Events are back!

[+Zeke+]

If only life worked that way Zeke. Don't forget that this is a simulation game and such things that force players to make tough decisions and react to unexpected events is a good thing in my book.

But we can't react. All we can do is pick a numerically superior choice between 2 options.

There really isn't any options either. If you passed 5th grade math then you only have one choice. There is no "reacting" possible.

Basically there are the "best" and the "math challenged" options to pick from.

All the subtlety of a flying brick these events have been lately. So please skip trying to patronize a 50 year old man with faux fortune cookie wisdom.

[Azati Prime]

Would you be happier if it didn't tell you what the effects would be until you chose them?

[atom antmod]

oops my mistake

[Killjoy]

Would you be happier if it didn't tell you what the effects would be until you chose them?

Actually, that would be more realistic, as government choices are seldom made with a full understanding of the consequences. Of course if the outcomes were standardized it would not take long for the optimal choice for each event to be posted, on the wiki or in alliance forums. This could be resolved using some randomness, using the event I received today, for example:

Counterfeiters raided the national mint last night and stole your nation’s precious printing plates. They are now printing large amounts of counterfeit money.

Option 2: Devote military resources to counterfeit detection. Citizen income -$3.00.

Instead, this could yield a range of results, for example: Your military was successful in capturing the counterfeiters, Income -$1

to

Your military operations to capture the counterfeiters have greatly slowed commercial traffic in your nation. Income -$4.

Just as an example.

Also, it seems the ration of postive events to negative events has changed, making negative events more frequent, though that could just be that all the events I've gotten in the last six months have been negative. Yet another good reason to collect taxes infrequently.

[zzzptm]

Hidden effects would lead to people making guides and then knowing which one to choose.

RANDOM effects, though... those would be awesome. One option should have a tight range of randomness and the other should be broad. One option for the gamblers, one for the minimaxers.

[Lemac]

:angry: I finally got rid of my last of 5 bad events, but have already been hit twice more by bad events....where have the good events gone?? (I have now had 7 different bad events total)

If events are random, I`m getting hit by random bad luck??

[Themistocles]

Events. hmmmmm... Are those where you get a devastating plague that wipes out half your population and you end up being screwed at tax collection time?

[Firescooby]

:angry: I finally got rid of my last of 5 bad events, but have already been hit twice more by bad events....where have the good events gone?? (I have now had 7 different bad events total)

If events are random, I`m getting hit by random bad luck??

Same here...just got my 7th bad event in 3 weeks with no good events.

Random...yeah ok.

[zzzptm]

Life sucks, then you die. Death sucks, too.

Get used to the burdens of leadership. Times are tough.

Now please excuse me while I brutally repress dissent in order to keep foreign investment coming into my nation.

[Aeternos Astramora]

Same here...just got my 7th bad event in 3 weeks with no good events.

Random...yeah ok.

I thought three active events was the limit.

[Jaboy]

What is the ratio of bad vs good events?

Since these have been re-enabled, I have had 6 bad and 1 good.

[Killjoy]

What is the ratio of bad vs good events?

Since these have been re-enabled, I have had 6 bad and 1 good.

Indeed, I've only gotten six bad, and I'm currently dealing with three negative events, -$10 income total. Now, when I see the 'new events to respond to' notice, I fill with dread. Not a good change. Maybe some limiting of the total effect of events, both positive and negative. So you couldn't be more than +/-$x or x% pop decline/increase.

Bottom line is that the change sucks. I wonder what my nation looks like when it's not under a negative event, as it hasn't happened since they have been reenabled.

Edited August 4, 2008 by Killjoy

[zzzptm]

While lots of bad things happen in real life, it would be nice if CN didn't reflect reality all that strongly when it came to events... I miss having good to balance out the bad...

