The Great GE&T Survey: A Statistical Snapshot (Semi-OOC)

[ViZion]

Great work, UG! Glad to see this information! I guess it's a good time to be in civilian/peaceful markets these days. I have noticed a bit more civilian storefronts these days compared to times past. But I didn't realize the change was THAT dramatic.

Did Sunbeat and NIN make up the .7% of gaming/entertainment in 2010? lol And alas, I've been in the food industry since before it was apparently cool. haha Although in like 2010 or 2009, there was a boom in the food and beverage industries, and that probably makes up 90% of the industry that year.

[ViZion]

I suppose i could possibly merge the two by including a date field on each product. Not sure how effective that'd be, but a thought that just came to mind.

Hm... Interesting idea. Let me know if you want any help, or at least when you get it posted.

Well, just to note... I introduced a retro console back at your E3 in 09/10, UG. Lets just say, globally... it's not been the biggest seller.

[Van Luxemburg]

Yeah. Even some more less Germanic European choices would be welcome, actually. Of course, I say that as I try and build up yet another generic northern European carmaker.

Monteluci and Lepanto are Italian(-ish), if that counts.

I'm surprised that transportation doesn't make up more of the total, by the way. I recall having seen the car sector's popularity go in waves at a time, even. With a few new entrants now we could be at the start of another, perhaps.

[Sondstead]

Monteluci and Lepanto are Italian(-ish), if that counts.

Yeah, I suppose it does. And if you ever want to grab more of the narket ( ), when I was looking at IIwiki the other day Automobiles Courtemanche sounded pretty cool and would fill a bit of a new niche.

[Ainin]

Huh. The slave trade thing looks exactly like I though it would.
2010 ▼ 2011 ▼ 2012 ▲ 2013
Well, that's 2.3% more people I have to nuke...

Hm... Interesting idea. Let me know if you want any help, or at least when you get it posted.

Well, just to note... I introduced a retro console back at your E3 in 09/10, UG. Lets just say, globally... it's not been the biggest seller.

I don't suppose you have a link to it? I want to see how bad amazing it was.

[ViZion]

Yeah. Even some more less Germanic European choices would be welcome, actually. Of course, I say that as I try and build up yet another generic northern European carmaker.

Monteluci and Lepanto are Italian(-ish), if that counts.

I'm surprised that transportation doesn't make up more of the total, by the way. I recall having seen the car sector's popularity go in waves at a time, even. With a few new entrants now we could be at the start of another, perhaps.

Agreed. It's had its moments, but currently is not in the middle of its big boom. The last massive boom I can recall (granted being on and off NS...) was when Vitaphone jumped in, yeah? I've got some car companies, but aside from 1 model from 1 of my companies, I haven't really jumped into the global market. I do have a puppet that has a car company on GE&T, but it hasn't gone anywhere - though it does need more work I think.

[ViZion]

Huh. The slave trade thing looks exactly like I though it would.
2010 ▼ 2011 ▼ 2012 ▲ 2013
Well, that's 2.3% more people I have to nuke...

Well, just to note... I introduced a retro console back at your E3 in 09/10, UG. Lets just say, globally... it's not been the biggest seller.

I don't suppose you have a link to it? I want to see how bad amazing it was.

lol viewtopic.php?p=994924#p994924 > NIN System Retro. Granted, retro gaming consoles are a bit of a niche market place, so I wasn't expecting it to set the market on fire.

[Ainin]

lol viewtopic.php?p=994924#p994924 > NIN System Retro. Granted, retro gaming consoles are a bit of a niche market place, so I wasn't expecting it to set the market on fire.

Memory: 128 MB
Hard Drive: 50 MB

I see.

[ViZion]

lol viewtopic.php?p=994924#p994924 > NIN System Retro. Granted, retro gaming consoles are a bit of a niche market place, so I wasn't expecting it to set the market on fire.

Memory: 128 MB
Hard Drive: 50 MB

I see.

Well, yes, bare in mind that this is essentially based off a console from the 1980's - similar to the original NES. As such, the games played on this console won't exactly be as demanding like the modern games we have today.

