by Max Barry

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Another new issue, #532:

The Issue

An anonymous whistle-blower has released thousands of documents detailing how law firms in the tiny tropical island nation of Manamana helped politicians and businesspeople from Dr George hide millions of gold coins in undeclared income. The scandal, dubbed the "Manamana Memos" by the media, has rocked Dr George, as it involves several famous figures, including world leaders and public officials linked to your government.

The Debate

"This is clearly a law enforcement issue," muses Kirby Jefferson, head of the Financial Crimes division. "This is a reflection of the state of neglect my division finds itself in. We need more manpower, state of the art computer systems, new vehicles, maybe some snappy new uniforms, and of course, new legislation that gives us broader powers to investigate financial crimes, including the subpoenaing and wiretapping of suspects. Give us the resources we need and I'll have those fat cats paying their taxes in no time."

Accept

"Oh my Violet! What is this communist madness?" screams Alistair Sid, the blue-haired and googly-eyed senior-partner at one of the implicated law firms. "My clients are furious! What kind of country is this when you can't even have assets abroad without the press snooping on them?" He pauses to tear up a packet of chocolate chips, devouring all of them voraciously before continuing his tirade. "Me want you to make this go away, Nick Sam. Journalists should have no right to publish private financial data of politicians and corporations; it's a breach of privacy and public trust! Prosecute all the journalists and so-called whistle-blowers responsible for this! Oh Violet, it looks like I picked the wrong week to quit dropping spunkmeyers, om nom nom nom."

Accept

"The problem is capitalism," argues social activist and Dr George's oldest politician 'Colonel' Ernie Flanders. "We wouldn't be in this mess if tax havens weren't allowed in the first place. It is outrageous! Multinational corporations and the top one percent can suck the wealth from our country dry and then take it offshore to some so-called financial paradise to avoid paying taxes. We need capital controls to prevent economic collapse so we don't end up in an economic mess like Bigtopia. We need to wage war against this corrupt system! Outlaw this practice at once!"

Accept

"The problem is government and Nick Sam's incompetence," counters noted billionaire Edward Rump, who was coincidentally listed in the Manamana Memos. "People come up to me all the time and tell me that they take their money abroad because they are tired of dealing with the draconian tax code and endless bureaucracy in this country. In order for Dr George to be great again, we need to prosper and be wealthy. In order to be wealthy, by the way I love the wealthy, we need to simplify the tax code and lower taxes. Freedom will ring and it'll be amazing. So amazing."

Accept

Dr george wrote:I also agree with CUP that many, many of the issues have random, nonsensical, or even contradictory results compared to what was implied in the issue itself.

Can you give some examples of these issues? Every issue I've had has been goofy but so far I've had none that I would describe as random, nonsensical, or contradictory.

Dr george wrote:I've started keeping tabs on some of the major effects of the various issues and it seems like a LOT of issues that should or used to affect CRs, Econ, and PFs no longer affect those at all. Some of them, too, will only raise you so high, say to a CR of 90%, so if you answer it with a CR of 92%, it will do nothing (or possibly lower your CRs to 90%).

That sounds like a bug. Which issues are these?

For instance, when a CPS of mine banned cannibalism (493.3), I got:

Recreational Drug Use
Pineapple Fondness Rating 3.00 → 104.60 3,387% Civil Rights
Martin Luther King, Jr. Units 14.54 → 22.23 52.9% Nudity
Cheeks Per Square Mile 13.75 → 15.75 14.5% Industry: Gambling
Kelly Criterion Productivity Index -7.86 → -6.96 11.5% Obesity
Obesity Rate 7.04 → 7.10 0.85% Corruption
Kickbacks Per Hour 292.78 → 293.75 0.33% Sector: Manufacturing
Gooback-Jerbs Productivity Index 77,073.53 → 77,212.04 0.18% Economic Output
Gold coins 34,222.45 → 34,283.95 0.18% Average Income
Gold coins 236,375.56 → 236,800.34 0.18% Tourism
Tourists Per Hour 7.84 → 7.85 0.13% Lifespan
Years 27.25 → 27.23 0.07% Charmlessness
Kardashian Reflex Score 896.61 → 895.24 0.15% Employment
Workforce Participation Rate 49.12 → 48.94 0.37% Safety
Bubble-Rapp Safety Rating 7.12 → 7.09 0.42% Health
Bananas Ingested Per Day 21.29 → 21.13 0.75%Weather
Meters Of Sunlight -67.00 → -69.00 3.0% Ideological Radicality
Paul-Nader Subjective Decentrality Index 34.52 → 31.96 7.4% Social Conservatism
Bush-Santorum Dawning Terror Index 85.46 → 77.77 9.0% Authoritarianism
Stalins 1.10 → 0.91 17.3% Influence
Soft Power Disbursement Rating 98.00 → 0.00 100%

I note a 3,000+% rise in Recreational Drug Use and a 100% drop in Influence are completely unwarranted, but a massive rise in Civil Rights for telling people they can't exercise their CRs??? A drop in Authoritarianism for behaving in an authoritarian way??? A drop in Lifespan for banning an unhealthy food?

