System Inputs For Dummies

A Guide for the Less Fortunate by /u/bowsniper10

(refer all complaints or questions to @bowsniper10 on the Discord)

fig. a: you, right now, having zero thoughts in your brain

fig. b: me, learned man, wise in the ways of science, preparing

to bestow upon you Knowledge and Power

What is a System Input?

• Big Science Stuff
• The main way players can interact with GP sheets, e.g. the IMF
• A comment left on the subreddit containing six components, which gets read by the Subreddit Monitor - strictly formatted and case sensitive, as per screenshots
• Five mandatory components
• [TYPE]: what kind of System Input it is
• Origin: the three letter ISO code of the claim submitting the SI
• Target: the three letter ISO code of the claim receiving the SI (usually yourself)
• Operation: what the System Input is doing
• Value: how much whatever it’s doing is changed by
• One optional component
• Note: optional, up to 100 words following other components explaining to Mods what it’s for/doing

fig. c: a valid System Input, on Old Reddit

fig. d: a valid System Input, on New Reddit (dark mode)

System Input Breakdown

[TYPE] Origin Target Operation Value Note

fig. e: you, learning how to do numbers good

Sidebar: What is the Subreddit Monitor?

• Don’t Worry About It
• It’s Unimportant If You’re Not A Mod

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• (a Moderator spreadsheet that uses technical wizardry to read all the posts and comments posted to the Subreddit, including System Inputs)
• (it stores these to a spreadsheet called the Master Sheet, where the Mods review them, and ultimately passes them to the various mechanics sheets like the IMF)
• (read the modpost about it if you want more idrc)

fig. f: the Subreddit Monitor, watching you at all times :)

What can I do with System Inputs?

• Stuff you Want To Do
• Right now, the only functionality is changing various aspects of your economy/the economy of someone else in the next year’s IMF report, based on your posts
• System Inputs are Not mandatory, but highly recommended
• Not submitting them means the Sheet’s algorithm’s will just come up with your economy numbers on its own, which may or may not be appropriate for your econposting

fig. g: cool seal i found

• The [TYPE] of a System Input determines what mechanic the SI is going to
• Only the IMF, for now
• The Operation of a System Input determines what you’re doing with it within that mechanic
• What economic statistic you’re changing
• These are pre-determined codes, you can’t type in your own and expect it to work

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Sidebar: IMF System Input Components

• [TYPE]s:
• Must include brackets; only use one per SI (but it doesn’t matter which one you use, they’re all functionally identical)
• [WEO] / [IMF] / [ECON]
• Operations:
• Must be typed exactly as written below, no spaces and no deviations
• ChangePopulationGrowth - Relative, value is a percentage change to Last Year’s growth
• ChangeMedianAge - Absolute, value is the new number for that statistic
• ChangeLifeExpectancy - Absolute, value is the new number for that statistic
• ChangeMYOS - Absolute, value is the new number for that statistic
• ChangeEYOS - Absolute, value is the new number for that statistic
• ChangeLiteracyRate - Absolute, value is the new number for that statistic
• ChangeGDPGrowth - Relative, value is a percentage change to Last Year’s growth
• ChangeDebt - Absolute, value is the new number for that statistic
• ChangeGNI - Absolute, value is the new number for that statistic
• ChangeSurplus - Absolute, value is the new number for that statistic

fig. h: this symbolizes the world economy or something, idk, the zoomers expect pretty pictures to look at what do you want from me

How Do I Actually Do A System Input?

STEP ONE: Consult your inner mind palace to determine what economic statistic you want to change based on a post you just made.

STEP TWO: Review the wiki page for your favourite mechanic, in this case the economic system, to determine what SI Operation best suits your needs:

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fig. i: you, performing step one

fig. j: the economics wiki (design subject to change, but you get the point)

How Do I Actually Do A System Input?

(Continued)

STEP THREE: Review the System Input Wiki so you don’t go to Biblical Hell (wiki page TBD).

