Issues

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Daily issues are dilemmas or controversies confronting a nation, demanding the government take action to resolve them. Nations usually get at least one issue a day, unless they are on vacation mode or have turned off regular issues. All decisions regarding issues take effect during the next running update, and all affect nations in some way, whether through economic upturns/downturns, sudden shifts in freedoms rankings, reclassification into a different government category, even changes in customizable settings or WA membership status. Players should not be shocked if the effects are particularly dramatic, extreme, or even bizarre, at times, either. The game is based on satire, after all.

There is no right or wrong way to answer issues; it all depends on what direction players want to send their nations. If they want their economy to increase, they will probably try something like legalizing gambling or giving corporations more political say. If they want more political freedoms, they will ease up on restrictions to the press or free speech. If they want to form a more dictatorial union, they might do the exact opposite. Anything goes. Even answering in defiance of WA resolutions isn't against the rules! Balancing the effects of issues is a sometimes tricky game to play, however; for example, how to maintain a tightly controlled economy while at the same time keeping a high economic ranking.

After reaching 500 million citizens, players can submit their own issues for consideration by game staff. Editing and adding new issues has seen an increase in recent years, with the game adding on special "Issues Editors" to handle the extra workload. New issues are also drafted on the NS forum.

Overview

With every issue, leaders have multiple options as to how to address the problem, with political officials and private citizens voicing their opinion on the matter. Players choose which point of view best represents the interests of the nation, and the impact will be felt after the next update, during which time the next unresolved issue usually appears.

Aside from the effects on national statistics, issues also change a nation's profile after every update, adding a line to the language about recent developments within the nation; typically, the effects of decisions on the last four issues appear in this section.

Not every nation is eligible to receive every issue. For example, new nations only get a core set of a few dozen game-created issues; they usually cannot receive any of the hundreds of player-created issues until a few weeks into gameplay. Each issue carries with it a validity filter based a nation's answers to previous issues. Nations that have outlawed gambling cannot receive issues related to the effects of legalized gambling; nations that have outlawed cars cannot receive issues about the auto industry; nations that have outlawed elections cannot receive issues on electoral conflicts -- and so on. There is a common misconception that WA members cannot get issues whose choices might conflict with resolutions on the subject -- or even that the game does not allow WA members to answer issues in defiance of WA laws -- but this is not the case. The game instrument is not that sophisticated and the effects of issues are independent of the effects of resolutions. But players certainly have the option to answer issues so as to remain in compliance with these edicts.

Special issues

There is a set of rarely occurring issues that players can only get if meeting very specific criteria, or if they pass a certain population threshold. "Easter eggs," confronting nations with especially zany problems that demand equally zany solutions, are the most coveted of daily issues, but there are others giving nations greater customization in their settings, and even one affecting nations' WA membership status.

Easter eggs

Leader, Capital City and Religion

After reaching 250 million citizens, and receiving Issue #241: "A Capital City for $NATION?", and giving one of the correct responses, a new field will open in the nation's settings allowing players to name their capital city. The same is true for naming a leader after 750 million citizens (#242: "Follow the Leader!"), and a national religion after 1 billion (#243: "A Question of Faith"). Newer nations have been especially eager to receive these issues, so much so that a special FAQ devoted to how to receive them was added to the Technical forum.

World Assembly Woes

The only issue that suggests there may be consequences to violating WA law, nations who are members of the WA may get the infamous Issue #132 from time to time, giving them the opportunity to reconsider their decision to join the international organization. The issue is not very detailed as to why WA membership is suddenly being questioned, just that it makes passing some domestic legislation impossible. Many nations have unexpectedly found themselves on the outside looking in after making the wrong decision. Even regions with long-standing delegates can find themselves leaderless if the delegate happens to make a bad call during routine issue-answering. Texas was one such example.[1]

An International Incident

Leaders are introduced to the "exotic," but also violent and chaotic, nation of Brasilistan in a series of 19 issues constituting the game's first "chain issue," in which nations are compelled to respond to terrifying reports of kidnappings in remote Brasilistani villages. Each response triggers another issue, as the nation gets more and more heavily involved in the international crisis. This series of issues touches on a number of subjects, including human rights, conflict diamonds, nuclear warfare, piracy, colonialism, famine and starvation.

Memes

There are some aspects of the NationStates world that are frequently mentioned in issues. Max Barry, for example, apparently exists in the NS-verse as well as RW. He competes in beauty pageants all across NS in one issue; in another, he is the author of Jennifer Government, which is quite popular in NS nations. Catherine Gratwick makes cameos in over a dozen issues, as she is quite the prolific activist on a wide range of subjects. Maxtopia and Bigtopia rear their ugly heads in many dilemmas, with nations having to resolve numerous conflicts with the former country, and social controversies involving immigrants from the latter. Other frequently mentioned countries include Lilliputia, Blackacre, Marche Noir and Tasmania. The notoriously violent cult of Violet is widely observed in many nations, and leaders are always having to find ways of dealing with their fanatical denizens as well.

The World Assembly is featured in several issues, although not in the way that many General Assembly regulars might know it. In one issue it is called upon to investigate rumored weapons programs in neighboring countries, and also gets involved in nations' dealings with Brasilistan in a couple others. The gameside WA only exists to pass international law and does not involve itself international conflicts or disputes. The WA International Food Welfare Organization is referenced; it is an agency created by the resolution Food Welfare Act, by Glen-Rhodes.

Additional materials

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