NationStates Issues **SPOILER ALERT**

[Ostrovskiy]

If there are two issues which are identical but gender-mirrored, why aren't there more of those? Why not genderbend #1009 as well? That makes just as much sense (and I'm not saying it's a bad idea, just that this could be done with the same logic.) Is this an open field?

[Moronyka]

Look what I found in the editing bay!

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#1553: Fifteen Minutes of Flame [Savantoj; ed: Verdant Haven]

The Issue
A massive fire recently struck the vaults of famed @@DENONYM_ADJECTIVE@@ movie studio MGM, tearing through the complex in less than 15 minutes. Questionable storage practices and a lack of fire suppression systems led to the only known copies of many early @@DENONYM_ADJECTIVE@@ films being destroyed in the blaze.

The Debate
1. "This clearly shows that big companies can’t be trusted with preserving our culture!" opines self-identified movie critic @@RANDOM_NAME@@ {Gene Dogme}, best known for espousing the opinion that post-processing should be banned. "Those ignorant cretins couldn’t give two @@CURRENCY_PLURAL@@ about ‘An Investigation in Indigo,’ or any other film that isn’t raking in cash. In my unerring opinion, we need a national film archive with proper storage conditions and protection, overseen by people who truly appreciate the artform, such as yours truly. Then maybe we’d gain some artistic integrity as a nation, and maybe my family would finally stop bugging me about this whole job nonsense."

2. "This wouldn’t have happened if those movies were digitized!" cries @@RANDOM_NAME@@ {Liara King}, a digital media activist who only goes to theaters for the overpriced snacks. "Well, the fire probably still would’ve happened, but at least no one would actually care about it! Film reels naturally deteriorate over time; if the fire didn’t destroy them, age and neglect still would. We’re progressing into a new era, and the way we preserve media should reflect this! Finance the digitization of our cultural film legacy, and mandate that all movie studios save their works in a digital vault of sorts, hosted on redundant servers and accessible to all. Sure, they’ll cry about piracy, but @@NAME@@’s amazing culture should be shared with the world." [Must have computers], with or without [Must have internet (maybe)]

3. « Unknown » [Must not have computers (maybe)]

4. "Ugh, why does anyone even care about this?" asks soda-sipping teenager @@RANDOM_NAME@@ {Romulus Rodriguez}. "Most of those movies were probably trash anyway. Why else would nobody have made copies? Just tell the studios to put anything they’re not using up for auction. If people want to protect those glorified slideshows, they can do it themselves. It would be a win for everyone involved, and then maybe I can go a day without hearing old people whine about their taxes for once." [Must have private industry (dunno???)]

News Images:
D11 (Main) | Y356 (Side)

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Unsure if the names are random (I don't see most names in the list) or if Gene Siskel is referenced, but MGM has to be fixed/hard-coded.

Option #2 / Option id 1

Private digital records now come with a convenient "download" button.

Some issue effects:

• Weather –2
• Culture +2
• Food Quality +1.6
  

[TalAkMaChen]

I can confirm:
1553,1 has name @@RANDOM_FIRST_NAME@@ Dogme
1553,2 and 4 have a fully random name
1553,3 remains to be found

Wow, too bad Savantoj didn't live to see their issue go live:

Savantoj Former Nation
Population: 903 million
Founded: 1 year 6 days ago
Ceased to exist: 210 days ago

[Rocain Founder]

My puppet Cain M Ds Or-B v0 got issue #1553 as well, but got option 3 rather than option 2. This nation does in fact have No Computers. Here is option 3 with differences from option 2 underlined.

3. “This wouldn’t have happened if those movies were digitized!” cries @@RANDOM_NAME@@, a digital media activist who only goes to theaters for the overpriced snacks. “Well, the fire probably still would’ve happened, but at least no one would actually care about it! Film reels naturally deteriorate over time; if the fire didn’t destroy them, age and neglect still would. The world is progressing into a new era, and it’s high time we join in! Finance the digitization of our cultural film legacy, unleash the power of the internet, and mandate that all movie studios save their works in a digital vault of sorts, hosted on redundant servers and accessible to all. Sure, they’ll cry about piracy, but @@NAME@@’s amazing culture should be shared with the world.”

