Where is the GM Team?

[Sestak]

Seriously, what happened?

During the current GM's confirmation hearing, we were told there would be 4 to 7 stories a week and more interactivity. We even confirmed two deputies to help ensure this. Yet, instead of 4+ stories per week, it's been four weeks with no stories at all.

Internally, we've heard nothing from any of the 3 GMs/deputies for at least the last two weeks; no scenarios, no audit data, none of the budget data we've requested. And the budget is now due in just 3 1/2 weeks?

And all three of the GM team have been active during that time; at least 1 is actively participating in political organizing, with another running for a party leadership position. Yet we've heard nothing from them in their official roles. What's going on?

[tmthforu94]

I reached out to Mr. Reactionary earlier today, hopefully we can get some stories soon!!!

[Fmr. Representative Encke]

Internally, we've heard nothing from any of the 3 GMs/deputies for at least the last two weeks; no scenarios, no audit data, none of the budget data we've requested. And the budget is now due in just 3 1/2 weeks?

This is false. My last private correspondence with Sestak was on 01/27, which was 8 days ago. That same day, Mr. R stated that he would contact Truman about some discrepancies in the revenue numbers that I was given, something that I have not heard back about. To be fair, I haven't been following up with either of them as often as I should, but it is unfair to act as if no work is being done on this. Once all of the relevant information is retrieved and compiled, the actual calculation, based on economic indicators that Mr. R and I have already worked out, is easy.

I can't speak for the story-side of things, although I was wondering about the lack of activity on that front as well.

As for the audit, Mr. R has already stated that the entire thing will take months. The 2017 U.S. budget is 1400 pages, and sifting through that information is a dedicated time commitment.

[Sestak]

Internally, we've heard nothing from any of the 3 GMs/deputies for at least the last two weeks; no scenarios, no audit data, none of the budget data we've requested. And the budget is now due in just 3 1/2 weeks?

This is false. My last private correspondence with Sestak was on 01/27, which was 8 days ago.

Literally all that happened in that conversation was you telling me "the revenue numbers aren't done". I meant in terms of actual updates for the two week thing.

[Fmr. Representative Encke]

Internally, we've heard nothing from any of the 3 GMs/deputies for at least the last two weeks; no scenarios, no audit data, none of the budget data we've requested. And the budget is now due in just 3 1/2 weeks?

This is false. My last private correspondence with Sestak was on 01/27, which was 8 days ago.

Literally all that happened in that conversation was you telling me "the revenue numbers aren't done". I meant in terms of actual updates for the two week thing.

These sorts of timescales are not uncommon in the GM department. One can easily look at the budget process committee thread from 2018 and see that multiple weeks often passed between updates. Regional budgets are much more straightforward, and I'll point to my completion of the Fremont budget in four days as evidence of this.

Delegation of responsibility here is also something that I'm not entirely clear on here, and something that, admittedly, I need to discuss more with Mr. R. It was my understanding, from our conversations, that what he wanted me to do was to deal with economic indicators, GDP, etc. so that we could then calculate the revenue numbers from those. That process has been completed, and now I'm unsure of how much work I'm supposed to do, and how much work he's supposed to do, in actually finalizing specific revenue numbers. In the interest of transparency, I am willing to PM you any Discord logs between Mr. R and I if you so wish (pending his approval).

As for your comment about party leadership, that was quite literally a 30-second conversation with Yankee on Discord where he asked me if I wanted the role. I'll point out that basic activities on Discord and on the forum can easily be carried out quickly, frequently, and, most importantly, on the go from one's phone. Budgetary numbers, however, can not, and your presumption that political activity is taking precedence over budgetary activity is incorrect.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Federalist Party Vice Chair also has no defined role other than to "assist the chair". That means the only times he would be required to do something within the realm of VCing is basically to hold a vote/convention whenever work,illness or some other RL crisis prevents me from doing so.

Hardly a distraction considering only once in the last several weeks have I asked Fhtagn to do such and in that case I managed to get on and do it myself anyway.

[OSR stands with Israel]

The Audit still hasnt been completed even though the law passed months ago

[Attorney General & PPT Dwarven Dragon]

The Audit still hasnt been completed even though the law passed months ago

Audit is a lower priority than the Budget that the Atlasian House and Senate must pass soon.

As for the audit, Mr. R has already stated that the entire thing will take months. The 2017 U.S. budget is 1400 pages, and sifting through that information is a dedicated time commitment.

