Global Economics and Trade Help Desk and Q&A

[Human people federation]

I was wondering if anybody know of a new economic calculator four nation-states because NS tracker is not working trying to get an accurate spending budgets for my nation thank you

[Lamoni]

http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com/
http://www.broomdces.com/nseconomy/
http://nsdossier.texasregion.net/

[Letrastan]

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=385567&p=29505628#p29505628

Sorry to be a bother here, but I have created the above storefront, Davidson Aerospace, selling commercial aircraft. I drew my own product images instead of using real world stock photos and gave the planes realistic specifications, but so far I have had few views and no customers. Is this due to the fact that I haven't added most of the aircraft yet, or are the walls of text driving people away? If so, what could I do to make this storefront look nicer?

[Common Territories]

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=385567&p=29505628#p29505628

Sorry to be a bother here, but I have created the above storefront, Davidson Aerospace, selling commercial aircraft. I drew my own product images instead of using real world stock photos and gave the planes realistic specifications, but so far I have had few views and no customers. Is this due to the fact that I haven't added most of the aircraft yet, or are the walls of text driving people away? If so, what could I do to make this storefront look nicer?

When it comes to storefronts it's typical that you need to advertise your business. Airlines and countries with airlines are your target, so I would look for such potential customers on GE&T and anyone you personally know who mite be interested in helping you sell some stock. When I made my PMC business many years ago I was in the same situation. You need to hunt for your customers and know how to rope them in - even if you have to advertise in sly ways, bump, or ask people just to post an order. It will all be worth it in the end if you at least try to find customers.

[Maltropia]

Quick tip: make a smaller version of the images so that they fit and can be displayed, even if it's just a preview (see here for an example). I'd suggest removing the image credits (maybe add a disclaimer at the foot of the post if you're still concerned) and, moreover, making the white background transparent. A programme like Paint.net allows you to select all that and delete it, and it looks much cleaner.

People like pictures. We're all six year-olds at heart.

[Crookfur]

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=385567&p=29505628#p29505628

Sorry to be a bother here, but I have created the above storefront, Davidson Aerospace, selling commercial aircraft. I drew my own product images instead of using real world stock photos and gave the planes realistic specifications, but so far I have had few views and no customers. Is this due to the fact that I haven't added most of the aircraft yet, or are the walls of text driving people away? If so, what could I do to make this storefront look nicer?

You can attempt to make things prettier but at the moment you have an issue with your products in that they are not really what airlines would be looking for in RL let alone in NS.

70s-90s trijets really don't cut the mustard these days and are simply not sexy enough to interest most buyers here. Those running realistic low end airlines would just opt to buy or hand wave used examples of the RL equivalents you list whilst those not aiming for that kind of RPS are going to want some much more modern.

If you want to start with something to run from short/small airports you are going have come up with stuff that competes with the smaller next gen a320/737 family members and the bigger offerings from the likes of Embraer and bombadier and offers something they don't.

It know it sounds harsh but unless a potential customer can immediately see why they should buy your product over the latest RL stuff they simply won't bother looking all that closely.

[Great Palkia]

Can someone take a look at my new storefront and tell me what I could do better?https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=386604

[Great Palkia]

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=385567&p=29505628#p29505628

Sorry to be a bother here, but I have created the above storefront, Davidson Aerospace, selling commercial aircraft. I drew my own product images instead of using real world stock photos and gave the planes realistic specifications, but so far I have had few views and no customers. Is this due to the fact that I haven't added most of the aircraft yet, or are the walls of text driving people away? If so, what could I do to make this storefront look nicer?

I am looking into your aircraft and am very interested. I might make a post depending on if I can find what I am looking for.

[Pharthan]

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=385567&p=29505628#p29505628

Sorry to be a bother here, but I have created the above storefront, Davidson Aerospace, selling commercial aircraft. I drew my own product images instead of using real world stock photos and gave the planes realistic specifications, but so far I have had few views and no customers. Is this due to the fact that I haven't added most of the aircraft yet, or are the walls of text driving people away? If so, what could I do to make this storefront look nicer?

A few pointers:

1. While originality is nice, it's not novel by any means. You're going to only really get customers who seek out buying your products - while this sounds obvious, your real target to get your store going is to have a product that the random forum-surfer not intending to buy your product at all says "Oh, that's awesome, I need that!" Like the pieces of candy at the end of a grocery store checkout lane. Work on the basics later, get a few awesome pieces first. I would recommend looking into new concept art.
2. Your storefront isn't attractive. It's just words. Look at other high page-count storefronts to get ideas for formatting.
3. Overall Display. Text walls are bad. Pictures are good (when used appropriately.) Separate threads for different aircraft, like a catalog, helps to declutter your age, or spoilers for spec, or at least different posts for different aircraft or types of aircraft.
   Perhaps even have a few samples of custom jobs.

