The Writers' Block

[Australian rePublic]

One of the editors recently told another enquirer that the pool of player-submitted issue drafts now contains nothing from before January 2019.

Actually, there are some older issues hiding in the murky depths of the pool... but none of them appear to have been written by Aussie.

Cheers!

[Hediacrana]

Hi all, it's been a while since I posted here. I am wondering whether there is room for a followup on issue 766, option 4 (in which the country withdraws from the climate treaty), particularly for countries that have devolution. In the issue I'm thinking about, one part of Nation (like California in the US) vocally tries to sidestep the withdrawal, and Leader is pressured to respond. Do you think there is promise in this, or is it too specific?

[The Marsupial Illuminati]

Hi all, it's been a while since I posted here. I am wondering whether there is room for a followup on issue 766, option 4 (in which the country withdraws from the climate treaty), particularly for countries that have devolution. In the issue I'm thinking about, one part of Nation (like California in the US) vocally tries to sidestep the withdrawal, and Leader is pressured to respond. Do you think there is promise in this, or is it too specific?

That is a great premise for an issue.

[Hediacrana]

Hi all, it's been a while since I posted here. I am wondering whether there is room for a followup on issue 766, option 4 (in which the country withdraws from the climate treaty), particularly for countries that have devolution. In the issue I'm thinking about, one part of Nation (like California in the US) vocally tries to sidestep the withdrawal, and Leader is pressured to respond. Do you think there is promise in this, or is it too specific?

That is a great premise for an issue.

Excellent! I'm going to try my hand at that then. Thanks for the speedy response

[Minoa]

Hi there,

NSindex is doing a roll call of all issues excluded from class nations, with the Infobox Issues template now automating most categories:

1. Which issues, higher than #864, are excluded from class nations?

2. Looking at the line-up in the link above, what changes have occurred to the existing line-up, since the two enquiries that I made?

Best,

-- Minoa

[The Free Joy State]

Hi there,

NSindex is doing a roll call of all issues excluded from class nations, with the Infobox Issues template now automating most categories:

1. Which issues, higher than #864, are excluded from class nations?

2. Looking at the line-up in the link above, what changes have occurred to the existing line-up, since the two enquiries that I made?

Best,

-- Minoa

1. Issues excluded from class nations since #864

#874 Still Life (author: The Free Joy State; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#880 Oh, @@NAME@@, What Obscene Children's Books You Have (author: Jutsa; ed: The Free Joy State)
#894 Seigneurs Demand RIghts (author: Nuremgard; ed: The Free Joy State)
#902 Killer App (author Candlewhisper Archive;ed: The Free Joy State)
#918 J'Accuse (author: Nation of Quebec; ed: The Free Joy State)
#919 The Meaning of Life (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#922 I'll Have What She's Having (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: The Free Joy State)
#932 Teacher's Past Blown Wide Open (author: Yetiglanchi Baby; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#935 Hero to Zero (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#939 A Question of Bad Faith (author: Nation of Quebec; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#943 Big Love, Big Problems (author: The Free Joy State; ed: The Free Joy State)
#975 Paparazzi Parents (author: Frieden-und Freudenland; ed: Nation of Quebec)
#983 Doctors' Orders (author: Nation of Quebec; ed: The Free Joy State)
#992 Robots in Disguise (author: Nation of Quebec; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#997 The Enemy Within: Not a Second Time (author: Candlewhisper Archive; edit: Gnejs)
#1002 The Call of Nature (author: Frieden-und Freudenland; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#1010 What's Got Into @@NAME@@? (author: Baggieland; ed:Candlewhisper Archive)
#1016 Breaking Upset (author: The United Providences of Perland; ed: Baggieland)
#1023 Pure Madness (author: Frieden-und Freudenland; ed: The Free Joy State)
#1028 Can't Get Enough of You Baby (author: Gnejs; ed: Baggieland)
#1049 Hard Times Ahead! (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: The Free Joy State)
#1050 Criminal Guns Soon to Be Shooting Blanks (author: Sacara; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#1053 Some Enchanted Evening That Was (author: The Free Joy State; ed: Wyethalania)
#1054 Herbal Trouble (author: Frieden-und Freudenland; ed: The Free Joy State)
#1057 Baby It's Cold Outside (author -weedland-;ed: Zwangzug)
#1065 Pulling Out (author: Jutsa; ed: The Marsupial Illuminati)
#1069 Bowl Motions (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#1070 Skeletons in the Closet (author: Sacara; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#1079 What's Love Got to Do With It? (author: The Free Joy State; ed: Baggieland)
#1085 Nuke Before You Leap (author: Nation of Quebed; ed: The Marsupial Illuminati)
#1090 I Ain't Afraid of No Girl (author: The Free Joy State; ed: The Marsupial Illuminati)
#1094 A Political Cover-Up (author: Jutsa; ed: Baggieland)
#1106 Some Body To Love (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: Baggieland)
#1113 No Sex Please, We're @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ (author: The Free Joy State; ed: The Free Joy State)
#1123 Till Death Do Us Part (author: Sacara; ed: The Marsupial Illuminati)
#1128 Get Thee Behind Me, Santa (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: The Free Joy State)
#1129 Behind the Red Curtain (author: Caracasus; ed: The Free Joy State)
#1135 My Eye are Up Here (author: Sacara; ed: Candlewisper Archive)
#1138 Shock Tactics (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#1142 Womb Service (author: Pirate States of Morgana; ed: The Free Joy State)
#1149 The Goriest Advertisement (author: Chan Island; ed: Pogaria)
#1155 The Banquet of Walnuts (author: Verdant Haven; ed: The Marsupial Illuminati)
#1159 The Sad State of Affairs (author: Jutsa; ed: Baggieland)
#1162 She's Always a Woman To Me (author: The Marsupial Illuminati; ed: Gnejs)
#1168 Too Much Too Young (author: Candlewhiper Archive; ed: Nation of Quebec)
#1171 Match Made in Heaven (author: Candlewhisper Archive; ed: Candlewhisper Archive_
#1178 No Need to Beat Yourself Up About It (author: Baggieland; ed: The Marsupial Illuminati)
#1183 Bloodied but Unbowed (author: Frieden-und Freudenland; ed: Baggieland)
#1196 The Properties of Property (author: Candlewhisper Archivel; ed: The Marsupial Illuminati)
#1197 Aflame with Indignity (author: Pogaria; ed: The Marsupial Illuminati)
#1203 The Fandom Menace (author: Chrimbus; ed: Zwangzug)
#1214 Blood Type: Gay Positive (author: Endraas; ed: Sanctaria)
#1220 Barely Any Art (author: Devil Heart; ed: Candlewhisper Archive)
#1231 Save Our Souls (author: The Free Joy State; ed: The Free Joy State)
#1233 Get Real! (author: The Free Joy State; ed: Candlwhisper Archive)

