Z-Day (Zombie Apocalypse) and COVID-19

[Kathol Rift]

To clarify my position, I definitely think an opt-out feature would be a best option or compromise, given that I have understood the appeal of the event, even though it is not my favourite.

Technically, those who opt out would get an overriding score of zero for World Census categories 81 to 84. That would eliminate the chance of a Z-Day related trophy or World Census happenings line, and makes it fairer for those who take part.

I have only called for a review all along here, but I understand by these posts that there is a good chance of it being cancelled. To think that I called for the event to be cancelled is pretty much jumping the gun.

Basically this. I think there should just be an option on the special issue to opt-out. Those who do so don’t get the Z-Day stats or trophies, and they just aren’t affected at all. But people who want to participate just to it as normal., and inactive nations are still festering hives of zombies as normal.

[CoraSpia]

To clarify my position, I definitely think an opt-out feature would be a best option or compromise, given that I have understood the appeal of the event, even though it is not my favourite.

Technically, those who opt out would get an overriding score of zero for World Census categories 81 to 84. That would eliminate the chance of a Z-Day related trophy or World Census happenings line, and makes it fairer for those who take part.

I have only called for a review all along here, but I understand by these posts that there is a good chance of it being cancelled. To think that I called for the event to be cancelled is pretty much jumping the gun.

Basically this. I think there should just be an option on the special issue to opt-out. Those who do so don’t get the Z-Day stats or trophies, and they just aren’t affected at all. But people who want to participate just to it as normal., and inactive nations are still festering hives of zombies as normal.

There would have to be a time limit on this, as the issue lets you switch from one thing to another. Regions with a couple of infected nations could tell those people to opt out right before the end to get the zero dead achievement.

[Minoa]

Basically this. I think there should just be an option on the special issue to opt-out. Those who do so don’t get the Z-Day stats or trophies, and they just aren’t affected at all. But people who want to participate just to it as normal., and inactive nations are still festering hives of zombies as normal.

There would have to be a time limit on this, as the issue lets you switch from one thing to another. Regions with a couple of infected nations could tell those people to opt out right before the end to get the zero dead achievement.

I have been thinking about the technicalities of the opt-out feature, and I thought that the overriding scores would be automatically applied to nations that opted-out at the end of the event. After the overriding scores, the trophies and ranks would be calculated. I believe that the census scores are calculated only at the end.

Regions are a bit harder, especially if one half of the residents take part but the other half sits out. If all residents did opt-out, then the "cancelling" scores would cascade to the region automatically because the region census scores are calculated from the average of all residents.

[Weed]

I look forward to Z day when I can participate. I was excited about it being on a weekend this year. I like Z Day because you can casually play, or actively play for a short while. N-Day is not really something that can include the NS player that logs in for 15-30 minutes every day or two.

I love Z day, but if you’re only throwing N-Day back out to make up to those of us that look forward to it every year, then I think you’re missing why we like Z Day. I’d rather see the shares event [EDIT: I think it was NS IPO] come back or one of the other less-time intensive events. Could we just replace the words “shares” and “stock” in that event with trick-or-treat candy?

[Lord Dominator]

Personally, when I was thinking opt-out, I was mostly thinking that the Z-Day stuff doesn't appear (except on the activity feed) for them - that is, those not participating wouldn't see the leaderboard, the nation page thing, or the big graphs everywhere. Idk on feasibility of course.

[Sanghyeok]

I also think another N-day is too much. Why not make a Z-day where everything is rainbow filtered, and we get infected people spreading candy?

[The New California Republic]

If there was an option to opt out then that'd be fine, as it'd give both sides what they want. The only problem I foresee is that it'd be impossible at this late stage to change the code to get rid of all mentions of Z-Day from the perspective of folk that do opt out. They will still see mentions of it, it's just that they won't be participating in it. Whether that'll be enough for them is the issue here. But I suppose if even seeing mention of it is enough to upset people then the only option is just for them to not be on the site during Z-Day; as it'll be made obvious enough that it's on the way.

[Lord Dominator]

If there was an option to opt out then that'd be fine, as it'd give both sides what they want. The only problem I foresee is that it'd be impossible at this late stage to change the code to get rid of all mentions of Z-Day from the perspective of folk that do opt out. They will still see mentions of it, it's just that they won't be participating in it. Whether that'll be enough for them is the issue here. But I suppose if even seeing mention of it is enough to upset people then the only option is just for them to not be on the site during Z-Day; as it'll be made obvious enough that it's on the way.

Personally, I'm also thinking about it in terms of usual wishes that it be less obvious in other years as well - hiding the big things accomplishes that.

[The Stalker]

I personally would love another N day instead of Z day.