[Xanixi]

Can someone take a look at my new storefront and tell me what I could do better?https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=386604

Hey there.

Firstly, I'd work on the introduction. The initial paragraph talking about your company is a good way to start a storefront, but in my opinion, is lacking in some description and depth. I'd suggest maybe taking a second crack at it and adding more information. I've always thought it to be beneficial to have the company overview as the first section of the opening post, and just after that, an "About Us" section. One where you can post detailed economic information (obviously key for people who would want to invest in your company or purchase products) as well as the company's internal structure. Some other basic information, like the area served, the location of the headquarters and when the company was founded, all compounded into a sidebar box, is always a good idea. I suggest taking a look at Wikipedia articles on different companies, preferably in the same industry as your own, and building your own company off of the data (and Wikipedia format) available. If you need any help with the BBCode or anything, drop me a telegram and I'll do my best to help out (although I'm going to be very busy these next few weeks, so you'll have to forgive me if I take a couple days to respond or something xD).

Moving onto the next section of the first post, you have your headquarters. Having a little section for your headquarters is a good idea and provides extra immersion for the customer. However, this section is--in my opinion--something you could work on. In general, you have only a small amount of information, and the image is very large and rather distracting. What I would do is--again--use the Wikipedia format and put a sidebar box full of information on the headquarters. In addition, I'd make the building image much smaller and extend the written headquarters description (understanding this as the actual written paragraphs, not the information within the sidebar box).

In your next post, you open with the Board of Directors. In my personal opinion, this is something that should go directly in the first post, perhaps in the company structure I mentioned earlier. You can use images if you wish, but again I'd suggest making them smaller and perhaps hyperlinking them so the users can see the larger image with more clarity. If this is something you're interested in, you can also write a small section describing the heads of the company, what they do and what their achievements have been throughout their career. This also helps with immersion.

In the next two boxes, you also talk about the refineries and the environmental benefits of your fuel. I reiterate the suggestion to make the image smaller, firstly, but then also add a significant amount more of information. What, exactly, is your fuel? Why doesn't it use lead and sulfur? What is its origin and why does that origin make it virtually infinite? Why does that make it so that the chances or repercussions of an oil spill are reduced? Explain why it produces steam instead of carbon monoxide. Also expand on your refineries. Add some more details regarding the tools they use, how many people work on them (on average) and some of the safety measures to avoid spills, contamination, and other biological hazards from getting loose. And I think it might be beneficial to offer the establishment of a refinery owned by your company in other countries; it's just another product you can sell on your storefront. More of the same for the gas station, I think.

I'd also suggest making one or two posts be about the actual customer. Allow me to elaborate: have one or two posts where I place records of who has bought fuel, who has established gas stations, who has established refineries (if you decide to put them as a product as well), or business partners and such. Just to make it easier to track who has used your products yourselves, but by publicly providing that information, you also speak out to other customers, demonstrating that you company has significant movement and can be a good investment.

Also, reserve a couple posts (just make posts saying "Reserved"). If you ever want to expand your company or if you need more space for your customers (each post has a maximum of 60,000 characters, but it's always good to be ambitious!) then you have some posts at the top of the thread reserved precisely for that.

If you want to take a look at any other storefronts that have flourished, take a look at the five star storefronts here. I hope I helped! If you need any more help, feel free to drop me a telegram!

[The Pacifican Islands]

Hey, is there a open airline alliance that my airline could join?

EDIT: Also, do you think my storefront, Pacifican Airways (in sig) is a good one?

[Letrastan]

70s-90s trijets really don't cut the mustard these days and are simply not sexy enough to interest most buyers here. Those running realistic low end airlines would just opt to buy or hand wave used examples of the RL equivalents you list whilst those not aiming for that kind of RPS are going to want some much more modern.

If you want to start with something to run from short/small airports you are going have come up with stuff that competes with the smaller next gen a320/737 family members and the bigger offerings from the likes of Embraer and bombadier and offers something they don't.

It know it sounds harsh but unless a potential customer can immediately see why they should buy your product over the latest RL stuff they simply won't bother looking all that closely.

Sorry for the late reply. No, it doesn't sound harsh, I thought that might be the case - those drawings were originally created to illustrate planes introduced decades ago that Letrastani airlines (which aren’t known for renewing their fleets often) still use. I guess I should create new designs rather than trying to reuse those old drawings on the storefront. It has been closed down while I draw some more modern designs.

[Bulanesia]

Any advice on Royal Bulanesia Airlines?

[Assorro]

I was wondering if anybody know of a new economic calculator four nation-states because NS tracker is not working trying to get an accurate spending budgets for my nation thank you

I've corrected a browser bug that was causing a redirect loop and currently I'm correcting a bug that occurs when you look at a nation that is not registered with the site. If you come across deficiencies or things that are simply not working as they should, come talk to me. I've surprised more than a few with my expedient responses.

