[DRAFT] Peace, Love, and Misery

by **Valrifell** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 11:42 am

Draft 3 wrote:[title] Peace, Love, and Misery
[validity] Only valid for nations with high cheerfulness

[description] After several incidents of @@DEMONYMPLURAL@@ disquieting international dignitaries, tourists, and businesspeople with their overbearing happiness, several foreign nationals have petitioned you to kill the nation’s mood.

[option] "”It’s not that we don’t like @@NAME@@, it’s just that your citizens are… weirding us out.” begins Dàguó diplomat, @@RANDOMNAME@@, desperately trying to avoid your grinning gaze. “I’ve heard from a former associate’s friend’s husband that several trade deals were jeopardized due to inappropriate laughter and smiling. What your people need is balance. Luckily ancient Dàguóren teachings can help your people and we have several teachers just waiting to enlighten @@NAME@@. Of course, it would be costly, but isn’t that the price we pay for inner balance and true peace?”
[effect] the nation pours millions into helping citizens find their inner sadness

[option] "This is why we - I mean, Marche Noir - hate @@NAME@@.” anxiously states Marche Blanc diplomat @@RANDOMNAME@@, recovering from an overbearing friendship hug from your security advisor. "However, in spite of being a miserable oppressive backwards backwater, Marche Noir commands great respect on the international stage. Since there is clearly nothing redeemable about them, it must be due to the fact their people never smile. Clearly, Marche Noirians never smile because of the oppressive and sickening regime of the nation, therefore, @@LEADER@@, if you want us to take you seriously you need to crack down on the freedoms of your people."
[effect] the government enforces misery

[option] "It’s just not natural" angrily exclaims famous Skandilundian ambassador, chemist, and renowned buzzkill Dmitri Noble. "Thankfully, science has the answer yet again! I’ve analyzed the chemicals found in @@NAME@@’s water supply and I've come to the conclusion that the abnormal concentration of the chemical seradopakentomine is what’s causing this outbreak of joy. Probably. I've invented a serum based on the rare Haptu koly melon, that, if added to your water supply, will counteract its effects. You see, it works through…"
[only valid for nations who drug their citizens.]
[effect] citizens with depression are advised to avoid water

[option] "These foreign friends just don’t understand our culture." laughs @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@, a @@DEMONYM@@ soccer mom, who merrily strolled into your office, uninvited. "Look at me! I’m a single mother of seven, working three jobs, my cat died, and I have @@ANMIAL@@ Flu. But I’m doing fine! I’m fine! Everything’s fine! Things are so fine, in fact, you should be mandating cheery and perky behavior in @@NAME@@ and those that refuse to see the light and be happy can and eat my shorts and be deported to East Lebatuck for their ingratitude!"
[effect] the nation has internationally isolated itself on Cloud 9

Draft 2 wrote:[title] Peace, Love, and Misery
[validity] Only valid for nations with high happiness

[description] After several incidents of @@DEMONYMPLURAL@@ disquieting international dignitaries, tourists, and businesspeople with their overbearing happiness, several foreign nationals have petitioned you to kill the nation’s mood.

[option] "”It’s not that we don’t like you, it’s just that your citizens are… weirding us out.” begins Dàguó diplomat, @@RANDOMNAME@@, desperately trying to avoid your grinning gaze. “I’ve heard from a former associate’s friend’s husband that several trade deals were jeopardized due to inappropriate laughter and smiling. What your people need is balance. Luckily ancient Dàguóren teachings can help your people and we have several teachers just waiting to enlighten @@NAME@@. Of course, it would be costly, but isn’t that the price we pay for inner balance and true peace?”
[effect] the nation pours millions into helping citizens find their inner sadness

[option] "This is why we - I mean, Marche Noir - hate your citizens.” anxiously states Marche Blanc diplomat @@RANDOMNAME@@, recovering from an overbearing friendship hug from your security advisor. "Our spies say that the people of Marche Noir never smile. Why? Because of Otto Kratt and his dictatorship. For once I think you can stand to learn a thing or two from that backwater. Taking away a few freedoms and encouraging a few arbitrary laws should do the trick."
[effect] the government enforces misery

[option] "It’s just not natural" angrily exclaims famous Skandilundian ambassador, chemist, and renowned buzzkill Dmitri Noble. "Thankfully, science has the answer yet again! I’ve analyzed the chemicals found in @@NAME@@’s water supply and I've come to the conclusion that the abnormal concentration of the chemical seradopakentomine is what’s causing this outbreak of joy. Probably. I've invented a serum based on the rare Haptu koly melon, that, if added to your water supply, will counteract its effects. You see, it works through…"
[only valid for nations who drug their citizens.]
[effect] citizens with depression are advised to avoid water