[United Gordonopia]

Yeah. Even some more less Germanic European choices would be welcome, actually. Of course, I say that as I try and build up yet another generic northern European carmaker.

Monteluci and Lepanto are Italian(-ish), if that counts.

I'm surprised that transportation doesn't make up more of the total, by the way. I recall having seen the car sector's popularity go in waves at a time, even. With a few new entrants now we could be at the start of another, perhaps.

I think one factor in transportation's relative stability, only a few percentage points in shifts over the entire study, is that I combined several sectors into one. Because I felt it was unrepresentative to have a separate automotive, civilian aeronautic, and civilian naval, while military hardware contained all of those in military form, I made the decision to combine the three. What tended to happen was that as one would increase, another would decrease. In the first year, for example, I believe automotive was almost a non-factor, while civilian naval was fairly noticeable. The next year, that had flipped, and civilian aeronautics had gone up a bit as well. I'll admit, though, I was a bit surprised to not see it be a bit bigger.

[Ainin]

Memory: 128 MB
Hard Drive: 50 MB

I see.

Well, yes, bare in mind that this is essentially based off a console from the 1980's - similar to the original NES. As such, the games played on this console won't exactly be as demanding like the modern games we have today.

It's still very well thought out.

Also, "NationStates: The Game": lol

[ViZion]

Well, yes, bare in mind that this is essentially based off a console from the 1980's - similar to the original NES. As such, the games played on this console won't exactly be as demanding like the modern games we have today.

It's still very well thought out.

Also, "NationStates: The Game": lol

haha yeah, I actually introduced that as a thread in the old Jolt forums many years ago... I did it kinda as just a fun joke type thing, just because... but it actually became super popular. Took me by surprise, and make Sundance Gaming Company very rich and well known. LOL


EDIT: and thank you

[FoxTropica]

An idea I just had for a retro-console type thing would be to possibly take a 'Sega' style route with it.
Develop a large pile of consoles up until the start of the PS2 generation (Maybe hold out unlike sega through that) and then go "Welp, Guess we'll just move our franchises to other peoples consoles" and start re-selling the retro-games on other peoples systems (NIN,Titan), Possibly in collection-CDs with a large pile of games to one disk.

Means i can generally avoid competing directly with other systems, while at the same time adding more to those systems libraries.

[Sondstead]

An idea I just had for a retro-console type thing would be to possibly take a 'Sega' style route with it.
Develop a large pile of consoles up until the start of the PS2 generation (Maybe hold out unlike sega through that) and then go "Welp, Guess we'll just move our franchises to other peoples consoles" and start re-selling the retro-games on other peoples systems (NIN,Titan), Possibly in collection-CDs with a large pile of games to one disk.

Means i can generally avoid competing directly with other systems, while at the same time adding more to those systems libraries.

I support this.

[Unibot III]

Gordon, this is absolutely beautiful. The main thesis that military sales are going down steadily each year and peaceful consumer sales are rising each year is an incredibly important observation -- it speaks of a major trend that should add a lot of informed chatter among role-played characters about the overall state of the NationStates Economy.

I'm really glad I kept poking you about this one -- it's fantastic work.

[Yohannes]

After looking at the data once again, it struck me as odd that there are very few notable agricultural companies out there. I know that Maltropia has one, but beside him I cannot seem to find any other notable ones with decent formatting or interesting opening post information. This struck me as odd due to the fact that agriculture storefront is easy to create in terms of product understanding (it is all very straightforward), and the only skill one would need is only the ability to be able to format their storefront opening post well (which Maltropia has done with his agricultural company).

The second reason why I found the above to be very surprising is due to the fact that the agriculture market - just like the military procurement / arms manufacturing market of NationStates, is one easily connected with the NationStates and International Incidents forums. The third reason why I found the above as surprising as well is the fact that the agricultural sector of Global Economics & Trade is not even close to the state of being matured at all, let alone reaching a third of that state. It is in fact a very underdeveloped sector with large potential demand and no dominating supplier de-facto controlling any portion of that market at the very least.

