182 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
182 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
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The SRE Commerce and Trade Theories
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By: Josh Renaud
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-=> This is the third of my non-fiction files on playing SRE. This file is
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best to be used by experienced SRE players of advanced play level. This is only
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a guide of theories. These theories have been put to the test very few times.
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Whether or not they can operate in a real-game situation remains to be seen.
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However excellent real-game trade techniques can be derived from the theories
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contained here. <=-
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Introduction to SRE Trade and Commerce
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If you've ever played SRE you've probably noticed them; the players with
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the multi-million Net Worths. Ever wonder how they got that big? It's pretty
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simple, really. They pick another player who is very small. They send that
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player, lets call him Player B, lots of money. Player B purchases as many
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carriers as he can (At a VERY low price) and sends them to Player A. Player A,
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being a large empire, sells them at a HIGH price and makes a large profit. By
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repeating this procedure (With increasing carrier amounts due to the profits),
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vast wealth can be achieved in two to three weeks depending on how strict a
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schedule you use, and how precise you are in the trade. This file expands on
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this simple money-making procedure that is commonplace nowadays. The author has
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dreamed of creating a ten-empire trade alliance that is capable of exceeding
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monetary value. At face value, this statement seems ludicrous. 'How can an
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alliance exceed the value of money?' you are asking. Read on... You'll find
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out.
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First Theory -- The Network Matrix
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In a game not too long ago, I proposed the idea of creating a large
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alliance of empires for the explicit purpose of trading. It was my intent to
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have an alliance that could trade constantly, each member having defense pacts
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with all the others, and trading with every member. Unfortunately the idea fell
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apart. 'Wait! That's such a good idea! Why wouldn't anyone go for it?' you are
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asking. Here's why: In a game situation most people are not willing to give up
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hard-earned credits to finance such a network. Not only that, YOU try founding
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a BRAND-NEW alliance in the midst of a war. It's hard.
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It is because of the above reasons that most of the theories in this file
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can't be substantiated. They've never been tried in real-game situations, so
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they are labeled theories.
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The Network-Matrix theory is basically simple. Here are it's main points.
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1) Every day, each member RENEWS it's defense pacts with ALL members.
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2) Every day, each member trades with ALL other members.
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3) The Network is structured in such a way so that some people will ALWAYS be
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small and do the job of purchasing the products.
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If these three simple points are followed, one can achieve a simple network.
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However, it has been found that other points are important (but not necessary)
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to accompany an alliance.
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1) Make it clear that the network is only a grouping of empires. Any emprie cn
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join regardless of other affiliations.
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2) Make it clear the network has NO political orientation.
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3) Make it clear there is no leader of the network. Only a director who makes
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the initial assignments and takes the job of making any important decisions,
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int he event there are some to make.
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And there are also other points which need to be written into network bylaws,
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these dependent on the atmosphere of the game you're playing.
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1) In the event an alliance or empire OFFICIALLY declares war on the network,
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the network can take a vote and BECOME an ALLIANCE -with- politial orientation
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that is OBLIGATED to attack the offending alliance or empire.
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2) In the event of such an action, leaders must be appointed. Make it known
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that the network is no longer a trade-only/non-aggressive network.
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3) Any empire within the network that attacks another empire OUTSIDE the
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network must do so on his/her OWN discretion. No empire, not even the director,
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can take a collective offensive action unless the entire network goes to war,
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as mentioned in point 1.
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These bylaws make running the network more complicated, but they are necessary.
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This is the structural foundation for the trade network necessary to carry out
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the next few theories.
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Second Theory -- The Commerce Theory
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It is possible to trade heavily. This heavy trade will result in lots of
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cash. In SRE, there is a limit of twelve billion credits (LIQUID credits) to be
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held at any one time. 10bil can be held through investments (2bil a turn) and
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2bil can be held on hand. It is possible, for one turn only, to hold 14bil
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credits. This is very risky. The limits of trading in LIQUID credits will soon
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become apparent if the network is growing as it should.
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A point will be reached where one cannot simply sell all the carriers. The
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reason for this is that the net value of all the carriers SURPASSES two billion
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credits, so all cannot be sold at once.
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Theoretically one can sell 2bil worth, trade it to a partner, and sell 2bil
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more, trade it to a partner, etc, until all the carriers are sold. But consider
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this: The partner can only process 2bil a turn. If he has more than 10bil
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waiting for him after a day, credits will be lost. Why? Simple: You can process
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2bil a turn. At 5 turns a day, the most you can handle SUCCESFULLY is 10bil a
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day. If there are more than 10bil credits, they will flow over to the next day.
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But there will be another set of credits the next day. So evenutally any
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credits over the limit will be skimmed off. Theoretically all credits can be
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recovered. But to do that requires NOT trading for a day, which will upset the
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whole flow and growth of the network.
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When this point is reached, LIQUID CREDITS ARE VALUELESS.
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[Side Note: Liquid credits are those credits which are in MONETARY form.
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Product/Capital can be referred to in it's credit VALUE, but remember that
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these items are not in a LIQUID form.]
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The reason the liquid credits are valueless is because there is too much
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too handle. The way to overcome this is by finding another medium of exchange.
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Rather than use credits as the medium of exchange, soldiers could be
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substituted. It is here that the theories become more difficult to understand
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and where they split apart.
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Third Theory -- Medium of Exchange/Soldiers
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When the Limit is reached, the network can begin to sell carriers
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(converting them to liquid credits) and can then purchase soldiers. The
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soldiers become the medium of exchange for use through trading. However this
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medium of exchange is risky.
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1) Different versions of SRE regard soldier price-control differently.
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2) Some empires may have unbalanced militaries which will result in the LOSS of
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value through selling soldiers.
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Fourth Theory -- Medium of Exchange/Hierarchial
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When the limit is reached, one can begin hierarchial trading. Hierarchial
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trading is simple. Each empire can buy portions of military wich cause the
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OTHER portions to be cheap. Example:
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Soldiers- 0
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Fighters- 10mil
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HCs- 10mil
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Carriers- 10mil
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Soldiers will be CHEAP while the others will be expensive. If each empire
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offsets their militaries, various values can be attributed to products. By
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organizing them, it is possible to trade hierarchially. This means trading
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carriers for HCs, HCs for defense stations, defesne stations for fighters, and
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fighters for soldiers. The Soldiers are then sold for carriers.
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After this, one will notice an increase in the original amount of carriers.
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This is almost true commerce-trade. the only reason it ISN'T true commerce is
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the fact one must use liquid credits when selling and buying.
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This is a major theory. Noone has ever successfully reached the point where
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virtual commerce-trade is successfully utilized. Whether it could actually work
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is unknown. If it COULD be reached, then another major step in SRE's evolution
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would have taken place. Unfortunately it is impossible to just BARTER in SRE.
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(Trade product for product without having to sell antything for liquid credits)
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A method of barter would allow a network to successfully utilize commerce-trade
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when the Limit is reached.
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These theories are not guaranteed. If they work, that is fantastic. Incredibly
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awesome. Even if they DON'T work as outlined, terrific new groundwork has been
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layed for future trade. These theories could become the basis of more solid
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trade processes. Keep these in mind and let them open you up to new trade
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oppurtunities.
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-=) Josh Renaud (=-
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Josh Renaud is probably the best-known writer on SRE in St. Louis. His SRE
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Text Series has been recognized by three online magazines, and are the subject
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to much approval. He also has two other SRE-specific files detailing strategies
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on advanced play, and a guide on how to build a successful empire for
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beginners.
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___________________________________
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Copyright (c)1994 GrossWorld Publishing Company, all rights reserved.
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___________________________________
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