Help us fix old issues

[Australian rePublic]

I strongly believe that this statement in option should end in an exclimation mark, rather than a full stop

]Two and a half minutes of buffering later she continues, “Our internet is the slowest in Regionless. 

[Candlewhisper Archive]

I strongly disagree. Look past that sentence:

“Our internet is the slowest in @@REGION@@. Our system needs a massive overhaul. We need to crank it up!

That exclamation mark serves for the previously two sentences too, as this is clearly laid out as: "Statement. Statement. Exclamation!"

[Australian rePublic]

I strongly disagree. Look past that sentence:

“Our internet is the slowest in @@REGION@@. Our system needs a massive overhaul. We need to crank it up!

That exclamation mark serves for the previously two sentences too, as this is clearly laid out as: "Statement. Statement. Exclamation!"

This is why ylu're an IE and I'm justa shitty author!

[Candlewhisper Archive]

A shitty author who has been published 4 times, and is one of the most active and helpful people on this forum, you mean?

Naa, you're good, Aussie, keep doing your thing.

[Australian rePublic]

A shitty author who has been published 4 times, and is one of the most active and helpful people on this forum, you mean?

Naa, you're good, Aussie, keep doing your thing.

Oh, thanks!

[Australian rePublic]

A shitty author who has been published 4 times, and is one of the most active and helpful people on this forum, you mean?

Naa, you're good, Aussie, keep doing your thing.

But on the flip side, it's only 4 issues, out of how many I've submitted? This is why I like to work with percentages. It gives you a more realistic figure

[Candlewhisper Archive]

A shitty author who has been published 4 times, and is one of the most active and helpful people on this forum, you mean?

Naa, you're good, Aussie, keep doing your thing.

But on the flip side, it's only 4 issues, out of how many I've submitted? This is why I like to work with percentages. It gives you a more realistic figure

Eh, it's not far off my percentage, and it's a pretty high score for a non-editor.

Not wanting you to get too big headed here of course - honestly, you're never going to be the right sort of issue-creator to join the editorial team, but you're a solid ideas-man, which is why you've gotten published multiple times.

Anyway, let's get this thread back on track.

[Australian rePublic]

But on the flip side, it's only 4 issues, out of how many I've submitted? This is why I like to work with percentages. It gives you a more realistic figure

Eh, it's not far off my percentage, and it's a pretty high score for a non-editor.

Not wanting you to get too big headed here of course - honestly, you're never going to be the right sort of issue-creator to join the editorial team, but you're a solid ideas-man, which is why you've gotten published multiple times.

Anyway, let's get this thread back on track.

Thanks for the compliment. Let's get back on track!
Issue 001"
: Are we allowed to call it "60 minutes"? Does that not violate copyright?

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Thanks for the compliment. Let's get back on track!
Issue 001"
: Are we allowed to call it "60 minutes"? Does that not violate copyright?

No.

60 MINUTES, capitalised and in the recognisable font, is a registered trade mark of CBS Broadcasting Inc., and if you were to sell clothing with that logo on it, they'd have a good case against you.

Using the words "60 minutes" is, unsurprisingly, something you are totally allowed to do, even if using it to describe a "respected tabloid TV show".

Note that broadly, even registered trade marks are generally considered fair game in satire. You ever hear of a novel called Jennifer Government, where the main villain is Nike? You can bet that no formal permission was sought or granted for the use of that registered trade mark, nor was one needed, as within a piece of fiction it's just an assemblage of letters that happen to match those of a real life brand. If Max had used the corporate logo he'd have been in trouble, and if he'd presented a work of non-fiction defaming the company he'd be on dodgy ground, but there's far less of a legal minefield in these things than most people think there are.

It's worth noting that the main reason we avoid known brands, people and places in Nationstates isn't because of legal threat, but rather because the sideways references are visual signposting that you're reading a work of tongue in cheek satire. Farcebook, is funnier than Facebook.

Where the humour and satire cost too much in clarity, we use the proper real world terms. That's why I'm always telling people to just use the verb tweets when they're talking about tweeting, and why the effect line "intellectual snobbery has the cognoscenti sneering at anyone who doesn't have an opinion on the semiological drift of Umberto Eco's works" doesn't substitute that author's name with Emberto Uco.