[option] "These foreign friends just don’t understand our culture." laughs @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@, a @@DEMONYM@@ soccer mom, who merrily strolled into your office, uninvited. "Look at me! I’m a single mother of seven, working three jobs, my cat died, and I have @@ANMIAL@@ Flu. But I’m doing fine! I’m fine! Everything’s fine! Things are so fine, in fact, you should be encouraging cheery and perky behavior in @@NAME@@ and those that refuse to see the light or be happy can eat my shorts!"
[effect] the nation has internationally isolated itself on Cloud 9

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Changelog:

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Took the concept from Jutsa's list of issue ideas.

Criticism welcome.

by **Trotterdam** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 12:32 pm

Premise seems similar to #522, and it didn't make much sense the first time, either.

by **Jutsa** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 1:41 pm

Glad to see you've taken a liking to the idea, Valrifell. I admit, this is not going to be a particularly easy concept to add to the game again.
I know. I almost sorta tried once.

... xD

But seriously, yes, this won't be easy. But I think the premise is different enough from the issue Trot mentioned.

One thing to note, I think the Marche Blanc diplomat should advocate for more freedom and Marche Noir spy advocate for less.
Also, "working three jobs, [...] and I just lost my job"; just pointing this out too. :lol:

by **Sanctaria** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 1:43 pm

They're both related to happiness, iirc - though one is to do with economic benefits, and this seems to be international relations, so I'm fine with you continuing to work on this and see where it gets to.

So no overlap for now in my view, though do keep an eye on it.

by **Valrifell** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 1:43 pm

Sanctaria wrote:They're both related to happiness, iirc - though one is to do with economic benefits, and this seems to be international relations, so I'm fine with you continuing to work on this and see where it gets to.

So no overlap for now in my view, though do keep an eye on it.

Will do

by **Valrifell** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 1:46 pm

Jutsa wrote::rofl:

Glad to see you've taken a liking to the idea, Valrifell. I admit, this is not going to be a particularly easy concept to add to the game again.
I know. I almost sorta tried once.

... xD

But seriously, yes, this won't be easy. But I think the premise is different enough from the issue Trot mentioned.

One thing to note, I think the Marche Blanc diplomat should advocate for more freedom and Marche Noir spy advocate for less.
Also, "working three jobs, [...] and I just lost my job"; just pointing this out too.

The joke for those two options is that they're advising @@LEADER@@ to conform more to their rival's ideological framework to make their people more miserable. I *think* I got them right for that purpose.

I'm ashamed that jobs thing slipped through my re-reading of that option.

by **Jutsa** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 1:59 pm

That... does actually kinda make sense @rivals.
And it's also kinda funny that a Marche Noire rival of your nation would want your people more miserable for the sake of it,
but Marche Blanc just because they're too uppity. xD

Maybe you could even play off of that a little bit, with the guy from Marche Noire saying something _along the lines of_
"this is why we—I mean, Marche Noire, hates @@NAME@@". :lol:

Yeah, this is almost definitely an issue I'm going to keep an eye on, unless it gets a red light or something.

edit: That said, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the way it's set up.
As of now, it's more of a "joy is definitely bad, but we need to find different ways of making it worse" with one "it's fine!" option.
I'm not entirely sure how else you'd go about it, but I'm not entirely sure this is it, especially with the "drug-the-water-supply" option.
Maybe an education and a brute-force-it option, but as-is, I'm not personally sold on it. Not saying it won't work,
that's just my fifteen-and-a-half-point-forty-two cents plus a dollar give or take a few.

by **Valrifell** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 6:51 pm

Jutsa wrote:Yeah, this is almost definitely an issue I'm going to keep an eye on, unless it gets a red light or something.

Thank you! I hope I can do the premise justice.

edit: That said, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the way it's set up.
As of now, it's more of a "joy is definitely bad, but we need to find different ways of making it worse" with one "it's fine!" option.
I'm not entirely sure how else you'd go about it, but I'm not entirely sure this is it, especially with the "drug-the-water-supply" option.
Maybe an education and a brute-force-it option, but as-is, I'm not personally sold on it. Not saying it won't work,
that's just my fifteen-and-a-half-point-forty-two cents plus a dollar give or take a few.