[United Gordonopia]

After looking at the data once again, it struck me as odd that there are very few notable agricultural companies out there. I know that Maltropia has one, but beside him I cannot seem to find any other notable ones with decent formatting or interesting opening post information. This struck me as odd due to the fact that agriculture storefront is easy to create in terms of product understanding (it is all very straightforward), and the only skill one would need is only the ability to be able to format their storefront opening post well (which Maltropia has done with his agricultural company).

The second reason why I found the above to be very surprising is due to the fact that the agriculture market - just like the military procurement / arms manufacturing market of NationStates, is one easily connected with the NationStates and International Incidents forums.

Interesting observation. I suppose that the data hides that a bit because I merged strictly agriculture with restaurants, on the other end of the chain. I vaguely recall a couple of previous ones that got to a few pages, but nothing that ever grew that large, nor are they still around. It really would be a straight forward storefront to create, and if resources can be a successful industry, I don't see why agriculture couldn't, seeing as they run on the same basic principal (package a real life product well, and hope customers are willing to roleplay that their nation can't provide for itself completely within its own borders).

[Unibot III]

My main question would be why the military market is shrinking in terms of the RP world? --> Destructive competition (so many competitors that it became non-profitable as a field?)? Emerging monopolization by major competitors? Or is Demand shrinking?

The most shocking revelation possible for NS would be that demand in the military industry is steadily declining. I think that would have profound effects on how I would roleplay my nation.

EDIT: I doubt answers can be provided from this study without examining the sales each year in the military industry. I would think if revenue was dropping faster than the number of competitors, then the problem is demand. But if revenue is remaining relatively constant, the problem is destructive competition (too many competitors). If revenue is increasing, I'd say monopolization is occurring -- with monopolies raising prices and dominating the market from other competitors entering the market.

[United Gordonopia]

My main question would be why the military market is shrinking in terms of the RP world? --> Destructive competition (so many competitors that it became non-profitable as a field?)? Emerging monopolization by major competitors? Or is Demand shrinking?

Another future topic for research! If I had to put my money on it, it would be a maturing market, with entrenched competitors. When you have four of the six storefronts with 1000 posts or more (Lyran Arms, Yohannes' Alleswerken (formerly VmK), LG Defense, and Anemonian State Armaments) all in the military sector, its hard to get a foothold. Of course, I would not be surprised if I found data that proved me wrong

[Unibot III]

My main question would be why the military market is shrinking in terms of the RP world? --> Destructive competition (so many competitors that it became non-profitable as a field?)? Emerging monopolization by major competitors? Or is Demand shrinking?

Another future topic for research! If I had to put my money on it, it would be a maturing market, with entrenched competitors. When you have four of the six storefronts with 1000 posts or more (Lyran Arms, Yohannes' Alleswerken (formerly VmK), LG Defense, and Anemonian State Armaments) all in the military sector, its hard to get a foothold. Of course, I would not be surprised if I found data that proved me wrong

From an OOC point of view, I think military equipment is just a difficult field to get into and do right. It's not very straightforward to do realistically. But I think a more IC interpretation of events would be interesting.

[Yohannes]

EDIT: I doubt answers can be provided from this study without examining the sales each year in the military industry. I would think if revenue was dropping faster than the number of competitors, then the problem is demand. But if revenue is remaining relatively constant, the problem is destructive competition (too many competitors). If revenue is increasing, I'd say monopolization is occurring -- with monopolies raising prices and dominating the market from other competitors entering the market.

Perhaps you are right, Unibot, I personally don't know. But to give you an idea of the state of my arms manufacturing sector, late 2011 was the peak for me (where VMK sold the most in comparison to its sale in 2012 and 2013 and Beaufort shipbuilding was established). As for the sale pattern of Lyran Arms, Anemonian State Armaments Export Authority and LG Defense Inc., you will have to ask Lyras, Anemos Major and Libertarian Governance.

Both I and Lyras was able to turn that arms manufacturing profit into yet even more profit thanks to the fact that both of us have Lambda Financial (for Lyras) and Yohannesische Bundesbank (in my case), where we are able to publicly turn that weekly cash flow into our foreign exchange reserve, and use it to expand our investment in other nations, or simply acquire more and more cash flow from others investing in our economies.