Perhaps there's a quicker way of doing this. The most recent budget passed by Congress, from February 2018, clocks in at just 251 pages: https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ123/PLAW-115publ123.pdf . If you want more precise details, the Omnicrap from March 2018 is "only" 878 Pages: https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1625/BILLS-115hr1625enr.pdf

[OSR stands with Israel]

The Audit still hasnt been completed even though the law passed months ago

Audit is a lower priority than the Budget that the Atlasian House and Senate must pass soon.

As for the audit, Mr. R has already stated that the entire thing will take months. The 2017 U.S. budget is 1400 pages, and sifting through that information is a dedicated time commitment.

Perhaps there's a quicker way of doing this. The most recent budget passed by Congress, from February 2018, clocks in at just 251 pages: https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ123/PLAW-115publ123.pdf . If you want more precise details, the Omnicrap from March 2018 is "only" 878 Pages: https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1625/BILLS-115hr1625enr.pdf

If the Audit was completed it would be easier to pass a better budget

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

We need to get to a starting point back to where we can start fresh and on time each year and have real honest budget debates like we used to.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=153888.0
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=177539.0


I realize these numbers were pie in the sky back then, but at the end of the day this is a game and while I would love for the numbers to be great, I am willing to settle for good enough within the realm of reason for what is good for the game and can facilitate the kind of debates demonstrated above.

[tmthforu94]

We need to get to a starting point back to where we can start fresh and on time each year and have real honest budget debates like we used to.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=153888.0
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=177539.0


I realize these numbers were pie in the sky back then, but at the end of the day this is a game and while I would love for the numbers to be great, I am willing to settle for good enough within the realm of reason for what is good for the game and can facilitate the kind of debates demonstrated above.

Agreed. Obviously we want the numbers to be accurate, but I think the more important point is having a budget that produces an active, rigorous debate.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I delegated stories from the prewritten list of prophecies to Deputy GM for Stories and have either been too busy or too exhausted to understudy those stories during the weekends. Fhtagn mentioned to me on more than 1 occasion that she was having computer issues where stories she wrote didn't save. I know since some of these stories have specific dates attached, those get shelved to be reworked for the future. So in terms of content we still have a spreadsheet with 7 specific story ideas per week through july or August assuming each week 7 stories are published. Encke and Fhtagn can verify that such a spreadsheet does exist.

We've been super close on anticipated revenue and are trying to figure out why the last set of numbers didn't add up. Our analysis had to change when you (or maybe Ninja, dont remember) recently pulled out some incomplete spending and revenue numbers on Discord from Truman from last fall that were not shared with me during the changeover. I can post them here and we can all try to figure them out together. If you want me to just half-ass numbers to get them done, I can. But they are gonna be half-ass numbers. Basically the revenue numbers that were provided dont match real life or any obvious in game formula so we aren't sure what factors were considered. The difficulty in calculating this is one of the reasons ive been annoyed that practically every single paygo solution of late Im asked to calculate is a tax increase involving numbers we just dont have yet.

We have GDP and unemployment calculated and have been withholding those until revenue estimates were also calculated to give a fuller picture. We can however release those numbers upon tequest if yall want. If we can get a better breakdown of 2018 taxes (including % of payers per bracket) we can adjust based of the new GDP/unemployment numbers.

Im mostly done with the Subdepartment of Commerce audit and can probably have it out within the week. Its not the easiest in that our final recommendation will include adding several agencies presently under other subdepartments that have not been audited under commerce as well as transferring some of Commerces agencies to new Subdepartments not yet created.

As far as the budget data part, other than anticipated revenues what more is wanted? 2018 changes from the CR levels are up, so all thats left is anticipated revenues since thankfully our budget doesn't grow with inflation.

And yeah, we have a lot to do, but I dont feel guilty about doing non GM stuff like editing the wiki or taking a minute to comment on bills and stuff. I dont think Fhtagn or Encke are purposely sabotaging the game just because they do other activities in game too.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I delegated stories from the prewritten list of prophecies to Deputy GM for Stories and have either been too busy or too exhausted to understudy those stories during the weekends. Fhtagn mentioned to me on more than 1 occasion that she was having computer issues where stories she wrote didn't save. I know since some of these stories have specific dates attached, those get shelved to be reworked for the future. So in terms of content we still have a spreadsheet with 7 specific story ideas per week through july or August assuming each week 7 stories are published. Encke and Fhtagn can verify that such a spreadsheet does exist.

