Lobbying is closed!
Forgot to send those reminders, but they were a courtesy and it’s been an odd week, what can I say? I’ve been exhausted IRL due to work, it is what it is.
The raw numbers are pretty split. 2 for option A, 4 for option B (one technically after lobbying closed), 3 for option D… And none for option C. Maybe the lack of responses for option C says something about the forum. Maybe it says something about what I wrote about it, or my known biases. What can you say?
So, which option do I go for, with split lobbying?
I go for...
The option that is most interesting to me, the option where I can see the most ways to follow on from, and do the most with… Option D. Why? Well… You will see, there’s hints soon. I figure that I have some room to make these decisions, when it’s so close.
The In-Universe Post
TIMES OF ARAGA - TUESDAY MARCH 10
New Coalition Government Announced
The timing of the latest election could not have placed the new government in a more precarious position. Massive revelations had sent the economy into freefall, and nobody really agreed what to do. Some, like the Modernist Party Of Araga wanted to spend more. Some, like the Aragan Stability Party wanted to spend less. A variety of other policies were advanced by a myriad of parties, most notably the Organised Labour Party. Nobody really agreed on what to do, that’s democracy for you, right? It was a long campaign, but it’s finally over.
There has perhaps been no closer election in recent memory, with the ASP, MPA and OLP all receiving between 25 and 30 of the 100 seats in the lower house. Analysts expected a long, drawn-out period of negotiations… And analysts were wrong. The MPA and OLP rapidly found common ground. Amid cries from the ASP of being shut out and the MPA caving to its left flank, the pair rapidly got to it and unveiled a coalition government. The MPA accepted the OLP-advanced policy of selective nationalisation for struggling and tax-evading firms, while the OLP allowed the MPA to take the official leadership and commited to the MPA’s platform of more open trade.
Reactions to the announcement have been mixed internationally, with some particularly inflammatory rhetoric about these moves being the first step towards anarchy and chaos coming just over the border in Windon. It seems that a spectre is haunting Windon - the spectre of communism. All the powers of their nation are entering into an alliance… But there’s a long distance between this policy and outright communism, as many said so often this election. Private property will still be around. Successful, law-abiding firms will continue as they always have. It is the role of the state to protect her people, and that is all the state wants to do - merely a new expression of the order we have seen so long.
A Special Opportunity
Well, with the government nationalising companies all over the place… What does this mean for entrants? I did say you can choose to get nationalised, right? Well, let me tell you what that means and how that works:
- From an in-universe perspective, this part of nationalisation will represent your company offering an investment opportunity to the government, allowing it to take a portion for some amount of money. It’s not being forced on your company, it’s not being forced on the government, it’s not because your company is failing.
- Nationalisation is not guaranteed. You will have to submit a request, which will be considered based on a variety of factors - a mixture of what you have sent in before, what is in your request post and other elements. In addition, companies established as Aragan will be most likely, while companies established as foreign will be least likely (including local subsidiaries of foreign companies); companies of ambiguous origin will be somewhere in the middle. Don’t worry if you’re a foreign company, you’ll be getting something to balance it out sooner rather than later.
- Nationalisation is free to start. You will also be allowed to un-nationalise in subsequent rounds at the cost of one quarter of your spending tokens for the round.
- Nationalised companies will be subjected to additional requirements. These may include being forced to manufacture cars in Araga, optional economy/design regulations being mandatory and such.
- The reward for being nationalised is an extra 25% lobbying power. Do note that there will be other avenues to increase lobbying power in ALC4 onwards.
- Your request should include:
– Some flavour details on your company. Where do you judge your company’s reputation and size to be? What is the lore? Feel free to link to a lore thread.
– Why is the investment in the public good? How does it benefit the people of Araga? These are probably large investments we are talking about, after all.
Addendum: War, What Is It Good For?
Oh, and a final note to make publicly… If you are in the challenges channel in discord, you may have noticed people making all manner of war machines for ALC. These will be for a future round set after ALC4, so a good 3+ months out. Some ground rules on the round, however:
- Be sensitive and mature. I actually made sure to check the round with the mods, this was one of their biggest requests. This is a crisis, and I expect it to be treated as such - not glorified. You can appreciate and enjoy the engineering, but the use is not great.
– As an addendum to this, try to steer clear of “problematic” weapons. If the Geneva Conventions say no, if it causes unacceptable civillian casualties, just don’t. Mines,
- I will be deliberately vague about the war. It’ll be limited to cause, some outlines of events, effects (as viewed from afar), procurement and a conclusion. I’m not writing about any of the intricacies of war and battles. There’s a bunch of reasons on that.
- There will be plenty of room for plain old regular consumer cars, don’t you worry there. In fact, you will be able to submit a regular civilian car (with certain caveats due to war) and a plane/tank/etc.
- The round will indeed take inspiration from certain real events. If you know what they are and can spot the parallel, good job. Those parallels were mentioned when I got approval from mods, no worries there (I hope). Of course, they’re merely parallels. Don’t expect everything to mirror those real events…
- A full dossier on Aragan Military Doctrine will be going up at some point between the next round of lobbying and the start of ALC4. Because the actual military entries are heavy 3D, I wanna give y’all time to make sure it lines up.