Edit: I would like to reiterate that this thread is just pure awesome-ness. Global Economics & Trade roleplaying has never feel more like it is now thanks to this survey.

[United Gordonopia]

EDIT: I doubt answers can be provided from this study without examining the sales each year in the military industry. I would think if revenue was dropping faster than the number of competitors, then the problem is demand. But if revenue is remaining relatively constant, the problem is destructive competition (too many competitors). If revenue is increasing, I'd say monopolization is occurring -- with monopolies raising prices and dominating the market from other competitors entering the market.

Perhaps you are right, Unibot, I personally don't know. But to give you an idea of the state of my arms manufacturing sector, late 2011 was the peak for me (where VMK sold the most in comparison to its sale in 2012 and 2013 and Beaufort shipbuilding was established). As for the sale pattern of Lyran Arms, Anemonian State Armaments Export Authority and LG Defense Inc., you will have to ask Lyras, Anemos Major and Libertarian Governance.

Both I and Lyras was able to turn that arms manufacturing profit into yet even more profit thanks to the fact that both of us have Lambda Financial (for Lyras) and Yohannesische Bundesbank (in my case), where we are able to publicly turn that weekly cash flow into our foreign exchange reserve, and use it to expand our investment in other nations, or simply acquire more and more cash flow from others investing in our economies.

Edit: I would like to reiterate that this thread is just pure awesome-ness. Global Economics & Trade roleplaying has never feel more like it is now thanks to this survey.

Another interesting topic to research! While I have my demographics report on the most successful 100 or so storefronts up next, after that I could do a paper on the decline of the arms industry in general. Try to find what has caused it, as well as see how the top firms have fared.

That's pretty high praise I really appreciate it

[Unibot III]

Another interesting topic to research! While I have my demographics report on the most successful 100 or so storefronts up next, after that I could do a paper on the decline of the arms industry in general. Try to find what has caused it, as well as see how the top firms have fared.

That would be awesome, especially because its a topic that affects basically all of the roleplay sub-forums on NS -- the bulwark of the NS Economy has always been militarization. The narrative there, in regards to what is going in GE&T, beneath the surface of statistics.. could have profound effects -- I'm even thinking of a roleplay like the global economic collapse thread, that involved a lot of roleplayers on a widespread crisis that affected everyone. The idea of a Arms Manufacturing monopoly emerging or NationStates just becoming.. inevitably peaceful.. both reek of awesomeness.

[United Gordonopia]

Another interesting topic to research! While I have my demographics report on the most successful 100 or so storefronts up next, after that I could do a paper on the decline of the arms industry in general. Try to find what has caused it, as well as see how the top firms have fared.

That would be awesome, especially because its a topic that affects basically all of the roleplay sub-forums on NS -- the bulwark of the NS Economy has always been militarization. The narrative there, in regards to what is going in GE&T, beneath the surface of statistics.. could have profound effects -- I'm even thinking of a roleplay like the global economic collapse thread, that involved a lot of roleplayers on a widespread crisis that affected everyone. The idea of a Arms Manufacturing monopoly emerging or NationStates just becoming.. inevitably peaceful.. both reek of awesomeness.

I agree with you there. I mean, the bulwark of RPing in general is war. Probably the most common question in II's ask a question thread is 'How do I declare war?' In GE&T, even with its decline, the military hardware industry is still the largest. In F&NI, the most replied threads are almost exclusively military related. Main Military Weapon of Your Nation (Six versions have reached the 500 thread lock, and one of those made it to almost 1000 back when that was the cap), Creating You (which started as a thread to design soldiers), NS Military Realism Consultation Thread, Your Nation's Main Battle Tank, Your Nation's Main Fighter Plane, the list goes on. Even some of the character RPs in NationStates, and the sports RPs in NS Sports take place in military settings. To think that that may be unchanging is... unthinkable!

[ViZion]

Interestingly enough, Streamline Aerocrafts, one of my aircraft manufacturers, has long been NS's (I believe) sole supplier of crop dusters. Lol