I suspect that this option removes No Computers, but as my puppet has not answered it yet (and might not choose this option), I don't know that for sure.

For whatever it's worth, this nation does not have the No Internet policy.

Oh, and the MGM name in the issue is actually a macro usage. I don't know the exact name of the macro (and don't feel like doing the annoying research to find out), but the MGM name is actually something like @@NAME_INITIALS@@GM, so that for my puppet with the absurd name, it is CMDOBVGM!

[Trotterdam]

Weird. My observations suggest the existence of a fifth option of some sort... (EDIT: Maybe for nations that banned sequels?)

And there's also a sixth effect line that was added relatively recently but not at the same time as this issue, despite also talking about theaters. An edit to an old issue?

[Rocain Founder]

My puppet Cain BZ R01An v0 has discovered that a third option has been added to the end of issue #1529. I do not see any differences between the text of this option and the spoiled text for option 2, but because the option text is so long, I might have missed something. Also, it is possible that the old option 2 was moved to option 3, and the text of option 2 is now different. This cannot be checked unless someone reports on what the text of that option of this issue now is. Here is the option 3 my puppet received, in case anyone wants to check behind me for differences from the spoiled option 2.

3. And yet, the thought is unbearable. To see the light fade from another person’s eyes and know that their death is not only your fault, but your deliberate doing — how could you ever live with yourself? How could you go out and face the public tomorrow, haunted by the Count’s dying breath? How could you sleep at night, thinking of their face, the color slowly draining away even as your hands soak in their still-warm blood? No. Honour be damned; this is not worth anyone’s life. One good, hard shove. Throw them to the floor and let your guards deal with the rest. Take the Count away, exile them again — there will be no denying the treason charges this time — and they can languish, away from their family and friends like they deserve.

If the text is in fact the same, I have no clue as to what distinguishes nations which get option 2 and ones which get option 3. With this particular puppet, I can force it to choose a specific option without violating its specifications. Once I've added this option to my files, I will force option 3 to be chosen, and let it be known if it has the same or a different talking point from option 2.

Edit: The talking point for the new option 3 is identical to the one recorded in Trotterdam's data for option 2. (I phrase it that way because it's possible the talking point for option 2 is now different.)

[Rocain Founder]

Weird. My observations suggest the existence of a fifth option of some sort... (EDIT: Maybe for nations that banned sequels?)

Well, as usual, Trotterdam was on to something. My puppet Cain M Cao v1 got issue #1553 with an option 5 in place of option 4, one clearly for nations which have banned sequels. Here is the text, with differences from option 4 underlined.

5. “Ugh, why does anyone even care about this?” asks soda-sipping teenager @@RANDOM_NAME@@. “Most of those movies were probably trash anyway... I’ve never even heard of them! If you’re so sure they’re important, get rid of those stupid laws against sequels, and maybe studios can make old content relevant again. You just can’t expect my generation to care about some glorified slideshow — technology and taste have advanced too much!”

[Dexterra]

Might've found a new issue (haven't seen anything about it yet) - seems validity is Metricism and not No Sports; third answer name's probably random. Cheers all

Issue #1554: Trajectory x Velocity = GOAALL!

The Issue

According to breaking news reports, an avalanche the width of three football fields just swept through a mountain community in western @@NAME@@, leaving a runout zone the size of 50 football fields. Survivors are being evacuated to shelters at a nearby football field.

The Debate

1. Ugh! Why is everything measured in football fields these days?” bemoans your niece, throwing down her maths homework in despair. “Look at this stupid maths question I’ve got to answer: ‘If a train is travelling at 40m/s, then applies the brakes at 1.1m/s2, how many football fields will it take to stop?’ I’ve never watched a game of football in my life... this has no meaning to me whatsoever! Don’t we require the metric system to be used in this country? You’ve got to mandate that teachers, newscasters, and scientists stop using these so-called ‘visual comparisons’ and stick exclusively to metric – no ifs, ands, or football fields! Maybe then I’d be able to pass my exams.”

