[MEGATHREAD] Unusual Issue Effects Since New Update

[Pterodoria]

Nation: Heliosphere, issue 105 option 2. Seems strange to me that increasing safety regulations led to an increase in death rate (0.62%).

[Greater Hunnia]

Probably for the same reason why my puppet's retail dropped by 108% (how is that even possible?!)

It's possible by going from having a retail industry to having none- and opposing the idea of it.

I always thought that having a negative industry means that my nation needs import.

[Eahland]

Is it unusual that practically every single issue seems to drive down my cheese exports? It only shot up at all because I allowed for breast milk to be freely used wherever.

See earlier discussion about zero-sum economies. A lot of issues will lower every industry that they don't specifically raise, and there are few that specifically raise Cheese Exports. Fewer if you're looking for options that are remotely sane, because in NS cheese isn't for eating; it's only for throwing on people. None of my nations (not even this one, which is an economic and agricultural juggernaut) have ever had any Cheese Exports industry to speak of.

[The first Galactic Republic]

Issue # 486

Nation name: [Araluen and Eyreland; ed:Lenyo]

I chose the 2nd response. The army lures cannon fodder with promises of a college education.

Somehow despite picking an option designed to encourage people to join I suffered a 2.1% drop in defense forces.

[Leppikania]

Option 99.1:

"Our libraries are in a dreadful state," says distressed librarian, Zeke Hanover. "This year we had to cancel our subscription to 'Playboy' and over half of our shelves are stacked with pamphlets from the Pizzeria across the road. We need more books and better standards. If there were more perks in this job then maybe we'd get some decent employees! If it needs a whole lot of government funds to pay for it all then so be it!"

This sounds like it should increase NATIONS NAME's business subsidization, especially given the effect line. Why did it decrease it by 2.4%?

[Little Tralfamadore]

Dilemma 172
Church Attendances Reaching New Low, Warn Priests

Chose the option to stop funding churches and give the citizens a tax break.

For some reason going a more secular route

decreased weather (proof that there is a god ?)

The tax break also increased taxes (and decreased freedom from taxation). Interesting bit of math there. A decrease is actually an increase. The writers must be hollywood studio accountants

Cheerful and niceness both went down. I guess the writers of the dilemma think that the only way people can be nice is with religion.

A few other changes that weren't bad
black market went up, employment went down, tourism went down, insurance industry went up (not sure why, I'm surprised it didn't go down to God's vengence on the non-believers)

religionism went down and secularism up of course

[Eahland]

#88 "Cannibals Demand To Taste What @@NAME@@ Has To Offer", option 3 (disallow cannibalism)...

This is seriously a 5 point drop in Civil Rights (which is constrained to a 0-100 scale)? And it raises Ignorance/reduces Intelligence despite the reduction of vectors for the transmission of brain-dissolving prions and whatnot?

[Greater Hunnia]

Issue 136, option 2 increases ignorance and charmlessness and decreases intelligence. Aquilla and Sirocco totally did not make a political statement here

[Bears Armed]

Issue # 486

Nation name: [Araluen and Eyreland; ed:Lenyo]

I chose the 2nd response. The army lures cannon fodder with promises of a college education.

Somehow despite picking an option designed to encourage people to join I suffered a 2.1% drop in defense forces.

The added cost for providing that education means that they can't afford to hire as many people as previously?

[The first Galactic Republic]

Issue # 486

Nation name: [Araluen and Eyreland; ed:Lenyo]

I chose the 2nd response. The army lures cannon fodder with promises of a college education.

Somehow despite picking an option designed to encourage people to join I suffered a 2.1% drop in defense forces.

The added cost for providing that education means that they can't afford to hire as many people as previously?

Then this is counter to the purpose of raising the issue in the first place even though the answer says recruitment is going up?

[Isaris]

The added cost for providing that education means that they can't afford to hire as many people as previously?

Then this is counter to the purpose of raising the issue in the first place even though the answer says recruitment is going up?

Maybe because so many are dying? It does say they're being used as cannon fodder.

