The Writers' Block

[Drasnia]

Forgive me if I'm turning into a grumpy old sod (or one that has completely misinterpreted my early days on this site), but when did we drop the convention that issues were supposed to be written about "evergreen" topics rather than contemporary real-world trends? Not that I necessarily have a problem

While evergreen topics are more likely to be better issue topics, it's never actually been mandatory.

[Trotterdam]

Forgive me if I'm turning into a grumpy old sod (or one that has completely misinterpreted my early days on this site), but when did we drop the convention that issues were supposed to be written about "evergreen" topics rather than contemporary real-world trends? Not that I necessarily have a problem

Which issues/drafts are you talking about, specifically?

It's a guideline many editors (or, well, at least one) observe to avoid issues that will become obsolete too quickly, but it can be a tricky line to draw, so some issues that are arguably too dated still make it in, either because the editors weren't paying close attention and some borderline issues slipped through quality control, or because the issues' writing was good enough to make up for the issues' deficiencies in other areas. Also worth noting is that "references recent events" is not the same as "only briefly relevant" - often, recent events simply reignited discussion about something that has been a heated debate since the dawn of time, so referencing those events just adds some surface seasoning to a legitimate issue whose core will still be relevant years from now.

If you see a draft in this forum that you think should be abandoned due to this guideline, by all means do say so. It's not fun being the bearer of bad news, but sometimes it's what people need to hear.

If there's an already-in-the-game issue that you think violates this guideline, then, well, too bad, I guess. In a game with over a thousand issues, most players are bound to have a few they don't like, but they're not too likely to get changed.

[Braule]

How about an issue for setting up re-education or work camps for political prisoners? I'm thinking of writing one. But I never wrote an issue before.

[Westinor]

How about an issue for setting up re-education or work camps for political prisoners? I'm thinking of writing one. But I never wrote an issue before.

Issue #508 partially covers re-education, but focuses on re-educated prisoners being unable to re-integrate into society. Issue #621 has an option covering re-education for prisoners, Issue #646 covers re-education, Issue #795 of the @@CAPITAL@@Gate issue chain sort of covers political prisoners (or what I'm assuming it is you're talking about), and Issue #868 seems like it does too.

[Braule]

How about an issue for setting up re-education or work camps for political prisoners? I'm thinking of writing one. But I never wrote an issue before.

Issue #508 partially covers re-education, but focuses on re-educated prisoners being unable to re-integrate into society. Issue #621 has an option covering re-education for prisoners, Issue #646 covers re-education, Issue #795 of the @@CAPITAL@@Gate issue chain sort of covers political prisoners (or what I'm assuming it is you're talking about), and Issue #868 seems like it does too.

Oh no not THAT kind of re education, I mean like brainwashing them to the ideals of the regime.

[Westinor]

Issue #508 partially covers re-education, but focuses on re-educated prisoners being unable to re-integrate into society. Issue #621 has an option covering re-education for prisoners, Issue #646 covers re-education, Issue #795 of the @@CAPITAL@@Gate issue chain sort of covers political prisoners (or what I'm assuming it is you're talking about), and Issue #868 seems like it does too.

Oh no not THAT kind of re education, I mean like brainwashing them to the ideals of the regime.

Ah, I see. Would've been nice to phrase that differently. Are you planning on writing an issue solely based on brainwashing prisoners?

[Braule]

Oh no not THAT kind of re education, I mean like brainwashing them to the ideals of the regime.

Ah, I see. Would've been nice to phrase that differently. Are you planning on writing an issue solely based on brainwashing prisoners?

Yes. Opening re education or work camps.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Forgive me if I'm turning into a grumpy old sod (or one that has completely misinterpreted my early days on this site), but when did we drop the convention that issues were supposed to be written about "evergreen" topics rather than contemporary real-world trends? Not that I necessarily have a problem

I'm not sure there's been any intentional shift in that direction.

I mean, early issues talked about those new Harry Potter books, and about how mobile phones were dangerous because of all that radiation near your head. The latter issue became dated and has been replaced with more up-to-date concerns about mobile phones, while the former issue remains in its original form, despite it being 23 years since that book series began and 13 years since it ended.

In fact on occasion we've published issues about things that were seen as a problem in the past, but haven't been viewed that way for many years - roleplaying games corrupting yoof, for example, was very much a thing of the 1980s, but it still makes a good issue now.