2. “Hey! I’ve found these comparisons very useful,” blurts your brother, as he checks the latest football scores. “How long is a kilometre, how heavy is a gram? Ever since getting whacked in the head with that football, I’ve had problems picturing them in my mind! If you say the length of ten football fields or the weight of half a ping pong ball, then I get a better grasp of the size of things. From now on, @@NAME@@ should encourage the use of helpful comparisons alongside the metric system, so everyone will be able to grasp the width, or is it breadth?”

3. “Do you know how big that avalanche was?” hollers Nomathemba Miller, an evacuee being grilled by journalists about whether the sound was more similar to a freight train or a thunderstorm. “I DON’T CARE! The scientists and mathematicians can sort that out later. All I know is that my town has been flattened and I expect the government to rebuild everything, even if it’s going to cost them as much as two football stadiums!”
 
Issue by The Imperial Glorious Empire of Baggieland
Edited by Verdant Haven

[Simone Republic]

Might've found a new issue (haven't seen anything about it yet) - seems validity is Metricism and not No Sports; third answer name's probably random. Cheers all

Issue #1554: Trajectory x Velocity = GOAALL!

The Issue

*snip*

Issue by The Imperial Glorious Empire of Baggieland
Edited by Verdant Haven

Third answer's name is random. Mine is

“Do you know how big that avalanche was?” hollers Natalia Robinson, an evacuee being grilled by journalists about whether the sound was more similar to a freight train or a thunderstorm. “I DON’T CARE! The scientists and mathematicians can sort that out later. All I know is that my town has been flattened and I expect the government to rebuild everything, even if it’s going to cost them as much as two football stadiums!”

I picked answer 1, "Citizens seem fixated on 105m x 45m rectangles" but I find that slightly weird, as that's not the size of either an American football or a soccer field (although it technically can be the size of a non FIFA soccer field, a FIFA one is bigger)

[TalAkMaChen]

Careful with the numbering of #1554. I also got three options but numbered 2, 4, 5.
The last option (5 in my case) has a random name as I had an otherwise identical text to what was reported earlier. To summarize:

Issue #1554: Trajectory x Velocity = GOAALL! [Baggieland; ed: Verdant Haven]

The Issue

According to breaking news reports, an avalanche the width of three football fields just swept through a mountain community in western @@NAME@@, leaving a runout zone the size of 50 football fields. Survivors are being evacuated to shelters at a nearby football field.

The Debate

1. “Ugh! Why is everything measured in football fields these days?” bemoans your niece, throwing down her maths homework in despair. “Look at this stupid maths question I’ve got to answer: ‘If a train is travelling at 40m/s, then applies the brakes at 1.1m/s2, how many football fields will it take to stop?’ I’ve never watched a game of football in my life... this has no meaning to me whatsoever! You’ve got to mandate that teachers, newscasters, and scientists stop using these so-called ‘visual comparisons’ and stick to standard mathematical measurements. Maybe then I’d be able to pass my exams.” [does not use metric system]

2. Ugh! Why is everything measured in football fields these days?” bemoans your niece, throwing down her maths homework in despair. “Look at this stupid maths question I’ve got to answer: ‘If a train is travelling at 40m/s, then applies the brakes at 1.1m/s2, how many football fields will it take to stop?’ I’ve never watched a game of football in my life... this has no meaning to me whatsoever! Don’t we require the metric system to be used in this country? You’ve got to mandate that teachers, newscasters, and scientists stop using these so-called ‘visual comparisons’ and stick exclusively to metric – no ifs, ands, or football fields! Maybe then I’d be able to pass my exams.” [uses metric system]

3. “Hey! I’ve found these comparisons very useful,” blurts your brother, as he checks the latest football scores. “How long is a kilometre, how heavy is a gram? I don’t know, ‘cause I have problems picturing them in my mind. If you say the length of ten football fields or the weight of half a ping pong ball, then I get a better grasp of the size of things. From now on, @@NAME@@ must always use helpful comparisons alongside the usual measurements, so everyone will be able to grasp the width, or is it breadth?” [does not use metric system]

