Why Ibisha Doesn’t Work, and Cannot Work, Without Important Changes.
Author: riser
Last trading period, marcelbuter did three very good articles about how Ibisha was working better than anywhere else and that merging all three countries in single cities would be the best thing for everyone; Because of the higher competition inside a single city and that higher level concept like marketing would start to pay off handsomely. It was the solution for the currently declining number of immigrants coming to the Federation and staying here. In theory it looks good. In practice, it can’t work without some important changes. Ibisha is the proof.
We don’t need less cities to pool citizens together, we need more trade which currently comes from having many cities while still allowing trade early between those cities. More federal taxis – if they have enough gas – would be more than enough. Please note I didn’t say it had to be cheap, just that it had to be available.
For a country to be successful it needs at least one active trader for every resource type, preferably two, and they need to be able to trade with each other. Let’s look at Ibisha last trading period: 3 or 4 MV’s on day one and every single resource type on day two (if not day one), and very active and successful traders. And then it stopped completely.
What happened? There was no market for those products. Other countries hadn’t opened a harbor yet so they couldn’t export. By the time those countries did, their prices had fallen to a point where Ibisha’s products were not really that much cheaper and Ibisha had almost used up its resource lots.
Ibisha didn’t do much better this trading period. As an outside observer I could be wrong but I think it went even worse because the hype was gone. During my last stroll through the city, I noticed a few foreigners were crowding out the native. I was not impressed.
Last trading period, Virtua didn’t have an active gas producer and thus no taxi or even the trade inside the cities was dying. This means that wood was not reliably coming out of Nasdaqar to Cashington, so there was an iron shortage. Since iron is used in almost everything, nothing was produced so no one made enough money to start a gas mv…
Chaos was everywhere because the traders couldn’t trade with each other.
It took 2 weeks for Virtua to recover and even then it had to import all its gas, a good part of its iron, some shovels, etc. We are lucky to have had as many top-20 traders as we did.
This period, Virtua had enough ACTIVE suppliers of the basics on day one: 3 wood, 2 iron, 3 glass, 2 bricks (+ those in Nasdaqar and Centropolis i didn’t know about), 2 ovens, 3 or shovels and saws, a pump maker, one oil and one gas. With these, everyone could build their shops, start their business and start trading successfully and actively. Trade was blooming, shops were popping up in all three cities, lots were dug. Taxis were shipping people and product all over the country. After a few days, even the electronics business was truly starting up. Money was being swapped from hand to hand.
What’s the difference between Ibisha and Virtua? Why did Virtua change but Ibisha didn’t?
Sure, our elected this period are more experienced citizens than we had last time and it shows. They did so much to help and we have been so much more successful because of them. This period went from good to awesome because of them. But it would have been a good trading period nonetheless, something was different.
A country is successful when there is a lot of trade. As long as money is changing hands, everything is working perfectly. When enough money is available and changing hands at any given moment even considering some of it is pooling in sleeping citizen’s hands, trade is active and citizens have fun.
For people to spend money, they must have a reason for it, they must have something they want to do with it. They need to have some hope of gaining even more money.
After Ibisha’s shops were built to a decent size and they had paid for marketing if they wanted, why would they need or want to spend money? There would be no gain at all. Except for exims (which are mostly basic resources), they stopped spending money to buy products. Trade was dead.
In Virtua, traders really met together before the trading started to make sure we didn’t lack any basic resource. Virtua is large enough to have lots of place for expansion and enough resources to last a long time.
This period, I spent a fortune building huge shops in all three cities to make sure my customers didn’t lack the product I make. I bought 16 cars for my taxi company to make sure wood traders could send 80 squst of product in Cashington quickly while leaving a couple taxis in other cities too. I’m buying a couple ships to send products and people to and from other countries. When one of my most regular wood suppliers bankrupted, I had to upgrade my warehouse to a huge size to be able to survive longer without wood and the other wood traders upgraded their shops to be able to supply wood more easily when they are not active in the Federation. I’ll soon run out of iron ore lots in Cashington so I’ll need to get a fresh supply of iron ore that I’ll need to buy from someone because my warehouse is too big to move. I get VAT returned in Cashington but not anywhere else and thus I prefer to sell in Cashington. I need to make deals with my clients that make profits for all of us. The same kinds of things happen to everyone else. We are making deals, buying resources, selling them, bickering over the price but most importantly : we are trading and spending money to trade even more and better!
