The Writers' Block

[Egyptian Pharocracy]

Okay...

I'm in the process of making my first attempts to draft some new issues to post here in Got Issues? as WIPs for critique, suggestions, and polishing advice before submission.

As I've been reading through the GI forum to get a feel for what types of issues have been drafted before, as well as through *all* of the currently existing issues to get a feel for what already exists and how they're constructed, I've run across several posts by mods and editors suggesting to ask questions here about a proposed issue before posting it as a WIP.

So, I'm asking.

One of the issue ideas I'm working on concerns an ecological crisis that (hopefully) should be applicable to Nations with state and private economies both, if I construct it properly.

The underlying theme for the issues string is "A Reign of Frogs", which should be enough to give any of our Australian posters here an idea of just precisely what ecological crisis I'm looking at.

My question that I'm having some problems deciding how to specify the qualifications for receiving some of the Issue [options].

Are there previous issues that:

Make agriculture legal/illegal?

Make pesticides legal/illegal in a nation?

And are these flags that can be specified for options so that nations who have banned pesticides get the organic option while less ecological minded nations are open to getting the "Just poison the heck out of it!" option?

Likewise, is it possible to specify "must have legal sports" and "must have legal gambling" for an option?

Also, obviously given the subject matter, actually having now or having had at one time an agricultural industry is a requirement... but if the Ban Agriculture option comes in game, then it's possible to specify that the precondition that initiated what's now becoming a crisis predates the ban. I hope. Right?

Thanks in advance.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

These are the wrong sorts of questions.

Better still to say what the "reign of frogs" issue would be about in story terms, and the community can report if anything similar has been covered before.

The technical side of things can always be worked out if there's a strong enough story to justify coding.

[Australian rePublic]

These are the wrong sorts of questions.

Better still to say what the "reign of frogs" issue would be about in story terms, and the community can report if anything similar has been covered before.

The technical side of things can always be worked out if there's a strong enough story to justify coding.

He/she actually contacted me about this, and I suggested that the idea be posted here. Basically, he/she wants to write an issue about a pest over-running @@NAME@@. I also suggested that he/she taylor it to the agricultural industry, since that's a topic in high demand

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Fair enough. I don't concur with that advice. I think make the issue about whatever makes for the most entertaining story.

I would note, however, that there are already some issues about animals being seen as pests:

133, 169, 355, 627, especially the latter two. Avoid overlap with these.

[Egyptian Pharocracy]

These are the wrong sorts of questions.

Better still to say what the "reign of frogs" issue would be about in story terms, and the community can report if anything similar has been covered before.

The technical side of things can always be worked out if there's a strong enough story to justify coding.

Ah. Okay. So the qualification options and the How Do I? would be worked out in the WIP stage when it's posted in Draft form in Got Issues, then? Cool, I can deal with that.

Basic storyline: it's a play on the Great Australian Cane Toad invasion translated into more of a NationStates flavor, and less Oz specific.

It starts out with the premise that at some point in the past, @@NATION@@ introduced the prolific, toxic, and carnivorous Bigtopian Wicker Frog in order to control a species of agricultural pest, and then they bred to infest their new habitat - no natural predators - to the point where they're all over large areas of @@NATION@@ now. And they're even beginning to eat small pets, causing outrage, which is a part of what's led to a delegation of outraged citizens storming Leader's office to demand that something must be done!

And just as with the real life cane toad infestation, the solutions proposed range from reasonable to truly absurd, with each one leading to its own set of problems in true NationStates "There's no such thing as a good solution" form.

Capsule summary. Any more detail and I'm afraid that I'll end up WIPing it here in this thread, which really isn't the place for that, I've gathered.

I don't think that anything quite like it has been proposed or submitted. I've read a lot of existing issues and drafts to date, and while there's some similar issues and proposals, I haven't yet seen or found one quite exactly like this one.

Australia has a definite knack for unique problems and uniquely absurd solutions to some of them. And I say that as someone who loves Australia and thinks they're great - they just tend to be a bit extreme on the "everything is trying to kill you, eat you, poison you, or breed itself into overrunning your out of the environment" when it comes to wildlife problems.

I'll finish writing it up and post it as a draft, and we can see if it's good enough to justify working out the technicalities at that point.

Fair enough. I don't concur with that advice. I think make the issue about whatever makes for the most entertaining story.

I fully agree with you on that. What makes for the most entertaining story is paramount. Especially what makes for the most amusing and entertaining story seems to be the most fun to get and play in NationStates.

Sometimes the more over the top in premise and amusing in options the better, when it comes to a fun issue to have come up in my queue.