2. Changes prior to #864

Recently excluded from class nations:
#62 Oh, The Angst! (author: Uni Students; ed: Reploid Productions)
#374 Lion Dad Sparks Child-Rearing Sentiment (author: Samuelica; ed: Sedgistan)

No longer excluded from class nations:
#218 Two Mommies One Too Many (author: Duffla; ed: Sirocco)
#329: Military Uniforms Under Scrutiny (author: Crimsonrayne; ed: Sedgistan)

[Minoa]

Thanks, that should get me busy for the next few days.

However, I noticed that #329 still has the nude option (option 6)… at least that is what the Spoiler thread says.

I wonder if option 6 is conditional on the nation not being part of the school class? While I know of heroic nudity in ancient Greek art, some may see it differently.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

FJS beat me to it, glad I hadn't started that job yet! Thanks for that, FJS.

As to 329, I took the adult tag off as it didn't seem needed. Talking about nudity in itself doesn't seem enough to make it unsuitable for under-18s. Rather, we try to keep away stuff that is too sexually explicit or too dark in theme.

We find different balancing points on this -- for example, it isn't absolutely #824 needed an adult tag, as there's nothing sexual or dark about menstruation, but the overall consensus was that it was just squicky enough to err on the side of tagging. I'm almost convinced I made the wrong call on that one, but for now, menstruation issues remain adult.

329, however, seems well within the acceptable category by current standards.

---

On a related note, I've just amended 1018 to have the adult tag. Some naughty editor snuck a sex toy joke into the last option, and should've remembered to add the tag. I'll have a word with the responsible editor, and kick his butt.

Ouch. Ouch.

[SherpDaWerp]

I was thinking that an interesting issue premise would be your nation responding to a WA condemnation.
Is there a way for this to be tracked or is my idea invalid? (or is this requirement too specific to be a good idea...)

[Chan Island]

So I've had an idea knocking about in my head about what to do if you're a creationist country but a major fossil is found within your borders.

Problem is, I'm not exactly sure where to go with that plan.

[Trotterdam]

Just for starters, who's looking for the fossil? If you don't believe in the existence of fossils or consider them the work of the devil, then you probably don't sponsor people to go track them down, or have a lot of people trained in recognizing them even if someone stumbles across some by accident.

You need to acknowledge that dinosaurs are a thing before you can look at a pile of petrified bones and go "yup, that's a dinosaur".