Issue #3, Harry Potter books, causes taxes to rise whether you ban the book or allow it.

211.3, allowing the military to have unconventional weapons, produced this result:

Industry: Arms Manufacturing
Charon Conveyancy Index 67,819.02 → 68,486.58 0.98% Sector: Manufacturing
Gooback-Jerbs Productivity Index 77,319.22 → 77,967.68 0.84% Civil Rights
Martin Luther King, Jr. Units 22.23 → 22.38 0.67% Defense Forces
Total War Preparedness Rating 28,087.54 → 28,185.68 0.35% Averageness
Average Standardized Normality Scale 23.05 → 23.10 0.22% Economic Output
Gold coins 34,491.82 → 34,561.27 0.20% Average Income of Rich
Gold coins 1,015,158.74 → 1,017,202.77 0.20% Average Income
Gold coins 238,236.06 → 238,715.75 0.20% Black Market
Gold coins 2,129,744.43 → 2,134,032.68 0.20% Average Income of Poor
Gold coins 35,952.71 → 36,025.10 0.20% Government Size
Bureaucratic Comprehensiveness Rating Scale Index 36.17 → 36.21 0.11% Ideological Radicality
Paul-Nader Subjective Decentrality Index 31.95 → 31.90 0.16% Social Conservatism
Bush-Santorum Dawning Terror Index 77.77 → 77.62 0.19% Industry: Pizza Delivery
Pepperoni Propulsion Productivity Index 722.84 → 721.39 0.20% Business Subsidization
Gilded Widget Scale 2,839.73 → 2,834.03 0.20% Industry: Trout Fishing
Nemo Depletion Efficiency Index 2,007.43 → 2,003.40 0.20% Public Healthcare
Theresa-Nightingale Rating 4,233.78 → 4,225.28 0.20% Industry: Basket Weaving
Hickory Productivity Index 5,245.76 → 5,235.22 0.20% Industry: Mining
Blue Sky Asbestos Index 24,907.04 → 24,856.99 0.20% Industry: Timber Woodchipping
Tasmanian Pulp Environmental Export Index 15,406.84 → 15,375.88 0.20% Industry: Insurance
Risk Expulsion Effectiveness Rating 24,861.61 → 24,811.65 0.20% Industry: Furniture Restoration
Spitz-Pollish Productivity Index 6,732.75 → 6,719.22 0.20% Industry: Automobile Manufacturing
Henry Ford Productivity Index 4,254.44 → 4,245.89 0.20% Law Enforcement
Orwell Orderliness Index 22,717.87 → 22,672.21 0.20% Industry: Information Technology
Fann-Boi Productivity Index 6,889.71 → 6,875.86 0.20% Industry: Beverage Sales
Addison-Fukk Productivity Rating 2,023.96 → 2,019.89 0.20% Freedom From Taxation
Hayek Index -74.18 → -74.40 0.30% Pacifism
Cheeks Turned Per Day 3.11 → 3.09 0.64%

Civil Rights go up? Social Conservatism goes down? A whole bunch of unrelated industries go down? Defense Forces go up, but Law Enforcement goes down?

Kalmykya wrote:Can you give some examples of these issues? Every issue I've had has been goofy but so far I've had none that I would describe as random, nonsensical, or contradictory.
That sounds like a bug. Which issues are these?

I am going to have to assume this is not your original nation with NS and you have prior experience with the game and all the changes it has introduced, if not since the beginning but at least for a few years (before it began to kowtow to the incessant whining that went on in the forums).

Dr. George and I have been around on the forums for quite some time. I myself have been involved in the Issues forum, up until recently, for ten years. That takes into account both forums, the one that is up now and the old one that is now defunct.

My time on the forums have shown that I was willing to give many examples for a variety of issues, and prior to the most recent updates I was considered a bit of an authority on issues and their effects. This was done without the benefit of having the issue effects laid out to me on a silver platter.

I fully admit I am no longer considered, and I would not consider myself, an authority on the game in any way shape or form. However, I would certainly state as my opinion that the game was far more realistic prior to the most recent changes than they are now.

I don't know the specific issue number nor to I know the name, though I think it is called (X) Industry Workers Go On Strike:

I do know the stat effects after allowing employers to fire workers without having to give any reason:

I will give one example:

Employers can fire their workers without giving any reason.

