[MEGATHREAD] Unusual Issue Effects

[Ransium]

Maybe it drops automatically when a nation logs in, but only shows the effect when you answer an issue? In which case it’ll sort itself out in the next couple months. I’m sure [violet] will know...

Edit: [violet] has confirmed to me that it happens on log in. So the problem will fix itself eventuall.

[Bear Connors Paradiso]

Give us a little something for at least answering the issue instead of dismissing it.

The effect line was actually: "prison visits increase substantially during election years".

Anyway, the reason your political freedoms did not change were that this did not represent a change in your position, but rather just an affirmation of values your nation already strongly holds.

The first FAQ in the opening post explains how this works.

You did read the FAQ, didn't you?

You read my whole post didn't you?

870.1 also gave 0 effects which is mildly irritating. Like, we're working on it, putting more money into info tech or raising compassion or something. We have so many issues and so many stats that could be affected (and so many stats that are only affected by like one issue) that it's insanity that there are any options that literally affect nothing. Like why bother answering issues if nothing happens?

[Satornia]

I'm not sure if this is the most appropriate thread for this but I certainly had something unusual happen.

After I answered issue 673.3 on this nation I noticed my secularism shot up dramatically. I went from not being in the top 10% to the top 5% in the world.
https://i.imgur.com/H2vowKk_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

Over 50 points.

The weird thing is I'm not even sure it was because of this issue; I noticed it afterward. I looked at my stat changes pretty close and didn't notice secularism changing at all.

[Trotterdam]

The weird thing is I'm not even sure it was because of this issue; I noticed it afterward. I looked at my stat changes pretty close and didn't notice secularism changing at all.

I'm guessing that you had banned religion at some point.

The calculation of Religiousness and Secularism has recently been changed to more properly acknowledge this choice.

You can see the effect here.

[The first Galactic Republic]

What happened to my recreational drug use?! It was something like top 0.04% of the world and now it’s top 94%. How could anything make it fall so rapidly? I just answered five issues and I’m not sure which one caused it. Even if they all contributed, how could it be changed so radically?

I don’t remember which issue I recently answered caused this. I swear I don’t recall recreational drug use as one of the stats that ever fell. These were the five issues though.

The first issue I answered was #144 Democracy Going to the Dogs? I chose option 2.

The second issue I answered was #838 The Bark Knight Rises. I chose option 4.

The third issue I answered was #247 Where’s There’s Smoke. I chose option 1.

The fourth issue I answered was #692 Game of Drones. I chose option 2.

The fifth and final issue that I answered today was #780 Vexing VAT. I chose option 1.

If this isn’t a glitch then please tell me how any of these issues or even all of them could lead to such a massive change. I’ve never seen a stat like that fall so much over a single day.

[Satornia]

The weird thing is I'm not even sure it was because of this issue; I noticed it afterward. I looked at my stat changes pretty close and didn't notice secularism changing at all.

I'm guessing that you had banned religion at some point.

The calculation of Religiousness and Secularism has recently been changed to more properly acknowledge this choice.

You can see the effect here.

Hmm, nope didn't ban it, but I did say only evolution should be taught in the classroom. Does that count as a ban? This nation is new enough that I can remember all the issues I've already answered and that's the only one that comes close.

[Ransium]

What happened to my recreational drug use?! It was something like top 0.04% of the world and now it’s top 94%. How could anything make it fall so rapidly? I just answered five issues and I’m not sure which one caused it. Even if they all contributed, how could it be changed so radically?

I don’t remember which issue I recently answered caused this. I swear I don’t recall recreational drug use as one of the stats that ever fell. These were the five issues though.

The first issue I answered was #144 Democracy Going to the Dogs? I chose option 2.

The second issue I answered was #838 The Bark Knight Rises. I chose option 4.

The third issue I answered was #247 Where’s There’s Smoke. I chose option 1.

The fourth issue I answered was #692 Game of Drones. I chose option 2.

The fifth and final issue that I answered today was #780 Vexing VAT. I chose option 1.

If this isn’t a glitch then please tell me how any of these issues or even all of them could lead to such a massive change. I’ve never seen a stat like that fall so much over a single day.

Read the OP, specifically “what happened to recreational drug use?” Let me know if you still have questions.