This means that we keep buying products that were built using other products and so on. Trade is still very active.
If all of Virtua had been bunched up in a single city, my total shop size would have been smaller even if my shops would have been bigger. I would have hogged up main street with shops and have level 10 marketing in all of them on day 3 and bought 10 additional discount options so I didn’t have to make more shops. And I would have stopped spending money after that except to refill my shop. Trade would have been like Ibisha: very intense in the first few days then nothing else after that. And all the iron traders would have run of iron ore lots at the same time and so there would have been nowhere else to get our iron ore from. Other basic resources would have had the same problem.
Currently, having multiple cities is almost the only thing that gives us something to do with our money. We want to expand to reach our clients better before someone else does and we want to outperform them if they did it first.
Three weeks long trading period would be useless if there was only one city per country, trade would stop after 4 days in all the cities/countries. People would leave the Federation even more and not come back.
Are there any solutions? Yes! I see plenty of them but none of them involve removing cities. I don’t want less cities, I want more as long as those cities are connected from the start so that people can buy the things they need even they have to buy it in other cities. With more cities, we can have access to more resources. I also want more things to do before trading period ends and I don’t want to stop trading until the last few minutes! I see a few very quick and simple changes that I’ll go into details in the next edition of The Miniconomist that would change all that dramatically.
Until then, happy trading!
Cartoon
Author: Garfield86
Garfield feels unappreciated
The Sound of Solitude
Author: marcelbuter
It’s 11 AM and Ibisha is quiet. I walk along the streets to find that no one is around. Shops are all automated in Ibisha, like a long row of vending machines with raw materials in them. Occasionally I run into President Craftsman, and occasionally I see some other people quickly filling their vending machines and then driving off in their shiny cars. My mental state has deteriorated by now, passing the time by checking out the automated auction house, seeing if a bit of reselling can soothe the greedy tooth in me. Tourists avert their eyes, adding to the solitude that seems so evident. Day dreams of the past come often. Dreams of Pedro Alvarez and martijn5 trying to break my spirit on the streets of Cyberia, how much I would enjoy it today compared to this loneliness.
On the seemingly endless route past the shops and past the auction house I spend most of my time with a phone in my hand, calling up traders whose stock has run out or possibly could make a profit from auctioning off some products. Some don’t even bother to pick up anymore. And so it dwindles down, is this the fate that Ibishans should expect in the foreseeable future? Should one of the main competences of an Ibishan be to stand the feeling of solitude? I made a small attempt at starting to build a land bridge towards Virtua, but the afternoon tides swept away the clay I shoveled onto the rocks. What will the future hold for Ibisha and fellow Ibishans, no one knows. For me it’s back to the couch for some afternoon soaps on the TV.
Cartoon
Author: Garfield86
Garfield hates biased Federals
The Hunt for Advanced Status
Author: thehopehitman2
Citizens of the Federation fall into many categories; some call themselves politicians, others editors, but many just call themselves traders. They are attracted to the economics that drives the Federation as we know it. They eat and breathe trading and do everything they can to better themselves and become one of the elite. In the Federation the first step in becoming a decorated trader is to gain “advanced status”. This status is given to any that finish in the top 20 of any trading period. When one achieves this status they receive a golden plus to show everyone they are well capable of trading in the Federation.
I myself was seeking this advanced status a round ago, and like many traders before me it was my one and only goal. In my travels I looked at a lot of statistics to help me gauge where I stood in the Federation, what follows are some of those statistics I put together.
Over the last 20 trade periods the average net worth of 20th position was 33,676.99 ISH. This number gives new traders a number to shoot for, an estimate of what you need to achieve to get your shiny gold “+”. But it doesn’t tell you the whole story, the markets fluctuate and so do the rankings; the 20th position has finished as high as 50441.88 ISH and as low as 18023.58 ISH in those same 20 rounds.
As you can tell every trade period is different and every situation has a different outcome. The most important thing a new trader can do when trying to better their trade is network. What I mean by networking is meeting and introducing yourself to other traders. Just getting your name out there and being active in the community shows people you are taking trade seriously and can be a reliable source of products. The more contacts you have the more likely you are to get better deals and discounts where you spend most of your money. A lot of traders under estimate the power of a good discount, over a round it can save you up to 10% of the cost of a certain product you use frequently. Depending on how much you go through this can save you several thousand ISH in a single trade period, which could mean the difference in being in the top 20 or not.