I would note, however, that there are already some issues about animals being seen as pests:

133, 169, 355, 627, especially the latter two. Avoid overlap with these.

Okay, yeah. I've read those and have gotten 133 and 627 in my nation, IIRC. (I think we ended up weaponizing the bees?)

No, nothing all that much in common with 133, 169; minor similarity to the Wood Eating Spike Balls (355), but not quite; and no real similarity to the genetic engineered bees in 627.

The Cane Toad isn't a case of being seen as a pest: it is a pest. And that's the theme I'm working from: an introduced beneficial animal that runs amok in its new habitat until it becomes a full blown crisis.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

355 sounds very similar to me, right down to the solutions you're proposing. Draft away though, and see if you can make it as distinct as possible.

Also, add 676 to that list: I recall when that one was being self-edited, similarity to 355 was flagged, and the hallucination angle was played up to make it distinct.

The Cane Toad would need some fresh angle on the subject, unique to its issue.

[Egyptian Pharocracy]

355 sounds very similar to me, right down to the solutions you're proposing. Draft away though, and see if you can make it as distinct as possible.

Also, add 676 to that list: I recall when that one was being self-edited, similarity to 355 was flagged, and the hallucination angle was played up to make it distinct.

The Cane Toad would need some fresh angle on the subject, unique to its issue.

I don't think I've seen 676, or gotten it in my nation's issues... let me check.

Not quite the same, but some of the option are similar to things that someone might suggest for the cane toad/wicker frog problem. (That seems to be the hard part: coming up with new twists on options.)

I just finished reading 355... and not quite. But you can judge on that when I post the WIP. If it is too similar, we'll change it. I'm easy.

Draft away though, and see if you can make it as distinct as possible.

Will do.

I think that at this point, I'm anywhere from three days to a week worth of work from being a presentable WIP rather than a collection of rough notes and a list of options/effects. I'm at the stage now of taking it from outline to narrative draft form, if that makes sense.

Depends on how much time I can squeeze in to work on it. I'm having to fit this in between other projects and RL work... I'm sure you may know how that goes. When I get a chance to write, it moves pretty fast. Just a matter of squeezing out the spare time.

[Trotterdam]

The underlying theme for the issues string is "A Reign of Frogs", which should be enough to give any of our Australian posters here an idea of just precisely what ecological crisis I'm looking at.

Cane toads?

I've heard of those.

Fair warning: we already have an issue about invasive species.

Are there previous issues that:

Make agriculture legal/illegal?

I don't think so.

(You can make meat illegal, though, and Beef-Based Agriculture is the only form currently in the game.)

Make pesticides legal/illegal in a nation?

Yes, see #090. However, I don't know if it's tracked as a flag.

Likewise, is it possible to specify "must have legal sports" and "must have legal gambling" for an option?

Yes, those are definitely flags.

What do those have to do with cane toads?

133, 169, 355, 627, especially the latter two. Avoid overlap with these.

#355 is definitely the most similar to the situation with cane toads in Australia. And rabbits in Australia. And lots of other stuff in Australia from when they kept trying option 1 (spoiler: it didn't work).

[Australian rePublic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgpZ0fUixs (Adult Language)

I was thinking of writing an issue based on this song. Any ideas?

I also want to write an issue about urban renewal of Atlanta City, based on this song, and I can draw a few references from the song, but need more help

[Australian rePublic]

I'm still looking for an idea about a Polar Night/Polar Day (Midnight Sun)/Aurora themed issue. One which is likely to get published. Any ideas?

[Ransium]

I would prioritize editing an issue that allowed for compulsory vegetarianism without necessitating assumptions about an existing agriculture/fast food/other industrial sector. Maybe one that allowed for it for health/environmental reasons.

[Trotterdam]

I would prioritize editing an issue that allowed for compulsory vegetarianism without necessitating assumptions about an existing agriculture/fast food/other industrial sector. Maybe one that allowed for it for health/environmental reasons.

Doesn't #007 already do that? That issue is prompted by animal liberationists, so they're literally opposing meat because it is meat. Can't get purer than that.

...Okay, maybe you're talking about nations that import meat without producing any of their own? I guess animal liberationists wouldn't have anything (in your nation) to free then. Though really, it seems pretty implausible for any but the very tiniest nations to have no domestic agriculture at all, even if it's not big enough to turn a profit.

[Ransium]

I would prioritize editing an issue that allowed for compulsory vegetarianism without necessitating assumptions about an existing agriculture/fast food/other industrial sector. Maybe one that allowed for it for health/environmental reasons.

Doesn't #007 already do that? That issue is prompted by animal liberationists, so they're literally opposing meat because it is meat. Can't get purer than that.

