NationStates

Yes, We Have No Vanilla

[issue]A dramatic rise in the price of vanilla has led to a warning by @@NATION@@'s main ice-cream makers that they might discontinue their vanilla-flavoured products altogether. This has caused a public outcry, and the problem has now been brought to you for solution.
[validity]unrestricted (or say that ‘Average Income of Poor’ must be high enough for mass-market demand for these goods to exist, and for labour costs to leave domestic production of vanilla uneconomical, but not so high that the price rise isn’t really a problem?)

[option]"We don't like the idea of losing those lines either," explains ice-cream industry spokesperson @@RANDOMNAME@@, "but we couldn't produce vanilla on a worthwhile scale in this country, so all of the vanilla we use is imported from Macronesia instead. However, problems there — tropical storms damaging the harvest, political unrest, and criminal gangs raiding the farms — have combined with rising demand to push the price up twelvefold in just a couple of years. That makes it simply too expensive for us to use, if we are going to keep selling the ice-cream at a price many people would be willing to pay. If the government wants us to keep on producing reasonably inexpensive vanilla ice-cream, to keep people happy, then the government will have to subsidize it."
[validity]unrestricted
[effect]the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ government is @@REGION@@’s largest purchaser of vanilla

[option]"Subsidies!" exclaims Cherry Berry, director of gourmet gelatiers Jen And Berry’s. "You should let the market decide, instead. The mass-market producers might see sales fall a bit, but we already know that shoppers will willingly pay well for quality from companies such as ours, so if people really want vanilla ice-cream then they will still buy it even with these rising prices." She opens a tub of her company’s Happy Hazelnut Latte ice-cream, and starts eating.
[validity]Invalid for nations that ban private enterprise
[effect]grandparents tell their grandchildren tales of a mythical white ice-cream

[option]"Meh," comments @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of your Press Officers. "Vanilla is so boring, anyway. Seems to me that this shortage is actually a blessing in disguise because it might prompt people to try other flavours, more interesting ones, instead."
[validity]capitalist
[effect]mocha-chili is the nation's new favourite flavour of ice-cream

[option]"H’mm," muses @@RANDOMNAME@@, Second Under-Minister for Food Production. "We could switch to producing the vanilla that we want for ourselves. That might not be the most efficient allocation of workers, but it would be worth it as another step towards economic self-sufficiency and better than continuing to exploit peasants in poorer countries."
[validity]Invalid for nations that allow private enterprise
[effect]the nation is forecast to become self-sufficient in vanilla by the end of the next ten — or maybe twenty, or thirty — years

[option]"Bah!" exclaims @@RANDOMNAME@@, Minister for Ideological Certainty. "That would be wasteful of workers who could be employed more worthily on projects of greater importance, such as improving infrastructure. Ice-cream is decadent luxury that should have no place in true Communist society. Let us ban it altogether, to prevent capitalist indulgence from corrupting our nation."
[validity]communist
[effect]the police raid black market ice-cream parlours

[option]"A perfectly good 'vanilla' flavouring can be synthesised easily and cheaply from one of the wood-pulp industry's by-products, actually," your Science adviser @@RANDOMNAME@@ comments. "Sell that as 'DEMONYMADJECTIVE Vanilla' at a good price and who’s going to care about any slight difference?"
[validityInvalid for nations below the top 75% for Scientific Advancement
[effect]foodies argue the relative merits of domestic and imported vanilla essence

[option]Violetist Grand Poobah @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ has a different idea about this matter, however: "Vanilla is sacred to Violet," she insists, “and so only we, as Her faithful, should be allowed to use it for anything… and that should be the true, natural material, not some synthetic substitute.”
[validityInvalid for nations in which Violetism is banned
[effect]desperate vanilla-addicts are converting to Violetism

Bears Armed wrote:[issue]A recent warning by the country's ice-cream manufacturers that they might discontinue their vanilla-flavoured products has caused a public outcry.