The site is working though you might try registering first for now. I'll have these issues cleaned up in no time. Thanks.

http://www.nstrackers.net/human_people_federation

Edit: Issue resolved.

[Australian rePublic]

I don't know if this is the right thread, but to all the people with airline threads asking for distance between airports, it would greatly help us if you told us where you were located

[Tharaka]

Is it considered poor manners one were to use the same design from an ex-nation's storefront? The original auther would be given credit. I mean, it isn't considered plaguerism if one uses stuff from the Star Wars universe or Star Trek.

[The Nation of Ceneria]

Is it considered poor manners one were to use the same design from an ex-nation's storefront? The original auther would be given credit. I mean, it isn't considered plaguerism if one uses stuff from the Star Wars universe or Star Trek.

Unless you have specific written permission from that previous author, using another person's designs without their prior knowledge and consent (even if they are given credit) is generally considered plagiarism. At best, it's in very poor taste. The reason your Star Wars/Trek example isn't generally considered plagiarism is because plagiarism requires the plagiarizing party to pass another's work off as their own, and very few people would ever try to do that with something clearly borrowed from another universe as well-known as those of Star Trek and Star Wars.

[Tharaka]

Is it considered poor manners one were to use the same design from an ex-nation's storefront? The original auther would be given credit. I mean, it isn't considered plaguerism if one uses stuff from the Star Wars universe or Star Trek.

Unless you have specific written permission from that previous author, using another person's designs without their prior knowledge and consent (even if they are given credit) is generally considered plagiarism. At best, it's in very poor taste. The reason your Star Wars/Trek example isn't generally considered plagiarism is because plagiarism requires the plagiarizing party to pass another's work off as their own, and very few people would ever try to do that with something clearly borrowed from another universe as well-known as those of Star Trek and Star Wars.

Okay, nkce to know. Thank you for answering.

[Common Territories]

Is it considered poor manners one were to use the same design from an ex-nation's storefront? The original auther would be given credit. I mean, it isn't considered plaguerism if one uses stuff from the Star Wars universe or Star Trek.

Unless you have specific written permission from that previous author, using another person's designs without their prior knowledge and consent (even if they are given credit) is generally considered plagiarism. At best, it's in very poor taste. The reason your Star Wars/Trek example isn't generally considered plagiarism is because plagiarism requires the plagiarizing party to pass another's work off as their own, and very few people would ever try to do that with something clearly borrowed from another universe as well-known as those of Star Trek and Star Wars.

It is indeed Plagiarism and I have been involved in one prior case of it (as the reporter, since said friend was using my gear and CTEd so his storefront naturally died); said case someone literally took the whole idea, each word of it, and was warned for the plagiarism. So I would heed Ceneria's advice and not use another nation's content without their written permission.

[The Ianov Corporation]

Do we still use NationStates Dollars [NSD/NS$] or no?

[Common Territories]

Do we still use NationStates Dollars [NSD/NS$] or no?

Yes. Unless you want to work with someone elses currency; but the debate there is how realistic they make it priced in your currency and if you really want to go through the complexity of currency valuing.

[Lamoni]

Do we still use NationStates Dollars [NSD/NS$] or no?

Yes. Unless you want to work with someone elses currency; but the debate there is how realistic they make it priced in your currency and if you really want to go through the complexity of currency valuing.

Putting your prices in NS$ also makes it easier for your customers to work out just how much that they need to spend in order to purchase the product, since you can use an economic calculator, or (for those who RP their economies) a generally accepted currency conversion to NS$, without having to convert a 2nd time.

[Common Territories]

Yes. Unless you want to work with someone elses currency; but the debate there is how realistic they make it priced in your currency and if you really want to go through the complexity of currency valuing.

Putting your prices in NS$ also makes it easier for your customers to work out just how much that they need to spend in order to purchase the product, since you can use an economic calculator, or (for those who RP their economies) a generally accepted currency conversion to NS$, without having to convert a 2nd time.

Translation: It's easier, just use NSD, problem solved.

[Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland]

Question: what is the general state of the bond market in NS at the moment? I'm trying to price some bonds for my nation, but obviously the interest rates are going to depend on what's generally available elsewhere - is there a consensus that (at least among MT players) NS is currently operating at the same low-yield levels as IRL?

[Aquitayne]

Question: what is the general state of the bond market in NS at the moment? I'm trying to price some bonds for my nation, but obviously the interest rates are going to depend on what's generally available elsewhere - is there a consensus that (at least among MT players) NS is currently operating at the same low-yield levels as IRL?

As far as I remember, the only real consensus when it comes to economics in GE&T, and more accurately across all of NS, is that the NSD (NationStates Dollar) is equal in value at all times to the USD. Other than that, I've never heard nor believe there is any consensus on the values or inflation rates of bonds on the open market. That being said, you might be able to make a storefront where nations can put bonds up for purchase at varying rates and others can purchase them. Otherwise, it'll be whatever you want to base it off of.