Re: Olympia G2 inter-player communication

From: morrow@newton.crisp.net (John Morrow)

Date: Tue, 04 Feb 1997 00:00:00 +0000

cp6590@harrier.fen.bris.ac.uk (CMD Parsons) writes:
>I have been monitoring the game G1 extensively and have signed up for the
>new G2 game. One thing that you don't get from just reading the posts and
>the times is _exactly_ how the game works in the flesh, as it were. I was
>wondering - how much inter player trading goes on - do factions only trade
>in alliances or do independants do business a lot to. My plans revolve
>around trading with others at the moment therefore I need to know whether
>this is a feasible option...

It has been my experience (and I haven't been in G1 for a long while
now) that players tend to trade within their own alliance or "do it
themselves" for the most part.  One of the weaknesses of Olympia is
that its economic model is pretty flat.  The benefit AND the problem
caused by this is that it is easy for just about any faction to "do it
themselves" and many do.

That said, there *is* potential to make a living selling goods to
others.  The obvious thing to sell is rare items such as mithril or
exotic plants or simply go with the trade goods which doesn't sound
like what you have in mind.  You also might be able to sell certain
awkward items like stone if you'll deliver it quickly.

But there is also a potential to set yourself up selling more common
items such as lumber, iron, or stone -- or even peasants, horses,
pikes, and swords -- to starting players who have CLAIM gold but lack
the capacity to get those other items themselves yet.  New players are
also probably in the most hurry to get things.

The idea is to identify a resource base fairly close to your starting
city and set yourself up harvesting resources (you'll need to train
havesters or ally with someone willing to do this) and shipping them
back to the safe haven starting city.  You'll probably need to make
peace with some local ruler or set up your own castle and alliance to
assure you safety.

The benefits of trading out of a starting city are (A) you'll have a
receptive audience (new players with limited production capacity), (B)
a safe place to leave your merchant with all the goods they are
selling and gold they are hopefully getting (the "safe haven" will
prevent attacks), and (C) a general concentration of players from a
variety of groups (most other cities will become dominated by a single
faction and the population will thin out drastically beyond the
starting cities except, perhaps, for Imperial City.

Other options are possible, though -- especially if you;ll deliver.
Delivery is sometimes worth paying for but it requires an
infrastructure to maintain.  Another option is to make friends with
whichever alliances set up close to the starting cities and offer to
buy quantities of surplus materials from them (since they should have
resource harvesters themselves) and simply run the transport and sales
portion.  Send a few nobles to each starting city and set yourself up
as an institution.  :-)

>Also if there were any tips that haven't already been covered in the last
>few posts that any experienced players had for a hesitant newbie, they
>would be much appreciated!

Make friends.  Don't make enemies.  Especially if you intend on trading
and not fighting...

John Morrow

References

Olympia G2 inter-player communication
cp6590@harrier.fen.bris.ac.uk (CMD Parsons)
Mon, 03 Feb 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Olympia G2 inter-player communication
cp6590@harrier.fen.bris.ac.uk (CMD Parsons)
Mon, 03 Feb 1997 00:00:00 +0000