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"Subsidies!" exclaims Cherry Berry, director of gourmet gelatiers Jen And Berry’s. "You should let the market decide, instead. We already know that people will willingly pay well for quality products."

Sacara wrote:Is there a reference I'm missing in the title, or is this what you decided upon?

Bears Armed wrote:And the suggested title is, as some of you might recognise, modified from the title of an old song.

Trotterdam wrote:Why can't you grow natural vanilla in your own nation? Climate? What about greenhouses?

Trotterdam wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[issue]A recent warning by the country's ice-cream manufacturers that they might discontinue their vanilla-flavoured products has caused a public outcry.
[option]"Subsidies!" exclaims Cherry Berry, director of gourmet gelatiers Jen And Berry’s. "You should let the market decide, instead. We already know that people will willingly pay well for quality products."

According to the opening, the market has decided, and it has decided it might discontinue the products. "Might" is vague, admittedly, but the implication is that they will unless you do something about it.
If the market can reasonably be expected not to discontinue the products, then that should be addressed in the opening.

Annihilators of Chan Island wrote:So if vanilla products are becoming too expensive to import due to myriad foreign horrors, why is there is enough outcry to catch the attention of the leader of the nation? Either there are not enough people to make it viable- in which case there wouldn't be outcry- or the citizenry would be prepared to fork out more for their favourite ice cream... in which case, why would the ice cream industry want to pull out this flavour?

Annihilators of Chan Island wrote:Also, @@NAME@@ is completely capable of growing vanilla. It has areas with the climate for it. So why not grow the stuff domestically if there are so many dangers? Bonus points if it is a step on the way to full autarky.

Annihilators of Chan Island wrote:Capitalist option 2 is just too much of a no brainer. Communist option 2 is too similar to option 4.

Australian rePublic wrote:I think that the Violetism option is taking things too far.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Same reference is made in the effect line of 649.3, incidentally.

Not that it stops you using this title, just pointing out that it's not an unknown reference.

Nicana wrote:"Vanilla" is often used to mean bland, plain, unexciting. Maybe you could work in an option making use of that, such as a double-chocolate chip cookie fan saying "good! now maybe people will try some of the more exciting flavours?". Relatedly, "vanilla ice-cream has become a luxury" is a boring outcome text: how about something like "vanilla ice-cream is an exotic flavour available only to the wealthiest libertines".

Nicana wrote:Personally I think too much of the issue description has been put into the first option text, and it would be better to have some exposition in the description text -- but that's a stylistic thing as it wouldn't really affect the mechanics.

Bears Armed wrote:

Trotterdam wrote:Why can't you grow natural vanilla in your own nation? Climate? What about greenhouses?

Vanilla is a labour-intensive crop whose production is too fiddly for mechanisation to be practical (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla and https://www.economist.com/the-economist ... of-vanilla). Any nation with wide enough demand for ice-cream (etc.) for a shortage of affordable vanilla to be a problem probably has an economy strong enough that it has to pay its workers too highly for ‘domestic’ production to be cost-effective against imports despite the latter’s recent increase in price. I’ve now mentioned the possibility of taking this into effect for the issue’s overall validity.

Trotterdam wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:Vanilla is a labour-intensive crop whose production is too fiddly for mechanisation to be practical (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla and https://www.economist.com/the-economist ... of-vanilla). Any nation with wide enough demand for ice-cream (etc.) for a shortage of affordable vanilla to be a problem probably has an economy strong enough that it has to pay its workers too highly for ‘domestic’ production to be cost-effective against imports despite the latter’s recent increase in price. I’ve now mentioned the possibility of taking this into effect for the issue’s overall validity.

Interesing. First-world nations benefiting from the existence of poorer nations to import cheap stuff from is a rather underappreciated issue today. Even people who are aware of the unfortunate implications tend to sweep them under the rug because they like having cheap stuff.

However, this angle isn't really in focus in the draft (only one of the communist-only options in the latest revision even mentions it), which makes it unconvincing as a justification for the scenario, and raises the question of whether you're actually addressing the most important problem on the subject...

