NationStates

ISSUE: Not a Good Sign
Validity: Must have roads, and cars that aren't self-driving

The Issue: A recent concert in @@CAPITAL@@ was canceled when sparse, contradictory street-name signage meant that even with a GPS, the foreign singer could not find the venue in time. This bungle has prompted intense anger about low-quality street signage throughout @@NAME@@, and with your dithering local councils too busy "making statements" to take action, you’ve decided to tackle the issue yourself.

Option 1:
"The shoddy state of this state’s street signs seems… stupid," states Samantha Seabury, waving a neatly-written "LABEL THE WORLD" sign as she alliterates badly. "Maddening mobility markings make movement messy!" She pauses awkwardly before giving up on her wordplay. "We need brand-new, non-contradictory street signs on every corner, and every fifty paces on longer roads!" As she departs, she sticks a "@@LEADER@@'s Office Door" label on each side of your door.
Outcome:
dense walls of street signs are frequently mistaken for fences

Option 2:
"She's kidding, right? She’s kidding," citizen @@RANDOMNAME_1@@ assures you airily, sporting a "Who KNOWS?" t-shirt. "In @@NAME@@, part of the joy of transport is the mystery! Adding signs — and helpful ones, at that — would take that thrill away! I think you should get rid of all street names and signs — imagine the confusion!" @@HE@@ giggles, exiting from your office into what you suspect is the janitor's closet.
Outcome:
addresses are given in degrees latitude and longitude

Option 3:
"Hang on a sec," interjects @@RANDOMNAME_2@@, CEO of ride-sharing company Lyfters. "What about self-driving cars? We've got the death rate down to, like, five percent!" @@HE@@ pauses. "Maybe ten percent — so not bad, eh? Just buy back all cars and make people buy our newest model. Navigation'll be a thing of the past!" @@HE@@ lowers his voice. "I could slip you some of the prof—" @@HE@@ stops abruptly, laughing nervously as @@HE@@ catches the watchful eye of your secretary, "I mean, what? Did you say something?"
Outcome:
transport is a breeze for those still alive

Option 4:
"Y'know, there's more'n one way to eat a cat," points out legendary cattle rancher @@RANDOMNAME_3@@. "D'y'all really need 'em roads? I say — heck no! Let's bring back horses an' those goodol' plains, an' get rid'a someof 'em buildin's too! People'll be abl'a see right where 'ey are, with their own eyes!" @@HE@@ walks off, most likely headed for the nearest saloon.
Outcome:
@@CAPITAL@@'s skyline is made up mostly of tents

USS Monitor wrote:The intro is unclear whether it's asking "What kind of signage do you want?" or "Who do you want to be your new Minister of Transportation?"

The JELLEAIN Republic wrote:My recommendation is to change outcome of option one to something like the signs are everywhere and falling/killing or confusing people. Or that cuz there so many that peop,e ignore them.




As a person with one less submission (and failed) than you. I feel perfectly capable to authoritatively give you advice.



Also,

Here
viewtopic.php?p=32581709#p32581709
There’s a whole things about the macros.

The Issue: Your Minister of Transportation has just resigned over unrelenting public anger about the inadequate presence of street signs in @@NAME@@. This is unfortunate, as it means that as a new Minister is sought out in his absence, you must deal with the signage issue yourself.

Street signs. People talking to you.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Let's start with the premise, as that needs to work better for the issue to work at all.

The Issue: Your Minister of Transportation has just resigned over unrelenting public anger about the inadequate presence of street signs in @@NAME@@. This is unfortunate, as it means that as a new Minister is sought out in his absence, you must deal with the signage issue yourself.

This dilemma looks to be coming out of nowhere. Why is my nation one with inadequate presence of street signs? What do we mean by street signs: road names or traffic signs or something else? Why is the public "unrelenting" in its anger? Why is this the problem of the Ministry of Transport, as opposed to local councils or private landowners? Why is this issue transparently contriving to put a problem that isn't a national leader problem onto the national leader desk?

