GE&T Welcome Thread
Posted: Sun May 20, 2018 1:04 am
WELCOME TO GE&T!
First of all, welcome to the Global Economics and Trade sub-forum. This is the rightful home of many of the economic aspects of your nation, the place to conduct your foreign trade, and present your domestic industries. This is where we make storefronts to sell trains, planes, and automobiles; this is where you’ll find airports, chocolate shops, and high-tech mobile phones; this is where you’ll buy your warships, your tanks, and your firearms. This thread is here to help those who are new to the sub-forum, as well as those who have more experience. The Welcome Thread's collection of guides, links, and other GE&T wisdom is designed to help you buy, sell, or otherwise engage in in-game economic activity. If you have anything that you wish to ask, please feel free to telegram Aquitayne, Lamoni, Maltropia, Mokastana, or The Macabees. Also feel free to stop by the Better Business Bureau with your questions or advice. There is also an official GE&T Discord Server.
GE&T is an important part of the National & International Roleplaying scene. It’s an opportunity to broaden your roleplay horizons in a way that maybe you didn’t expect, and it’s some of the most competitive fun on the forums. It’s sometimes a very neglected and quite misunderstood sub-forum, but it has a dedicated community who are enthusiastic about seeing new sellers, new products, and new customers. You’re very welcome in here.
We would ask that you please read the guides contained in this thread, as they are full of useful information for storefront owners, as well as customers.
GE&T COMMUNITY AND CULTURE
Possibly more than any other sub-forum, GE&T centers on the idea of the OP as the proprietor. Everything that happens in a storefront is with his blessing and by his leave; if he does not want your business, he is fully within his rights to ask you to leave and never return.
Unlike most other roleplay subforums, GE&T does not generally make use of OOC (out of character) threads outside of guides and discussions. OOC comments, if they are made at all, are made in the storefront’s thread (either standalone or within an otherwise in-character post) or TGed to the storefront owner. It’s often considered polite to hide them in spoilers and keep the storefront in-character, but preference varies.
ADVICE
CREDITS
The Welcome Thread has been influenced by the previous GE&T Help Desk and Q&A thread, created by Tippercommon. The N&I Mentor team was also a source of inspiration for the thread, while Kyrusia designed the header image, with significant inspiration from Maltropia. Due and proper thanks also goes out to the creators of the guides used below.
MENTORS
The Mentors are a group of people dedicated to volunteering their time in order to assist people in II, GE&T, and other roleplaying sub-forums. Please feel free to contact them if you have roleplaying, or economic questions. The mentors maintain their own Discord Channel, which NS players are welcome to join. There is also a list of the mentor staff.
LINGO
Here are some general terms which you should know when participating in GE&T!
STOREFRONT TAGS
Storefront tags are uniform search terms under which others might find your storefront. In order to work, they must be placed somewhere in your storefront. We recommend that the storefront tags be placed in the Opening Post of your storefront, in such a way that it will not interfere with the formatting of your storefront. Further, we would request that you use no more than four different storefront tags per storefront, so as not to clutter up either the search results, or your storefront. Due to unspecified bugs in the NS search function, please use quotation marks around the storefront tag you are searching for, so that you can find what you are looking for. For example, search for "mil.ground", instead of mil.ground, which will find any results with those terms in it, and not just those posts using the tag(s) in question.
To save time, assume 'for storefronts which' begins every explanation.
GUIDES
First of all, welcome to the Global Economics and Trade sub-forum. This is the rightful home of many of the economic aspects of your nation, the place to conduct your foreign trade, and present your domestic industries. This is where we make storefronts to sell trains, planes, and automobiles; this is where you’ll find airports, chocolate shops, and high-tech mobile phones; this is where you’ll buy your warships, your tanks, and your firearms. This thread is here to help those who are new to the sub-forum, as well as those who have more experience. The Welcome Thread's collection of guides, links, and other GE&T wisdom is designed to help you buy, sell, or otherwise engage in in-game economic activity. If you have anything that you wish to ask, please feel free to telegram Aquitayne, Lamoni, Maltropia, Mokastana, or The Macabees. Also feel free to stop by the Better Business Bureau with your questions or advice. There is also an official GE&T Discord Server.