[Australian rePublic]

I see...
Though Nike isn't really fair. Max could argue he's refering to Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, who is the name sake of the clothing company

[Candlewhisper Archive]

I see...
Though Nike isn't really fair. Max could argue he's refering to Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, who is the name sake of the clothing company

You've read the book, right? He mentions a whole bunch of corporations by name, and Nike in this book is a clothing company that primarily produces high-fashion running shoes. Hard to claim he means the goddess of victory...

[Marshian nation36]

no one ever addressed this concern:

No one addressed either concern because those names are not in the issues themselves. In both cases, you had an unlucky draw on the @@RANDOMNAME@@ table. It's quite possible no one else in the game ever saw that combination in that place, nor ever will again.

I'm not guessing, by the way - I just looked them both up.

I have some one lieing because they won't tell me the truth.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

I have someone lying, because they won't tell me the truth.

Fixed your post there.

Besides sorting out your spelling and punctuation, I have no idea what you are talking about here.

[Trotterdam]

#707:

New effect lines, "@@DEMONYMNOUNPLURAL@@ are unrivalled in obstacle courses", "citizens buy season tickets on a 20-year payment plan", "unfit police officers collapse while trying to capture unusually athletic criminals", and "walking to the local pizza parlour earns a lovely sports participation ribbon" have a space at the beginning.

Also, you're using the wrong demonym. (Can't you set an automated checker to reject issues with @@DEMONYMADJECTIVEPLURAL@@? It's never correct.)

Meanwhile, in the issue text, "@@NAME@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@" (the sports team name) should probably be "@@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@". Also, make sure you're capitalizing every word in @@ANIMALPLURAL@@ - I don't actually know if you're not, but I thought I'd preempt it

"Cribbage, Monopoly, and Backgammon", "man, woman, and child" need an extra comma.

---

#706:

"@@A@@ @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ black cedar" should sometimes use "an".

[Eris I Dysnomia]

Issue 302:

“As usual, science has the answer!” claims renowned engineer and futurist, Dr. Leia Cruise. “You’re probably aware that there have been numerous developments in unmanned aerial vehicles over the past several years. Well, my laboratory’s been developing this compact flying courier robot with VTOL and GPS and a bunch of other initialisms

The appropriate word is "acronyms". And if you're going to make an acronym joke, you might as well shorten "unmanned aerial vehicles" to "UAVs"

[Luna Amore]

Issue 302:

“As usual, science has the answer!” claims renowned engineer and futurist, Dr. Leia Cruise. “You’re probably aware that there have been numerous developments in unmanned aerial vehicles over the past several years. Well, my laboratory’s been developing this compact flying courier robot with VTOL and GPS and a bunch of other initialisms

The appropriate word is "acronyms". And if you're going to make an acronym joke, you might as well shorten "unmanned aerial vehicles" to "UAVs"

It looks like those words have overlapping definitions, but initialisms seems more appropriate as you pronounce those two (VTOL and GPS) each letter at a time. Although I guess it depends on who you ask as to how to pronounce VTOL.

[The Free Joy State]

#707:

New effect lines, "@@DEMONYMNOUNPLURAL@@ are unrivalled in obstacle courses", "citizens buy season tickets on a 20-year payment plan", "unfit police officers collapse while trying to capture unusually athletic criminals", and "walking to the local pizza parlour earns a lovely sports participation ribbon" have a space at the beginning.

Also, you're using the wrong demonym. (Can't you set an automated checker to reject issues with @@DEMONYMADJECTIVEPLURAL@@? It's never correct.)

Meanwhile, in the issue text, "@@NAME@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@" (the sports team name) should probably be "@@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@". Also, make sure you're capitalizing every word in @@ANIMALPLURAL@@ - I don't actually know if you're not, but I thought I'd preempt it

"Cribbage, Monopoly, and Backgammon", "man, woman, and child" need an extra comma.

Hi Trotterdam, thank you for your comments.

To answer them in reverse order:

- The Oxford comma is a dialectical grammatical variation. Both examples are perfectly acceptable.
- @@ANIMALPLURAL@@ is capitalised.
- @@NAME@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@ is deliberate: in the style of the Miami Dolphins, or the Detroit Lions and similar.
- The demonym seemed correct in test-runs, but I'll take another look
- You're right about the additional spaces. I will raise the point. I must compliment your keen observational skills.

[Bears Armed]

It looks like those words have overlapping definitions, but initialisms seems more appropriate as you pronounce those two (VTOL and GPS) each letter at a time. Although I guess it depends on who you ask as to how to pronounce VTOL.

I'm accustomed to the pronunciation "veetol".