[Eahland]

503.1, "Æþelwulf cyning's exquisite office door is replaced monthly due to angry petitioners," makes Taxation go down?

[Venetoland]

My nation just experienced the murder of 3 people. I think I misclicked, because I tried to regulate guns, but it said kids are shot after having fake guns. What happened?

[Trotterdam]

My nation just experienced the murder of 3 people. I think I misclicked, because I tried to regulate guns, but it said kids are shot after having fake guns. What happened?

Your government got overzealous and is really, really regulating the heck out of everything that even resembles a gun.

It says your nation is "arresting kids at gunpoint for playing with toy rifles", though, which isn't the same as shooting them. I'm not sure what you did to accomplish that, though - the issue you describe sounds like #020, but it didn't use to give this effect, and it would be a shock if an issue that old got changed.

[Venetoland]

My nation just experienced the murder of 3 people. I think I misclicked, because I tried to regulate guns, but it said kids are shot after having fake guns. What happened?

Your government got overzealous and is really, really regulating the heck out of everything that even resembles a gun.

It says your nation is "arresting kids at gunpoint for playing with toy rifles", though, which isn't the same as shooting them. I'm not sure what you did to accomplish that, though - the issue you describe sounds like #020, but it didn't use to give this effect, and it would be a shock if an issue that old got changed.

That is the exact issue.

[Constantine Europa]

So this problem happened a while back (on April 12, to be precise), and at first I was just frustrated but assumed it was part of the game. However, the more I look at the effects of other issues, the more it looks like a real bug.

The problem concerns Issue #127: Aging Concerns In @@NAME@@.

I picked option 2:

2. "I can't believe I'm hearing this!" yells @@RANDOMNAME@@, a wizened octogenerian. "We have our rights! You can't do that to us! What utter rubbish about our pensions! I can hardly survive on the paltry number of @@CURRENCY@@s I get each week! If anything, we should get more money! If you're so worried about low death rates, then just cut the healthcare budget to make up for the loss!"

...and the results included an absolutely massive drop in my Income Equality, from 82.83 to 49.18. This is one of the stats I care the most about, so I was shocked and dismayed to see it knocked down by such an enormous amount. Especially since the issue gave no indication that it might have any effect on equality. I expected a drop in healthcare - maybe even a very large one - but instead I only got a minor drop in healthcare and my income equality was wiped out. Maybe some decrease in equality was warranted, sure... but a 33 point drop?

Is it supposed to have that effect?

[British West Zuzunia]

385.4 (send the mascot decision back to the voters) has no effect on anything whatsoever? No effect on Political Freedoms or Apathy or Culture or anything?

[United Dependencies]

#453: Parliamentary Playground [Nation of Quebec;Lenyo]

I picked option 1

1. "We need a Parliamentary Code of Conduct to make sure this appalling behavior doesn't happen again," states Opposition Leader @@RANDOMNAME@@. Your entire cabinet mooned me while I was speaking yesterday for Violet's sake! You wouldn't get away with that kind of behavior in any other workplace, so why is Parliament exempt? We need to show the citizenry that this is a place of serious and mature discussion, not a schoolyard playground."

With the result being: Name Intial-SPAN viewership drops as MPs act their age.

Somehow this led to an Increase in ideological radicality and a decrease in averageness. This doesn't seem to make sense to me considering that a code of conduct would make it more difficult for people to invoke opinions which would be associated with more extreme emotions.

This also apparently drove political apathy down which also doesn't make sense considering that if the political process is boring fewer people are going to be paying attention.
If politics is a boring process, wouldn't people's apathy for the whole thing go up?

I also don't understand why this led to a decrease in safety. The rule's were put in place to stop people from getting in huge brawls and to restrain their behavior.

[Venetoland]

Who knew compulsory pocket radios would be an economic boon.

[New Glubbdubdrib]

63.3:

Fat cat factory owner Max Fellow steps over the bum in the street and explains, "You don't understand. You shouldn't make child labor illegal, you should subsidize it. By employing these kids I'm giving them valuable life lessons. I didn't go to school and see where I am now? I'm giving them work experience, making them highly employable for the 15 years of their expected lives."