We've been super close on anticipated revenue and are trying to figure out why the last set of numbers didn't add up. Our analysis had to change when you (or maybe Ninja, dont remember) recently pulled out some incomplete spending and revenue numbers on Discord from Truman from last fall that were not shared with me during the changeover. I can post them here and we can all try to figure them out together. If you want me to just half-ass numbers to get them done, I can. But they are gonna be half-ass numbers. Basically the revenue numbers that were provided dont match real life or any obvious in game formula so we aren't sure what factors were considered. The difficulty in calculating this is one of the reasons ive been annoyed that practically every single paygo solution of late Im asked to calculate is a tax increase involving numbers we just dont have yet.

We have GDP and unemployment calculated and have been withholding those until revenue estimates were also calculated to give a fuller picture. We can however release those numbers upon tequest if yall want. If we can get a better breakdown of 2018 taxes (including % of payers per bracket) we can adjust based of the new GDP/unemployment numbers.

Im mostly done with the Subdepartment of Commerce audit and can probably have it out within the week. Its not the easiest in that our final recommendation will include adding several agencies presently under other subdepartments that have not been audited under commerce as well as transferring some of Commerces agencies to new Subdepartments not yet created.

As far as the budget data part, other than anticipated revenues what more is wanted? 2018 changes from the CR levels are up, so all thats left is anticipated revenues since thankfully our budget doesn't grow with inflation.

And yeah, we have a lot to do, but I dont feel guilty about doing non GM stuff like editing the wiki or taking a minute to comment on bills and stuff. I dont think Fhtagn or Encke are purposely sabotaging the game just because they do other activities in game too.

Not to ask a dumb question, but have you PMed Truman directly for a breakdown of the factors considered and how he arrived at those numbers? It is not like he is impossible to reach like in previous situations such as when Encke or Kal left the forum temporarily.

[Mr. Reactionary]

I delegated stories from the prewritten list of prophecies to Deputy GM for Stories and have either been too busy or too exhausted to understudy those stories during the weekends. Fhtagn mentioned to me on more than 1 occasion that she was having computer issues where stories she wrote didn't save. I know since some of these stories have specific dates attached, those get shelved to be reworked for the future. So in terms of content we still have a spreadsheet with 7 specific story ideas per week through july or August assuming each week 7 stories are published. Encke and Fhtagn can verify that such a spreadsheet does exist.

We've been super close on anticipated revenue and are trying to figure out why the last set of numbers didn't add up. Our analysis had to change when you (or maybe Ninja, dont remember) recently pulled out some incomplete spending and revenue numbers on Discord from Truman from last fall that were not shared with me during the changeover. I can post them here and we can all try to figure them out together. If you want me to just half-ass numbers to get them done, I can. But they are gonna be half-ass numbers. Basically the revenue numbers that were provided dont match real life or any obvious in game formula so we aren't sure what factors were considered. The difficulty in calculating this is one of the reasons ive been annoyed that practically every single paygo solution of late Im asked to calculate is a tax increase involving numbers we just dont have yet.

We have GDP and unemployment calculated and have been withholding those until revenue estimates were also calculated to give a fuller picture. We can however release those numbers upon tequest if yall want. If we can get a better breakdown of 2018 taxes (including % of payers per bracket) we can adjust based of the new GDP/unemployment numbers.

Im mostly done with the Subdepartment of Commerce audit and can probably have it out within the week. Its not the easiest in that our final recommendation will include adding several agencies presently under other subdepartments that have not been audited under commerce as well as transferring some of Commerces agencies to new Subdepartments not yet created.

As far as the budget data part, other than anticipated revenues what more is wanted? 2018 changes from the CR levels are up, so all thats left is anticipated revenues since thankfully our budget doesn't grow with inflation.

And yeah, we have a lot to do, but I dont feel guilty about doing non GM stuff like editing the wiki or taking a minute to comment on bills and stuff. I dont think Fhtagn or Encke are purposely sabotaging the game just because they do other activities in game too.

Not to ask a dumb question, but have you PMed Truman directly for a breakdown of the factors considered and how he arrived at those numbers? It is not like he is impossible to reach like in previous situations such as when Encke or Kal left the forum temporarily.

I think I did. I can send it again once I have my laptop and the screenshots of the budget figures although im gonna be stuck at a council meeting most of the night.