[Big Brain City]

Issue 699 option 3:

“Replacing the pipes would be so expensive, Dear The Big Brain. Fortunately, we can provide for the water needs of the whole State.” asserts Debra Merkel, Manager of The Glorious Big Brain City Water Bottling Plant, as she pours some of Mother Big Brain City’s slightly-cloudy product into a shot-glass. “With increased funding for advertisements, we will teach that all good Brainishes have a duty to buy our pricey...reasonable product, as sparking as a mountain stream.” Wincing slightly, she takes a sip from her glass.

Not sure if anyone caught this but

Brainishes

should be

Brainishpeople

[Tinhampton]

Tinhampton revoked its national faith at 22:42 BST. About an hour later, at 23:40 BST, I got the issue "Purge The Infidels!" This is what option 1 started with:

“We already have an official religion,” says Frank Poindexter, the white cloaked spokesperson for Tinhampton’s Concerned Citizens.

But if I've revoked my national faith, then surely I'd be ineligible to recieve an issue that states I have a national faith?

[Varda I Ilmare]

Luna, can you tell the other mods to stop deleting my nations every time I post something in "Got Issues" that has nothing to do with unusual issue effects? If the moderators want to expand this rule to "don't post anything in Got Issues, ever", then they need to explicitly say that, and not delete nations for a rule that hasn't been imposed yet.

- Katie

[Trotterdam]

- @@NAME@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@ is deliberate: in the style of the Miami Dolphins, or the Detroit Lions and similar.

If it's meant to be reminiscent of those examples, wouldn't @@CAPITAL@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@ be better?

- The demonym seemed correct in test-runs, but I'll take another look

I don't remember the nation name, but I saw it in a nation that had an adjective of "Council" and a noun of "Councillor". The effect line incorrectly used "Councils".

But if I've revoked my national faith, then surely I'd be ineligible to recieve an issue that states I have a national faith?

Revoking the field is just cosmetic, you still count as having unlocked it for the purpose of issues (as also evidenced by the fact that you can reenter a new value at any time, rather than needing to re-unlock it with the original unlocking issue).

It's probably better this way, since it means issue validities remain based on actual issue choices, and caters to players who just can't make up what to put in the field. Plus, when unsure about if an issue is applicable or not, it's better to err on the side of letting players be eligible and just dismiss it if they don't think they should have gotten it.

Note that #070 was actually added into the game long before the custom fields existed, so unless it was reworked since then, it probably assumed you had a national religion regardless. Imagine it as an "unofficial official religion" that everyone associates your nation with even though the government never said so (like Christianity in the US...), and the narrative works.

Also, [violet] was kind of grumpy about implementing this feature in the first place, so maybe we shouldn't nitpick too much

[A Humanist Prognostication]

Note that #070 was actually added into the game long before the custom fields existed, so unless it was reworked since then, it probably assumed you had a national religion regardless. Imagine it as an "unofficial official religion" that everyone associates your nation with even though the government never said so (like Christianity in the US...), and the narrative works.

Yep. Many a nation i've had topping the charts for secularism and having no official religion, whilst some citizens insist on carrying on about our "official" religion. As a member of the IRL US political culture, while I disagree with them strongly, their mere existance has never struck me as bizarre. Lots of people have lots of strange ideas about what the "official" anything is.

In this case, keeping the backside relatively simple has the pleasant side effect of making them realistic too.

Also, [violet] was kind of grumpy about implementing this feature in the first place, so maybe we shouldn't nitpick too much

Else ye be smitten... **brimstone**

[The Free Joy State]

- @@NAME@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@ is deliberate: in the style of the Miami Dolphins, or the Detroit Lions and similar.

If it's meant to be reminiscent of those examples, wouldn't @@CAPITAL@@ @@ANIMALPLURAL@@ be better?

Perhaps some might feel so, but rechecking my editorial notes, that was the author's choice, and editors always yield to authorial choice where possible.

Additionally, some national sports teams also use animals in their names or nicknames.

- The demonym seemed correct in test-runs, but I'll take another look

I don't remember the nation name, but I saw it in a nation that had an adjective of "Council" and a noun of "Councillor". The effect line incorrectly used "Councils".

Did it?

I'll raise the point backstage, and see what the rest of the team think.

Once again, thank you for your eagle-eyes, and for alerting us to a potential issue.

[Aibohphobia]

Option 3:

sparking as a mountain stream

"sparkling"?