I'll consider this as I redraft the issue. I do think it might be too unfocused from the original premise since the only options that reference the crux of the issue I'm going for are 1 and 3. I will admit the "drug the water supply" option(s) wasn't apart of my original framework for the issue but I thought it would be an inclusion that, at worst, wouldn't hurt the quality.

by **Jutsa** » Sat Feb 02, 2019 7:32 pm

I mean, to be fair, they were funny, I will give you that.

by **Australian rePublic** » Sun Feb 03, 2019 3:13 am

This issue is too long. As a general rule of thumb, the more options an issue has, the shorter each option should be.

by **Valrifell** » Sun Feb 03, 2019 3:23 pm

Australian rePublic wrote:This issue is too long. As a general rule of thumb, the more options an issue has, the shorter each option should be.

The issue doesn't actually have six options, I mentioned this in the OP. The max it has is four, three on a good day. Unless you're saying that four is still too many.

The most efficient route, I'll agree, is removing the "drug the water" option and just rewriting it with three options to focus it better.

by **Valrifell** » Sun Feb 03, 2019 4:25 pm

Second draft is live.

by **Gnejs** » Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:48 am

This looks kind of fun. Premise is ok.

Option #2 feels bland and pointless. So, they never smile because of that evil dictator. Does that make them extraordinary successful in their trade endeavors? Are they feared and respected on the international stage? It needs some kind of connection to the issue at hand.

The last option made me laugh, but it's a bit unclear what you're actually doing there. Does it have any draconian implications of "forcing" people to be happy? In any way, the option should be doing something new, otherwise, it's just a funny dismiss-button.

by **Valrifell** » Mon Feb 04, 2019 7:25 am

Gnejs wrote:Option #2 feels bland and pointless. So, they never smile because of that evil dictator. Does that make them extraordinary successful in their trade endeavors? Are they feared and respected on the international stage? It needs some kind of connection to the issue at hand.

Fair point, I'll work on that.

The last option made me laugh, but it's a bit unclear what you're actually doing there. Does it have any draconian implications of "forcing" people to be happy? In any way, the option should be doing something new, otherwise, it's just a funny dismiss-button.

It is supposed to be forcing the people to be happy as they are, that should be made clearer in future drafts.

by **Valrifell** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:18 am

Third draft is live, very much open to more suggestions for reworking the second option.

by **Candlewhisper Archive** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:30 am

I'm not sure about the premise. A high happiness nation isn't one where people giggle unexpectedly, or walk around with manic grins. It's one with a high level of contentedness in life, general cheerfulness and a lower rate of depression.

Not constructive criticism, I know, as I haven't got an alternative approach for you, but I think the underlying premise seems a bit flawed.

Relevant to conversation:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/16/these-a ... world.html
https://www.axios.com/the-worlds-unhapp ... 2b43f.html

So if you're thinking high cheerfulness nation, think Finland. General laid backness, less anger, less frustration, but probably calmer demeanours overall than less cheerful places. When you think unhappy, think Burundi and Rwanda...

by **Valrifell** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:41 am

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:I'm not sure about the premise. A high happiness nation isn't one where people giggle unexpectedly, or walk around with manic grins. It's one with a high level of contentedness in life, general cheerfulness and a lower rate of depression.

Not constructive criticism, I know, as I haven't got an alternative approach for you, but I think the underlying premise seems a bit flawed.

Relevant to conversation:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/16/these-a ... world.html
https://www.axios.com/the-worlds-unhapp ... 2b43f.html

So if you're thinking high cheerfulness nation, think Finland. General laid backness, less anger, less frustration, but probably calmer demeanours overall than less cheerful places. When you think unhappy, think Burundi and Rwanda...

That's kind of a fair point, but at the same time that would mean the premise to 522 would be flawed, no? I don't think the NS stat "Cheerfulness" is supposed to be 1-to-1 marker for how we measure happiness in real life, but I'm not going to argue with an Editor over that :unsure:

I do think I could probably rework this into an issue about @@NAME@@ being walked over internationally by being too nice through minimal reworking of the first two options, though the rest of it will probably have to be trashed altogether, if you think that would fit better. If something like that hasn't already been done before, of course.

by **Candlewhisper Archive** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 9:57 am

The premise of 522 is indeed flawed, as suggested by the acronym of the study group:

It’s a slow news day, and so a recent study by the Scientific Centre of Analytical Metadata is getting considerable attention. After a decade of expensive travel to exotic climes, researchers have concluded that nations where people laugh more have a lower GDP. Your advisers have gathered to find out what you want to do.

