Freeform economic manipulation.

Favorite quotations, etc.
Riggerjack
Posts: 3181
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:09 am

Re: Freeform economic manipulation.

Post by Riggerjack »

and yea, SC is deep. probably deeper than chess or go. watching the pros is like watching ballet. it's an art. too bad they never made a sequel.
It was the sequel. Before that it was Warcraft II. But as awesome as Warcraft was, StarCraft was better.

Though, for the ancient table top gamers, Battletech is finally coming out on steam. It took 3 decades and a Kickstarter before someone tried to automate the tabletop game, rather than painting logos on modified shooters. If it's half as good as it looks, I may have to retire earlier.

But is it really retiring if you just forget to go to work long enough?

BRUTE
Posts: 3797
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:20 pm

Re: Freeform economic manipulation.

Post by BRUTE »

retirement is a state of mind, Riggerjack. *passes joint*

FBeyer
Posts: 1069
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 3:25 am

Re: Freeform economic manipulation.

Post by FBeyer »

Riggerjack wrote:
Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:42 am
... I'm currently playing Offworld Trading Company, but it seems geared towards leveraged expansion of the silicone valley variety. I may need to search out more complete economic games, if anyone has any recommendations.
Why oh WHY am I only seeing this now?
It's literally the only RTS I've ever felt like was worth putting time into.

The economy is entirely player driven, which means that you need to understand where everyone is HEADING, not where the prices are currently rising. The black market interactions and the stock-buy order is tremendously important in a 4v4, especially since every player's individual portfolio sizes actually determines what players to attack and in which order. You can only gang up on a true leader in case you attack them right.

Leverage is good, yes, but ONLY if you can balance it right, and the black market exists especially to unbalance someone who is riding too close to the edge.

Duuuuuude I'd love to play some games against ERE's if we can find enough people interested.
I'm currently learning to let the real world alone from time to time, and do something purely for the fun of it (so SUCK IT Jacob! :) )

Also: for economic games with good economical models[1]:
The entire 18XX genre, especially 1830, and 1889.
Container (there is a 10th anniversary redux coming out).
Chicago express is about managing player incentives, rather than solely maximizing income, but managing the 'market psychology' is how you make your money, even if it's not obvious at all after playing it a few times.
American Rails. The best E(V) game I know of. For the amount of rules, you get an incredibly amount of game.

[1] Although these are board games.

Riggerjack
Posts: 3181
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 3:09 am

Re: Freeform economic manipulation.

Post by Riggerjack »

Yeah, I'm just getting going in OTC, and it has more going on than I originally thought. It'll probably be all I need, if I can keep everyone interested in it long enough. The more I look into it, the better it gets. At first it looked like it was just an optimization for leverage setup, but I am seeing other options and strategies as the base rules get harder and the players more skilled. We're still fumbling thru the easy settings. I'm still focused on my own economy, rather than where the future prices are going.

When I get up to a moderate skill level, I would be happy to invite you into a game to trash us. At this point, an advanced player would be bored, and we wouldn't be following how you did it. But, soon...

FBeyer
Posts: 1069
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 3:25 am

Re: Freeform economic manipulation.

Post by FBeyer »

HAHAHAHAH I'm getting pwned by the AI 4 times out of 5. Last online game I had I was in D+11 debt before my stock went to 1$ :D
I WAS learning, but then I got worse again. OTC really is something entirely different from anything I've ever played.

I'm in Europe, so let's see if we can't find some common times to play. I have several days off during the week so I am more than willing to try to squeeze in some games in case we find it's a good match. I'm actively learning to goof off, so you're definitely not imposing on my precious spare time.

Also: There is an OTC discord with some crazy helpful people. Every top ten player is actively helping people get better at the game on a daily basis. You and your buddies should look it up in case the learning curve is overwhelming.

SavingWithBabies
Posts: 882
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:50 pm
Location: Midwest, USA

Re: Freeform economic manipulation.

Post by SavingWithBabies »

I saw Riggerjack's recommendation for Offworld Trading Company in a journal and decided to pick up a copy. It's been a lot of fun. Well, frustration in a good way. I finally got to where I can occasionally beat the other 3 AI in a skirmish (short game, haven't played anything else yet) when playing at same difficulty as AI. I do like the ability to restart the map and try again (and admit sometimes the AI is too quick to pick a starting spot so I restart). I took Macro Economics in college but based on my experience so far with the game, it didn't really shape my thinking as much as playing an interactive simulation does. It's fun and definitely has replay value.

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