Got Issues updates

[Bears Armed]

As editors, we often receive questions about macros, the little bits of code that you can add to an issue to mention a nation's major industry, or berate the nation's leader by name, or ensure that all those random people in the issues are addressed by their preferred pronouns. However, the current list of macros in our FAQ was in need of an update. To address this, we have now added some additional information to the list of macros so that you can write issues with even more syntactical precision.

If anything is confusing, please let us know so that we can make adjustments.

Thank you, that is indeed useful.

[Pogaria]

On another note, I'm sorry if this isn't the place to ask here - I can create a thread but it might be a bit desolate - anyway, when we can expect the other two stats to be out of the Beta? Generosity and Ease of Commute, namely. More here.

That sort of thing requires admin involvement; I don't have any new information at the current time.

[Umbratellus]

Ahh... I need to update this into the OP of the Megathread, then! Will have to compare and merge it. ^^

On another note, I'm sorry if this isn't the place to ask here - I can create a thread but it might be a bit desolate - anyway, when we can expect the other two stats to be out of the Beta? Generosity and Ease of Commute, namely. More here.

What even would the difference between Generosity, Niceness, and Compassion be? I can barely tell apart Niceness and Compassion as is.

[Pogaria]

"Déjà vu is usually a glitch in the NationStates – it happens when they change something."

When you're running a complex nation simulation, sometimes the earlier bits of code don't do what you want them to do. For example, it would be nice if we could hand out special banners for finishing an issue chain. Until now, though, we weren't even tracking whether nations had finished the first chain. Fortunately, the Architect has granted us the power to make changes to the NationStates - and we've now reset that chain so that everyone is once again eligible to receive it.

So don't worry if a certain international incident seems to be repeating itself... it's just a little déjà vu.

[SherpDaWerp]

As the issues contest draws to a close, what better time to give you all a sneak peek into the life of the editing team! Also, our last update was May 10th 2021, nearly 2.5 years ago, so... better late than never?

Got Issues Update No. 9

The Issues:

• Issues published: 1457 -> 1573. That's 116 new issues, which is quite the drop from 2018's frenetic pace!
• The pool is currently sitting at a cool 134 drafts. All our contest issues are also yet-to-be-judged, which will hopefully inflate this number quite significantly.
• Pogaria's magnum opus Megachain is still progressing. We're also starting to map out a Covid-themed chain.
• To celebrate the 20th birthday of NS, we put out a new easter egg - the first one since issue #1122. Hope you liked it!
  
  The Community:
• A lot of moving and shaking in the team: SherpDaWerp & Verdant Haven joined, Baggieland re-joined, Candensia & Daarwyrth joined but left, Ransium re-joined and re-left, and Caracasus, Frieden-und Freudenland, Helaw, & USS Monitor all left.
• Verdant Haven is already a Senior Issues Editor - he's shown a lot of initiative pushing for projects backstage.
• Yep, contests are Definitely Annual Now™. Keep your eyes peeled for our announcement of the winners of Contest #8, coming soon(-ish) to a news post near you!
• The Got Issues FAQ got a hefty re-write, bringing our one-stop-issues-shop up to speed with current best practices and providing useful examples of writing techniques.
  
  The Coding:
• New banners got released, giving all you completionists something new to chase. We also took the new images as an excuse to add the Cannibalism policy.
• Quite a heap of statistical changes: Food Quality and Patriotism stats went live, TMI re-wrote Recreational Drug Use, Tourism was re-weighted, and Civil Rights has dropped two obsolete sub-freedoms.
• VH's two-year-in-the-making religious issues update got the go-ahead, and went live just recently.
• Yet more random-names, as Fitzy Cobbledick moves in next-door to our established favourites like Cortana Pavlov.
• And a small teaser for our next planned techy change: re-working the nation page to provide more descriptions and charts than ever before! Ever wanted to know what beliefs and hobbies are common in your nation? Soon, you'll be able to! No ETA on this one, unfortunately; we expect it could take quite a while to gnash out all the fine detail.

[Trotterdam]

[*]To celebrate the 20th birthday of NS, we put out a new easter egg - the first one since issue #1122. Hope you liked it!

Umm, what about #1549?

[Tinhampton]

[*]To celebrate the 20th birthday of NS, we put out a new easter egg - the first one since issue #1122. Hope you liked it!

Umm, what about #1549?

That was the 20th Anniversary Easter Egg.

[Valentine Z]

I definitely got my two eyeballs on the charts and hobbies thing. Doesn't matter if it may or may not be out, or there's no ETA; the very prospect is already making me wow. <3

[Trotterdam]

That was the 20th Anniversary Easter Egg.

...Oh, right. "Highlight of things that happened in the last 2.5 years" summary, not "things we've done recently" announcement. Sorry.