4. “Hey! I’ve found these comparisons very useful,” blurts your brother, as he checks the latest football scores. “How long is a kilometre, how heavy is a gram? Ever since getting whacked in the head with that football, I’ve had problems picturing them in my mind! If you say the length of ten football fields or the weight of half a ping pong ball, then I get a better grasp of the size of things. From now on, @@NAME@@ should encourage the use of helpful comparisons alongside the metric system, so everyone will be able to grasp the width, or is it breadth?” [uses metric system]

5. “Do you know how big that avalanche was?” hollers @@RANDOM_NAME@@, an evacuee being grilled by journalists about whether the sound was more similar to a freight train or a thunderstorm. “I DON’T CARE! The scientists and mathematicians can sort that out later. All I know is that my town has been flattened and I expect the government to rebuild everything, even if it’s going to cost them as much as two football stadiums!”

Edit: Sure, measures are not set in stone, e.g. for UEFA and FIFA (European/world federation) the measures for a field are set between 64 to 68 meters in width and 100 to 105 m in length. Several local regulations (e.g. for league games) may allow more variance, some are from 45 to 75 meters in width and 90 to 110 meters in length, others may have their own sets of limits.
For NFL the limits are set more strictly as I recall, set to 120 yards in length (~110 m) and 160 ft in width (close to 49 m).
So the "105 by 45 meter rectangles" are arbitrary to your nation's field sizes as to all of our nations.

[Jutsa]

Never before have I seen a title like that one, before...

Also, very happy to see Give a Boy Some Credit...

[Trotterdam]

Hey, wait a moment. There's italics in the title?

Yup, confirmed on one of my own nations:

Code: Select all

Trajectory x Velocity = <i>GOAALL!</i>

...I might have to update my website to support markup in issue titles...

[Spare Flagpole]

VO. 1555
Deaf Trap


The Issue
Celebrity “wellbeing guru” Gwen F. Poltroon recommended to her social media followers that they should regularly clean their ears with cotton swabs (more commonly known by their brand name ‘Cute Yips’). This has prompted audiologists and ENT doctors to express concern that doing so can damage ears by packing wax deeper, irritating ear canals and sometimes even perforating eardrums.

The Debate
1. Your short-statured and short-tempered health minister waddles angrily into your office, red in the face. “I have three little words for you: BAN THEM. Uh... PLEASE. No matter what we do, people are still going to use them incorrectly. The general public has proven itself too stupid and too weak-willed to resist sticking them in their ears.”

2. “Look, we market these things as beautician tools, arts and crafts items and multi-purpose medical application devices. It even says here in the leaflet that you shouldn’t put them in your ears,” complains the CEO of Cute Yips, absent-mindedly twiddling a cotton bud in his ear. “Still, you have to respect bodily autonomy, and the right of individuals to do unwise things. I mean, honestly, in the interests of personal freedom we ought to be allowing Cute Yips to be marketed and sold specifically for these purposes, instead of being all nudge-nudge-wink-wink about it.”

3. In a booming voice, the entrepreneur inventor of EarVacCleaner interrupts: “Here is a new and innovative solution! With its ergonomic design, the EarVacs2000 has the power and precision to remove up to 3 ounces of earwax! With regular government-funded ear suctioning programs, people will be empty-eared and will have no need for cotton buds. The EarVacs is completely safe. Compweetwee saaaaayfe.” His left eye twitches and one shoulder droops as he starts to drool.

Issue by The True Freedom of Cassinia

Edited by Candlewhisper Archive

I dismissed this.

[TalAkMaChen]

Yeah, now apparently titles can also have italics. Yikes.

So #1555 was also discovered - please don't use separators for the thousands, any search then fails to find that entry.

[Bears Armed]

Yeah, now apparently titles can also have italics. Yikes.

So #1555 was also discovered - please don't use separators for the thousands, any search then fails to find that entry.

Noted. Will edit-out the separator when logged in to Spare Flagpole later.