Bears Armed wrote:[issue]A drastic rise in the price of vanilla has led to a warning by the country's main ice-cream makers and some other food manufacturers that they might discontinue their vanilla-flavoured products altogether. This has caused a public outcry, and the problem has now been brought to you for solution.

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"We don't like the idea of having to drop those lines either," explains ice-cream industry spokesperson @@RANDOMNAME@@, "but we couldn't produce vanilla on a worthwhile scale in this country so all of the vanilla we use is imported from Macronesia instead and problems there — tropical storms damaging the harvest, political unrest, and criminal gangs raiding the farms — have combined with rising demand to push the price up twelvefold since just a couple of years ago. That makes it simply too expensive for us to use if we are going to keep selling the ice-cream at a price many people would be willing to pay. If the government wants us to keep on producing reasonably inexpensive vanilla ice-cream, to keep people happy, then the government will have to subsidize it."

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ government is the region’s largest purchaser of vanilla

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"Subsidies!" exclaims Cherry Berry, director of gourmet gelatiers Jen And Berry’s. "You should let the market decide, instead. The mass-market producers might see sales fall a bit, but we already know that shoppers will willingly pay well for quality from firms such as ours so if people really want vanilla ice-cream then they will still buy it even at higher prices."

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]for most people vanilla ice-cream has become a rare treat

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"Meh," comments @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of your Press Officers. "Vanilla is so boring, anyway. This shortage is actually a blessing in disguise because it might prompt people to try other flavours, more interesting ones, instead."

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"H’mm," muses @@RANDOMNAME@@, Second Under-Minister for Food Production. "We could switch to producing the vanilla that we want for ourselves. That might not be the most efficient allocation of workers, but it would be worth it as a step towards Autarky and better than continuing to exploit peasants in poorer countries."

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]the country is forecast to become self-sufficient in vanilla by the end of the next ten — or maybe twenty, or thirty — years

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"A perfectly good 'vanilla' flavouring can be synthesised easily and cheaply from one of the wood-pulp industry’s by-products, actually," your Science adviser @@RANDOMNAME” comments. "Sell that as @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE Vanilla’ at a good price and who’s going to care about any slight difference?"

Bears Armed wrote:[option]Violetist grand poobah @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ has a different idea about this matter, however: "Vanilla is sacred to Violet," she insists, “and so only we, as Her faithful, should be allowed to use it for anything… and that should be the natural material, not some synthetic substitute.”

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]the only legal use of vanilla is in Violetist rites

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[issue]A drastic rise in the price of vanilla has led to a warning by the country's main ice-cream makers and some other food manufacturers that they might discontinue their vanilla-flavoured products altogether. This has caused a public outcry, and the problem has now been brought to you for solution.

I'd personaly just cut out the bolded parts. The first one makes the sentence read awkwardly, and the second one adds nothing to the issue.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"We don't like the idea of having to drop those lines either," explains ice-cream industry spokesperson @@RANDOMNAME@@, "but we couldn't produce vanilla on a worthwhile scale in this country so all of the vanilla we use is imported from Macronesia instead and problems there — tropical storms damaging the harvest, political unrest, and criminal gangs raiding the farms — have combined with rising demand to push the price up twelvefold since just a couple of years ago. That makes it simply too expensive for us to use if we are going to keep selling the ice-cream at a price many people would be willing to pay. If the government wants us to keep on producing reasonably inexpensive vanilla ice-cream, to keep people happy, then the government will have to subsidize it."

country. All... It splits it up so it's not one long sentence. Since just also reads awkwardly.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ government is the region’s largest purchaser of vanilla

This just tells me what the option did. I would expect something along lines of "half of the government's budget goes to purchasing vanilla" or something of the sorts.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"Subsidies!" exclaims Cherry Berry, director of gourmet gelatiers Jen And Berry’s. "You should let the market decide, instead. The mass-market producers might see sales fall a bit, but we already know that shoppers will willingly pay well for quality from firms such as ours so if people really want vanilla ice-cream then they will still buy it even at higher prices."