The one thing a new trader cannot do is give up. It took me over ten rounds to gain my advanced status and I made a lot of mistakes along the way. But in the end those mistakes benefited me because I learned from them and made sure they never happened again. Knowledge is a traders best friend no matter what the market looks like. And for those traders on the brink of their advanced status this round, I wish you luck.
Cartoon
Author: Garfield86
Garfield knew it years ago
And the Nominees are…
Author: marcelbuter
The second ever, “Premium Member Awards” (PMA’s), are being held this round in the club MC Premium Members. These awards are a special thank you to the people who support Miniconomy financially round after round and make it so that we can all play this game round after round. The nominations for these awards took place last week, and this week exclusively in the TMC we will announce the nominations for each of the categories:
Most Valuable Organization
MC Recruitment
Assistance, Tips, and Tricks
The Miniconomist
Player Consult
Virtuan Trade Union
Most Valuable Assistant
Troel
Rednax
IkbenBen19
sugarfree
Rats!
dara
Likemyitem
thehopehitman2
Remcowouter
bisi
Friendliest Player
amini
Troel
bonanza
lindapinda86
Joep Eerlijk
Joerik
White Queen
iamthebest4
Craftsman
The Eye
Most Creative Player
White Queen
Rednax
The Imperialist
m1n1conomy
lindapinda86
Best Male Player
Podje
iamthebest4
Rednax
Goudie
riser
Best Female Player
Troel
dara
lindapinda86
Best Mayor
Bittersweet Ibisha
Craftsman
Frankeur
Jesper Andersson
Ronaldse
Samurai02
T-Bag
The Eye
vinny
witmoca
Best New Player
justinote
riser
Carlock
Best Trader
xtrabu77on
Podje
The Mega Handelaar
Katharos
xplay
Joerik
Joep Eerlijk
martijn5
riser
Best Politician
Bonanza
White Queen
m1n1conomy
Joep Eerlijk
riser
Gustav Andersson
beagollum
Most Valuable Cyberian
martijn5
Podje
Troel
bonanza
Pedro Alvarez
Rednax
Joep Eerlijk
Most Valuable Digitalian
beagollum
Neuroman
iamthebest4
sugarfree
letscall bever
The King 2
Chiara Alvarez
dara
Naamloze
Most Valuable Virtuan
Thehopehitman2
riser
White Queen
Rats!
Samurai02
Most Valuable Premium Member Round 82
sugarfree
justinote
riser
Troel
Rednax
iamthebest4
White Queen
Podje
Craftsman
bonanza
Good luck to all the nominees and don’t forget to vote in the club MC Premium Members.
Statistics
Author: Federal Coordinator
Shop Turn-Over
Total: 6,430,162.94
# Name Turn-Over City
1 riser 311,889.53 Cashington
2 Joep Eerlijk 251,902.02 Zwollar
3 Likemyitem 249,435.71 Centropolis
4 Federal Government 162,003.45 Centropolis
5 Rats! 136,545.05 Cashington
6 goudie 122,600.79 Nasdaqar
7 IkbenBen19 118,978.78 Zwollar
8 GoldenSnake 112,628.27 Zwollar
9 koen stolk 97,639.73 Zwollar
10 Alejandro Clemente 97,558.78 Cashington
11 neuroman 96,348.64 Monapoli
12 Trow 94,393.32 Roebelarendsveen
13 FGCZ 83,140.83 Nasdaqar
14 dara 82,774.80 Monapoli
15 BENDERivec 82,142.56 Cashington
16 Rednax 79,555.47 Roebelarendsveen
17 alokes 75,862.51 Eurodam
18 Naamloze 75,456.41 Monapoli
19 The Socialist 73,973.56 Ibisha
20 White Queen 73,663.94 Cashington
21 floyd lawson 72,250.25 Centropolis
22 Is dit een MV 71,678.00 Roebelarendsveen
23 amini 71,641.71 Nasdaqar
24 marcelbuter 70,848.86 Ibisha
25 Thomas Bussines 68,770.41 Kronenburg
26 oma appelmoes 68,604.56 Kronenburg
Most stock transactions:
- forknork1: 91
- Thomas Bussines: 75
- oparidae: 60
- Washa Banking MV: 22
- justinote: 17
- Likemyitem: 16
- Mr.Big: 16
- nielsgt4: 15
- marcelbuter: 13
- McNugzie: 13
Politieke instabiliteit
Auteur: bonanza
Een nieuwe president van een nieuwe partij en een tamelijk inactief Parlement. Gooi er een Motie van wantrouwen bij, samen met een vleugje machtsbelustheid en voilà, het perfecte recept voor wat actie. Het soepje heeft ook een naam, Cyberische politiek.