Essentially, if you strip it down, your premise comes to:

Street signs. People talking to you.

I suggest stepping it back, and instead presenting a story of something that has happened in a particular location where it's not unexpected that road signs would be few and far between. For example, maybe a notable funeral procession (say for a beloved minister, or a celebrity) gets halted because of a convoy of tractors going to a country show coming the other way on a narrow country lane, with traffic build-up while they're arguing turning into a multi-county country lane gridlock.

Then, have a speaker blame the lack of road signs as one option, and various other speakers suggest other approaches.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:What do we mean by street signs: road names or traffic signs or something else?

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Why is this the problem of the Ministry of Transport, as opposed to local councils or private landowners? Why is this issue transparently contriving to put a problem that isn't a national leader problem onto the national leader desk?

[…]

I suggest stepping it back, and instead presenting a story of something that has happened in a particular location where it's not unexpected that road signs would be few and far between. For example, maybe a notable funeral procession (say for a beloved minister, or a celebrity) gets halted because of a convoy of tractors going to a country show coming the other way on a narrow country lane, with traffic build-up while they're arguing turning into a multi-county country lane gridlock.

"In @@NAME@@’s countryside, a recent concert by popular singer George Crooked was canceled when his driver found @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ road signs so confusing that the venue simply could not be found in time. This failure of public infrastructure has led to widespread, surprisingly intense criticism of street signs throughout the country, and citizens are angrily demanding via Tweetbook that something be done. With several members of @@CAPITAL@@ City Council already resigning under the pressure, you've decided to take on the signage issue yourself to spare local governments the public anger."

The Sherpa Empire wrote:If the concert was in the countryside, why are members of @@CAPITAL@@ City Council being pressured to resign?

I mean... The Sherpa Empire's capital district is very rural, but that's unusual. Previous issues have often assumed that @@CAPITAL@@ is a large city.

This failure of public infrastructure has led to widespread, surprisingly-intense criticism of street signs from all over the country,

ISSUE: Not a Good Sign

The Issue: In @@NAME@@’s countryside,

Aas @@HE@@ departs,

navigation is easy for those who can access their cars beyond @@NAME@@'s dense walls of street signs

"@@HE@@'s kidding, right? @@HE@@'s kidding,?" saysquestions @@RANDOMNAME_2@@,

points out legendary cow[boy/girl] @@RANDOMNAME_3@@.

Let's bring back horses an' those goodol' plains. Get rid'a someof 'em buildings an' people'll be abl'a see right where 'ey are, with their own eyes!"

Option 5:
"Hang on a sec," interjects, @@RANDOMNAME_4@@, the CEO of ride-sharing company Lyfters. "What about self-driving cars? We've got 'em working pretty reliably now — the death rate is only, like, five percent!" @@HE@@ pauses thoughtfully, scowling mysteriously into space. "Maybe ten percent." There's an awkward silence before @@HIS@@ face changes to become rather alarmingly cheerful. "But hey, that's not bad, eh? Just buy back everyone's boring manual cars and have them buy the newest model from us, and they won't have to do any navigation at all!" @@HE@@ raises his eyebrows and leans in close to you. "For this, I bet I could slip you some of the profits…" @@HE@@ stands up straight again as @@HE@@ catches the watchful eye of your secretary, coughing and laughing nervously. "I mean, what? Did you say something?"

Socio Polor wrote:I like this concept! Good work AI! Though not to say it has its rough edges, lets start:

ISSUE: Not a Good Sign

Great title!

The Issue: In @@NAME@@’s countryside,

You should change this to either "In @@capital@@," or "In @@name@@'s capital" (preferably the former) sense the majority of the issue doesn't mention the countryside.