ours, so...then, they. I feel like this option is a bit bland. Maybe add character to the speaker, other than his funny name.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]for most people vanilla ice-cream has become a rare treat

"grandparents tell their kids stories of a mythical white ice cream" or something funny.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"Meh," comments @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of your Press Officers. "Vanilla is so boring, anyway. This shortage is actually a blessing in disguise because it might prompt people to try other flavours, more interesting ones, instead."

other more interesting flavors, instead. Why is it one of your Press Officers? I don't see the connection.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"H’mm," muses @@RANDOMNAME@@, Second Under-Minister for Food Production. "We could switch to producing the vanilla that we want for ourselves. That might not be the most efficient allocation of workers, but it would be worth it as a step towards Autarky and better than continuing to exploit peasants in poorer countries."

Can you be communist and an autarky? If so, should that be a requirement? I don't like the explicit name drop of Autarky, anyways. If you're going to have it, though, it doesn't need to be capitalized.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]the country is forecast to become self-sufficient in vanilla by the end of the next ten — or maybe twenty, or thirty — years

Not a bad effect line. "the Party requires farms to reach monthly quotas of vanilla", or something of the sorts, is my suggestion.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[option]"A perfectly good 'vanilla' flavouring can be synthesised easily and cheaply from one of the wood-pulp industry’s by-products, actually," your Science adviser @@RANDOMNAME” comments. "Sell that as @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE Vanilla’ at a good price and who’s going to care about any slight difference?"

@@RANDOMNAME@@. Why is there an apostrophe after Vanilla, unless you missed the beginning one.

Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[option]Violetist grand poobah @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ has a different idea about this matter, however: "Vanilla is sacred to Violet," she insists, “and so only we, as Her faithful, should be allowed to use it for anything… and that should be the natural material, not some synthetic substitute.”

I'd just scrap this whole option, to be honest.

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]the only legal use of vanilla is in Violetist rites

But if you're going to keep it, think of an effect that doesn't tell us what we just read. I can't think of one off the top of my head, however.

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Sacara wrote:

Bears Armed wrote:[effect]for most people vanilla ice-cream has become a rare treat

"grandparents tell their kids stories of a mythical white ice cream" or something funny.

Shwe Tu Colony wrote:Orange words are suggestions, orange ellipsis are removed phrases, underlined words are comments.

Code: Select all

[color=#FF6A00][/color]

Bears Armed wrote:Yes, We have no Vanilla

[issue]A dramatic rise in the price of vanilla has led to a warning by the country's main ice-cream makers that they might discontinue their vanilla-flavoured products altogether. This has caused a public outcry, and the problem has now been brought to you for a solution.
[validity]unrestricted (or say that ‘Average Income of Poor’ must be high enough for mass-market demand for these goods to exist, and for labour costs to leave domestic production of vanilla uneconomical, but not so high that the price rise isn’t really a problem?)

[option]"We don't want to drop those lines either," explains ice-cream industry spokesperson @@RANDOMNAME@@, "but we couldn't produce vanilla on a worthwhile scale in this country, so all of the vanilla we use is imported from Macronesia. However, problems there — tropical storms damaging the harvest, political unrest, and criminal gangs raiding the farms — in tandem with rising demand have pushed the price up twelvefold in just a couple of years. That makes it simply too expensive for us ... if we are going to keep selling the ice-cream at a reasonable price ... . If we are to continue producing ... vanilla ice-cream for the common people, then the government will have to subsidize it."
[validity]unrestricted
[effect]the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ government is the region’s largest purchaser of vanilla

[option]"Subsidies!" exclaims Cherry Berry, director of gourmet gelatiers Jen And Berry’s. "You should let the market decide, instead. The mass-market producers might see sales fall a bit, but we already know that shoppers will willingly pay well for quality from companies such as ours, so if people really want vanilla ice-cream then they will still buy it, even with these rising prices." She opens a tub of her company’s Happy Hazelnut Latte ice-cream ... and starts eating.
[validity]capitalist
[effect]... vanilla ice-cream has become a rare treat for most people