Het was een mooie overwinning voor MP, Mijn Partij, het geesteskind van martijn5. Met drie zetels konden ze aan de regeringsformatie beginnen. Nog voor er ook maar enige gesprekken werden gevoerd, bleken er al interne problemen op te duiken nadat oprichter martijn5 met klinkende deuren aan de wereld verkondigde dat hij niet langer wenste te zetelen voor de partij. De formateur, Giulio Alvarez, zette echter onvermoeid door en kon dan ook al snel zijn nieuwe coalitie voorstellen. Hij kon zowel LiDe (Liberaal Democraten) als NEP (Nationale Eenheids Partij – die deze handelsperiode lijkt te zijn gestopt) overtuigen.
De President lijkt echter nog niet alle kneepjes van het vak goed begrepen te hebben. Het Parlement werd zoals gewoonlijk weer snel lui en zonder zijn interventie verergerde het alleen maar. Met uitzondering van een aantal actievelingen was het soms behoorlijk stil. Daar heeft hij vandaag de prijs voor betaald. De Motie van Wantrouwen (MvW) die werd ingediend door oppositielid Axedry werd door een meerderheid goedgekeurd. De MvW hekelde onder meer de inactiviteit van de President en het gebrek aan leidinggevend vermogen.
Vice-President Frederik Alvarez zag zijn kans om alsnog een poging te doen om het hoogste Cyberische ambt te vervullen, ondanks zijn eerdere falen (in deze krant werd in het verleden onder meer opgeroepen hem nooit meer President te laten worden). Hij was er bijgevolg als de kippen bij om het ontslag van zijn voorzitter aan te vragen, samen met dat van enkele inactieve Parlementsleden. Het feit dat hij zelf meer dan 72 uur niets van zich had laten horen in het Parlement en het Achterkamertje (een wettelijke vereiste) werd vakkundig onder de mat geveegd.
Dat was niet gerekend op enkele attente Parlementsleden die deze zaak ogenblikkelijk aankaartten en het directe ontslag van Frederik Alvarez eisten. Deze verdedigt zich met de stelling dat zijn (nakend) ontslag als Parlementslid niet inhoudt dat hij ook ontslagen is als Vice-President en dus geen lang leven als President gegund is.
Verwacht wordt dat Giulio Alvarez weldra ontslagen zal worden (ook al haalde hij in de club Fed Requests alles uit de kast om dat te voorkomen) en dat Frederik Alvarez aangesteld zal worden als nieuwe President. Vermoedelijk zullen snel rechtszaken volgen die de geldigheid van zijn ambtstermijn in vraag stellen.
En zo zorgt inactiviteit toch nog voor Parlementaire activiteit.
Cartoon
Auteur: lindapinda86
Zwollar nader bekeken
Auteur: Axedry
Vorige handelsperiode werd ik vierkant uitgelachen, ik had het gekke idee om Zwollar weer op de kaart te zetten. Om dit te realiseren werd de eerste Zwollarse handelsvereniging een feit en waren we wel tien man sterk. Grote namen uit de handelsindustrie zoals martijn5 hebben we bedankt voor het aanbod om te helpen. Een trouwe kern Zwollenaren moest het gaan doen.
De balans opmakend; Zwollar heeft een handelaar die zo’n beetje een monopolie op hout heeft, drie spelers in de top 25, en enkelen er onder. Vorige periode was The Eye de beste Zwollenaar met een 20ste plaats, dat moet deze periode wel verbeterd gaan worden. Daarna was er een 57ste en 58ste plaats voor respectievelijk jorref en IkbenBen19.
Deze handelsperiode was de eerste Cyberische MV in Zwollar gevestigd, en dit was direct een bank. Tevens is er een grote en succesvolle taxi MV in Zwollar gevestigd. Verwacht wordt dat er in de loop van de week nog eens twee tot drie extra MV’s bij komen.
