Issues are nastily US-centric.

[Attike]

As a devout Catholic and Monarchist from Brazil, I love this game. A problem I often face, however, is that it's too Usonian. I'll explain: starting with a lesser example, I recently faced an issue about urban sprawl and suburbs, a problem I never conceived my nation would have... aren't suburbs an issue in the US due to bad planning from the gov't? Well, what if my government is not the US government and never made such a mistake? There are all sorts of similar issues about electoral districts, fast food, racially homogenous neighbourhoods etc., which don't make sense at all in my roleplaying. Now, those aren't as big a problem (at least for me as I'm one of the 1% of Brazilian who are familiar with the Anglosphere and its peculiar culture), as I understand those concepts and can ret-con them in. The real problem for me is what follows.

The worst experience I've had, and it's happened a couple times, is having to waste time googling concepts which are absolutely alien to me, most of which I've already forgotten again, as they're concepts I'll never experience in my life. One I still remember, because I'm staring at it right now, is an issue that assumes I've ever known what a 'pep rally' is... and after googling for a solid fifteen minutes, I'm still not sure I've understood it. There's not even a way to translate it in any other language I know; if I were trying to explain it to another Brazilian right now I'd be sweating and trying not to code-switch.

Is it possible to rewrite those issues so I can at least be aware of what they mean without ruining my fun?
I thank you in advance.

[The Burke Islands]

You know there's a button to dismiss issues right?

[Hoxie]

The issues are designed to be satirical with some unpredictable results. This is not a serious political simulator.

[-Astoria-]

As a devout Catholic and Monarchist from Brazil, I love this game. A problem I often face, however, is that it's too Usonian. I'll explain: starting with a lesser example, I recently faced an issue about urban sprawl and suburbs, a problem I never conceived my nation would have... aren't suburbs an issue in the US due to bad planning from the gov't? Well, what if my government is not the US government and never made such a mistake? There are all sorts of similar issues about electoral districts, fast food, racially homogenous neighbourhoods etc., which don't make sense at all in my roleplaying.

Most of the site's audience tend to hail from the US, so surely that is to be expected.

If you come across an issue that you think won't be congruent with your lore, you can dismiss it, or alternatively disregard the stats if you wish.

One I still remember, because I'm staring at it right now, is an issue that assumes I've ever known what a 'pep rally' is... and after googling for a solid fifteen minutes, I'm still not sure I've understood it. There's not even a way to translate it in any other language I know; if I were trying to explain it to another Brazilian right now I'd be sweating and trying not to code-switch.

It basically means a gathering before an event, which is meant to encourage motivation & enthusiasm in the audience.

[Jutsa]

The issues definitely are written in a way that are mostly relatable to nations like the US, UK, maybe Canada and Australia, etc. Sometimes they do genuinely try to create issues that are more specific to other nations as well, in addition to just making up their own issues for weird policies (like vat-grown citizens), but by and large they are meant to be most relatable to the majority audience (where most speak English, at that).

I can't speak for anyone other than myself, but I personally figure that if a particular issue is too convoluted/unrelatable, you can just dismiss it. I've had an instance or two where I've dismissed just because it was hard for me to wrap my brain around. (Though, usually it's just because there aren't any options I want to apply to my nation )

I think generally newer issues try not to be so US-centric. Actually, if you have any Brazilian issues that you think could be an interesting addition to Nationstates, it might be worth considering making an issue around it.

[Terrabod]

Issue writers base their drafts on topics that interest them. There isn't any requirement for writers to represent any particular country or style of government because "issue writers" isn't a monolith; rather, it's made up of random players from across the world who volunteer their time to get more involved.

If you want to see more issues that you think are relevant to you, write one! That's what the rest of us do.

[Lillorainen]

Oii,
My time of regular issue answering has been quite a while ago now, but if I remember correctly, there is quite a number of issues inspired by real-life events from all around the world. While the playerbase mostly comes from the Anglosphere, thus will naturally the primary target audience of this site, I still don't find it too U.S./Anglo-centric, and I'm from Continental Europe. There is also at least one issue dealing wit the removal of rainforests for farmland in YN, for example, which is quite a debate in Brazil. It probably also depends on how old or new an issue is.

[Sedgistan]

The original issues were written by an Australian. The chief Issues Editor for years after that was Sirocco, a Scot. Subsequent to that, the team has either been led by myself or Candlewhisper Archive, both British. Among the top 10 Issues Editors (by # edited) are only 3 Americans. Yes, we have US Editors (and authors - most the submissions we receive are more US focused as that's where the majority of site users hail from), but to suggest we're "US-centric" is just wrong.

But two more important points:

1) We always welcome issue submissions / ideas that are appropriate to other cultures. We encourage them, and make a conscious effort to try to get more of those in the game. I would love it if you were to author some issues that focused on the kinds of problems you see the Brazilian government addressing.

2) It is anything but a "waste of time" being encountered by issues that you won't actually come across in your own real life. It's broadening, and it's a chance to learn more about the world.

[Kors]

There is a good chunk from Europe, Canada, UK and Max's Australia that play this. Generally the site thinks you are the US if you're capitalist, and the Soviet union if you are communist.