The $Mini-Game BETA: Join, bid, play

[Captain]

Participants in the BETA will receive credits for the next game, which can be used to further

Your credits will depend on your activity and feedback - both of which will be crucial for making the "Final" version of this game better. Thanks!

---

If you're not familiar with the $Mini-Game, the next post contains a summary.

Next, I'll need some volunteers for certain positions (Market Assessor and Government Agent) - all of which are paid positions. Your efforts in the game will be rewarded.

The Lands for Sale will be listed in the post after that.

[Captain]

Summary for the BETA:

Does not include all ideas as this is just a beta.


1) Try to gain wealth. Wealth is composed of cash, land, commodities (food, shields, commerce), and buildings.


2) You buy land (tiles) that are within the cultural borders of our nation. Each tile produces commodities (food, shields, commerce) that you can use to trade, stockpile, or build with. The default owner of the tiles is the government.


3) Since none of you has money to start, the government will loan you the cash interest free for ten turns. After that, you'll have to start repaying the loans. Obviously, more productive land will give you a bigger income and pay off that loan quicker, but will cost more!


4) You can trade with both other players, and a "market base" which is linked to certain obvious game conditions. Generally speaking, if our nation improves in the game, so does the market base, and your prospects of getting wealthier. Supply and Demand for the "market base" is updated by the Market Assessor. The "market base" exists similar to Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in role-playing games, to increase the possibility of trade when no other player is available.


5) The Market Assessor is eligible for a salary, as an incentive and reward for services. So is the Government Agent who pays those salaries and does other government business.


6) A turn is played every two days from the start date, or whenever there is a change in the market situation to a maximum of 1 turn per day. Even if there are no changes in the market in two days (because no turnthread or turnchat), we still play a turn. It just means the "market base" is static, making the overall market (composed of that base plus the other players) generally more stable.


A turn goes like this:
a) The Market Assessor puts up a new Market Assessment (the start of a new turn).
b) Transactions go through according to deals made.
c) New land production.

d) Offers of trades and deals and arrangements are all tentatively proposed. While during the turn, any deal can be outbid or undercut, at the end of the turn, the deals are final. No cancellations allowed.


Example of a Typical? Turn:
a) New Market Assessment put up. No major changes but food prices drop.
b) The trades from last turn go through. My commerce stockpile drops by 3 and I gain $280.
c) My land produces 2 food, 1 shield, 2 commerce.

I make some proposals. I offer to sell 2 food, 2 commerce. We try to outbid each other. I want to convert shields to build a silo and offer $120 for shields and $100 for labour. Bubba is willing to sell 2 shields for $150. We haggle. I expect to have 3 shields to convert so I need 3 labourers. But... OtherGuy also wants shields and labour. Otherguy wants to hire all but 1 labourer. Since there' s not enough labour or shields to go around, we get into a bidding war. At the end, my offer is $200 for shields and his is $205 for shields. I offer $160 for labour, he offers $170.

End of Turn:
I am able to only sell the commerce as my other deals fell through. The cash is added to my account and commerce deducted at the start of next turn. While I didn't get any extra shields or the 3 labour I wanted, since I did offer to hire labour at $160 per head, even though I only got 1 guy and not 3, I still have to pay go through with the deal. I pay $160 for 1 unit of labour at the start of next turn.


7) Commodities:

Note: Base Rate refers to assuming equal Supply and Demand.

Food trades at a base rate of $100.
Cannot be stockpiled without a Silo.

Shields trade at a base rate of $100.
Maximum stockpile of 10. Warehouses +10 storage.
Can be transformed into buildings at a cost of 1 Labour Unit per shield.

Commerce trades at a base rate of $100.
Maximum stockpile of 10. Warehouses +10 storage.

Base Labour Rate is $100.



8) Available Labour: As long as there are FREE townspeople (count the heads of all the towns minus those already hired), you can hire them to work for you (converting shields into buildings). If not, the person offering higher wages wins.

Example: Bubba wants to convert 10 shields into a silo. Alfredo wants to convert 10 shields into warehouse. There are only 15 heads of labourers. Bubba offers to pay $10 more than the default price, Alfredo offers $15 more. So Alfredo gets the ten workers while Bubba is only left with five. Get it?