Death Rate and Sector: Manufacturing... down? Why?

[Eahland]

#453: Parliamentary Playground [Nation of Quebec;Lenyo]

I picked option 1

1. "We need a Parliamentary Code of Conduct to make sure this appalling behavior doesn't happen again," states Opposition Leader @@RANDOMNAME@@. Your entire cabinet mooned me while I was speaking yesterday for Violet's sake! You wouldn't get away with that kind of behavior in any other workplace, so why is Parliament exempt? We need to show the citizenry that this is a place of serious and mature discussion, not a schoolyard playground."

With the result being: Name Intial-SPAN viewership drops as MPs act their age.

Somehow this led to an Increase in ideological radicality and a decrease in averageness. This doesn't seem to make sense to me considering that a code of conduct would make it more difficult for people to invoke opinions which would be associated with more extreme emotions.

This also apparently drove political apathy down which also doesn't make sense considering that if the political process is boring fewer people are going to be paying attention.
If politics is a boring process, wouldn't people's apathy for the whole thing go up?

I also don't understand why this led to a decrease in safety. The rule's were put in place to stop people from getting in huge brawls and to restrain their behavior.

Dunno about the rest of it, but I don't think Averageness/Ideological Radicality are actually connected to the content of the issue options. The impression I've gotten is that they're determined by how much like/unlike other nations you are, so if you pick options that other nations commonly pick, your Averageness will go up and your Ideological Radicality down, while if you pick unusual options, the reverse will happen. Regardless of what those options actually are.

[Trotterdam]

Dunno about the rest of it, but I don't think Averageness/Ideological Radicality are actually connected to the content of the issue options. The impression I've gotten is that they're determined by how much like/unlike other nations you are, so if you pick options that other nations commonly pick, your Averageness will go up and your Ideological Radicality down, while if you pick unusual options, the reverse will happen. Regardless of what those options actually are.

Actually, Ideological Radicality is based (primarily?) on how far-removed you are from Inoffensive Centrist Democracy, based on having extremely high or low freedom scores. This means that if you go completely crazy, and ban everything that's legal in a normal nation while legalizing everything that's banned in a normal nation, you still have a mix of freedoms and restrictions, and so don't count as overly radical.

Averageness might not be its exact reverse, based on some observed quirks in its behavior.

The exact details may have been changed in the census overhaul, so my data isn't as accurate as it used to be.

[Gnark]

#138 ("Keep The Greenbelt Green, Say Protesters"), option 2 (arrest environmental protesters, allow unrestricted land development).

Economic Output drops because of this?

The single largest percentage increase in anything is... Trout Fishing (+38%)? Which is usually incredibly sensitive to environmental impact? Yet environmentally hostile industries like Mining go down? Industries one might expect to grow with suburban development like Pizza Delivery go down? Cheese Exports go up even though Agriculture goes down? Generally, it appears to be "strong industries get weaker, and weak industries get stronger" rather than any deliberate effect on industries.

There's no effect on Civil Rights or Political Freedoms from "environmental protestors being rounded up and taken away in sinister black vans", and Authoritarianism goes down?

[West Eritrea]

Nation: West Eritrea
Issue: #137 Arms Industry Deserves Respect

I chose option 3, which increased background checks and that kind of stuff on the gun industry. But it increased social conservatism by 3% (from 38.23 to 39.38 points).

Seems kinda weird

[Trotterdam]

Nation: West Eritrea
Issue: #137 Arms Industry Deserves Respect

I chose option 3, which increased background checks and that kind of stuff on the gun industry. But it increased social conservatism by 3% (from 38.23 to 39.38 points).

Seems kinda weird

Social conservatism measures restrictions on things people can do. Owning guns is a thing people can do, and you're restricting it.

Don't get too caught up on the peculiarities of US politics, where each of only two political parties represents a mashup of multiple political agendas that don't always obviously relate to each other.