Though could also keep Z day just alter it a bit.

Have it be demons/ghosts instead of Zombies. Like you either fight demons, or are satanist and join them converting your population into possessed people.

Have priest fight them with researching exorcisms for cure option, kill possessed for military, or satan worshipping to increase possessed people.

[The Python]

Because, unlike N-day, it isn't an opt-in event. Your nation is pretty much dragged into it. And if you don't take action you may be hurting your region's efforts as well (if they care about Z-day).

Yes, there should be an opt-in/out option so that you don't have to participate if you don't want to.

Hey guys,

I wish to enquire what plans or changes are there in store for Z-Day⁹ (the Zombie Apocalypse) this year.

I ask this because the world is still combatting the spread of COVID-19, and since the Zombie Apocalypse involves viruses, some may see it as inappropriate due to the impact of COVID-19 on everything. I am aware that it is currently not possible to opt out of the Zombie Apocalypse, which may alarm users using NationStates to get away from COVID-19 drama.

-- Minoa

Does it though? I don't think it has been officially said as part of NS lore that it involves a virus. It could be bacteria, a fungus, etc.

It has been (source https://www.nationstates.net/page=zombie_control "...the existence of an infectious virus causing its victims...")

[Minoa]

If there was an option to opt out then that'd be fine, as it'd give both sides what they want. The only problem I foresee is that it'd be impossible at this late stage to change the code to get rid of all mentions of Z-Day from the perspective of folk that do opt out. They will still see mentions of it, it's just that they won't be participating in it. Whether that'll be enough for them is the issue here. But I suppose if even seeing mention of it is enough to upset people then the only option is just for them to not be on the site during Z-Day; as it'll be made obvious enough that it's on the way.

If you are referring to the happenings text for Z-Day actions, then I think the technical team can attach a condition, so that if the target nation is registered as having opted-out, then no happenings text gets generated even though the action took place behind the scenes. The tally would be zeroed anyway just before the post-event rankings are calculated.

[The New California Republic]

If there was an option to opt out then that'd be fine, as it'd give both sides what they want. The only problem I foresee is that it'd be impossible at this late stage to change the code to get rid of all mentions of Z-Day from the perspective of folk that do opt out. They will still see mentions of it, it's just that they won't be participating in it. Whether that'll be enough for them is the issue here. But I suppose if even seeing mention of it is enough to upset people then the only option is just for them to not be on the site during Z-Day; as it'll be made obvious enough that it's on the way.

If you are referring to the happenings text for Z-Day actions, then I think the technical team can attach a condition, so that if the target nation is registered as having opted-out, then no happenings text gets generated even though the action took place behind the scenes. The tally would be zeroed anyway just before the post-event rankings are calculated.

No I was meaning far more broadly. There is no way to totally obfuscate all references to it gameside and forumside. There will be a news announcement gameside as well for starters, as well as a section of the forum dedicated to it. Folk will also be talking about it on the RMBs. It's impossible to totally shelter people from it.

[Minoa]

No I was meaning far more broadly. There is no way to totally obfuscate all references to it gameside and forumside. There will be a news announcement gameside as well for starters, as well as a section of the forum dedicated to it. Folk will also be talking about it on the RMBs. It's impossible to totally shelter people from it.

We do not know for sure how the admin team thinks about running Z-Day during the middle of a real pandemic, but looking ahead now and in the long run, the opt-out feature would focus on the appearance of nation pages of those who opted-out, and the hiding the main Z-Day game interface in general.

I do not imply that an opt-out would involve hiding RMB posts, news announcement(s) and the special forum section, as the impact of those may be mitigated sufficiently by the existence of the opt-out feature. Most of the concerns over the previous years have been about the ability for nations to sit out of it.

If you are referring to the happenings text for Z-Day actions, then I think the technical team can attach a condition, so that if the target nation is registered as having opted-out, then no happenings text gets generated even though the action took place behind the scenes. The tally would be zeroed anyway just before the post-event rankings are calculated.

However, I must revise this, having remembered how N-Day strikes work if a target was already destroyed: if Nation A carries out a Z-Day action on Nation B, while Nation B is registered as having opted-out, then the action failed and no national happenings text is generated. As for the happenings text before the nation opted out, then I am recommending that the happenings entries should have boolean flags that tell the game to automatically hide it if the nation had opted out.

I think this can be done without duplicating the infrastructure: it always starts with brainstorming, before the coding.

[CoraSpia]

I personally would love another N day instead of Z day.

Though could also keep Z day just alter it a bit.

Have it be demons/ghosts instead of Zombies. Like you either fight demons, or are satanist and join them converting your population into possessed people.