Of course, some creationists do acknowledge dinosaurs as having existed but give them a different explanation (dinosaurs lived a few thousand years ago but Noah didn't have room for them on the Ark), but if you're already assuming the nation believes that rather than presenting it as an option, then what's the problem?

[Australian rePublic]

So I've had an idea knocking about in my head about what to do if you're a creationist country but a major fossil is found within your borders.

Problem is, I'm not exactly sure where to go with that plan.

Don't go too overboard with this. Lots of creationists believe in evolution to some degree. The Catholic Church, for example, has an official stance which is pro-evolution to some degree, and anything else is heresy. Us Orthodox are divided on the matter. I myself am pro-evolution, as are many, many, many other Orthodox. But not all of us. In either case, most of us, no matter which side we take, will acknowledge that every individual is different to their parents and are capable of adapting to our environment. It's only the real Evangelicals who scream "No. Evolution is the Devil's work. Abyone who believes in evolution will burn for eternity in the literal fires of hell, like you deserve. Hahaha! It'll be fun watching you burn!" Us Orthodox and Catholics don't believe in the literal fires of hell either. We believe that they are figurative. But that's a different story. Bottom line, creationism=/=non-beliefe in Evolution. At worst it lies on a spectrum, at best we acknowledge compatibility. Keep in mind this is a Christian perspective. Many Muslims are anti-evolution, but there might be some who aren't, I don't know. I don't know what the Jews or Zoroastrians believe, or any of the other Abrahamic Faiths.

EDIT:
After a little bit of Wikipediaing, Muslims are as divided as Christians, and almost all Jew accept evolution as fact

The thing you have to realise is that beliefe in creationism isn't necasserily contradictory to beliefe in evolution, unless you're extremely radical about it.

[Chan Island]

Just for starters, who's looking for the fossil? If you don't believe in the existence of fossils or consider them the work of the devil, then you probably don't sponsor people to go track them down, or have a lot of people trained in recognizing them even if someone stumbles across some by accident.

You need to acknowledge that dinosaurs are a thing before you can look at a pile of petrified bones and go "yup, that's a dinosaur".

Of course, some creationists do acknowledge dinosaurs as having existed but give them a different explanation (dinosaurs lived a few thousand years ago but Noah didn't have room for them on the Ark), but if you're already assuming the nation believes that rather than presenting it as an option, then what's the problem?

The plan was always that a foreign team dug up the fossil (coming in as tourists).

And that was one of the options I had in mind, a kind of "oh hey, isn't God's creation from 4000 years ago amazing? angle"

So I've had an idea knocking about in my head about what to do if you're a creationist country but a major fossil is found within your borders.

Problem is, I'm not exactly sure where to go with that plan.

Don't go too overboard with this. Lots of creationists believe in evolution to some degree. The Catholic Church, for example, has an official stance which is pro-evolution to some degree, and anything else is heresy. Us Orthodox are divided on the matter. I myself am pro-evolution, as are many, many, many other Orthodox. But not all of us. In either case, most of us, no matter which side we take, will acknowledge that every individual is different to their parents and are capable of adapting to our environment. It's only the real Evangelicals who scream "No. Evolution is the Devil's work. Abyone who believes in evolution will burn for eternity in the literal fires of hell, like you deserve. Hahaha! It'll be fun watching you burn!" Us Orthodox and Catholics don't believe in the literal fires of hell either. We believe that they are figurative. But that's a different story. Bottom line, creationism=/=non-beliefe in Evolution. At worst it lies on a spectrum, at best we acknowledge compatibility. Keep in mind this is a Christian perspective. Many Muslims are anti-evolution, but there might be some who aren't, I don't know. I don't know what the Jews or Zoroastrians believe, or any of the other Abrahamic Faiths.

EDIT:
After a little bit of Wikipediaing, Muslims are as divided as Christians, and almost all Jew accept evolution as fact

The thing you have to realise is that beliefe in creationism isn't necasserily contradictory to beliefe in evolution, unless you're extremely radical about it.

That's a good point. I can't be too presumptuous in stating what the player's actual views on creationism are.

Perhaps I could just go with an angle of "hey, a foreign team of palaeontologists are violating out soils to then try and claim that our deeply held religious convictions are wrong?" That way I don't assume anything (except that the player believes in creationism) and yet would be a justifiable thing for someone to get annoyed at.

Then the options could be:
1) Marvel at how miraculous the creator's work from recently was

2) Get angry and call the team blasphemers/heretics/unbelievers

3) Maybe we need to be more careful with how much freedom we let our tourists have

4) Hey, maybe we could get more tourism if we explored more into the mysteries under our soil

5) Maybe evolution was true after all.