[Dexterra]

Another hot off the press it seems. Not sure about validities or additional options, I believe there's some name randomness though. I’ll probably wait to answer this issue as I typically do, but this is just what I received on a likeminded puppet:

Issue #1556: Gimme Shelter

The Issue

Recently, a transgender woman was murdered by her abusive partner, despite seeking refuge in a shelter for victims of domestic and sexual abuse days beforehand. It turns out that she was initially given shelter, but then forced to leave again when it transpired that she was transgender.

The Debate

1. “Look, I’m sure transgender women think they are women,” retorts infamous feminist campaigner and author Jay Kayer-Owling. “Women at these shelters are trying to get away from abusive men. They can’t feel safe if men are in the same place, and will be afraid to seek help because of it. Only biological women should be allowed in our safe spaces. Perhaps these men in dresses can have their own separate shelters, if they need them, where they can stay with people of their own sort.”

2. “Don’t listen to that TERF! It’s disgusting and disgraceful that anyone could try to justify a woman being sent back into such a violent and dangerous situation!” exclaims prominent transgender rights campaigner @@RANDOMNAME@@, threatening the author with a lacrosse stick to emphasise her point. “All women deserve protection and safety from abuse, whether they are transgender or cisgender. Women’s shelters must not discriminate! If you are a woman and you need shelter you should be granted it.”

3. “Actually, anyone can need shelter, and that includes men,” observes men’s rights activist Watt Abe Owtus, who has been slapped in the face by women many times. “Shelters should be gender-blind, and allow anyone who needs refuge to stay there, whether it’s because of abuse, homelessness or because their mum has told them they can’t stay in their basement any more. I mean, it might be a good place for nice guys like me to meet women who need a white knight to save them. Not all guys are abusers, you know!”

4. “Can we not just recognise that transgender people are immoral, mentally ill or both?” asks conservative commentator @@RANDOMNAME@@. “Men cannot become women and vice versa no matter how many surgeries or whatever they get. That’s just biology. We should criminalize cross-dressing, ban transgender ideas, and admit for mandatory psychiatric treatment anyone who insists on pursuing this perversion.”
 
Issue by The Tsardom of Nuremgard
Edited by Candlewhisper Archive

Update 1: still waiting to decide, I usually like to give it a day or so

2 & 3: alright, accepted the second option in Schrack, third in Burkitts

4: Loysville, second

5: I have now answered this issue in Dexterra, Anarchton and 2 other accounts outside my region. Thank you issue gods, that makes it at least seven times in one week I have seen this, so please do randomly generate one of the other issues - thanks again

[Land Without Shrimp]

I just got Issue 1556 as well - first and last names in Options 2 & 4 per above are both random.

[Valentine Z]

Ahh, now that's more development! I shall get working come tomorrow, or Wednesday.

Should be a lot more free, owing to how my RPs have not started yet. ♥

[Rocain Founder]

This comment, specifically the relationship between Autarky and what options are shown for issue #1546, is not reflected in the current spoilers. My puppet Cain A R-C Cs v1 just received this issue. It does not have Autarky, and received Option 3 rather than Option 4, helping to confirm Trotterdam's suggestion.

[Probably Not Japan]

Just got #1556, the name on the 2nd and 4th option seems random.

[SherpDaWerp]

My puppet Cain BZ R01An v0 has discovered that a third option has been added to the end of issue #1529. I do not see any differences between the text of this option and the spoiled text for option 2, but because the option text is so long, I might have missed something. Also, it is possible that the old option 2 was moved to option 3, and the text of option 2 is now different. This cannot be checked unless someone reports on what the text of that option of this issue now is. Here is the option 3 my puppet received, in case anyone wants to check behind me for differences from the spoiled option 2.

3. And yet, the thought is unbearable. To see the light fade from another person’s eyes and know that their death is not only your fault, but your deliberate doing — how could you ever live with yourself? How could you go out and face the public tomorrow, haunted by the Count’s dying breath? How could you sleep at night, thinking of their face, the color slowly draining away even as your hands soak in their still-warm blood? No. Honour be damned; this is not worth anyone’s life. One good, hard shove. Throw them to the floor and let your guards deal with the rest. Take the Count away, exile them again — there will be no denying the treason charges this time — and they can languish, away from their family and friends like they deserve.

