[SUBMITTED 30/3/16] Environmental Plasticity

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Final:

Name:

Environmental Plasticity

Description:

A high profile foreign journalist has criticised your nation's landscape as being "industry-wracked hellish wastelands where once countryside lay". A think tank has been assembled to look at ways of improving the beauty of the landscape.

Validity:

Low environmental beauty

Options:

[option]"Can I suggest the obvious?" asks @@randomname@@, a spokesperson from the oft-ignored environmental lobby. "Crack down on pollution, push for renewable energy. Look, the countryside won't become beautiful overnight, but isn't it time @@NAME@@ grew up and took some responsibility for the ecological damage that we're doing?"
[effect]government experts are looking to answer the question "where have all the flowers gone?"

[option]"Face it, you and me have made a desert of @@NAME@@, and it's entirely our own fault," admits Big Oil lobbyist @@randomname@@, to the surprise of all. "But, then if the damage is done then there's no further harm in expanding industry! Concrete over the withered fields and forests, and focus on building up our cities."
[effect]old folk tell their grandchildren that there used to be things called "trees" in @@NAME@@

[option]"I agree we can't turn back time, but that doesn't change how ugly the nation has gotten," comments @@randomname@@, a Synthetic Polymers Engineer. "Why not play to your strengths? Turn to plastic, and you can have fields of realistic looking flowers, lovely fibre-glass trees, and a countryside more colourful and more beautiful than anything nature could ever have achieved."
[effect]the 'snow-capped' mountains to the south are actually liberally coated in carcinogenic artificial snowflakes

[option]"Hey there beautiful elf lady! Have I got a solution for you!" exclaims technologist @@random_name()@@, with glowing goggles strapped to @@HIS@@ face. "Edited reality! Buy everyone a portable optical display, and suddenly the countryside is full of trees and birds and dragons. You can change what you see to make it whatever you want it to be! The smell is trickier, but I'm working on olfactory simulator nose plugs too!"
[effect]augmented reality headsets grow in popularity as mundane reality grows more horrifying

Name:

Environmental Plasticity

Description:

After a high profile foreign journalist criticised your nation's "industry-wracked hellish wastelands where once countryside lay" a think tank has been assembled to look at ways of improving the beauty of the landscape.

Validity:

Low eco-friendliness
Low environmental beauty
Cars not banned

Options:

[option]"Can I suggest the obvious?" asks @@RANDOMNAME@@, a spokesperson from the oft-ignored environmental lobby. "Crack down on pollution, push for renewable energy. Look, the countryside won't become beautiful overnight, but isn't it time @@NAME@@ grew up and fixed a broken environment?"
[effect]the economy is in turmoil as draconian environmental laws are suddenly introduced,
[stats]eco-friendlinesss increases a lot, ignorance decreases, employment decreases, economic growth decreases, economic freedoms decrease, economy decreases a lot, sector: manufacturing reduces a lot, all industries reduce especially automobile manufacture,

[option]"Face it, you've made a desert of @@NAME@@." observes automobile lobbyist @@RANDOMNAME@@, to the surprise of all. "If the damage is done then there's no further harm in expanding industry. Concrete over the withered fields and forests, and focus on building up our cities."
[effect]one has to drive for hours to see a tree or a blade of grass
[stats]political apathy increases, sector: manufacturing increases, eco-friendliness decreases a lot, automobile manufacturing increases, charmlessness increases,

[option]"I agree we can't turn back time, but that doesn't change how ugly the nation has gotten," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, of manufacturer PlasticArt, "so why not play to your strengths? We can make for you fields of realistic looking flowers, lovely plastic trees, and your countryside will be more colourful and more beautiful than anything nature could ever have achieved."
[effect]the 'snow-capped' mountains to the south are actually liberally coated in carcinogenic artificial snowflakes
[stats]eco-friendliness decreases a lot, environmental beauty improves a lot, sector: manufacturing increases, environment spending increases a lot, health decreases, lifespan decreases, death by cancer increases, ideological radicality increases, culture increases

[option]"Hey there beautiful elf lady! Have I got a solution for you!" exclaims a man with glowing spectacles on his face. "Edited reality! Get everyone wearing optical displays, and suddenly the countryside is full of trees and birds and dragons. You can change what you see to make it whatever you want it to be! The smell is trickier, but I'm working on olfactory simulator nose plugs too!"
[effect]virtual reality grows popular as mundane reality grows more horrifying
[stats]industry: information technology increases, technological advancement increases, primitiveness decreases, youth rebelliousness decreases, ideological radicality increases, eco-friendliness decreases, environmental beauty decreases, safety from crime decreases, safety decreases, health decreases, obesity increases, industry: pizza delivery increases, ignorance increases, cheerfulness increases, secularism increases a little, religion decreases a little,

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Just a quick bump as we've slid off the front page without comment. Will submit this in 24 hrs barring any feedback.

[Gnejs]

Hi Candle!

While I don't have any comment thought out on this as of right now, I might have at a later point. As a general feedback I would like to encourage you to leave your drafts up a little longer, even though it might be slow-going with comments here in 'GI?' occasionally (this is generally the slowest part of the forum, maybe with exception for the Security Council). Sometimes submission after a draft has slipped of the front-page might be warranted, but sometimes it's really not. This was posted two days ago! Give the other players a little more time than 3-4 days before submitting. I think this is especially the case when you have so many drafts going on at once! Don't get me wrong, I am truly awed and impressed by your rate of producing interesting stuff; but if you want to get them as refined as they could be, patience is virtue. To make a comparison, I usually had my drafts up for roughly a month's time back when I was drafting here. Not saying that's a general rule or anything, just that it is often beneficial to exhaust the opportunities a drafting process can provide

[Candlewhisper Archive]

A month? Wow. .