Wat verder opvalt, is dat we toch wel een degelijke basis missen in Zwollar wat betreft grondstoffen. Hierbij is het gemis aan olie het grootst, daarna de lage ertsopbrengsten. Als we het goud zouden inwisselen voor olie, dan was Zwollar nog beter gaan draaien.
Ik ben ook zeer benieuwd naar de omzetstatistieken van Zwollar. Volgende editie gaan we wat dieper in op de houtmarkt, inclusief een interview met Zwollars grootste houtboer.
Cartoon
Auteur: lindapinda86
Het verhaal over pompoentjes
Auteur: Gunnar Andersson
Er was eens lang, heel lang gleden een stad dat pompoen-stad noemde, natuurlijk, zoals je al kan raden, woonde er alleen maar pompoenen. Het was een rustige, fijne handelsstad tot ooit eens de verschrikkelijke “Ik-Wil-Alles”pompoen er in kwam wonen. Hij kocht alle pompoenenshopjes op tot er nog maar één overbleef, de pompoenshop van “eerlijke”pompoen. Die vond het niet kunnen dat die verschrikkelijke pompoen alles opkocht, en stapte naar het Parlement. Maar natuurlijk, zetelde daar alleen handlangers van de verschrikkelijke pompoen, Dus kreeg die eerlijke pompoen een idee: “Wat als ik nou eens die verschrikkelijke pompoen eens ging afknallen?” En natuurlijk kreeg de Verschrikkelijke pompoen het te horen en bedacht eveneens een plan: “Een paar kogeltjes en een bom of twee zal wel genoeg zijn zeker?” En de verschrikkelijke pompoen voerde zijn plan uit, En de arme pompoen ging sneller falliet dan Griekenland. Toen was heel pompoen-stad verloren en noemde de stad: Eigendom van Ik-Wil-Alles pompoen.
Cartoon
Auteur: lindapinda86
Garfield wil geen CBI meer zijn
Statistieken
Auteur: Federal Assistant
Totale shop omzet: 2,835,546.69 ISH
# Naam Omzet Standplaats
1 Federal Government 149,223.70 Centropolis
2 riser 143,840.03 Cashington
3 Joep Eerlijk 88,990.54 Zwollar
4 Likemyitem 77,161.75 Centropolis
5 Rats! 69,909.02 Cashington
6 Trow 66,216.38 Roebelarendsveen
7 neuroman 63,289.61 Monapoli
8 dara 58,330.84 Monapoli
9 Naamloze 55,968.57 Monapoli
10 Rednax 55,066.69 Roebelarendsveen
11 IkbenBen19 52,161.09 Zwollar
12 amini 49,243.72 Nasdaqar
13 GoldenSnake 44,901.00 Zwollar
14 BENDERivec 44,337.29 Cashington
15 White Queen 42,926.15 Cashington
16 koen stolk 42,363.24 Zwollar
17 martijn5 41,974.27 Zwollar
18 goudie 40,777.67 Nasdaqar
19 Alejandro Clemente 39,928.10 Cashington
20 FGCZ 38,530.48 Nasdaqar
21 The Socialist 38,278.39 Ibisha
Virtua: A Round for the History Books
Author: thehopehitman2
As many in the Federation already know, Virtua has its fair share of problems. In recent rounds there has been little to no interest in politics, monopolies form left and right, and new citizens don’t stay long. But this round people have noticed something different, something in the air that Virtua has been lacking for many rounds.
This round the citizens have come together and for once there is a sense of teamwork among the country. Starting at the top the Virtuan Government has been spearheaded by White Queen who has put forth many by-laws to help the country work towards its goals. She has also hired two capable and highly active Consuls in Rats! and riser. Strengthened by this sense of leadership many Virtuans have followed suit and applied for courses in officer, teacher, and lawyer so Virtua can once again be self-sufficient in these areas. You also have banks going up, parks and hospitals being built, huge pumpkins growing in the fields and prosperous exports being dumped into the economy.
Why, you may ask, is Virtua deciding to show this national pride all of a sudden? Well the answer is simple. All citizens young, old, rich, poor, experienced and inexperienced have looked at themselves in the mirror and said “we need change”. But it didn’t end there; they stood up and faced their problems and fears, and have begun to correct them instead of waiting for someone else to take the initiative.
This trade period is still young, and Virtua is in no way “fixed” but you ask anyone in the country and they would say there is leadership in place, and the country is determined. Five, ten, maybe twenty trade periods from now this round will be marked as the rebirth of the new Virtua. The end of Virtua’s own “Great Depression” and grandfathers and grandmothers will be telling the story to their grandchildren for generations to come.