...Okay, maybe you're talking about nations that import meat without producing any of their own? I guess animal liberationists wouldn't have anything (in your nation) to free then. Though really, it seems pretty implausible for any but the very tiniest nations to have no domestic agriculture at all, even if it's not big enough to turn a profit.

Currently, nations have to have a positive agriculture sector to receive #007.

[Australian rePublic]

I was thinking of writing an issue about @@NAME@@ controlling an internal waterway which is an important international shipping lane. A shipping lane such as the Bosphorus, which provides otherwise landlocked nations with ocean access, or the Suez or Panama Canals, which provide amongst the world's largest shortcuts.

Option 1. We pay the coast guard, we operate the ships, we should charge them
Option 2. They need access to the sea, they should get it
Option 3. Close the damn route and you have no problems

I don't know whether this should just be about civilian ships, or if I should also include naval ships.

Opinions are much appreciated!

[Drayxaso]

I was thinking of writing an issue about @@NAME@@ controlling an internal waterway which is an important international shipping lane. A shipping lane such as the Bosphorus, which provides otherwise landlocked nations with ocean access, or the Suez or Panama Canals, which provide amongst the world's largest shortcuts.

Option 1. We pay the coast guard, we operate the ships, we should charge them
Option 2. They need access to the sea, they should get it
Option 3. Close the damn route and you have no problems

I don't know whether this should just be about civilian ships, or if I should also include naval ships.

Opinions are much appreciated!

The waterway should be called the "Manama Canal," a joke about the Panama canal using the NPC nation.

[Australian rePublic]

I was thinking of writing an issue about @@NAME@@ controlling an internal waterway which is an important international shipping lane. A shipping lane such as the Bosphorus, which provides otherwise landlocked nations with ocean access, or the Suez or Panama Canals, which provide amongst the world's largest shortcuts.

Option 1. We pay the coast guard, we operate the ships, we should charge them
Option 2. They need access to the sea, they should get it
Option 3. Close the damn route and you have no problems

I don't know whether this should just be about civilian ships, or if I should also include naval ships.

Opinions are much appreciated!

The waterway should be called the "Manama Canal," a joke about the Panama canal using the NPC nation.

Interesting, though I was going for it being one of @@NAME@@'s internal waterways

[Trotterdam]

Problem is Manamana is an island nation, not an isthmus like Panama.

[Australian rePublic]

Is this the right place to request a new macro? If so, could we please have a @@SIR@@ macro, so that we can refer to @@LEADER@@ as sir/ma'am. The @@SIR@@ macro could work like the @@HE@@ and @@HIM@@ macros, where it will either write sir or ma'am depending on the leaders' sex

[Candlewhisper Archive]

You'd probably have more luck in technical. Doesn't seem very necessary to me, but I guess more macros never hurt.

[Australian rePublic]

You'd probably have more luck in technical. Doesn't seem very necessary to me, but I guess more macros never hurt.

Thanks! Though, besides myself, I have seen it used atleast once

[Ransium]

Since the Marco wouldn't work unless it was after the random name it would be hard to use effectively.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Right, and of course there's no way to tell what the gender of the @@LEADER@@ macro is unless a field is completed by the player anyway, and then you run into complexities of whether you make that a binary check box, a trinary checkbox, or a sliding scale.

Can't see technical wanting to take that on, really.

[Bears Armed]

I've gone as far as I can on 'Not Mushroom For Error' without more feedback.


Coming soon from me, the first draft of an issue specifically for the Communist nations (as long as they have a military), about whether or not those of the state-owned electronics factories that currently produce televisions should switch over to making radar sets & other military electronics instead.


___________________________________________________________


Oh, and re the issue on breaking political ties, some people might find this story (http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/li ... ailsignout) interesting…

[Bears Armed]

Can we use the @@NAME@@ macro in [effect] lines? Can we use italics there?
For the issue on television production in communist nations that I mentioned above, I want one of the options to be a variation on the old "In Soviet Russia" meme _
'in socialist @@NAME@@ television watches you'.

[Ransium]

Can we use the @@NAME@@ macro in [effect] lines? Can we use italics there?
For the issue on television production in communist nations that I mentioned above, I want one of the options to be a variation on the old "In Soviet Russia" meme _
'in socialist @@NAME@@ television watches you'.

@@NAME@@ in effects line is fine technically. But, recall effects lines in the activity feed work like this:

Following new legislation in @@NAME@@, [effect line]

So your proposed effect line will read redundantly. Besides, I think we've done something like it before.

Italics are currently not possible in effects line currently.