GE&T is an important part of the National & International Roleplaying scene. It’s an opportunity to broaden your roleplay horizons in a way that maybe you didn’t expect, and it’s some of the most competitive fun on the forums. It’s sometimes a very neglected and quite misunderstood sub-forum, but it has a dedicated community who are enthusiastic about seeing new sellers, new products, and new customers. You’re very welcome in here.
We would ask that you please read the guides contained in this thread, as they are full of useful information for storefront owners, as well as customers.
GE&T COMMUNITY AND CULTURE
Possibly more than any other sub-forum, GE&T centers on the idea of the OP as the proprietor. Everything that happens in a storefront is with his blessing and by his leave; if he does not want your business, he is fully within his rights to ask you to leave and never return.
Unlike most other roleplay subforums, GE&T does not generally make use of OOC (out of character) threads outside of guides and discussions. OOC comments, if they are made at all, are made in the storefront’s thread (either standalone or within an otherwise in-character post) or TGed to the storefront owner. It’s often considered polite to hide them in spoilers and keep the storefront in-character, but preference varies.
ADVICE
- It is better to create one well done storefront, compared to many that are not so well done. Focus on one storefront at first, and maybe later expand into other industries, utilizing other storefronts.
- Marketing and formatting are half of the battle for any storefront. Watch what other people do, but please do not plagiarize. Many successful storefront owners are established in an RP region. Roleplaying in the II or NS sub-forums can give you the ins and outs of what goods or services that RPers might be looking for. Learn how to use free photo editing software like GIMP, Paint.net, Photopea, or Inkscape. Ask questions, if there is something that you do not get.
- The other half of the battle is to do plenty of research on the product(s) that you sell. Simply doing copy pasta from Wikipedia is lazy. A good storefront owner will spend hours researching their product(s) or services, if they want them to be perceived as high quality. The information used in your products should be accurate, and depending on the tech level, realistic.
- Please use proper grammar and spelling, and be polite. It will be very difficult to sell things in GE&T if you become known for rudeness or bad spelling. It is also hard to bounce back from that.
- Please take your time. I've been on NS since 2002, and I am still learning when it comes to storefront formatting and design. You will not have a perfectly designed storefront on your first try, but each iteration will get better. Ask questions, and do not be afraid to get your storefront formatting reviewed by others. If you keep trying, eventually you will be able to develop your own style, and become a professional.
CREDITS
The Welcome Thread has been influenced by the previous GE&T Help Desk and Q&A thread, created by Tippercommon. The N&I Mentor team was also a source of inspiration for the thread, while Kyrusia designed the header image, with significant inspiration from Maltropia. Due and proper thanks also goes out to the creators of the guides used below.
MENTORS
The Mentors are a group of people dedicated to volunteering their time in order to assist people in II, GE&T, and other roleplaying sub-forums. Please feel free to contact them if you have roleplaying, or economic questions. The mentors maintain their own Discord Channel, which NS players are welcome to join. There is also a list of the mentor staff.
LINGO
Here are some general terms which you should know when participating in GE&T!
- GE&T - Global Economics and Trade
- PT - Past Tech
- MT - Modern Tech
- PMT - Post Modern Tech
- FT - Future Tech
- FanT - Fantasy Tech
- TG - Telegram
- NSD/USD - NationStates Dollars/Universal Standard Dollars; equivalent to United States Dollars.
- Calculator - A tool which calculates your nation's economic statistics
- OP - Original Post(er)
- DPR - domestic production rights
- MBT - main battle tank
- APC - armored personnel carrier
- IFV - infantry fighting vehicle
- ASF - air superiority fighter
- Storefront - The storefront is the backbone of GE&T. It’s a kind of thread which acts as a company’s website and can sell product(s), service(s), or both.
- Tender - Less common than storefronts, these are threads where people are looking to buy or use a specific product or service. Generally responded to by storefronts.