9) Commodity prices depend on the base rate, and Supply & Demand. The default market Prices are increased or decreased by the ratio of Demand:Supply.

Food Demand: 2 per head of population in region.
Food Supply: Sum of food from tiles worked.

Shield Demand: # shields produced in region.
Shield Supply: Sum of shields from worked tiles.

Commerce Demand: Sum of commerce in region.
Commerce Supply: Sum of commerce from worked tiles.

Example: 8 food are demanded and 10 supplied from worked tiles. Several players also want to unload food on the market. They declare how much they have available, say 6 food. The default price drops to 8:16 = 50%, which happens to be $50. Only 8 are needed, so at least two will not be sold. Lowest price wins, so if the players sell below 80$, they're guaranteed buyers. Next turn, more players sell food, say 14 food. Price drops to 8:24= 33% or $33. Even if the players sell below $33, only 8 of the 14 food are needed, so only the 8 lowest priced food units will be sold.



10) Basic Buildings List:

Silo (10 shields): Allows stockpiling up to 10 food.
Warehouse (10 shields): Allows stockpiling 10 more shields or commerce.
Inn (40 shields): Converts 1 food into cash for 200% of the market price per turn.
Shop (50 shields): Allows you to sell your merchandise for 20% more*. Up to 3 commerce per turn.
Workshop (70 shields): Allows you to sell shields for 20% more*. Up to 3 shields per turn.
House (As many shields as you want; this is just for prestige or increasing property values).

(*That means it gives you an advantage when selling. It means people will pay more for yours in comparison to others. Say Buddy and I are trying to sell 2 commerce each when demand is only 3. Price is 3/4=$75. Buddy drops his price to $70. That means he'll sell both and I'll only sell 1. But I then drop my price to $65. I get to sell both, he only sells 1. In an effort to outdo each other, he drops his price to $45!, but isn't willing to go lower. On the other hand, since I've got a 20% bonus, my market offer will be $40 but actually gain $48. Get it? don't worry, you will in time. So since my market offer is lower than Buddy's, I get to sell both units, even though the actual sale price is higher.)


11) The challenge comes mainly from competition between you and the other players, but you can also just set your own personal goals and play at your own pace. Regular commitment is not required to participate. The more you do, the more opportunities, but no guarantee you'll succeed. That depends on your skill.


12) Any questions? Please feel free to ask. Hope I haven't left anything important out.

[Captain]

Market Assessor:

Determines Supply and Demand of the Townspeople.

I have set up an initial mini-Market setup. They need only update it.

Takes a percentage (0-25%) of transactions, charges flat fees, or can be paid a government salary to be determined by the Government Agent.

Government Agent

Sells lands. From the profits, pays out salaries.
May institute taxes (subject to approval by 51% of taxpayers) if he runs out of money.
Also sets government salaries (subject to approval by 51% of taxpayers).

[Captain]

Government Land Auction

The Government is currently selling deeds to estates (tiles) in the main Apolytonian plains up to the mountain north of Banana HQ. That is, all land tiles surrounding Apolyton, Termina, Tassagrad, and Banana HQ. (since this is just a beta, we are restricting to this small section for simplicity).

This is open for 3 days, or until the number of bidders=the number of available lands (everyone should have at least 1 tile of land). If you don't get the land of your choice (you were outbid), you can have land that is still free.

Since you do not have any money at present, the government is willing to provide interest free loans for 10 turns. Interest not to exceed 10%, will accrue on those loans after those 10 turns.


The tile designation will be according to the cardinal points of a compass and the closest city. The inner ring will be N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW. The outer ring will be clockwise NE1, NE2, NE3, SE 4, SE,5, SE6, SW7, SW8, SW9, NW10, NW11, NW12. unless someone can think of a better way to number them. Anyone? Please?