Aas @@HE@@ departs,

navigation is easy for those who can access their cars beyond @@NAME@@'s dense walls of street signs

How about something along the lines of "the profusion of street signs shows 'quantity over quality' isn't always best" I know, coming up with good effect lines can be difficult.

"@@HE@@'s kidding, right? @@HE@@'s kidding,?" saysquestions @@RANDOMNAME_2@@,

points out legendary cow[boy/girl] @@RANDOMNAME_3@@.

as far as I know there's no @@boy@@ or @@girl@@ macros, so I guess you could leave it like that

Let's bring back horses an' those goodol' plains. Get rid'a someof 'em buildings an' people'll be abl'a see right where 'ey are, with their own eyes!"

I'm a little confused here. Is the character suggesting to ban cars and bring back the horse and buggy? Are they suggesting to demolish all buildings? Or is it both of the two?

Option 5:
"Hang on a sec," interjects, @@RANDOMNAME_4@@, the CEO of ride-sharing company Lyfters. "What about self-driving cars? We've got 'em working pretty reliably now — the death rate is only, like, five percent!" @@HE@@ pauses thoughtfully, scowling mysteriously into space. "Maybe ten percent." There's an awkward silence before @@HIS@@ face changes to become rather alarmingly cheerful. "But hey, that's not bad, eh? Just buy back everyone's boring manual cars and have them buy the newest model from us, and they won't have to do any navigation at all!" @@HE@@ raises his eyebrows and leans in close to you. "For this, I bet I could slip you some of the profits…" @@HE@@ stands up straight again as @@HE@@ catches the watchful eye of your secretary, coughing and laughing nervously. "I mean, what? Did you say something?"

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I believe there's already an issue that allows for autonomous vehicles, though I could be wrong (It ain't easy memorizing over 1300 issues :p ). If there is you may have to put a validity on this option.

All in all this is a very good idea and very well done. Good Luck AI!

Socio Polor wrote:

The Issue: In @@NAME@@’s countryside,

You should change this to either "In @@capital@@," or "In @@name@@'s capital" (preferably the former) sense the majority of the issue doesn't mention the countryside.

Socio Polor wrote:

Aas @@HE@@ departs,

Socio Polor wrote:

navigation is easy for those who can access their cars beyond @@NAME@@'s dense walls of street signs

How about something along the lines of "the profusion of street signs shows 'quantity over quality' isn't always best" I know, coming up with good effect lines can be difficult.

Socio Polor wrote:

"@@HE@@'s kidding, right? @@HE@@'s kidding,?" saysquestions @@RANDOMNAME_2@@,

Socio Polor wrote:

points out legendary cow[boy/girl] @@RANDOMNAME_3@@.

as far as I know there's no @@boy@@ or @@girl@@ macros, so I guess you could leave it like that

Socio Polor wrote:

Let's bring back horses an' those goodol' plains. Get rid'a someof 'em buildings an' people'll be abl'a see right where 'ey are, with their own eyes!"

I'm a little confused here. Is the character suggesting to ban cars and bring back the horse and buggy? Are they suggesting to demolish all buildings? Or is it both of the two?

Let's bring back horses an' those goodol' plains, an' get rid'a someof 'em buildin's, too! People'll be abl'a see right where 'ey are, with their own eyes!"

Socio Polor wrote:

Option 5:
"Hang on a sec," interjects, @@RANDOMNAME_4@@, the CEO of ride-sharing company Lyfters. "What about self-driving cars? We've got 'em working pretty reliably now — the death rate is only, like, five percent!" @@HE@@ pauses thoughtfully, scowling mysteriously into space. "Maybe ten percent." There's an awkward silence before @@HIS@@ face changes to become rather alarmingly cheerful. "But hey, that's not bad, eh? Just buy back everyone's boring manual cars and have them buy the newest model from us, and they won't have to do any navigation at all!" @@HE@@ raises his eyebrows and leans in close to you. "For this, I bet I could slip you some of the profits…" @@HE@@ stands up straight again as @@HE@@ catches the watchful eye of your secretary, coughing and laughing nervously. "I mean, what? Did you say something?"