If the text is in fact the same, I have no clue as to what distinguishes nations which get option 2 and ones which get option 3. With this particular puppet, I can force it to choose a specific option without violating its specifications. Once I've added this option to my files, I will force option 3 to be chosen, and let it be known if it has the same or a different talking point from option 2.

Edit: The talking point for the new option 3 is identical to the one recorded in Trotterdam's data for option 2. (I phrase it that way because it's possible the talking point for option 2 is now different.)

For what it's worth, this option is not new; it's a doppelganger option that was drafted based on whether or not you've banned prison - in the same way as its predecessor, #788. The difference is in the last sentence, which discusses "exiling the count again" rather than "imprisoning the count again".

[Valentine Z]

Valentine’s Changelog 051

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Issue Editors are like a box of color pens - only one of them may be needed most of the time, but the magic comes from all of them working together to paint a pretty picture.

- 5 new issues added - 1534, 1553, 1554, 1555, 1556
- More minor changes and fixes.

Changes made to the threads can be seen here.

Apologies for the late edit and update once again! This hopefully should cover all of the edits - both old and new. If I miss any, it will be up on the next commit! ♥

[TalAkMaChen]

#1557 The Artist Is Literally Present [Candlewhisper Archive; ed: Noahs Second Country]

The Issue
Performance artist Maureen A Hamsandwich is launching a new exhibition tomorrow, wherein she intends to sit silently in a chair eight hours a day for a whole month. Visitors are invited to freely make eye or even physical contact if they desire. Surprisingly, you have received a personal appointment, scheduled to be the first of many to lock gazes with her.

The Debate
1. “Static and silent, this is a piece that explores the power of stillness,” enthuses a fidgety cultural aide who looks suspiciously similar to the artist but in a red wig, buzzing around you excitedly. “I heard that in a similar performance elsewhere, some visitors broke down in tears as they confronted their internal monologues. You should plan to do something like that, and show the people that you really get postmodern art.” She giggles, then dashes out of the room.

2. “She’s clearly some sort of masochist, just wanting people to poke and emotionally abuse her,” observes a passing intern, seemingly the last speaker’s blonde twin, firing an office staple gun into the back of her own hand to emphasise her point. “So-called “artists” like this deserve to be mocked. You should go in there, give her a slap, berate her for wasting everyone’s time, then head back to work. Busy busy.” She looks at her watch and walks out, purposefully.

3. “Frankly, the whole thing bores me,” yawns a civil servant, whose grey wig seems to be slipping off as she rushes in, out of breath. “Clearly, you’re being drawn into the performance, used to generate free publicity. The best thing you can do is ignore the whole charade, and go across town to a different exhibition that is opening on the same day. I have a pamphlet here: Treasures of Romanticism, a Retrospective on Landscape Paintings of the Sublime. Actual brushwork, and realistic pictures. That’s proper art, with none of this performance nonsense. I’ll go ahead and grab you a ticket.” She strides off.

[Rocain Founder]

The spoiler for issue #1310 indicates that a nation must ban Immigration to receive option 7. This is incorrect. My puppet Cain A P-N Ng v1 does not ban Immigration, but received this issue with option 7 present. It does ban cars, which confirms the other spoiled condition for getting this option.

[Trotterdam]

I repeat:

#1310 3 is not available to nations with No Abortion.
#1310 4 is not available to nations with No Computers or No Internet.
#1310 6 is not available to nations with No Immigration, while #1310 5 is only available to nations with No Immigration.
#1310 7 is only available to nations with No Automobiles.
My data also shows some options of #1310 not being reported for nations with Vat-Produced Infants or Parental Licensing, but I think this is probably a validity on the entire issue rather than individual options.

A previous version of that post contained a mistake, for which I apologize, but I've since fixed it and double-checked several times that the new listing is accurate.

Option 7 does not care about whether you have immigration (that is only options 5 and 6). It does care about automobiles.