Here are the current lands on AUCTION and the minimum bids:


001 Apolyton N (horse, grass, rd), $1000

002 Apolyton NE (mined grass rd), $1000

003b Apolyton SW (forest, rd), $1200

003a Apolyton W (forest, rd), $1200

004 Apolyton NW (grass), $500

005 Apolyton NW10 [edit] (mined grass rd), $1000 [/edit]

006 Apolyton NW11 (mined grass rd), $1000

007 Apolyton NW12 (mined grass rd), $1000

008 Apolyton NE1 (mined grass rd), $1000

009 Termina N (jungle), $200

010 Termina NE (mined grass rd), $1000

011 Termina E (mined grass rd), $1000

012 Termina NW (jungle), $200

013 Termina NE1 (jungle), $200

014 Termina NE2 (jungle), $200

015 Termina NE3 (jungle), $200

016 Tassagrad N (mined grass rd), $1000

017 Tassagrad NE (jungle), $200

018 Tassagrad SE (jungle), $200

019 Tassagrad S (grass rd, mine?), $1000

020 Tassagrad SW (mined grass rd), $1000

021 Tassagrad W (jungle), $200

022 Tassagrad NW (jungle), $200

023 Tassagrad NW10 (jungle), $200

024 Tassagrad NW11 (jungle), $200

025 Tassagrad NW12 (jungle), $200

026 BHQ N (mountain), $200

027 BHQ NE (jungle), $200

028 BHQ S (jungle), $200

029 BHQ SW (mined grass rd river), $1500

030 BHQ W (mined grass rd river), $1500

031 BHQ NW (mined grass river), $1500


---
Notes:
There has got to be an easier way to do this with tiles. If only I could edit the image and number the tiles. That would be easier.

[edit]btw, if not all tiles are taken by day 3, that's okay. we'll start anyways, and others can join then as they want. You can bid for up to 3 tiles if the total is less than $1000, or bid any amount for a single tile. After this initial auction, you'll be eligible for another government loan to buy another tile if you're debt free.[/edit]

Please correct me of any mistakes - or not. you could always just take advantage of government incompetence.

Note: Total current population is 12 heads for a demand of 24 food. I haven't been able to look at the save game yet, so I'm just going from Aro's high-res world map.

[adaMada]

Sounds like it might be fun when all the text is filled in .

Can I join? (Hope I waited long enough for you to get all your top posts in...)

-- adaMada

[Epistax]

I was waiting for a signal to reply as well. If we weren't supposed to, well it wasn't my fault

For now I'll do whatever I can to help as this should not interfere with my justice duties (although I'll take the justice as a priority obviously), however there is that school thing looming soon.

[jdd2007]

SIGN ME UP

it sounds great, but i cant spend too much time with school, and soccer and all (i made the team!)

edit: oooh, we get to choose our tiles

[Captain]

ok, I'll be listing the lands shortly, I just have to assess a starting price for each tile.

Give me a few minutes. Then bid away!

Remember, better land lets you pay off the loan faster and earn extra money - but everyone's going to want it!

[Spiffor]

Sorry, but I'm only interested in a parcel near Gaia. I'll have to wait for the complete game to be up, then.

[jdd2007]

how many lytons are in the loan?

[Captain]

Spiffor, this is just a beta. if you participate here, you'll get a credit, which will go towards the next game, and improving your bid for that parcel of land near Gaia. so... how about it?


Land list is updated. Most of these land prices are possible to pay off within 10 turns. Note, you don't need to pay of the loan immediately you can use it for other things first. But you can only buy more land once that first tile is paid off.

hopefully we'll get at least 13 participants for this beta.

[Captain]

Originally posted by jdd2007
how many lytons are in the loan?

I'm using $ since it's easy to type and I'm not sure what the naming convention for money is yet.

[Captain]

oh crap, I used the 570 map to assess the minimum property values. the save is 430bc! i bet some land has been improved since then.

oh well... i guess some people might be able to get a better deal than I thought!

[jdd2007]

ok. but how many $s in the loan?

can i buy multiple tiles?

[rendelnep]

I wish to to join and would wish to buy either 12- 15 @ 220 or 11@ 1010. depending on the size of the loan. If the loan is greater than $1000 then I'll pick 11 if not 12-15. If I can choose the loan then I'll buy all of them and if i can only buy 1 then i'll choose 11 @ $1010