[option]"Meh," comments @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of your Press Officers. "Vanilla is so boring, anyway. Seems to me that this shortage is actually a blessing in disguise because it might prompt these lovers of boring [color=#FF6A00]vanilla taste[/color] to try other, more interesting flavours, ... instead."
[validity]capitalist
[effect]mocha-chili is the nation's new favourite flavour of ice-cream

[option]"H’mm," muses @@RANDOMNAME@@, Second Under-Minister for Food Production. "We could switch to producing some homegrown vanilla ... for ourselves. It might not be the most efficient allocation of workers, but it would be worth it as another step towards economic self-sufficiency. Plus, it's better than continuing to exploit peasants in those pitiful capitalist nations."
[validity]communist
[effect]the country is forecast to become self-sufficient in vanilla by the end of the next ten — or maybe twenty, or thirty — years

[option]"Bah!" exclaims @@RANDOMNAME@@, Minister for Ideological Certainty. "That would be a waste of workers who could be employed ... on projects of greater importance, such as improving infrastructure. Ice-cream is decadent luxury that should have no place in true Communist society. Let us ban it altogether, to prevent capitalist indulgence from corrupting our nation."
[validity]communist
[effect]the police raid black market ice-cream parlours

[option]"A perfectly good 'vanilla' flavouring can be synthesised easily and cheaply from one of the by-products of the wood-pulp industry, actually," your Science adviser @@RANDOMNAME@@ comments. "Sell that as 'DEMONYMADJECTIVE Vanilla' at a good price and who’s going to care about any slight difference?"
[validity]reasonable (“top 75%”) Scientific Advancement
[effect]foodies argue the relative merits of domestic and imported vanilla essence

[option]Violetist grand poobah (does it need to be capitalized?) @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ has a different idea about this matter, however: "Vanilla is sacred to Violet," she insists, “and so only we, as Her faithful, should be allowed to use it for anything… and it has be only the best of the natural sort, not some inferior synthetic substitute. Such a sacrifice would only infuriate Her.”
[validity]Violetism is legal
[effect]desperate vanilla-addicts are converting to Violetism

Shwe Tu Colony wrote:Orange words are suggestions, orange ellipsis are removed phrases, underlined words are comments.

Code: Select all

[color=#FF6A00][/color]

Yes, We have no Vanilla

[issue]A dramatic (Yes) rise in the price of vanilla has led to a warning by the country's main ice-cream makers that they might discontinue their vanilla-flavoured products altogether. This has caused a public outcry, and the problem has now been brought to you for a (No) solution.
[validity]unrestricted (or say that ‘Average Income of Poor’ must be high enough for mass-market demand for these goods to exist, and for labour costs to leave domestic production of vanilla uneconomical, but not so high that the price rise isn’t really a problem?)

[option]"We don't want to drop those lines either," (Different change made, instead) explains ice-cream industry spokesperson @@RANDOMNAME@@, "but we couldn't produce vanilla on a worthwhile scale in this country, so all of the vanilla we use is imported from Macronesia. However, (Yes, to shorten sentence) problems there — tropical storms damaging the harvest, political unrest, and criminal gangs raiding the farms — in tandem (No: multiple problems => not "tandem") with rising demand have pushed (No) the price up twelvefold in just a couple of years. That makes it simply too expensive for us ... (No) if we are going to keep selling the ice-cream at a reasonable (No) price ... (No). If we are to continue (No) producing ... (No) vanilla ice-cream for the common people (No), then the government will have to subsidize it."
[validity]unrestricted
[effect]the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ government is the region’s largest purchaser of vanilla