I can't remember off the top of my head, but I believe there's already an issue that allows for autonomous vehicles, though I could be wrong (It ain't easy memorizing over 1300 issues :p ). If there is you may have to put a validity on this option.

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:Wait, why is this lowercase? I'd understand if instead of "As he departs", it were "He says", but this is a separate sentence to the preceding dialogue. Can you explain this correction advice?

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:Yeah, I wasn't sure about this… but you're saying that whoever edits the issue will ensure that this works, and that they'll correct it if there isn't an appropriate macro? If you think I should handle it myself, I can always just assign a gender arbitrarily…

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:I'll add a validity restriction so no one with self-driving cars gets this issue.

Socio Polor wrote:

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:Wait, why is this lowercase? I'd understand if instead of "As he departs", it were "He says", but this is a separate sentence to the preceding dialogue. Can you explain this correction advice?

That's my mistake, I misread it, feel free to ignore this. :p Edit: Actually, as I read that, it's kinda weird having that last sentence being independent, which is what threw me off. This is more of a suggestion than a correction but you should consider merging that sentence with the dialogue, something like "...longer roads!" @@he@@ departs, while sticking a "@@leader@@'s OFFICE DOOR" label on each side of your door

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:Yeah, I wasn't sure about this… but you're saying that whoever edits the issue will ensure that this works, and that they'll correct it if there isn't an appropriate macro? If you think I should handle it myself, I can always just assign a gender arbitrarily…

Yeah, I was going to tell you if you don't want to leave it like that you could always specify the characters gender

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:I'll add a validity restriction so no one with self-driving cars gets this issue.

Don't add the validity to the whole issue, just that option. It won't make sense to restrict the whole issue to nations who don't have self-driving vehicles solely because of the one option

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:Thanks again, Socio Polor! I think I'll leave Option 1 how it is for now, just because no one else seems to have read it that way. And I think I'll add a gender to Option 3, just to be on the safe side.

At first, I considered doing an option-only validity, but then I realised — in a nation with self-driving cars, street signs wouldn't be needed at all. So I think I should probably stick with the current, full-issue validity.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to give your advice.

Socio Polor wrote:

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:Thanks again, Socio Polor! I think I'll leave Option 1 how it is for now, just because no one else seems to have read it that way. And I think I'll add a gender to Option 3, just to be on the safe side.

At first, I considered doing an option-only validity, but then I realised — in a nation with self-driving cars, street signs wouldn't be needed at all. So I think I should probably stick with the current, full-issue validity.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to give your advice.

I suppose that works too Good Luck!

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:

Socio Polor wrote:I suppose that works too Good Luck!

Do you think I should submit this soon, or does one usually leave their issue out for feedback longer…? I'm hardly experienced in this field…

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:

Socio Polor wrote:I suppose that works too Good Luck!

Do you think I should submit this soon, or does one usually leave their issue out for feedback longer…? I'm hardly experienced in this field…

Australian rePublic wrote:GPS...

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Right now this issue is about twice as long as it ought to be. I suggest losing one option, and reducing the existing ones by a third or more.

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:

Australian rePublic wrote:GPS...

Could you elaborate? Are you saying that the existence of GPS renders this issue moot…?

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Aussie is right, the fact that GPS is ubiquitous does kind of make street signs somewhat obsolete.

As someone who does daily home visits to folk using my satnav, I have to say the number one thing that makes life hard is houses that have names instead of numbers, as a house name gives you no indication of its relative position on a street.

Australian rePublic wrote:

Authoritaria-Imperia wrote:Could you elaborate? Are you saying that the existence of GPS renders this issue moot…?

Sort of. It could still work, but it needs to take GPS into account

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:Right now this issue is about twice as long as it ought to be. I suggest losing one option, and reducing the existing ones by a third or more.