Cars - The specific situation where even though cars are banned, the police are explicitly allowed to have police cars as per 357 and 625. This also acts as an entry check to 357, but has no reversal. Medium priority: An issue that reverts a nation to having no cars for the police OR the populace.

Term Limits - Activated in 54 and 306, elected officials have term limits. No reversal exists at present. Medium priority: An issue that reverses term limits.

Native Elections - Activated in 427, elected officials must be nativeborn. No reversal exists at present. High priority: An issue that reverses this.

No Cents - As per 343, small denomination coins have been withdrawn. One reversal exists at present, but requires you to have another rare policy active. Low priority: An issue that reverses this with non-stringent entry requirements.

No Compensation- Nation allows for compensation lawsuits. Currently activated by specific narratives, and deactivated incidentally by options that mention compensation. This isn't ideal, and those options will slowly be migrating to option validity exclusions, so we need a proper reversal. Medium priority: Reversal issue that explicitly restores the concept of compensation.

No Courts - This policy indicates that lack of traditional courts, which basically means a judge, verbal arguments and evidence for prosecution and defence, and formal sentencing prior to punishment. There's actually three reversals in the game but they're all a little unsatisfactory, as they reverse the policy as a side effect of mentioning a solution that involves courts. I'd rather flag these as options not valid if you don't have courts, but to do that... High priority: An issue that reinstates courts.

No Senate - Triggered by abolishing the upper house in 560. No reversal exists. High priority: An issue that reinstates the upper house.

No Smoking - Can be reversed by 139, but not all non-smoking nations can access that issue. Low priority: Other ways to re-legalising smoking, ideally nestled within issues that don't have that as the primary narrative.

No Zoos - As per 431 and 547. One reversal exists, but only as a side effect change. Low priority: An issue that specifically relegalises zoos.

Note specifically that calls for Autarky and No_compensation reversals are new.

Note also that some of these topics have existing submissions on them, but until those are published (if they are published) the call for issues on these topics remains.

Is an issue about female genital mutilation still needed? I've been working on a draft, but I haven't posted it yet.

This is a good, well written issue, but there's currently another issue being actively edited that is almost on the same topic. Unfortunately, I think it'll be hard to take this anywhere.

This is a quote from a drafting thread for a draft that I have since discarded. Has the issue you mentioned been discarded or published?