An older gentlemen that has spent his whole life in Virtua put it best “Virtua has found its heart again…”
Cartoon
Author: thehopehitman2
Virtuan Government and Society: A New Start?
Author: White Queen
The ambitions are high, the goals as well. This trading periods government of Virtua, which I am honored to preside has taken a big task upon its shoulders. This task is, simply stated, to revive Virtua and bring it back as a nation amongst the others in the Federation, to end the depression Virtua is in for many trading periods now. Of course, we are fully realizing this is not something that can be done in one round. There are many areas that need change in our nation. There are many terrains which are requiring refreshment. This is not a task of this trading period’s government only; it is a task of Virtuan society as well. This is not a task of future governments only, it is a task of every Virtuan citizen in the present and the future. We need to bring back active, participating citizens to this nation. That is crucial for our nation to have a future at all. Our government has a couple of points we want to focus on during the period we are in office.
First, we will pass a third government reform. After the installation of the bicameral system of Assembly and Council and the introduction of a presidential system, this round we will revise the form of government again. The Assembly and Council system did not work as intended, so this will be abolished again. At the same time, we are returning in a certain way to the old system of the Board of Consuls. I don’t think this is necessarily the definitive form of government Virtua should have, but it is better in terms of efficient government. The details have to be discussed just yet and the new laws have to be written then, but we can guarantee a new state reform.
Second, we will give the Virtuan Law Book a thorough revision, in order to rephrase, remove obsolete and contradicting parts and renew laws wherever we deem necessary. There are laws still mentioning the Consul of Foreign and Internal Affairs, a consul title abolished in the second government reform. In fact it is in a very important law, being the one on International Treaties. At this moment, according to the Virtuan Law Book, nobody has the authority to sign an International Treaty at this moment. This is just one of the examples in our law book which needs revision.
Third, we will revitalize Virtuan education. When the degrees expired last trading period, Virtua was left with barely any officers and no lawyers, priests and teachers at all. A very worrisome situation of course, as we need officers and lawyers to fulfill numerous functions in our society and teachers to teach people these jobs. To reach this, we will get aid from Cyberia and Ibisha in order to have examiners for the state exams that will be taken this trading period. Hopefully, from now on enough schools will exist to make Virtua self-supporting in this matter.
Fourth, I am keeping a strict eye on the National Treasury and at the end of this trading period I will present the incomes and expenditures, so the next government will be able to use it to make an estimate of their incomes and expenditures. This way, the National Treasury will be better maintained and put to better use. I sincerely hope this will aid future presidents and consuls in deciding how to use the budget they have at their disposal.
This is what our government will do. That is one part of the story. This will surely help on some terrains. But the effects are only limited. The other part of the story is what the Virtuan citizens will do to help their country placing itself back on the map. As mentioned more often, a specific problem of Virtua is that the citizens, instead of participating in social activities and politics, keep more to themselves and only participate in the Virtuan economy. This is a pity; especially as it makes Virtua fall silent and make it less lively then for example Cyberia or Digitalia. Clubs are often not read or not talked in, while the main social activities are going on there. So many things have been organized in the past, and all met this huge, concrete wall with the words disinterest, shyness and inactivity painted all over it. Newspapers, quizzes, awards and so on, all weren’t continued because either there was not enough participation or there were no successors to the initiatives when those people who started it didn’t continue. Schools disappeared the same way. So in that sense it is good that degrees are expiring now, it forces nations to pay attention to education.
I am having the feeling Virtua is having a good trading period, even despite the problems I describe above. But these problems must be addressed, in order to push up the general level of our trading periods. I hope people will understand and aid us and the nation with suggestions, comments and proposals to improve Virtua in the social sense. As said, it is not a matter of this trading period, but of the future ones as well. But if we can make a good start now, the future will be brighter than it has been during the last time. I see good signs throughout the country already, but much is to be done before we can really look over our shoulder and see the valley we climbed out of. But we need everyone to climb this hillside; otherwise we won’t have the strength and will fall down again.
Miniconomy’s History
Author: The mysox1
Here is some history about myself.
I am The mysox1 and I started out playing Miniconomy when the lovely city of Gold Coast was still in Virtua back about round 47 on mysox1. Since then I have tried to learn all that I can about Miniconomy from those who have been around longer and more actively. In my search for information about Miniconomy I asked the Federal Coordinator. These are the answers I received.