You get a spurious study in that observes a correlation that may not even exist, and it's up to you to decide how to reasons to that. In fact, the whole "government gets to make kneejerk responses to bad science" thing is some great satire by FJS before she was an editor, and is why I picked up the issue.

by **Gnejs** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 1:51 pm

As I said earlier, I think it’s an ok premise. I don’t mind the occasional silly take on the stats and ratings, and I don’t have a problem with interpreting “Cheerfulness” in this manner. Besides, anyone claiming that Finland is a cheerful country, has obviously never been to Finland

by **Sanctaria** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 2:13 pm

Gnejs wrote:As I said earlier, I think it’s an ok premise. I don’t mind the occasional silly take on the stats and ratings, and I don’t have a problem with interpreting “Cheerfulness” in this manner. Besides, anyone claiming that Finland is a cheerful country, has obviously never been to Finland

Truth. Lived there for a year. There's more cheer in a graveyard.

by **Australian rePublic** » Wed Feb 06, 2019 3:31 pm

Valrifell wrote:
Australian rePublic wrote:This issue is too long. As a general rule of thumb, the more options an issue has, the shorter each option should be.

The issue doesn't actually have six options, I mentioned this in the OP. The max it has is four, three on a good day. Unless you're saying that four is still too many.

The most efficient route, I'll agree, is removing the "drug the water" option and just rewriting it with three options to focus it better.

Four options is not too many. Four options should be medium length (i.e. somewhere between short and sweet and an essay). Maybe a paragraph, a paragraph and a half, max, if you stretch it out

by **Candlewhisper Archive** » Fri Feb 08, 2019 2:46 am

Gnejs wrote:As I said earlier, I think it’s an ok premise. I don’t mind the occasional silly take on the stats and ratings, and I don’t have a problem with interpreting “Cheerfulness” in this manner. Besides, anyone claiming that Finland is a cheerful country, has obviously never been to Finland

Heheh.

Weird thing, as happiness/contentedness doesn't necessarily correlate with outward cheerfulness. Look at the US, where you always get service with a smile, and lots of insincere "have a nice day!" greetings, but which also has high levels of discontent through its society.

Finland's claim to cheerfulness is based on decent quality statistics (http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2018/).
For sure, they're not an outwardly expressive nation when it comes to their happiness, and probably there's more of an impression of happiness given by other countries. A good example here would be Nigeria, where people are culturally prone to big laughs, big smiles, warm hugs and big expressions of happiness, but which also is a deeply troubled nation with a lot on its mind, so ends up at a much lower (though still very respectable, and one of the best for Africa) 91st in the world. If you meet a group of Nigerians and a group of Finns, the former will definitely seem more cheerful.

But that's kind of my point here - the premise that the happiest nations are the ones that seem annoyingly happy to foreigners isn't the right one. I mean, here in the UK, we're famous for finding the USA to be annoyingly cheerful, but our ranks on the world happiness index are 1 space apart. It's just differences in cultural expression of happiness, not the actual happiness.

by **Trotterdam** » Fri Feb 08, 2019 3:02 am

It's probably worth noting that the stat is named cheerfulness, not happiness, though. Description: "The World Census shared cheeky grins with citizens around the world in order to determine which were the most relentlessly cheerful."

by **Candlewhisper Archive** » Fri Feb 08, 2019 3:50 am

Good point, though most of the issues that raise it relate to national happiness and contentment. It's one of those stats in need of a review for consistency, but one thing we've often related it to is mental health. If mental health gets treatment and investment, then the stat sees increases.

The whole "relentlessly cheerful" thing seems to me to be for the sake of a humorous presentation (as are most of the stat descriptions) of the MO of the Census. Of course they don't do sensible things like survey happiness indices with carefully chosen assessments - instead, they count "Percentage Of Water Glasses Perceived Half-Full".

I don't think the measurement units or the description of the census approach are meant to indicate anything other than comedy.

Thinking on that argument though, I've probably talked myself into a corner here. The approach of this issue is certainly comedically valid, even while lacking some verisimilitude.

That in mind, I withdraw my objections!

by **Baggieland** » Fri Feb 08, 2019 3:59 am

Bhutan actually has a governmental department on national happiness. The people's joy being a top priority. However, they only measure it by regular things such as: having a job, a home and enough food.

Personally I agree with Candle's earlier objection that a nation where the people walk around with an inane grin on their faces all the time just seems a bit silly to me.

However, Gnejs likes it, so carry on Valrifell

[DRAFT] Peace, Love, and Misery

[DRAFT] Peace, Love, and Misery

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