Average Income of Poor: 26.4% up
Income Equality: 32% up
Average Income of Rich: 4% down
Economic Freedom: 1.1%
Wealth Gaps: 24.1% down

If you honestly feel that those effects are in any way realistic I would be willing to throw my economics degree out the window.

This isn't a bug. These types of responses are endemic throughout all issue choices with large nations atop the world rankings, regardless of economic, social or political order.

I have a few nations over 20 billion. I have several from 10-20 billion and a half dozen lower than that. Almost every time I make an issue choice with one of my big nations I get something screwy like this. You do the math.

Undivulged Principles wrote:I am going to have to assume this is not your original nation with NS and you have prior experience with the game and all the changes it has introduced, if not since the beginning but at least for a few years (before it began to kowtow to the incessant whining that went on in the forums).

You are correct, I've been playing off and on with various nations since around 2005. Admittedly I've never spent much time in any of the forums in their various incarnations (but I still remember the JOLT! Forums), being more content to play the game by myself and interact with people via RMBs.

Undivulged Principles wrote:I don't know the specific issue number nor to I know the name, though I think it is called (X) Industry Workers Go On Strike:
I do know the stat effects after allowing employers to fire workers without having to give any reason:
I will give one example:
Employers can fire their workers without giving any reason.
Average Income of Poor: 26.4% up
Income Equality: 32% up
Average Income of Rich: 4% down
Economic Freedom: 1.1%
Wealth Gaps: 24.1% down

That does seem bizarre and very different from how I remember that issue playing out; in the past at least, I think it has increased both economy and economic freedom while lowering income equality and increasing poverty. Have you or Dr. George or others mentioned this? It seems very strange that issues with relatively straight forward consequences would be so completely rejiggered.

Undivulged Principles wrote:If you honestly feel that those effects are in any way realistic I would be willing to throw my economics degree out the window. This isn't a bug. These types of responses are endemic throughout all issue choices with large nations atop the world rankings, regardless of economic, social or political order.

Well, admittedly it has always been the large nations that sit atop the world rankings (with some notable exceptions). This has always been my biggest contention with the game - there are many categories where bigger is not necessarily better, and in fact where smaller nations might be expected to do better. Qatar, for example, is typically #1 in the world for GDP per capita, partially because they are wealthy but also because they have a relatively minuscule population, so there is more per head than a larger country with a bigger GDP but also a bigger population.

To make NS more "realistic" and avoid the bigger = better dynamic that dominates world rankings, I think there would have to be factors like geography that might place hard limits on population, economic growth, and the types of industries available to your nation. A more realistic simulator might also allow your government to not only answer issues, but to choose areas of policy to focus on (i.e. Environment, Military, Economy) and receive issues relating to that domain with greater frequency than others, allowing nations to specialize on rankings that they wanted to achieve. Of course, such a game would probably be much more complicated than NS, and might be pushing the envelope on what's possible in the browser based genre.

In terms of top rankings, I am reasonably content with larger nations taking the lion's share of world rankings and others being more-or-less random. What I continue to object to is when there are massive ties (say, 1200 nations with 100% Civil Rights) and the order is determined by a never-changing update order, favouring some regions and disadvantaging others. Why can't updates happen in a random order? That would probably affect the R/D aspect of the game, but it would equally disadvantage both sides, so that still seems fair to me.

NONNY, for instance, has worked a very long time to achieve his #1 in the world ranking of Most Crime by consistently destroying any vestige of police, military, prisons, or jails. Also, NONNY has worked very hard to achieve and maintain nosebleed levels of high rights.

I think it would be OK to be able to choose climate and other limiting factors if one wanted at the beginning of forming a nation. Also, one might choose an orientation towards one issue (which we kind of have now with your style of government being anything from anarchic to evil).

I would especially like for the results of issues to be more limited (not 30+ results) and coherent. Some of the results seem to peg you at a certain point, others seem to be the result of rolling D&D dice. IMHO, a result that raises CRs, for instance, should continue to raise CRs each time you answer it until such time as you reach 100%. Perhaps CRs, PFs, and other categories could be + or - 400% as Economy is now. Likewise, an issue that lowers CRs should continue to lower them until you reach 0%.

Kalmykya

Some rather disappointing news regarding the EU referendum recently. not sure if anyone was watching, more interested in Trump's Scotland visit, or the resignation of Davin Cameron. One thing for sure, it's not been a slow news day.

every single referendum I have ever voted in, the opposite had been the outcome. Perhaps I will move to Swiitzerland and join in their seemingly never ending supply so I can at least get something I voted for :)

*Reduces military spending by 40%*

*Taxes jump up by 6%*

Nw hell rehab center

Opening an embassy with Illuminati!? Are they no longer raiders?