And what does evergreen mean, anyway? Even an issue about road traffic might be redundant one day, when they invent teleporters, or after the third world war reduces the population by 95%. No issue can be expected to be relevant for the rest of eternity...

The game is editable. If stuff becomes out of date, we'll often change it. But as long as the story remains good, it doesn't matter if things are contemporary or not.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Ah, I see. Would've been nice to phrase that differently. Are you planning on writing an issue solely based on brainwashing prisoners?

Yes. Opening re education or work camps.

Adults tend to be quite resistant to indoctrination, and quite good at faking it.

China's treatment of the children of Uighur Muslims, on the other hand, would be a great inspiration for an issue.

[Minskiev]

Maybe a great issue, but definitely not a good issue.

Well, I guess I’m on here to say I’m FINALLY submitting something. Thanks to everyone for your help!

Small question; the submission page says [nation] but the macro would be @@NAME@@...which one is it?

[Pogaria]

Small question; the submission page says [nation] but the macro would be @@NAME@@...which one is it?

Use @@NAME@@ for the nation name.

[Minskiev]

Luckily I did. Thanks!

[J-O-E]

I’ve been considering making an issue about a man suing a casino for exploiting his gambling addiction and causing him to lose his life savings. Does anyone know if an issue like this already exists or should I just go ahead and write it?

[Trotterdam]

Huh, I thought we'd have had something similar for sure, but it turns out that none of the issues capable of setting the No Gambling policy actually take a particularly direct approach to the subject. The closest is #686, which can't even set the policy.

[New Ladavia]

Does anyone know if there is an issue on Astroturfing?

[Fauxia]

Does anyone know if there is an issue on Astroturfing?

I can't think of one.

[Random Country 453632]

Is there any issue on public transport price?

[Random Country 453632]

Is there any issue on public transport price?

Or... SHOULD there be?

[SherpDaWerp]

Another odd validity idea: would it be possible to write an easter-egg issue for nations with .gif flags?

I reckon it would be an amusing topic for another easter egg - how do you create an animated flag "IRL", as it were?

[Trotterdam]

I reckon it would be an amusing topic for another easter egg - how do you create an animated flag "IRL", as it were?

Honestly, with modern technology, you probably could.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible_display
Making one that's cloth-like enough to blow in the wind like a normal flag might be tricky, but I think we could figure it out if we really wanted to.

[SherpDaWerp]

I reckon it would be an amusing topic for another easter egg - how do you create an animated flag "IRL", as it were?

Honestly, with modern technology, you probably could.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexible_display
Making one that's cloth-like enough to blow in the wind like a normal flag might be tricky, but I think we could figure it out if we really wanted to.

Huh. The fact that it doesn't require an incredibly out-there science-y answer probably works in favour of the idea. The biggest problem I can forsee is whether the game can actually track flag file formats as potential validity.

[Melicorium]

Is there an issue regarding the possible ban of a popular social media platform for various reasons (for example, US President Donald Trump wanting to ban TikTok)?

[Pogaria]

Another odd validity idea: would it be possible to write an easter-egg issue for nations with .gif flags?

I don't think we could code that with our existing set of tools. Flag image format isn't an actual nation stat.

[Westinor]

Is there an issue regarding the possible ban of a popular social media platform for various reasons (for example, US President Donald Trump wanting to ban TikTok)?

Funnily enough, I was beginning to work on a draft on this idea just a few days ago. My check didn't come up with any particular overlaps - there are quite a few issues dealing with your government spying on your own citizens, your government wanting to ban a site for producing leaks, addressing a site that is performing censorship, scam sites and one on your computers being infected with a virus. Curiously, this specific topic doesn't seem to have been covered yet. (There should be a few other related issues, like that one on illegal file sharing, which aren't directly related but are similar in topic. Just to let you know.)

[SherpDaWerp]

Another odd validity idea: would it be possible to write an easter-egg issue for nations with .gif flags?

I don't think we could code that with our existing set of tools. Flag image format isn't an actual nation stat.

Darn technical limitations!
I still reckon it would make a cool easter egg, though, so I might do a draft sometime in the future (emphasis on future... it'll be a while) and see if I can make it good enough to justify the effort.