The mysox1: Federal Coordinator how did you become involved in Miniconomy?
Federal Coordinator: It was a grey day in February 2002, only a few days before my birthday and spring vacation. Some fellow students and I were at school making an assignment for a lesson I truly can’t remember. But seeing as everyone was doing things online that had nothing to do with that course, that’s no surprise.
One of my mates came to me with a link of a game that he was playing for some days, and he thought it was just the game for me: my first contact was made.
That round, which was just after the start of the second round of Miniconomy, I got to know the game and was grasped by its unique style: intense contact with others, great economic basics and some fantastic players (it’s really a shame not everyone knows Richard and Geert anymore!).
Even though I was hooked from that moment on, I did abuse the total lack of control by the game management (at that time, only Wouter and his brother Mark, were responsible for the economic basics of the game): the game had never even heard of Federals, let alone CBI. Thus, I made about one hundred mail accounts and every address got a player account. Those accounts transferred 1000 I-Shell to my main account and very soon I was one of the wealthiest players around. Because of a mistake (I logged in on my main at school, where I was using my sub accounts to cheat) Mark totally busted me and I was immediately thrown out of the game (cheater status didn’t exist at that time).
I really did feel sorry and I also wanted to get back in the game, so I wrote an excuse letter to Mark and Wouter and told them I was very sorry, wanted to get back in the game, and would also like to make a donation. Thankfully, they let me back in the game, although I did have to use another account: The Minic (in those early days, without capitals) was born.
The mysox1: What are some of the new options and products that have come along since you started?
Federal Coordinator: Even though I’m not sure, but I think no products –besides aero planes- have ever been added in the game. The game has all the products it needs, no more and no less.
The new options are of course abundant. In the most early days, there were no streets, no physical shops, no roads, no companies, no skills, no break down nor production limits et cetera. It was a time of total trade freedom, but with it the biggest flaw of the game was also there: money made more money, so having the most money on day three meant winning the round, unless you would really seriously and intentionally… well, screw up!
With all those changes, the game did become more and more complex. I have great respect for players who grasp all the options Miniconomy has, because there are a lot! They have however made the game more interesting on the long term, and means that there really are different levels you can operate on. Changes in the future will do that even more, but I won’t elaborate on those now.
The option that came but also went, but is very much missed, is the option to have street races. I get quite a lot of questions about it, both from players who have experienced those as well as players that have only heard of them. If I explain it to them, they tend to become as excited as the players who know what I’m talking about (and please, I don’t want a hundred players asking me now!), maybe partially because of my own enthusiasm. But I really hope we can bring them back one day, so everyone knows why they were so great.
The mysox1: For those of us who have been playing for a much shorter period of time approximately how many citizens were there way back then?
Federal Coordinator: During those first rounds, there was a core of 30 extremely active players, mostly beta testers. Along the road they slowly were replaced by new players discovering the game and the game grew to over 2000 accounts in only a few rounds.
The mysox1: If you could start playing from the beginning again what would you do differently?
Federal Coordinator: Well, I would like to say that I would only play in an honest way, but knowing myself, I would first like to know the boundaries.
If I had to start in this trading period, I would probably take a lot more time discovering all the elements of the game. It still has its unique features that I fell in love with (and some new as well of course!) but they have become so vast, it would take more time to find my desired game play.
The mysox1: Do you have any advice for those who are just starting to play?
Federal Coordinator: As just stated, that would be my advice: experience the game in all its glory and see what kind of trade suits you best. Or, see what job suits you best. The number of different ways to play Miniconomy have expanded in a huge way and offers some for all. Just take your time to find out what you like and go for it!
The mysox1: On a scale from one to ten how well do you think Miniconomy is doing as a game?
Federal Coordinator: In my heart, Miniconomy gets an A+. In my mind, it only scores about a B-, because the game sure has grown, but hasn’t really developed to demands on the market. Of course, that’s also the least interesting for both the experienced players and the Federals and Wouter, but it is necessary to ensure the future of Miniconomy.
After my discussion with the Federal Coordinator I found that Wouter has been working hard to get this game going and that he is going to continue to try and keep this game going even when there is not much interest.
I hope that all of the citizens who read this article will find it as useful as I have.
Cartoon
Author: lindapinda86
Garfield likes the new CBI