[The first Galactic Republic]

What happened to my recreational drug use?! It was something like top 0.04% of the world and now it’s top 94%. How could anything make it fall so rapidly? I just answered five issues and I’m not sure which one caused it. Even if they all contributed, how could it be changed so radically?

I don’t remember which issue I recently answered caused this. I swear I don’t recall recreational drug use as one of the stats that ever fell. These were the five issues though.

The first issue I answered was #144 Democracy Going to the Dogs? I chose option 2.

The second issue I answered was #838 The Bark Knight Rises. I chose option 4.

The third issue I answered was #247 Where’s There’s Smoke. I chose option 1.

The fourth issue I answered was #692 Game of Drones. I chose option 2.

The fifth and final issue that I answered today was #780 Vexing VAT. I chose option 1.

If this isn’t a glitch then please tell me how any of these issues or even all of them could lead to such a massive change. I’ve never seen a stat like that fall so much over a single day.

Read the OP, specifically “what happened to recreational drug use?” Let me know if you still have questions.

Oof ow my drugs.

Well thanks for the clarification.

[Ransium]

Sorry! But we’ll all be better for it in the long run. Just pick some pro- recreational drug options and I’m sure you’ll get back soon!

[[violet]]

I'm guessing that you had banned religion at some point.

The calculation of Religiousness and Secularism has recently been changed to more properly acknowledge this choice.

You can see the effect here.

Hmm, nope didn't ban it, but I did say only evolution should be taught in the classroom. Does that count as a ban? This nation is new enough that I can remember all the issues I've already answered and that's the only one that comes close.

Yep, that's the one. Choice quote: "I propose zat ve do AVAY vith zer teachink of silly thinks like religion..."

[Satornia]

Hmm, nope didn't ban it, but I did say only evolution should be taught in the classroom. Does that count as a ban? This nation is new enough that I can remember all the issues I've already answered and that's the only one that comes close.

Yep, that's the one. Choice quote: "I propose zat ve do AVAY vith zer teachink of silly thinks like religion..."

Ah, didn't read it close enough! (I swear it was his thick accent). I'll just embrace being a godless heathen for now.

[Trotterdam]

Not teaching something in schools is not the same thing as banning people from believing in it.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Not teaching something in schools is not the same thing as banning people from believing in it.

Hmm.

Yeah, I recently reviewed this issue and toned down those changes, but you're right, they shouldn't be there at all. Have re-edited: that option will no longer affect your religious freedoms, just your overall religiousness rates.

[La Badlandoj]

Something I noticed around the same time the rejiggering switched me from drug-maximizing to drug-minimizing:

My obesity stat took a reasonably significant nosedive without any action on my behalf. Not a bad thing, I was trying to get it down anyway. Is this also related to the drug issue, or is it another backstage thing, or did I answer an issue giving that effect and forget?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Something I noticed around the same time the rejiggering switched me from drug-maximizing to drug-minimizing:

My obesity stat took a reasonably significant nosedive without any action on my behalf. Not a bad thing, I was trying to get it down anyway. Is this also related to the drug issue, or is it another backstage thing, or did I answer an issue giving that effect and forget?

It's related to the drug thing. Basically moving from one end of the scale to the other on drug freedoms does that to your obesity. Presumably the idea was that recreational drug use gives you the munchies.

It's worth clarifying here - before people point out that compulsory drug use will give you the munchies too - that the majority of nations being labelled as compulsory drug use were nothing of the sort. The stat movements that were creating the position of "drug use is mandatory" basically were linked to any instance of the drinking water supply having a harmful additive put in it for any reason, including the addition of synthetic EDTA. smart-medicines and poison. This is part of what motivated the review - you could choose to add a chemical to the water, see your drug use fly upwards, then mildly restrict alcohol, then have your civil rights zoom massively upwards. It was basically a squiffy mess.

It works better this way, much cleaner and more consistent. The big thing here is the transition, when a load of stats will readjust according to the model they should have been using all along.

Bear in mind this will be happening a lot, as right now we (and the tech team) are in full mechanic mode, fixing a load of idiosyncrasies that have been there for a long, long time.

[Satornia]

Not teaching something in schools is not the same thing as banning people from believing in it.

Hmm.

Yeah, I recently reviewed this issue and toned down those changes, but you're right, they shouldn't be there at all. Have re-edited: that option will no longer affect your religious freedoms, just your overall religiousness rates.

