Not how I planned

[Armagstan]

Sometimes, whenever I tackle an issue, I find that the results are nothing like they should be in real life. I seem to especially have a problem with environmental issues, as all of the solutions seem bad, but when I dismiss the issue my economy goes down. I would like to know how many other people struggle with making the right decisions even though they may seem dumb or go against your political opinions.

Then again, I'm new, so I don't know how to do hardly anything anyway.

[The New California Republic]

Sometimes, whenever I tackle an issue, I find that the results are nothing like they should be in real life. I seem to especially have a problem with environmental issues, as all of the solutions seem bad, but when I dismiss the issue my economy goes down. I would like to know how many other people struggle with making the right decisions even though they may seem dumb or go against your political opinions.

Then again, I'm new, so I don't know how to do hardly anything anyway.

Dismissing an issue has no effects like that, so I don't know where you are getting that idea from...

And you need to learn to read between the lines, as each option often has implicit hints as to what the effects may be.

[Christ Triumphant]

Don't worry. Everyone struggles with the issues early on.

The issues have a...sense of humor, to them. But you'll get a hang of it.

Often, with the environmental issues, choosing the more environmentally-friendly option will (un-intuitively) make your Economy go up. If you crash your environment too badly, this seems to have a detrimental effect on other industries, such as Tourism.

However, when you dismiss an issue, there should never be a change. Dismissing is the same as never having received the issue in the first place, at least in regards to your stats.

[The Free Joy State]

Sometimes, whenever I tackle an issue, I find that the results are nothing like they should be in real life. I seem to especially have a problem with environmental issues, as all of the solutions seem bad, but when I dismiss the issue my economy goes down. I would like to know how many other people struggle with making the right decisions even though they may seem dumb or go against your political opinions.

Then again, I'm new, so I don't know how to do hardly anything anyway.

Dismissing an issue has no effects like that, so I don't know where you are getting that idea from...

And you need to learn to read between the lines, as each option often has implicit hints as to what the effects may be.

NCR is right. Dismissing an issue -- contrary to some rumours that still seem to persist -- has no effect on your nation.

Issues can be tricky at first. As this is a satirical nation-builder, they often have exaggerated, humorous or unintended consequences (that's part of the fun -- and also something of a meta-joke about politics, I feel; no matter how noble someone's intentions, they rarely work out exactly as planned).

(Here, it's worth pointing out here that effect lines -- that's the line that says following new legislation in @@NAME@@... -- don't impact your stats, but are one-line jokes)

I suggest reading this linked post to understand stats' logic a bit more (it's from the Unusual Effect Thread). There's also this guide to answering issues.

When choosing an option, as NCR said, read closely. Think about what the option's saying and also about the nature of the speaker. If the speaker seems slimy and offers your leader money, that might imply bribery. If the speaker talks about "seizing the means of production", that possibly implies socialism. Reading options also gets easier in time.

If it's any consolation, when I first started playing, I found the issues fun, but I didn't get the stat-side at all and I made a lot of unintended moves with issue answering (like turning socialist -- which actually made gameplay more interesting in time).

It's also worth remembering that, whatever your stats, there will always be issues for you to play and that the stats and policies you have are neither right nor wrong, nor are they values judgement on your answers.