AARGH so many default flag nations

Eerlijk wrote:AARGH so many default flag nations

I don't think nation states would appreciate me having a harlot as a flag...

Visiting queendom of myself

Harlots wrote:I don't think nation states would appreciate me having a harlot as a flag...

I don't know. They appreciate some unusual things.

Eerlijk wrote:AARGH so many default flag nations

I'll fix those directly. At least they're alive again now.

Harlots wrote:*Reduces military spending by 40%*
*Taxes jump up by 6%*

You want CONSISTENCY??? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Harlots

New issue, #540:

The Issue

After one of your recent speeches included an accidental spoiler for the bestselling novel Hexicon, angry librarians, teenagers, and fantasy aficionados have completely surrounded your office in protest. After a hard day's work, you have agreed to meet with the protesters, if only so that you can get out of the building.

The Debate

"Speeches, not spoilers!" chants your teenage niece, who has been leading the protest. "Look, I'm trying to be a good citizen here, paying attention to what's going on around me, but if you're going to spoil something that I haven't even had chance to read, then I'm not going to bother! If you really need to talk about stuff that isn't politics in your speeches, at least warn us about it! Sure, it might look a bit silly, but who cares? This is almost as bad as when I was told that Planet of the whales was Philosophy 115 all along!"

Accept

"Can't these people get a life?" asks your visibly tired speechwriter Peter de Vries, who has been shredding hate mail all day. "Simply say something appeasing, then carry on your business as you normally would. Honestly, I wish I had the free time to read; then I'd finally find out why everyone keeps getting so upset about this Dumbledore business. Besides, wouldn't referencing pop culture make you 'cool' and 'with it', as the kids are saying these days?"

Accept

"Who cares what 'rosebud' meant, or who was the real Caesar So-say? There's more to life than fiction," observes your always serious Finance Minister Gretel Meier, who is known around the office as a total buzzkill. "What's important here is that you've given a lot, and I mean a lot of publicity to that hack of an author, and he hasn't paid us a single cent! Maybe if people are going to care so much about what you talk about in those speeches of yours, we should be getting companies to pay for the privilege of being mentioned. Sure, some may call it 'bribery' and 'unethical', but there's no such thing as free advertising."

Accept

"Spoilers must be banned!" wails George JK Token, the beloved and bearded fantasy author of Hexicon and the popular A Play of Crowns series. "It's of no coincidence that mere days after you spoiled my book, it fell from its number one position on the Zeta Times best seller list. Spoilers greatly harm the publishing and entertainment industries. Nobody wants to bother with something if they know how it ends! I urge you to make it illegal to spoil. If you don't, well, then I just might have to kill off Aya Lark in the next Play of Crowns book, seeing how she's your favorite character."

Accept

The platocracy

In one of my puppet nations, I banned capitalism.
Religiousness went up 72%!

Harlots wrote:I don't think nation states would appreciate me having a harlot as a flag...

Maybe a sophisticated portrait of a "lady of the evening" would suffice?

Visiting queendom of myself

Post self-deleted by Undivulged Principles.

Sorry to have hijacked your RMB with my ramblings, but this is my last one:

I had two issues where my Black Market went up 183%, twice. It didn't change (seems there is a ceiling on the stat) and I dropped one place in the world rankings. I was passed by a nation half my size. Interesting indeed.

Feel free to vent. While I occasionally quote Hume that "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds," such outcomes are more than counterintuitive, they are contradictory!

BTW, congrats on maxing out your Black Market score. IMHO, it's quite an accomplishment to overflow the game's capacity! What are the effects of having a very large Black Market?

The platocracy

Dr george wrote:I occasionally quote Hume that "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds"

You sure that was Scottish philosopher David Hume? My internet says that it was Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his 1841 essay "Self-Reliance". It's possible that Emerson was quoting Hume...

New old new new york

Before the twentieth century, especially in non-academic writings, authors stole extensively from one another without attribution, what we would today call plagiarism.

Nw hell rehab center

Before the twentieth century, especially in non-academic writings, authors stole extensively from one another without attribution, what we would today call plagiarism.

Telgan and Ekhareis

As NH writes:

Before the twentieth century, especially in non-academic writings, authors stole extensively from one another without attribution, what we would today call plagiarism.

Let us take a moment to reflect upon NW's words.

P.s what is citing a plagiarised sources even called?

Central Kadigan wrote:You sure that was Scottish philosopher David Hume? My internet says that it was Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his 1841 essay "Self-Reliance". It's possible that Emerson was quoting Hume...

Pretty sure it was Emerson, not Hume, who said this.

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