Will my religious freedoms be retroactively boosted? Is that possible?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Sorry, no, can't open the floodgates that way. Stats get tweaked all the time, there's too many players to start changing things because they were previously executed differently, and it'd set a bad precedent to do it on a request-based basis.

[Satornia]

Sorry, no, can't open the floodgates that way. Stats get tweaked all the time, there's too many players to start changing things because they were previously executed differently, and it'd set a bad precedent to do it on a request-based basis.

No problem, just thought I'd ask

[Merconitonitopia]

648:1 got rid of my theocracy ;(

[Ahma]

Issue 239 - We Who Are About to Die Would Rather Go Home

An old supporter of yours has recently passed on, leaving a quite sizeable plot of land to you in his will - but only under a rather unusual condition: that the site be developed into a colosseum for hosting gladiatorial fights and other bloody spectacles.

option 1

“Yes, yes!” cries Carrie Watts, waving a wooden sword enthusiastically. “You’ve gotta do this, man! Gladiator fights are like the ultimate in spectator sports! And it doesn’t just have to be people! We could pit man against wolverine! Blade against claw! Nothing to their names but their wits and their stamina! You’d have to pay people a lot to risk their lives doing this, but I bet you’d earn a whole lot more from merchandise and wagers and stuff!”

Results:
Averageness ↑26.2%
Ideological Radicality ↓8.3%

And the problem is that right there.

I think it is weird that nation becomes more average and less odd when they start the gladiator games. (Maybe Ahma has gone beyond oddness and starting gladiator fights is actually one of the more regular things they can do.)

[Pencil Sharpeners 2]

Issue 239 - We Who Are About to Die Would Rather Go Home

An old supporter of yours has recently passed on, leaving a quite sizeable plot of land to you in his will - but only under a rather unusual condition: that the site be developed into a colosseum for hosting gladiatorial fights and other bloody spectacles.

option 1

“Yes, yes!” cries Carrie Watts, waving a wooden sword enthusiastically. “You’ve gotta do this, man! Gladiator fights are like the ultimate in spectator sports! And it doesn’t just have to be people! We could pit man against wolverine! Blade against claw! Nothing to their names but their wits and their stamina! You’d have to pay people a lot to risk their lives doing this, but I bet you’d earn a whole lot more from merchandise and wagers and stuff!”

Results:
Averageness ↑26.2%
Ideological Radicality ↓8.3%

And the problem is that right there.

I think it is weird that nation becomes more average and less odd when they start the gladiator games. (Maybe Ahma has gone beyond oddness and starting gladiator fights is actually one of the more regular things they can do.)

Ideological radicality is based almost exclusively off of the 3 freedoms (civil rights, political freedom, economic freedom).
This option raised your economic freedom, bringing it closer to centre, which is why your radicality decreased.

[Trotterdam]

I think it is weird that nation becomes more average and less odd when they start the gladiator games. (Maybe Ahma has gone beyond oddness and starting gladiator fights is actually one of the more regular things they can do.)

Kind of, yes.

What Ideological Radicality actually measures is how far your three freedom stats (civil, economic, and political) are from a perfect Inoffensive Centrist Democracy. However, since each of these stats is an aggregation of multiple separate freedoms, results can sometimes get quirky. If half of your policies are crazy radical libertarian absurdity, and half of your policies are crazy radical authoritarian absurdity, then that will average out to you appearing centrist (and thus, low Ideological Radicality), even though none of your policies individually are normal.

So, in this case, what happened was that even though having gladiatorial fights might seem really crazy, it was crazy in the opposite direction from your nation's previous political leaning, and thus shifted it closer to centrism.

[Clean Land]

I had this more than once, it is not just this issue: There are some issue answers that basically increase the economy without any big noticeable negative side effects. Something looks wrong there.
An example would be issue 768, option 4.

[Merconitonitopia]

I had this more than once, it is not just this issue: There are some issue answers that basically increase the economy without any big noticeable negative side effects. Something looks wrong there.
An example would be issue 768, option 4.

nothing abnormal there, this is how the game has always worked.
nice Tyranny by Majority, by the way.

[Kombinita Socialisma Demokratio]

Issue 567 option one (syntax destruction, option of direct and to the point government reports), reduced political freedoms, civil rights, industry, and corruption; but employment went up. The most significant changes were in corruption and insurance.

I realise that options do not always have logical outcomes, but this seems somewhat contradictory. I do not understand the reasoning that could explain that.