[Oloros]

The preponderance of bad events is certainly taking the enjoyment out of the game. When the most basic actions of the game, collecting taxes and paying bills, fill you with dread, the enjoyment is sucked out of the game. The only reason I haven't quit (6 events, 5 of them negative, since the event changes) is that in the past the admins have generally fixed things they've screwed up. I'm relying on that happening again, eventually. Otherwise, I'll be gone.

Right now it is masochistic to play the game. Why bother?

edit: suggestion: balance the events by making most of them contain in each option something good and something bad. There could still be a few 'all good' and 'all bad' events, but make most event options give you both a positive and a negative. If the positive and negative changes are of wide variety (not just citizen income and happiness, whose effects are so easy to calculate), it would add interest to choosing options in events, instead of just disgust.

Edited August 6, 2008 by Oloros

[TheDave]

I've had three bad and two good events.

One bad reduced the income i receive from the Mining Wonder I do not own. The current bad event removes my access to Affluent Population, which I do not receive anyway. The other bad event was -2% citizens. I had substantially worse events prior to their reworking.

[Oloros]

I've had three bad and two good events.

One bad reduced the income i receive from the Mining Wonder I do not own. The current bad event removes my access to Affluent Population, which I do not receive anyway. The other bad event was -2% citizens. I had substantially worse events prior to their reworking.

You've been quite lucky compared to most folks I've heard from, getting negative events that don't hurt you. All five of my negative events have hit citizen income or happiness or population. One lowered both citizen income and happiness, even after it was 'toned down'. So count your lucky stars, and, oh, knock on wood!

[Trout]

Ever since events came back, I've had 2 bad events and five good events. One of those two bad events didn't even affect my nation.

[Randalla]

I was lucky to have somehow dodged the bullet (multiple bullets) before they were toned down. Fairly recently, though, I cropped up with three in as many days. Two negative, one positive--so I've managed to break even, for now. Several others in my alliance have been swarmed with negative events even after they were supposedly fixed, and the negatives are still especially nasty compared to the occasional +2 happiness--if that.

I think the bad events are still so much more disproportionately nasty compared to how good the "good" events are, if that made any sense. Also, from what our folks report, despite the supposed increase in the ratio of good events to bad, I'm still finding many more reports of the nasty ones cropping up in little swarms.

Are my handful of folks the only ones who dread paying bills and collecting taxes? Several of us have already decreased the frequency of our paying/collecting just to avoid the possibility of catching an event--as I'm sure many others have, as well.

Sorry to say, but a feature that makes people want to play the game less (for the ones who say, "just don't pay/collect as frequently") still needs a lot of work. It's a shame, really, and I'm hoping to hear that event fixes are still on the drawing board--that they're not just being left as is indefinitely.

[o ya baby]

I've had three bad, three good. Right now I have two +$2 events going. The bad events were about three times as bad as the +4 dollars I have now, so I'm still in the negatives.

[Joe Stupid]

im on a streak, 6 bad events in a row!

[Jaboy]

I am currently at 8 bad, 1 good.

Frankly, I don't like this event system. Way too frequent and negative. I know it is purely random, some get more positive, but still....

[The Revolutionary]

the psychotic guinea pig wants to know what happens if you dont respond to an event

[Trout]

the psychotic guinea pig wants to know what happens if you dont respond to an event

If it's a bad event, usually it effects your nation a bit worse than the options it gives you.

[The Revolutionary]

thanks

[Oloros]

I now have 7 total events since the changes were put in, and 6 have been negative, and each one hurt. (My two current bad events cost me $4 and $5 citizen income, respectively.) For a game that is generally well constructed and savvy, this event mix with bad ones predominating, good ones being less positive than the bad ones are negative, and so many of them (I had 4 running concurrently before the cut to three max; I have 3 now), is really, really stupid.

C'mon, admins, fix this idiocy! Game ain't no fun when paying bills and collecting taxes is a dreaded event. Took me 12 days to get 3 events, so nothing will run out for another 2 1/2 weeks.

Edited August 12, 2008 by Oloros