NationStates Issues **SPOILER ALERT**

[Jutsa]

You've gotta admit that's a rather striking coincidence, though...

the same thing happened with that one guy who got the same name on the same issue option 3 times in a row...

Edit: Also, thinking about it, option 5's probably just not available to nations without a national anthem, without a variant.
Idk, it's possible there is one, but I'm now suspecting it's probably just restricted.

[Jutsa]

Found 959.3!

“All well and good,” states your Education Minister, whose favorite song is widely known to be mute, “but the fact of the matter is the education budget is going to be in the red next year. Would you prefer to cut funding for something useful, like math or language arts, or students banging on instruments and making loud noises?”

The nation had banned sports, but there are two problems:

1) Looking at it, I don't think sports need to be banned, just not played in schools... I honestly am not sure but that's what I suspect.

2) I still got the final option, it was the same... and idk why. It's on a puppet I only answer the last option with so I should never have gotten a national anthem.
My only guesses are a) That was one of the issues I accidentally didn't pick the final option on, or b) That's not a validity.

I'll bug Ransium about that one.

[Jutsa]

Hey Trotterdam, what was #917 supposed to be about again?

[Fauxia]

957.1- the name is random

[Jutsa]

Thanks, Fauxia! Removed a bunch of stuff from this list because idk why I put them on there and uh... yeah, going to try hunting most of them down.

190.2, 274.4/5, 394.3, 415.3, 527.2, 717.3, 760.3, 765.5, 788.2, 788.5, possibly 837.5/6, possibly 850.4, 851.4, possibly 858.5, 875.3, possibly 880.4 (THOUGH probably not), 884.4, 910.3, all of 911, who knows how much of 914, all of 917, 928.2, all of 952 and 956,
and validities for 411.1/2, 523.3, 610.4, 848.2/3, and all of 896... I forget exactly why for that last one.

Edit: that name looked so unfamiliar I just assumed it was fixed.

[The Marsupial Illuminati]

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Deleted by The Marsupial Illuminati on Sun May 32, 2008 13:11 pm, deleted 1 time in total.

[Trotterdam]

#332 4. "What if I told you that you could still have this summit without spending billions or starting riots?" states your cable repairman, @@RANDOMNAME@@, as @@HE/SHE@@ pulls wires out of your wall. "Why not chat with world leaders over the phone? It may not make a good photo-op, but you'll still be able to discuss policy with every other world leader, and it won't cost a cent."

whose favorite song is widely known to be mute,

That's a real thing, by the way.

The nation had banned sports, but there are two problems:

1) Looking at it, I don't think sports need to be banned, just not played in schools... I honestly am not sure but that's what I suspect.

The option as written seems kind of inappropiate for nations with a large education budget. I don't think that's the validity, though.

2) I still got the final option, it was the same... and idk why. It's on a puppet I only answer the last option with so I should never have gotten a national anthem.
My only guesses are a) That was one of the issues I accidentally didn't pick the final option on, or b) That's not a validity.

I'll bug Ransium about that one.

Looks like the game assumes you always have an anthem. Except in the issue to assign an anthem, where it assumes you don't.

Hey Trotterdam, what was #917 supposed to be about again?

Something to do with children's toys. I don't think it was drafted on the forum.

Look for effect lines that look like this:

school children declare that teachers "may confiscate our toys but they can never take our FREEDOM"
kindergartens are full of kids dressed as superheroes and princesses
schoolkids are often mistaken for fast food workers
the Treasury Minister takes anxiety medication every time kids lose their sports kits
the state believes that children are what you make of them

I've reactivated tracking on them, maybe I'll notice something I missed earlier.

[Jutsa]

holy cow some of those are good.

I'm really interested to see this issue, now.

Thank you for the option, Trot — and the name, MI. :3

Edit: Wow, completely missed that one on my list...

[Ransium]

Are you guys sure all the names are completely random in 958? That none of them (or parts of them) are references to a circa mid 90's movie?

[Jutsa]

I have no idea what's fixed and what's random, Ransium. I just take a swing, miss some, pray at least some of those are pointed out.

[Bears Armed]

whose favorite song is widely known to be mute,

That's a real thing, by the way.

In fact, I've read somewhere, apparently a totally blank record once reached the top of the American singles chart. That happened during the heyday of juke boxes, and it was created & sold primarily for inclusion in those so that people in premises with them who wanted a break from the flow of pop music could get one...

[Nation of Quebec]

Are you guys sure all the names are completely random in 958? That none of them (or parts of them) are references to a circa mid 90's movie?

As the author and editor of 958, I can attest that all the names are random except for the last name of the character in option #5.

[Ransium]

Oh I meant the issue I edited 959? I donno.

[Jutsa]

So all the names in 959 are fixed..?

[Candensia]

So all the names in 959 are fixed..?

It looks like only option 5 is fixed. Option 1, 2, and 4 i recieved names different than what the reporter of 959 posted.

[Ransium]

I can generate random first or last names. The movie was released in 1995.

[Jutsa]

Eh, it's possible that half the names are fixed and the other half aren't; it's happened before.

Can't tell you how much of a wrench it is to figure out if a name's random or not.