[Australian rePublic]

Just for starters, who's looking for the fossil? If you don't believe in the existence of fossils or consider them the work of the devil, then you probably don't sponsor people to go track them down, or have a lot of people trained in recognizing them even if someone stumbles across some by accident.

You need to acknowledge that dinosaurs are a thing before you can look at a pile of petrified bones and go "yup, that's a dinosaur".

Of course, some creationists do acknowledge dinosaurs as having existed but give them a different explanation (dinosaurs lived a few thousand years ago but Noah didn't have room for them on the Ark), but if you're already assuming the nation believes that rather than presenting it as an option, then what's the problem?

The plan was always that a foreign team dug up the fossil (coming in as tourists).

And that was one of the options I had in mind, a kind of "oh hey, isn't God's creation from 4000 years ago amazing? angle"

Don't go too overboard with this. Lots of creationists believe in evolution to some degree. The Catholic Church, for example, has an official stance which is pro-evolution to some degree, and anything else is heresy. Us Orthodox are divided on the matter. I myself am pro-evolution, as are many, many, many other Orthodox. But not all of us. In either case, most of us, no matter which side we take, will acknowledge that every individual is different to their parents and are capable of adapting to our environment. It's only the real Evangelicals who scream "No. Evolution is the Devil's work. Abyone who believes in evolution will burn for eternity in the literal fires of hell, like you deserve. Hahaha! It'll be fun watching you burn!" Us Orthodox and Catholics don't believe in the literal fires of hell either. We believe that they are figurative. But that's a different story. Bottom line, creationism=/=non-beliefe in Evolution. At worst it lies on a spectrum, at best we acknowledge compatibility. Keep in mind this is a Christian perspective. Many Muslims are anti-evolution, but there might be some who aren't, I don't know. I don't know what the Jews or Zoroastrians believe, or any of the other Abrahamic Faiths.

EDIT:
After a little bit of Wikipediaing, Muslims are as divided as Christians, and almost all Jew accept evolution as fact

The thing you have to realise is that beliefe in creationism isn't necasserily contradictory to beliefe in evolution, unless you're extremely radical about it.

That's a good point. I can't be too presumptuous in stating what the player's actual views on creationism are.

Perhaps I could just go with an angle of "hey, a foreign team of palaeontologists are violating out soils to then try and claim that our deeply held religious convictions are wrong?" That way I don't assume anything (except that the player believes in creationism) and yet would be a justifiable thing for someone to get annoyed at.

Then the options could be:
1) Marvel at how miraculous the creator's work from recently was

2) Get angry and call the team blasphemers/heretics/unbelievers

3) Maybe we need to be more careful with how much freedom we let our tourists have

4) Hey, maybe we could get more tourism if we explored more into the mysteries under our soil

5) Maybe evolution was true after all.

2&3 seem kind of similar, as do 4&5. Maybe see if you can fix that

[Canyamel]

Hi, this is the first time I'm in the "Got Issues" forum and I had an idea for an issue. My idea is inspired in an article that appeared in the news about a woman being kicked off the plane because her dress was inappropiate. My question is if this could be an issue or if it's too similar to issue #504.
I thought of the possible answers to the issue:
- You can dress how you want, it's freedom of expression
- Think of the children (people should dress more covered)
- A naturist explains how mother nature loves us and that clothes should be banned

[The Free Joy State]

Hi, this is the first time I'm in the "Got Issues" forum and I had an idea for an issue. My idea is inspired in an article that appeared in the news about a woman being kicked off the plane because her dress was inappropiate. My question is if this could be an issue or if it's too similar to issue #504.
I thought of the possible answers to the issue:
- You can dress how you want, it's freedom of expression
- Think of the children (people should dress more covered)
- A naturist explains how mother nature loves us and that clothes should be banned

It isn't only #504 you have to consider. #8 (Nudists Demand Time in the Sun) and #593 (A Right to Bare Arms) are also about modesty.

However, the more issues there are, the more room there is for some minimal overlap. It might be possible to keep overlap to a minimum by writing an issue specifically for nations without the Nudity or Prudism policy and asking about clothing standards on public transport.

I suggest avoiding generic options, and instead focusing specifically on why people might need to keep more covered on public transport -- hygiene, to avoid offending other people, etc.

[Canyamel]

It isn't only #504 you have to consider. #8 (Nudists Demand Time in the Sun) and #593 (A Right to Bare Arms) are also about modesty.

However, the more issues there are, the more room there is for some minimal overlap. It might be possible to keep overlap to a minimum by writing an issue specifically for nations without the Nudity or Prudism policy and asking about clothing standards on public transport.