[option]"Subsidies!" exclaims Cherry Berry, director of gourmet gelatiers Jen And Berry’s. "You should let the market decide, instead. The mass-market producers might see sales fall a bit, but we already know that shoppers will willingly pay well for quality from companies (Okay) such as ours, so if people really want vanilla ice-cream then they will still buy it, even with these rising prices (Yes)." She opens a tub of her company’s Happy Hazelnut Latte ice-cream ... (No) and starts eating.
[validity]capitalist
[effect]... vanilla ice-cream has become a rare treat for most people (Different line adopted instead)

[option]"Meh," comments @@RANDOMNAME@@, one of your Press Officers. "Vanilla is so boring, anyway. Seems to me that (Yes) this shortage is actually a blessing in disguise because it might prompt these lovers of boring [color=#FF6A00]vanilla taste[/color] (No, too repetitive) to try other, more interesting flavours, ... (No) instead."
[validity]capitalist
[effect]mocha-chili is the nation's new favourite flavour of ice-cream

[option]"H’mm," muses @@RANDOMNAME@@, Second Under-Minister for Food Production. "We could switch to producing some homegrown vanilla ... (No: He/she is too confident for such a limited suggestion… otherwise they probably wouldn’t suggest trying to grow the vanilla yourselves anyway….) for ourselves. It (No, to avoid repetition of "it" in this sentence) might not be the most efficient allocation of workers, but it would be worth it as another step towards economic self-sufficiency. Plus, it's better than continuing to exploit peasants in those pitiful capitalist nations (No. Nations with peasant farmers so lowly-paid that producing vanilla there for export is potentially worthwhile probably wouldn’t count as having reached the ‘capitalist’ stage yet under Marxist definitions.)."
[validity]communist
[effect]the country is forecast to become self-sufficient in vanilla by the end of the next ten — or maybe twenty, or thirty — years

[option]"Bah!" exclaims @@RANDOMNAME@@, Minister for Ideological Certainty. "That would be a waste of workers (Maybe: I was giving this minister a stereotyped ‘Russian’ speaking style, because of the lengthy Russia/Communism connection in RL, and IIRC Russian doesn’t use the “a” in such situations… so this line would become just “That would be waste of workers [etc]” and I think that “wasteful of” works better than “waste of”…) who could be employed ... (Probably not on projects of greater importance, such as improving infrastructure. Ice-cream is decadent luxury that should have no place in true Communist society. Let us ban it altogether, to prevent capitalist indulgence from corrupting our nation (Yes)."
[validity]communist
[effect]the police raid black market ice-cream parlours

[option]"A perfectly good 'vanilla' flavouring can be synthesised easily and cheaply from one of the by-products of the wood-pulp industry (Slightly different wording adopted instead), actually," your Science adviser @@RANDOMNAME@@ comments. "Sell that as 'DEMONYMADJECTIVE Vanilla' at a good price and who’s going to care about any slight difference?"
[validity]reasonable (“top 75%”) Scientific Advancement
[effect]foodies argue the relative merits of domestic and imported vanilla essence

[option]Violetist grand poobah (does it need to be capitalized?) (According to previous issues that use that title, yes, it does) @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@ has a different idea about this matter, however: "Vanilla is sacred to Violet," she insists, “and so only we, as Her faithful, should be allowed to use it for anything… and it has be only the best of the natural sort, not some inferior synthetic substitute. Such a sacrifice would only infuriate Her. (Maybe, but I’m not even sure about leaving this option in the draft anyway… And if only the Violetists are allowed to use vanilla for anything anyway then — unless it’s actually being issued to them by the government, I suppose — surely they can make this decision about sourcing it for themselves without needing a government ruling on that point?)”
[validity]Violetism is legal
[effect]desperate vanilla-addicts are converting to Violetism

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Interesting issue, I like it.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Maybe try and revisit those effect lines that don't attempt jokes, and attempt some funny with them.

Bears Armed wrote:

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Maybe try and revisit those effect lines that don't attempt jokes, and attempt some funny with them.

Most of them [apart from the first] already attempt jokes... Okay, I'll see what I can do.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Don't sweat it too much if you can't come up with anything. It's a good issue for sure, and we can always teamthink some lines backstage if it comes to it.