Global Economics and Trade Help Desk and Q&A

[Maltropia]

Technically it could go in this forum, but precedent tends to keep RP, even exclusively about trade, out of GE&T. There's nothing to stop you from doing it here, and since you only want bilateral talks I won't bother with the "NS will be more visible" spiel, but really NationStates is the better spot for talks.

So, in summation, what Tippercommon said.

[Araraukar]

I am planning a "trade talks" RP with just one other person, no storefront involved - should that go on the NS forum or here?

NationStates

Technically it could go in this forum, but precedent tends to keep RP, even exclusively about trade, out of GE&T. There's nothing to stop you from doing it here, and since you only want bilateral talks I won't bother with the "NS will be more visible" spiel, but really NationStates is the better spot for talks.

So, in summation, what Tippercommon said.

Ty both.

[Untaroicht]

Does anyone know of a good way I can advertise my new storefront?

[United Gordonopia]

A few different ways in fact.

The first is to make sure its listed in the upcoming new iteration of the storefront list, which should be up fairly soon.

Second, make sure you keep it active yourself. Bump it every couple days or so, but to attract a bit more attention try to do something with your bump like making company statements, announcing new products, etc.

You post as the company throughout GE&T. Many businesses are looking for partners and making the first move to post there can often get some attention for your own storefront.

If you're storefront has been around for awhile, built up a fair page count, and you have competition, you can also consider starting some kind of alternate thread for advertisements, or hosting an event sponsored by your company.

[Rhinocera]

I wouldn't recommend bumps, rather post a sale or something, like 20% off of a specific product.

[Alebcay]

If you're in a popular industry (e.g. arms sales, aviation, and possibly foodstuffs) that gets a lot of attention, it can be helpful to bump your topic. Bumping will keep your topic visible to newcomers, who may decide to get their hands dirty and decide to dive straight into a "major" industry.

However, you should never bump a topic more than twice a day for the sake of courtesy, and bumping your storefront is not a substitute for a well designed storefront.

[Maltropia]

And if you are going to bump, try to do it as discretely as possible. No one likes a storefront where every third post just says "bump". If you copy the last post you made on it, delete it and then re-post it, you don't get the spamacious appearance regular bumps give.

[Padnak]

I personally think its really cool when a storefront posts an ad for a new item or an ad for the sale of existing items at a lower price instead of just bumping. It really adds to the overall feel of the storefront

[ViZion]

I'm so glad "bump" is mostly going away. Has been for a while now. But there's plenty of ways to bump a thread without... "BUMP"ing it.

1. Announce company news. Fiscal quarter numbers? New CEO? IPO?
2. Announce new product/service.
3. Specials/promotions on products/services.
4. Updated products.
5. Advertising something.

There's so many different ways, those are my personal favorites.

There's also the 'invisible' bump, being that you delete the final post (assuming that post is yours) and reposting it.

[Neu Engollon]

I'm so glad "bump" is mostly going away. Has been for a while now. But there's plenty of ways to bump a thread without... "BUMP"ing it.

1. Announce company news. Fiscal quarter numbers? New CEO? IPO?
2. Announce new product/service.
3. Specials/promotions on products/services.
4. Updated products.
5. Advertising something.

There's so many different ways, those are my personal favorites.

There's also the 'invisible' bump, being that you delete the final post (assuming that post is yours) and reposting it.

Hear. hear! I am a personal fan of the delete and repost, and I've used it to good effect in other forums besides GE&T, like II or NS.
I think it's high time that we do away with 'bumping' that it should be considered bad NS form, if not outright banned with violators being warned. As listed by Vizion, there are several other ways to get around saying 'bump' and still perform the same function. This is a writing based game, if you can't be creative, you're on the wrong site.

I'll go one further and say that 'tagging' as well, should be on that list. First, if you have nothing substantial to add to the thread at that moment, don't post! Simple as that. If you want updates on a particular thread, there is a one-click solution to that. Click the 'X' at the bottom of the page of your browser that says 'Subscribe to this Topic'. Done. Or, copy the URL into a text doc, or bookmark it. Just don't clutter up an OP's thread with 'tags'.

[Maltropia]

To be fair, tagging already is spam. "Bump" posts are obnoxious but at least they're trying to drum up business and the only clutter they add is to the bumper's thread anyway.

[Neu Engollon]

To be fair, tagging already is spam. "Bump" posts are obnoxious but at least they're trying to drum up business and the only clutter they add is to the bumper's thread anyway.

I was unaware of that, but now I will act accordingly on the 'tagging' issue. Actually, I'm having a good refresher read on this whole section of the rules. Thanks, Malt.

Honestly, everyone has to bump now and then, but actually having 3 or 4 'bumps' in a row, is just really putting the reek of desperation on your storefront that you don't want. You will drive folks away.

