Simcountry is a multiplayer Internet game in which you are the president, commander in chief, and industrial leader. You have to make the tough decisions about cutting or raising taxes, how to allocate the federal budget, what kind of infrastructure you want, etc..
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Should SC's economic indicators be more like real life or not? Discuss

Topics: General: Should SC's economic indicators be more like real life or not? Discuss

Thomas Lamb-Canning

Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 02:45 am Click here to edit this post
Exactly as the question says. I'd be happy to clarify on certain issues

Aries

Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 02:56 am Click here to edit this post
I'll take you up on that. Please clarify. Examples would be nice.

Thomas Lamb-Canning

Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 03:37 am Click here to edit this post
Alright. For example I think Simcountrys use of corporations both private, state and national and it's affiliated stock market, for the most part, is fantastic. Quite ingenious when considering the obstacles that there could otherwise be in an economic systems of other games.

However there are several economic indicators that are very distinct from real life. For example the idea of exports and imports, the absense of GDP, the absense of improved debt and/or bond markets to coincide with more detailed public finance and also the who 'country buys the material, and the country sells the materials to the population' mechanism. Although this latter one can be justified as being possibly necessary or at least simply workable, it isn't how it functions in the real world. Or at least, not on the scale it does in simcountry, relative to the real world.

To zoom in another thing that I mentioned which kinda prompted this post was the imports and exports thing, which also ties into the absense of GDP as an indicator (and it's possible and inarticulate replacement with 'Total Assets'). Export and Imports can be viewed through three branches on the common market tab that are, suffice it to say, so far so good e.g. Local Market (within the country itself), Common Market and international market. However when it shows how much goods and services are traded (imported and exported) into and out of the country in question, it only takes into consideration goods and services that are produced by state corporations. Now this is easy to understand why this is, but the question is whether it should or shouldn't be more like the real world, whereby every good and service that is produced in a country (whether it be through private sector, state sector or jointly of the two) should be counted. I say COUNTED because that is question. It's about indicators nothing else.

Counting the output of private companies as output within a country aswell does not impact on the sovereignty or controls of the CEO. To the contrary we are merely talking about economic
indicators.

It kinda makes itself known, at least when you examine these things in detail, that as President (,kind, PM, Caesar etc) you are not head of the country but rather you are head of state that has controls over some things but no insight into other things that measure a country's individual strengths and weaknesses.

johndoe677

Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 04:06 am Click here to edit this post
go to business and trade index and at the bottom there is a table

"Production Value of corporations by product"

the "total" is your monthly GDP

I'm quite sure it includes private corps in this figure

Thomas Lamb-Canning

Monday, December 23, 2013 - 01:49 am Click here to edit this post
that's more monthly output I've come to notice. Output per industry. I've brought this up before but it just seems no one really cares.. I mean does nobody see my point when they like at real world indicators for AN economy. Gross Domestic Product for example.

If that "Production Value of corporations by product" is the the Gross Domestic Product, it is seriously out of proportion. How could my state/government have "cash" worth $17.7 TRILLION and yet Production Value of corporations by product ("GDP") is around $122.13 BILLION ? It just doesn't make sense and IS in fact not like the real world, i'm sorry

Aries

Monday, December 23, 2013 - 02:16 am Click here to edit this post
Yes, the total you find there is the monthly GDP of your country. Multiply it by 12 and you will have the yearly value you are used to seeing.

Not like the real world? It is correct you will find a number of things different in Simcountry. If you have a large amount of cash, you might have received it in a number of not "real world" ways. Countries in the real world don't have "beginner bonuses". Nor is trading in materials or endless raiding of other countries' assets accurately depicted.

Best to accept that Simcountry is a game and different from the "real world".

johndoe677

Monday, December 23, 2013 - 02:24 am Click here to edit this post
lol poor naive Thomas..... some of my corps make only 500 million monthly and are still valued above a trillion dollars..... double what the most valuable company (apple) is worth even though apple has double the profits...... things are unrealistic but stay and join us in our crusade against the fiction andy imposes on us

Jack Vaughan

Monday, December 23, 2013 - 08:11 pm Click here to edit this post
I'm not naive I can see it's stupid. And I'll take you up on that offer..

And Aries, you're absolutely right. (Not on the "yearly GDP" thing as no such thing exists. I would associate that production value tab with output in the economy (monthly/yearly output) as one can't have "yearly GDP". Gross Domestic Product is a good measure of the wealth i.e. created through the trading of Goods and Services in an economy).

And what you say about this not being exactly like the real world is correct but think what you are saying. By just saying that this game isn't like the real world (that being a good enough explanation for me in your eyes) doesn't justify it BEING different from the real world. Why can't we have real world indicators. After all this game and all who played are inspired by real world politics, diplomacy, wars etc.

Just seems like a shit excuse if you ask me...

Aussteigen

Monday, December 23, 2013 - 11:29 pm Click here to edit this post
I would like a more real life approach to the game (than the approach it already manages), yes.

Aries

Monday, December 23, 2013 - 11:42 pm Click here to edit this post
I was responding to you saying that you had 17.7 Trillion in cash. You said it was unrealistic that you had that much in relation to the economic output of your country. How did you make that money and what exactly are you proposing in relation to making it more realistic in accumulating wealth in Simcountry?

At the moment, the game needs no excuses. Other than your suggestion to change country production values to a yearly number, which would fit nicely in the "suggestions" forum, you have not been specific with other suggestions.

johndoe677

Tuesday, December 24, 2013 - 02:28 am Click here to edit this post
u on WG jack?

Josias

Tuesday, December 24, 2013 - 06:18 pm Click here to edit this post
well, they are reducing the "size," of simcountry, have for a long, long time. monthly profits used to be easily double what they are now, and comparable prices. Infact the GC/Cash conversion, used to be 20 Times more cash to the same value of GC. Seriously, it used to be like 800B+ cash to 1 GC.

as far as 17T? being unrealistic. probably, but again, thats something the game masters are actively trying to change. its a bit difficult to do. you have players with 100T plus in military assets, in each 9+ countries, on all 5 worlds (900T-1Q per world), and 1Q+ hanging out in various CEOs, with possibly several hundred T in direct trading... and their are some with even more!

How is a 20B income suppose to deal with that? How far would your 17T go to defending yourself? not far. So we see allot of changes that hurt the top end players, to bring them more in scale with you.

Basically, what you say is true, 17T, should be allot money, possibly unattainable. And i'm sure it will be. Or at least more challenging to reach. In the mean time, the game functions.

As far as the GDP, i'm not really here or there about it. Having that might add a touch of realism, but it wont actually effect my output, or profit, so it'd really be more of a face lift, than an actual feature.

Man on Fire

Friday, December 27, 2013 - 07:15 pm Click here to edit this post
LOL, and what's so great about this 'real world' economy of which you speak?


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