STEP FOUR: On the post where you did the action causing this economic statistic to change, leave a comment containing the EXACT format of a System Input.

fig. k: an example System Input in the Old Reddit comment box - be sure to click save to actually post it!

fig. l: an example System Input in the New Reddit (dark mode) comment box - be sure to click Comment to actually post it!

fig. m: where your ass is going if you try and exploit/break System Inputs

How Do I Actually Do A System Input?

(Continued)

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STEP FIVE: That’s it: if the SI is correctly formatted, has a valid tag, and is approved by the Mods, it’ll be applied to the next IMF update.

STEP SIX (OPTIONAL): Review the System Input feed on the relevant mechanics sheet, in this case the IMF WEO, to see whether your SI was valid or not. Give it a few hours to appear, sometimes things are a little slow on Google’s end.

fig. n: live image of Google’s entire data center

fig. o: the System Input feed on the IMF WEO; it’s the last tab on the right

Sidebar: FAQ

1. Hello, what do I do if I hate this, hate you, and/or hate spreadsheets as a concept?
1. Voice your concerns to us in a Mod Mail or on the Discord (preferably somewhere like #gp-20-feedback or #massage-the-mods), then see a therapist for anger management.
2. Do I have to use this?
• As stated before: no. System Inputs are optional, but highly recommended. If you don’t submit them, the IMF (and other, future sheets) will treat your claim like an NPC, and not properly account for any economic happenings you’ve posted about.
3. Can I use this to target other people’s economic statistics?
• Yes, for things that would realistically have an impact—eg. sanctions or tariffs on other countries. And there are some limitations; your numbers have to be fair (obviously), you have to ping the other person when submitting them, and any one person can only have up to five foreign SI’s targeting them at one time; excess SI’s will get rolled over to the subsequent years or disapproved as necessary.
• Be kind to your fellow players.
4. What do I put for the value?
• If it’s a relative operation, the value will be a percentage change to your delta (growth/decline) of the respective statistic: eg, if your GDP growth last year was 3%, and you do a ChangeGDPGrowth SI with a value of -2.00, your new growth will be 1%. Do not express percentages as decimals; do not include percentage signs.
• If it’s an absolute operation, the value will be the new straight-up value of whatever it is you’re changing: eg, if you want to increase your life expectancy to 80 from 78, you put the value as 80.

fig. p: live image of you, angry and demanding answers

fig. q: arrival

Success with System Inputs: Bow Tech Tips

Bow Tech Tip #1: Make sure your spelling and formatting is the exact same as the example SIs included in this slideshow. Any issues will result in the Subreddit Monitor not even reading your SI as an SI, let alone an invalid one.

Bow Tech Tip #2: System Inputs are not, by themselves, enough to result in changes to your economy—they must be coupled with a post causing said changes. System Inputs are purely meta comments used solely for communicating a post’s changes to the Sheet.

Bow Tech Tip #3: Please, for the love of God, use the note feature. I included it for a reason! It has a 100 word limit, but it lets you justify a System Input to us directly instead of us having to go trawl through all your posts.

Bow Tech Tip #4: You can include multiple (properly formatted) System Inputs, each with different (or the same) operations, in the same comment. These System Inputs can be separated by text, if you want. System Inputs cannot be read from post text; don’t include them in your posts directly.

Bow Tech Tip #5: Be patient; the system takes a few hours to register System Inputs, so don’t be surprised if your SI doesn’t immediately appear on the sheet (and try to get them in well before the IMF update if you want them included).

Bow Tech Tip #6: This is the first time this system has ever been tried; please forgive any bugs, communicate any issues you find, and do not hesitate to offer feedback, insights and constructive criticism. We need them for this thing to succeed! Thank you :)

fig. r: miserable modman and hat guy, talking to you right now

fig. s: you reading these probably :pain:

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS

An Educated Player is a Player That Pesters Me Less

fig. t: you and your fellow GP players celebrating their newfound Knowledge and Power

fig. u: me, not being pestered with questions already answered by this slideshow