I suggest avoiding generic options, and instead focusing specifically on why people might need to keep more covered on public transport -- hygiene, to avoid offending other people, etc.

Based on that, my new idea is that the woman decided to leave the plane because of the air conditioning and her lack of winter clothes. The possible answers could be:
- The plane is very cold, the temperature should be higher (says the woman)
- An Eskimo says it's hot enough in the plane and tells the woman to travel by train
- Someone of the government who is in the plane proposes to have hermetic cabins for each person, where you could choose the temperature

[The Free Joy State]

It isn't only #504 you have to consider. #8 (Nudists Demand Time in the Sun) and #593 (A Right to Bare Arms) are also about modesty.

However, the more issues there are, the more room there is for some minimal overlap. It might be possible to keep overlap to a minimum by writing an issue specifically for nations without the Nudity or Prudism policy and asking about clothing standards on public transport.

I suggest avoiding generic options, and instead focusing specifically on why people might need to keep more covered on public transport -- hygiene, to avoid offending other people, etc.

Based on that, my new idea is that the woman decided to leave the plane because of the air conditioning and her lack of winter clothes. The possible answers could be:
- The plane is very cold, the temperature should be higher (says the woman)
- An Eskimo says it's hot enough in the plane and tells the woman to travel by train
- Someone of the government who is in the plane proposes to have hermetic cabins for each person, where you could choose the temperature

This is really not remotely related to someone being thrown off public transport for their attire.

You can still do someone being thrown off public transport because of how they're dressed; you just need to work on mininising overlap by avoiding the freedom angle and looking at the other angles -- as I suggested.

Someone willingly leaving a plane does not make a national issue, that a national leader would be interested in. I suggest you read the guide to writing an issue for NationStates.

[Canyamel]

Based on that, my new idea is that the woman decided to leave the plane because of the air conditioning and her lack of winter clothes. The possible answers could be:
- The plane is very cold, the temperature should be higher (says the woman)
- An Eskimo says it's hot enough in the plane and tells the woman to travel by train
- Someone of the government who is in the plane proposes to have hermetic cabins for each person, where you could choose the temperature

This is really not remotely related to someone being thrown off public transport for their attire.

You can still do someone being thrown off public transport because of how they're dressed; you just need to work on mininising overlap by avoiding the freedom angle and looking at the other angles -- as I suggested.

Someone willingly leaving a plane does not make a national issue, that a national leader would be interested in. I suggest you read the guide to writing an issue for NationStates.

Ok, I'll keep thinking for a better idea (I thought it would be easier). If someone has an idea about this topic, you can take it; I'm not keeping it only for me.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Hey, look at that, 12 issue ideas:
https://www.cracked.com/blog/12-ridicul ... und-world/

The toilet paper one seems especially good -- lots of potential for lowbrow humour, and cultural contrasting.

[Australian rePublic]

Hey, look at that, 12 issue ideas:
https://www.cracked.com/blog/12-ridicul ... und-world/

The toilet paper one seems especially good -- lots of potential for lowbrow humour, and cultural contrasting.

Keep droughts in mind if you plan to use that

[Australian rePublic]

The forerunner of the Commonwealth is ruled by a lunatic, the world's super power is ruled by a different type of lunatic, and the leader of world's most populated country is offended by a cartoon bear. Just look at real life for potential issues

[Candlewhisper Archive]

The forerunner of the Commonwealth is ruled by a lunatic, the world's super power is ruled by a different type of lunatic, and the leader of world's most populated country is offended by a cartoon bear. Just look at real life for potential issues

I really want to see the Winnie the Pooh thing referenced somehow.

[Omniabstracta]

Hullo there. I recently finished writing a draft for an about insobriety in the military, after finding no really similar topics on a quick skim through the issue list. On closer inspection, though, I found that issue 1097 is based on a very similar premise, albeit more limited in scope. I think that my issue takes things in a different enough direction than 1097, with the basic option structure going something like:
–Ban alcohol in the military, and refresh the armed forces' public image in general (inspired by this)
–Expand the ban and enact a general prohibition
–Soldiers can use a good drink every once in a while, send a couple beers their way and leave things alone
However, I don't want to start the drafting process and all, only to have to scrap the issue anyway, so I'll ask here first: Do y'all think this situation overlaps too much, or can it be worked to not step on any toes?

[Trotterdam]

Maybe have them get drunk right before an important battle (or at least while on guard duty, if you don't want to assume the nation is at war), so the alcohol clearly impaired their ability to do their job rather than just causing them to act rowdy during downtime as in #1097.

The pro option could point out how war is scary and alcohol helps soldiers steel their courage.