New idea for market transactions

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.empire (More info?)

The market is one of the most often overlooked, and one of the more
interesting features of Empire. It really adds a lot of realism to the
game (which is what we're all seeking to simulate after all, right?).
Tradeships are nice for converting cms to $$$, but they are slow and
prone to piracy. The obvious solution: why not just sell your wares on
the open market if you need some cash?

However, I feel something is missing if this is truly intended to
simulate online bidding systems like eBay or amazon.com. What is
needed is some way to give buyer/seller ratings. Obviously, then,
there must be some way for the seller to choose to not deliver the
goods (or the buyer to actually pay the cash) for that to make sense.
For example, with the buy command, you should be prompted "Actually
pay? y/n". Conversely, the sell command could be extend to include a
prompt "Deliver the goods? yes/no/<etu delay>". I feel good
programming dictates that such changes always be orthogonal, therefore
we should put it in the next Wolfpack release.

Naturally, bad behavior such as this would get reported in the
newspaper (along with a negative rating if the other party chooses).
Think of the great new tactics that could then be employed, and the
impact this would have on diplomacy - just like in real life! And
after all, isn't that what it's all about? Anyway, since these are
just an extension of existing APIs none of it should be too hard to
code up.

Regards!

James

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.empire (More info?)

I think you're onto something here. This adds to the whole concept
of distrust thy other player.

1) Phishing scams. Trick players into revealing their country info
(bmaps) etc. by avoiding transaction fees (see #4 below)

2) Sending the wrong items. Someone buys LCMs, but gets a package of
food.

3) Double billing. Charge someone twice, then wait an update to adjust
their account.

4) Add deity account "PayPal", who helps manage transactions, but for a
fee. This adds to peeps wanting to use #1 to get phished.

5) Require players to be on-line when deliver occurs, or the goods then
get deposited into a harbor sector off shore owned by deity "UPS" or
"FedExpensive" where they have to send a cargo ship to pick up their
goods.

6) And then we gotta have the whole Cyber Cops section, where if you
sell goods out of a captured harbor or warehouse, several updates later
the buyer gets a knock at their door when the feds re-posses the stolen
goods.

-Bungy





"James Calivar" <amheiserbush@yahoo.com.au> wrote in message
news:8fd1f87.0411181156.d56baa4@posting.google.com...
> The market is one of the most often overlooked, and one of the more
> interesting features of Empire. It really adds a lot of realism to the
> game (which is what we're all seeking to simulate after all, right?).
> Tradeships are nice for converting cms to $$$, but they are slow and
> prone to piracy. The obvious solution: why not just sell your wares on
> the open market if you need some cash?
>
> However, I feel something is missing if this is truly intended to
> simulate online bidding systems like eBay or amazon.com. What is
> needed is some way to give buyer/seller ratings. Obviously, then,
> there must be some way for the seller to choose to not deliver the
> goods (or the buyer to actually pay the cash) for that to make sense.
> For example, with the buy command, you should be prompted "Actually
> pay? y/n". Conversely, the sell command could be extend to include a
> prompt "Deliver the goods? yes/no/<etu delay>". I feel good
> programming dictates that such changes always be orthogonal, therefore
> we should put it in the next Wolfpack release.
>
> Naturally, bad behavior such as this would get reported in the
> newspaper (along with a negative rating if the other party chooses).
> Think of the great new tactics that could then be employed, and the
> impact this would have on diplomacy - just like in real life! And
> after all, isn't that what it's all about? Anyway, since these are
> just an extension of existing APIs none of it should be too hard to
> code up.
>
> Regards!
>
> James

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.empire (More info?)

"Bungholio" <empire_bungholioNOSAPM@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:7udnd.14396$d96.8083@trnddc01...
>I think you're onto something here. This adds to the whole concept
> of distrust thy other player.
>
> 1) Phishing scams. Trick players into revealing their country info
> (bmaps) etc. by avoiding transaction fees (see #4 below)
>
> 2) Sending the wrong items. Someone buys LCMs, but gets a package of
> food.
>
> 3) Double billing. Charge someone twice, then wait an update to adjust
> their account.
>
> 4) Add deity account "PayPal", who helps manage transactions, but for a
> fee. This adds to peeps wanting to use #1 to get phished.
>
> 5) Require players to be on-line when deliver occurs, or the goods then
> get deposited into a harbor sector off shore owned by deity "UPS" or
> "FedExpensive" where they have to send a cargo ship to pick up their
> goods.
>
> 6) And then we gotta have the whole Cyber Cops section, where if you
> sell goods out of a captured harbor or warehouse, several updates later
> the buyer gets a knock at their door when the feds re-posses the stolen
> goods.
>
> -Bungy
>

Top poster.

The biggest benefit players will see from this will be the reduction in
micromanagement. No more "who is going to buy my UWs?" - now you can specify
the recipient (and coincidentally if they will actually get the goods - just
like a modern day scam artist), and receipts will be issued automatically by the
server code (again just an extension of the current API). Transactions will
show up in the Daily News reports, but third party readers won't know if anyone
got screwed or if it was just a run-of-the-mill sale, so the biggest
ramification is who to believe? Was this a legitimate transaction, or was some
kind of a kickback or external pressure in existence? Whose pockets were lined?
Just like reading the local paper headlines - very realistic.

I think Wolfpack should implement this new exciting feature ASAP.

James