Ok, I can take that on board, I guess. I'll compromise, and go for submitting after 2 weeks without new comment. I can spreadsheet that easy enough.

I was going with the off-the-front-page thing from a previous discussion in the Writer's Block, but I guess that advice was given when threads were staying on the front page for a week or so.

[Prolieum]

[option]"Look, let's face it, you've made a desert of @@NAME@@." observes automobile lobbyist @@RANDOMNAME@@, to the general surprise of all. "What I'm saying is that the damage is done... so there's not really any further harm in expanding industry further. Let's just concrete over the withered fields and forests, and focus on building up our cities."
[effect]one has to drive for hours to see a tree or a blade of grass
[stats]political apathy increases, sector: manufacturing increases, eco-friendliness decreases a lot, automobile manufacturing increases, charmlessness increases,

Given the urbanization of most all land here, I would put a mild decrease to Sector:Agriculture as well-you may not be paving over farmlands, but given the general Nationstates trend of overdoing things, some of those lands probably got paved. Employment probably should also rise, given the more urbanized area, more jobs, etc.

"I agree we can't turn back time, but that doesn't change how ugly the nation has gotten," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, of manufacturer PlasticArt. "So why not play to your strengths? We can make for you fields of realistic looking flowers, lovely plastic trees, and your countryside will be more colourful and more beautiful than anything nature could ever have achieved."
[effect]the 'snow-capped' mountains to the south are actually liberally coated in carcinogenic artificial snowflakes
[stats]eco-friendliness decreases a lot, environmental beauty improves a lot, sector: manufacturing increases, environment spending increases a lot, health decreases, lifespan decreases, death by cancer increases, ideological radicality increases, culture increases

Tourism should also increase markedly here, both because of the environmental beauty, and the unique environment set up. Given the bump-up in government size, and general manipulative aspect of the issue, probably Corruption should uptick as well.

"Hey there beautiful elf lady! Have I got a solution for you!" exclaims a man with glowing spectacles on his face. "Edited reality! Get everyone wearing these optical displays, and suddenly the countryside is full of trees and birds and dragons and really, really, wow. You can change what you see to make it whatever you want it to be! The smell is trickier, but I'm working on olfactory simulator nose plugs too!"
[effect]virtual reality grows popular as mundane reality grows more horrifying
[stats]industry: information technology increases, technological advancement increases, primitiveness decreases, youth rebelliousness decreases, ideological radicality increases, eco-friendliness decreases, environmental beauty decreases, safety from crime decreases, safety decreases, health decreases, obesity increases, industry: pizza delivery increases, ignorance increases,

Given just general trends of religion in issues in Nationstates, it seems that a mild decrease in religion/increase in secularism would fit-not many traditional faiths particularly like withdrawing to VR. Cheerfulness should go up as well-people are obviously not using VR if it does not make them happy(er).


Other than that, the wording seems good, as does the general issue and choices. You could always throw in a screwball though. Something like another Violetist coming in.

"Oh, Leader, we are so close to our ultimate dream! Only when all the land is scarred waste can Violet's tentacled dream truly come to pass! Make pollution mandatory for all businesses, and start burning down whatever forests are left until all but the Holiest of hellish pits remains! ('evil laugh')

Effect: "NATION" has been turned into Mordor.

Effects: Religiousness increases, environmental beauty, eco-friendliness, lifespan decrease massively,, ideological radicality increases, trout fishing, Sector: Agriculture decreases massively, charmlessness increases, Sector: Manufacturing increases, Economic output increases slightly.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Cool. Added the stat changes you suggest.

I hesitate to add another crazy option. To date, my submitted issues have tended to be toned down with crazier options excised rather than added, and my general feel is that the team only want one crazy option per issue. As I said, I've pushed things here, as there only is one sensible response (which is having a teeny bit of environmental responsibility) but I also wanted to make sure that wasn't the "right" answer, so it comes with some serious drawbacks. After all, you can't use up the environment then refill it like a tank of petrol. Damage done is damage done.

The other three options are all just various shades of crazy: nihilistic capitalism, artificial landscape or flee from reality.

The way I see it, anyone who is valid for this issue has likely already made deliberately environment-nuking issue choices, so they likely won't mind more crazy anti-environment measures, and they'll be less radical for those nations than they would for a general population.

Note I count my own main nation amongst these!

[Prolieum]

Cool. Added the stat changes you suggest.

I hesitate to add another crazy option. To date, my submitted issues have tended to be toned down with crazier options excised rather than added, and my general feel is that the team only want one crazy option per issue. As I said, I've pushed things here, as there only is one sensible response (which is having a teeny bit of environmental responsibility) but I also wanted to make sure that wasn't the "right" answer, so it comes with some serious drawbacks. After all, you can't use up the environment then refill it like a tank of petrol. Damage done is damage done.

The other three options are all just various shades of crazy: nihilistic capitalism, artificial landscape or flee from reality.

The way I see it, anyone who is valid for this issue has likely already made deliberately environment-nuking issue choices, so they likely won't mind more crazy anti-environment measures, and they'll be less radical for those nations than they would for a general population.

Note I count my own main nation amongst these!

Sounds good to me. I do not really have anything to add outside the stat suggestions, sees well-written, I will let everyone else take a crack at it.