[Kaschovia]

#960: Nobody Does It Better?

The Issue

After two @@DEMONYM@@ agents operating in Blackacre were compromised and forced to flee the country, a private military corporation known as the Webber Group has approached you about taking over the nation’s intelligence-gathering activities.

1. “Leader, my operatives are perfect for this type of work,” declares Webber Group CEO @@RANDOMMALENAME@@, flanked by two burly bodyguards. “Many of them have received military training prior to joining our company, so they’re well versed in espionage, counter-intelligence, and assassina... um... proactive regime change strategies. If they’re caught, you can deny any knowledge of them. Together, we can revitalize the foreign intelligence apparatus of @@NAME@@... for a small fee, of course.”

2. “Are we really going to put the safety of our nation in the hands of this... thug?” questions secret agent James Bont while drinking a martini. “What the Webber Group fails to tell you is that many of their operatives were dishonorably discharged. They’re violent, averse to authority, and unpredictable. Not to mention they’re only loyal to a paycheck. Leader, let me organize a training program for our less-experienced spies so they never get caught again.”

3. “Frankly, I don’t know why you need field agents at all,” says your nephew while slaughtering pixelated enemies on his phone. “A skilled hacker can get any information you want from any system. Just hire a few tech-savvy people to spy on foreign nations or whatever.”

Issue by The Imperial Federation of Incremenia

Edited by Pogaria

I'm not sure if there are more options that I am unaware of, but I got this issue and I realised that it hadn't been added to the list yet, so here it is.

[Jutsa]

Many thanks for the report, Kaschovia! Congratulations to Incremenia for this successful issue.

I'm very curious about option 3, but I think the only things you need are computers and video games, right?
I'm also curious to know if there's an alternative version...

Oh, and nice to see James Bont again.

[The Free Joy State]

This is a bit late, Jutsa, but I just noted that there's an error with the recording of #861 ("Out with the Old"). Names 1-3 are non-random (all are approximate references to dystopian fiction or their authors; which are referenced in the specific option).

Option 1 is Logan Nolan
Option 2 is Ida-@@RANDOMFIRSTNAMEFEMALE@@ Levine
Option 3: is Alda Huxtable

[Jutsa]

Yeah, that is a bit late! Better late than never though, right?

Many thanks, FJS! Updated.

[Trotterdam]

#415 Brain Pain on the Sports Plain

The Issue

@@ANIMAL@@ball - a sport that is extremely popular in @@NAME@@ but not so much anywhere else - is causing a slew of concussions in @@DEMONYMADJETIVE@@ schools. Brain trauma from the head-on collisions is causing cognitive problems and - on occasion - deaths.

The Debate

1. "You have to stop this madness!" yells @@RANDOMFEMALENAME@@, the mother of an eighthback for @@CAPITAL@@ High School. "My son has received so many concussions that his grades are dropping. To hell with tradition, our children's fragile brains are more important!"

2. "Come on, @@LEADER@@. You’re not actually thinking about this, are you?" says @@RANDOMNAME@@, PR rep from the @@CAPITAL@@ Wyverns, a professional @@ANIMAL@@ball team. "I know it's tough, but without @@ANIMAL@@ball in the schools, who will be the great pro athletes of the future? Need I mention that @@ANIMAL@@ball is a storied part of @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ culture dating back generations? You wouldn't want to mess that up, would you?"

4. "It's not just @@ANIMAL@@ball," mentions @@RANDOMNAME@@, a techie joining the conversation via Trype. "Think about legball. Concussions happen there all the time. It's just not in the news anywhere as often. And then there's hoopball. They wipe each other out all of the time. Us video gamers have fun without ever knocking our skulls together. I propose we ban all physical sports. It’s only the safest op-" @@HE/SHE@@ says before the screen turns off with a security guard twirling the plug.

Issue by Have Fun With It
Edited by Lenyo

(It's also possible that the last speaker is a @@RANDOMMALENAME@@.)

I decided to leave the bad HTML code in this time.

Not much obvious has changed, but somehow there's a new option 3 out there...

[Jutsa]

Welp, I'm guessing it's a variant of option 4 for nations without video games.
On one hand, it seems uncommon that a less common variant comes first, but on the other,
I'd thank the editors so much if it were so we actually know that there is another option.

Updated.

Edit: Also can confirm that 949.4 is unavailable to scientifically poor nations.

[Jutsa]

Found #488.3:

“Hey! That’s our jobs you’re talking about!” bemoans Rory McCloud, the CEO of Big Toys Inc., between puffs of his comically large and extremely illegal cigar. “Banning our most popular toy lines would seriously damage our industry. I’d say the best way to handle this situation is a healthy corporate tax break. If we paid less taxes, we could up production and flood the market with so many toy guns that no kid would even want one! Then we sell them something better,” he says, letting out a long eerie laugh as cigar smoke fills the room.

[Jutsil]

Hey, Jutsa posting from their forest alt, here:

Is it possible that 786.4 is an athiest alternative to 786.3? Or has anyone gotten both options at the same time?

It's definitely not what I thought it was, since this account both has law enforcement and I have that.
My only other guess is you might need criminals, which this nation doesn't have.