Have priest fight them with researching exorcisms for cure option, kill possessed for military, or satan worshipping to increase possessed people.

If you would like another n-day I'm sure the resources could be spared to see if you can beat your record low score.

[The Unified Missourtama States]

I personally would love another N day instead of Z day.

If you would like another n-day I'm sure the resources could be spared to see if you can beat your record low score.

Oof.

I personally see no problem with Z-Day, it is distinctly different from COVID.

_{Also Z-Day is better than N-Day.}

[The Stalker]

I personally would love another N day instead of Z day.

Though could also keep Z day just alter it a bit.

Have it be demons/ghosts instead of Zombies. Like you either fight demons, or are satanist and join them converting your population into possessed people.

Have priest fight them with researching exorcisms for cure option, kill possessed for military, or satan worshipping to increase possessed people.

If you would like another n-day I'm sure the resources could be spared to see if you can beat your record low score.

Lol it was us verses all of NS, and we held the lead for 13hours, no one has come close to what we did. So your vague insult is laughable at best mate, we dominated NS, given another round we'd do the same.

[The Cosmic Mainframe]

Having never been able to experience Z-Day, I would be a little disappointed if we instead had a second N-Day. I'm still recovering from the level of work I had to put in to N-Day, and I think I would prefer something new.

Adding an opt-out/in is the best idea I have read here so far. Failing that, repurposing old April Fool's Day events would also be a good idea.

[The New California Republic]

No I was meaning far more broadly. There is no way to totally obfuscate all references to it gameside and forumside. There will be a news announcement gameside as well for starters, as well as a section of the forum dedicated to it. Folk will also be talking about it on the RMBs. It's impossible to totally shelter people from it.

We do not know for sure how the admin team thinks about running Z-Day during the middle of a real pandemic, but looking ahead now and in the long run, the opt-out feature would focus on the appearance of nation pages of those who opted-out, and the hiding the main Z-Day game interface in general.

I do not imply that an opt-out would involve hiding RMB posts, news announcement(s) and the special forum section, as the impact of those may be mitigated sufficiently by the existence of the opt-out feature.

How? I'm not quite sure what you are meaning here.

[Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire]

This question seems similar to the controversy surrounding 9/11 jokes. And just like how making light of a tragedy can help people recover from such a tragedy, so too do I think Z-Day will bring relief to those stressed or distressed by the pandemic. Having a fun time with a virus in the digital world will help make the real pandemic feel less stressful, imo. I can sympathize with the perspective of wanting to modify or outright cancel N-Day, but really I think that's somewhat misguided. What we need in these darkly serious times is a bit more fun and humor to lighten things up, not more seriousness.

[Best Dark Order]

To clarify my position, I definitely think an opt-out feature would be a best option or compromise, given that I have understood the appeal of the event, even though it is not my favourite.

Technically, those who opt out would get an overriding score of zero for World Census categories 81 to 84. That would eliminate the chance of a Z-Day related trophy or World Census happenings line, and makes it fairer for those who take part.

I have only called for a review all along here, but I understand by these posts that there is a good chance of it being cancelled. To think that I called for the event to be cancelled is pretty much jumping the gun.

Basically this. I think there should just be an option on the special issue to opt-out. Those who do so don’t get the Z-Day stats or trophies, and they just aren’t affected at all. But people who want to participate just to it as normal., and inactive nations are still festering hives of zombies as normal.

well that's good but i do not like it

[Comfed]

What about a SecGen election?

[Jar Wattinree]

What about a SecGen election?

We already had one.

[The Python]

If you are referring to the happenings text for Z-Day actions, then I think the technical team can attach a condition, so that if the target nation is registered as having opted-out, then no happenings text gets generated even though the action took place behind the scenes. The tally would be zeroed anyway just before the post-event rankings are calculated.

No I was meaning far more broadly. There is no way to totally obfuscate all references to it gameside and forumside. There will be a news announcement gameside as well for starters, as well as a section of the forum dedicated to it. Folk will also be talking about it on the RMBs. It's impossible to totally shelter people from it.

Now that I'm thinking about it, it would be best if we do something like ghosts or vampires instead of a zombie virus.

[Araraukar]

Please don't do another N-day event, I find those annoying (and usually stay away from NationStates during, even though it's an opt-in one), while I always make space in my calendar for Z-day - the last few hours of trying to stomp down on nations trying to ruin Osiris' score are always great fun and about the only time when I ever touch the RMB or care about regions in general...

Please don't take away my zombie fun, especially on a year when having fun together with other people has been much more difficult than usual!

[Duraludon]

I wasn't around for the last z day. Can my citezens have an outbreak?