Subject: Proposal: Infinitum Absurdum

From: "Kevan Davis" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 15:46:42 -0000

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Proposal - Infinitum Absurdum

In Rule 9, change the Pill cost equation from "( 50 / x ) * p"
to "( 50 / (x+1) ) * p".

{ Something that was crashing the PDP during my attempts to
implement things. Infinitely valuable Pills seem a little
dangerous. }

*cough*

*cough*

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From: "Jeffrey J. Weston" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 11:41:27 -0800 (PST)

Except... If you look at the Pharmacist's Office Hours, you see
that pill prices are set *after* pills are created. There is currently no
way for a divide by zero error to occur, unless there are zero
players. Now if you are adjusting pill prices after each and every
purchase...

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From: "Kevan Davis" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 19:28:50 -0000

> players. Now if you are adjusting pill prices after each and every

Ah, didn't realise; I was programming it to readjust prices 
dynamically, thinking that the majority of the Pill-buying game 
theory hinged on the "one Player suddenly selling a load of Pills at 
a high price, making everyone else's less valuable" risk factor.

Do you think it's worth implementing that, if the technology to 
easily recalculate after every purchase is available? Or is there a 
good reason for leaving it 'til the Office Hours that I can't quite 
see?

Kevan

--
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"And the FTSE index closed down. Finished. Good."

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From: "Jeffrey J. Weston" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 12:41:54 -0800 (PST)

> good reason for leaving it 'til the Office Hours that I can't quite 

Well, aside from the fact that that's what the current ruleset
indicates... It makes it less feasible for players to manipulate the
market. By waiting until Office Hours to set prices, players could buy a
bunch of pills at a low price over a period of time, bumping up the price,
and be able to sell them all back at an inflated price later on. If you
adjust prices after every single pill enters or leaves the pharmacy, it
would be impossible to pull off. Players wouldn't even be able to sell off
a bunch at one time, because the price of each pill would be dynamically
adjusted lower and lower as the transaction is processed.

It really comes down to player preference. I think its kinda fun
the way it is currently. Its hard for a single player to dominate the
market because you can only buy 3 of a single color per day. However, some
players may prefer a more realistic market simulation.

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From: "Kevan Davis" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2001 10:50:08 -0000

> adjusted lower and lower as the transaction is processed.

Mm, I was thinking more of adjusting the price after every 
*transaction* rather than each individual pill leaving the stores. It 
would mean losing the faintly dramatic "Damn, Player X has just sold 
a load of Blue Pills; I'd better sell off mine while they're still 
worth something" edge that a once-per-week recalculation gives; I'm 
not sure if that's good or bad - if "Damn, Player X has just sold a 
load of Blue Pills; mine are now worthless" is any better.

> players may prefer a more realistic market simulation.

Oh, I think the three-per-day is probably worth keeping regardless.

Kevan

--
http://uncertain.org/~kevan
"Oh, I know I took strange pills."

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 12 Feb 2001 12:56:08 -0500

-5 SP.

ACCEPTED. 1 green.

-- 
- Doc