I have feedback
and suggestions.
So for this testing period, I was working on two methods of stock investment:
1. Small incremental investments (10-20 shares per day), which were intended to build up a share slowly over several days
2. Pump and dump (50+ per day), which were intended to max share gain before closing and then gauge reactions and sell if needed
Results were clear (and obvious), the second method was the most rewarding. And while pump/dump could be a viable strategy in stock markets, if you're willing to run the risk, ultimately it is
not conducive to a pretend market with less variation or outlying dependencies on market trends, as RL markets have.
So, this got me thinking, since the approach needs to include potential financial gains (for players) but also a means to self-propagate and not crash immediately (for the stock market). I've pondered the following
three (3) ideas, and would like to present them as possible methods to include throughout this testing phase, to see if they might work or provide some OOC stability.
IDEA ONE.
All market traders require a license to trade. Joining the first time, to trade in stocks, requires a single one-time payment of 10,000 UCs (this is 10 posts in a thread, it's not unobtainable or high). This allows a player to trade freely in the stock market, and gives the market itself a 100% profit amount to add to offsetting trade,
without being obscenely priced for a license.
Then, every month, a license fee is applied. And every license holder pays that monthly fee of - for example - 2,000 UCs, which again becomes a 100% profit amount from each player to inject into the market account (assuming the NPC account idea is maintained).
There would be a cost to the player, yes, but the amounts (as suggested, which are open to change if adopted?) are a handful of posts as an offset to the player - and that's not much to ask, to help maintain a mechanic being driven aside from site staff or board systems.
It's manual; it's a player working for the entertainment of players, and he needs help to keep it going.
IDEA TWO.
Share caps.
Since this is reflective of a stock market, but is limited by finite resources (UCs), it has more limitations. What I'm suggesting is share caps, which are limits on shares available in a single day of trade, based on a factor of company decision.
What does this mean, how would it work?
So, every month, a company purchases a share cap for daily trade. And based on the cap picked, a company can either have less shares available to invest in, or more. And during a stock market day, if those shares are taken - by player investors - then no more are available for the rest of that trade day.
Here is a simple proposal for illustration:
| PLAN | PRICE | SHARE CAP |
|---|
| Bronze Investment | 1,000 UC | 100 |
| Silver Tier Investment | 5,000 UC | 500 |
| Gold Tier Investment | 10,000 UC | 1,000 |
So, let's say 4 companies did this, and each picked their plans for the month:
| COMPANY | PLAN | PRICE | SHARE CAP |
|---|
| Company 1 | Bronze | 1,000 UC /month | 100 |
| Company 2 | Bronze | 1,000 UC /month | 100 |
| Company 3 | Silver | 5,000 UC /month | 500 |
| Company 4 | Gold | 10,000 UC /month | 1,000 |
So, this means that companies 1 and 2 have a max daily investment potential of 100 shares. One those shares are claimed for the day, no more market changes can happen directly to those shares (outside of fluctuations in the market itself - see Idea 3).
Company 3 and 4 have larger investment potential, and the aim is to attract bigger investors, to provide a longer term investment method over weeks or months, to keep prices going up.
Of course, sudden share dumps can still happen - but, to avoid the ol' pump and dump method, share caps still apply. This means investors have to work over a
period of time to bring share stocks back up to desired value, which in turn prolongs the shares game, and rewards longer term investment - while avoiding crashing the market within a 2 day period!
Plus, those monthly plan costs for companies go directly into the stock market (and its NPC) to help maintain it.
IDEA THREE.
Random market events. This one is mainly to give a sense of insecurity and risk, and would likely happen in the background of the stock market, from the NPC account maintaining it. A simple explanation is as follows:
1. Randomly (dice roll?) once a week, something will happen that can either cause positive or negative fluctuation to shares
2. A second roll is done, to determine
positive or
negative changes on the previously revealed day
3. The event happens, and has a set scale it reads from, to simulate how it helps - or hinders - the market (the below are examples):
| Positive A | Investments soar, +2% to all shares |
| Positive B | A random investor has bought big to <a randomly picked company>, share value increases +5% to all shares for that company |
| Negative A | Big business investors have dumped shares, due to war strain, -10% all shares in the market |
| Negative B | A change in Government (due to a dominion) has left <a randomly picked company> on that planet reeling from economic instability, -5% all shares |
4. The event is carried out, the stock market is updated, and people see how things went - good or bad.
The above is purely a example, it can be completely changed or altered, but the main goal is to introduce some events that can help or hinder and replicate a more impactful stock market volatility - as this whole thing shouldn't be all winning, all the time,
shares are risks.
So those are my suggestions/ideas so far, I'll continue to ponder more as testing continues.
Very open to discussing any of the above, or fine-tuning, or whatever else.