[Enfaru]

I'm just wondering, but how does one find out the exchange of one currency to another?

I can do for instance NS$ - > Gil or Gil -> NS$ by checking NS Economy quite easily.

However, how would I find out the value of Gil -> Maltropian Ducat or Maltropian Ducat -> Gil?

[Lamoni]

You would need to convert the desired amount of your currency into NSD, and convert the result from that into the desired currency. Obviously, you would reverse the process to find out how much a given amount of foreign currency is worth in your currency.

[Maltropia]

I'm just wondering, but how does one find out the exchange of one currency to another?

I can do for instance NS$ - > Gil or Gil -> NS$ by checking NS Economy quite easily.

However, how would I find out the value of Gil -> Maltropian Ducat or Maltropian Ducat -> Gil?

Gil -> NSD -> Ducat or Ducat -> NSD -> Gil.

Keep in mind that not everyone uses trackers, and even among those who do not everyone uses the same one. For the Maltropian Ducat, for example, it's pegged at 1 Ducat = 2.05 NSD (for simplicity more than anything else). This makes it somewhat easier to convert directly with the Ducat, but ultimately, unless you have a chart made up with a long list of currencies and their exchange rates with respect to NSD and to one another, it's easiest just to stick to NSD and your own. Sadly.


EDIT: Also, I am extremely flattered to have been taken as the example. You just rose about a million places in my estimation.

[Britonisea]

I'm so glad "bump" is mostly going away. Has been for a while now. But there's plenty of ways to bump a thread without... "BUMP"ing it.

1. Announce company news. Fiscal quarter numbers? New CEO? IPO?
2. Announce new product/service.
3. Specials/promotions on products/services.
4. Updated products.
5. Advertising something.

There's so many different ways, those are my personal favorites.

There's also the 'invisible' bump, being that you delete the final post (assuming that post is yours) and reposting it.

I don't think I have ever seen you bump before.

[Planet Trade Organization]

I don't know if this is the place, but...

You are smart people, right? What would you think about a planet trade storefront? That's what our nation does - wipes out civilizations and sells the planets to highest bidders.

[Cirdia]

I don't know if this is the place, but...

You are smart people, right? What would you think about a planet trade storefront? That's what our nation does - wipes out civilizations and sells the planets to highest bidders.

That wouldn't work. GE&T is mostly, if not completely, MT.

[Maltropia]

I don't know if this is the place, but...

You are smart people, right? What would you think about a planet trade storefront? That's what our nation does - wipes out civilizations and sells the planets to highest bidders.

That wouldn't work. GE&T is mostly, if not completely, MT.

Weeellll...

You'd have to advertise it. There are a few FT storefronts, but in general there's only a small minority of FT players who actually use GE&T. If you referred to it in your roleplays people might take an interest in it but I don't believe that's ever been a major source of storefront traffic, and, as said, FTers aren't really predisposed to GE&Ting anyway. I really don't want to shoot down the idea, since it sounds like it could be very cool if done well, but the amount of work that you'd have to put into it would likely be far too high for the level of patronage you'd get.

[Costa Aluria]

Weeellll...

You'd have to advertise it. There are a few FT storefronts, but in general there's only a small minority of FT players who actually use GE&T. If you referred to it in your roleplays people might take an interest in it but I don't believe that's ever been a major source of storefront traffic, and, as said, FTers aren't really predisposed to GE&Ting anyway. I really don't want to shoot down the idea, since it sounds like it could be very cool if done well, but the amount of work that you'd have to put into it would likely be far too high for the level of patronage you'd get.

I echo this sentiment. Part of the reason my preferred subforum is GE&T is that it gets to play out exactly as RL economics does in many places. What I mean by this is that it is truly a free marketplace of ideas. I get bored with the same old airports and military stuff that seem to dominate GE&T. As such, I encourage new storefronts that are well-designed and thought out (read: not just a three line post with maybe some graphic that was the first hit on google search). While I agree with Maltropia that such a storefront would require a lot of work for what is likely a disproportionate amount of patronage, it is exactly this level of thinking that a storefront won't be worth it that perpetuates the poorer quality storefronts or disinterest in general. (This is not an attack on Maltropia; I think his history is quite clear on trying to raise the standards of GE&T.)

This is why I encourage new ideas to come out in GE&T and not to be stalemated into the types of items that have always been staples of this forum. The fact is we never know what might be a hit once the idea is out there. And even if it is not a hit, I encourage storefront makers to step out of that reciprocal thinking that is so common that they can only get enjoyment out of a storefront that gets a lot of hits. I personally have put tons of work into some storefronts to have them perform poorly by hit count standards. It is a tad bit frustrating but ultimately I remind myself that I play this game for me, not for the approval of the masses. If a well-done storefront without a lot of traffic still furthers my storyline, while also testing the waters for new and creative ideas, then to me it has met its criteria for success.

My two cents.

[Eletya]

How do I make a detailed write up on a simple product like oil?

[Maltropia]

How do I make a detailed write up on a simple product like oil?

It's a generic good, so you can't really. Nothing you write about it will be about your product specifically; you'll just be describing all oil everywhere. With oil, it's not the product that people have to choose between but the producers and the prices. So, what you can do is talk about where you got it from, how you got it (the specific oil fields, fracking, are your methods environmentally friendly, etc.) and why these things make your product unique.

[Yohannes]

I personally have put tons of work into some storefronts to have them perform poorly by hit count standards. It is a tad bit frustrating but ultimately I remind myself that I play this game for me, not for the approval of the masses. If a well-done storefront without a lot of traffic still furthers my storyline, while also testing the waters for new and creative ideas, then to me it has met its criteria for success.

Just to join the conversation

That is the crux of the matter about what storefront roleplaying in Global Economics & Trade forum is all about. Its not about the number of posts that can be found in your storefront thread, but it is all about the quality of the storefront's opening post/content. Anyone can make secondary accounts (a subtle hint I guess hehe) or ask their friends to post in their storefront, but if the storefront itself is rubbish then ya sorry but I personally will not 'look up' to your storefront. The number of posts in your storefront is meaningless if your storefront is not a quality storefront.

or to say it in a kind of direct way (sorry for this I don't feel comfortable saying this myself as I feel it is politically incorrect to say...), a noob can have a fictional storefront thread - having a thousand IC posts of 'I buy this' or 'application here' in a fictional NationStates forum in the middle of other silly-looking 'I order stuff' or 'Buy my island' threads, but if the storefront is rubbish, then that one thousand or two thousand posts don't mean anything. That storefront is a noob storefront, ran by a newbie (who can and will improve given time and open-mindedness) with a bunch of other noobs or friends posting badly-roleplayed stuff in that noob storefront thread.

and finally... yes. There were a couple of storefronts (now extinct) that have hit the 1000 posts+ mark under the above category, or if we want to be modest, that back then hit the 500 posts+ mark. So essentially it shows that having a storefront with [x number] of posts means nothing if it is a noob/extremely bad storefront ran by someone who don't even know what he is roleplaying about. Sorry for the directness, I feel bad saying such a politically incorrect thing openly

Edit: and I very much want to comment on this particular part of your post

but ultimately I remind myself that I play this game for me, not for the approval of the masses

There is nothing to be frustrated (as you have said yourself) or perhaps upset about. Storefront is just a silly fictional thread in a (interesting and fun) roleplaying forum. The number of posts or perhaps 'traffic' (if we want to word it that way) is meaningless, when every single noobs (once again politically incorrect word ) out there can do the same

[Crookfur]

How do I make a detailed write up on a simple product like oil?

You don't really need a huge write up but one thing that may help is to actually describe the oil you are producing. Every oil reserve/source holds petroleum/crude oil that is unique with a slightly different mix of compounds within it and there are two main factors that are used to describe the pil froma particular source:

its density: some crude oil has lots of nice light less dense hydrocarbons in it whilst other types have denser heavier ones. The lighter ingredients are more desirable as they are easier to make petrol and other common fuels out of so a crude oil that is "light" will sell for more than one that is "heavy"

The sulfure content: which also covers other mineral impurities, a high sulfur content causes more enviromental issues and requires more processing so crude oil that has low sulfer (known as "sweet") is more desirable and costs more than oil with lots of sulfur (which is known as sour).

The most expensive oil is light sweet crude and naturally i expect that most people will claim that thier nation only produces that but being more realsitic you might want to cosndier what sort of oil comes from Rl regions roughly similar or analogous to your nationstate.

Some sources in Rl blend all thier opil together for export whilst others offer thier light and heavy crudes sperately.

You dont need to bother with this kind of stuff buts its an important factor in Rl oil dealing that seems to, in my limited experience of it, been largely ignored in the NS oil sector.

[The Recon Empire]

Hello everyone. I am deeply outraged by UNITED STATES OF ISLAMIC for obliviously copying my content.

Please take a look here:
Legion Health Group
Chemical Health Group

Legion Pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceutical Chemicals

This is a malicious act of infringing basic copyright. It is unethical and unoriginal. The Legion Corporation has always stood for originality, authenticity and respect, and from this we feel deeply angered by these actions.

Not only are our descriptions copied, but so are our flag counters that they've stolen for use.

Understanding that they is OBVIOUSLY not an experienced nation, The Recon Empire hereby seeks help from all nations to help us resolve this sad situation.