STOREFRONT TAGS
Storefront tags are uniform search terms under which others might find your storefront. In order to work, they must be placed somewhere in your storefront. We recommend that the storefront tags be placed in the Opening Post of your storefront, in such a way that it will not interfere with the formatting of your storefront. Further, we would request that you use no more than four different storefront tags per storefront, so as not to clutter up either the search results, or your storefront. Due to unspecified bugs in the NS search function, please use quotation marks around the storefront tag you are searching for, so that you can find what you are looking for. For example, search for "mil.ground", instead of mil.ground, which will find any results with those terms in it, and not just those posts using the tag(s) in question.
To save time, assume 'for storefronts which' begins every explanation.
GUIDES
- Handy Guide to GE&T Product-Making
A comprehensive guide by The Nation of Ceneria on how to "make an accurate and successful product for your Global Economics and Trade storefront."
- Guide to Storefront Navigation
A comprehensive guide by Tippercommon on how to manipulate the site's BBCode and incorporate graphic design to make your storefronts easier to navigate through the use of tables of contents, design concepts and anchors.
- Guide to Formatting Your Storefront
A comprehensive guide by Maltropia on how to manipulate the site's BBCode to make your storefront look fabulous.
- A Simple Guide to Creating a Product
Going into detail about the principles of "formulating . . . designing . . . and finalizing your product," Yohannes' Guide To Creating A Product showcases the necessities of a product, what not to do during the concept, production and marketing phase of selling your product, basic rules that you should never break and some added formatting guides which should add some well needed appeal to your storefront.
- Guide to Customer Service
A guide on the etiquette of purchasing items from a storefront, replying to orders, and basic write-up skills by Mikoyan-Guryevich.
- The Unofficial Guide to Creating a Storefront
A very in depth guide of instructional guidelines when creating your storefront, United Gordonopia's Guide To Creating A Storefront lays out information step by step of things you should never do under any circumstances, how to achieve excellent customer service, how to expand your storefront, how to handle the financial aspects of your NS business and some important formatting guides which should help you in giving you storefront a good aesthetic appeal.
- Guide to Auto Storefronts
A specialized guide for the design and details of automobile storefronts, Van Luxemburg's Guide To Auto Storefronts makes clear what not to do in your auto storefront, clearly lays out information crucial to creating an automobile, including American and European car-class designations and pricing, as well as basic principles of making a car comfortable and efficient to drive in.
- Guide to Creating and Selling a Firearm
Designed for the design of firearms, Tippercommon's Guide To Designing a Firearm v2 combines a detailed section of the basic mechanics of a firearm and the 'what not to dos' when in the concept phase of creating a realistic weapon, with a formatting guides sections packed with information that make just give your storefront the upper hand over the rest of the competition, with suggestions on how to us coding, image editing software and how to lay out information.
- Guide to Building a Fighter
An in depth guide to designing a fighter aircraft, the Tutorial to Building a Fighter on the NSDraftroom gives in depth information about the variation components of a fighter and what makes one worth selling and using. Also, if you are planning to sell an aircraft, check out the Aircraft Specifications Outline to learn what information you need on your storefront or factbook.
- Guide to selling Real Life Products
A guide to aid in the sale and formatting of storefronts which sell real-world products by Mikoyan-Gurevich.
- Guide to an Airline Storefront
A guide to creating an Airline by Mizialand.
- What Makes a Successful Storefront?
An in-depth survey conducted by United Gordonopia cataloging the top storefronts, why they are successful, and how you can do it too.
- The Great GE&T Survey: A Statistical Snapshot
An incredibly in-depth survey conducted by United Gordonopia cataloging GE&T's development since 2009 and how the market has changed over years of involvement from the members of the site.
- NSDesigners
NSDesigners is a group of people on Discord, dedicated to creating the most realistic military, civilian and other designs possible. It is also a good place to get advice for your designs.
- A Step-by-Step Guide to Calculating Your Profits
The Step-by-Step Guide to Calculating Your Profits by Vault 10 is an in-depth guide on how to calculate your company's profits from your revenues. Providing helpful resources from CNN Money, he explains how to accurately determine out of your revenue how much you actually make. You don't want to be that guy that charges $100 for a piece of paper so you can make a 10,000% profit right?
- Economic Calculators
Economic Calculators are tools which take the statistics of your nation (population, civil rights, political rights, economic strength and regional power level) or region, and add a lot solid economic terms to it. They are based completely on how you answer your issues, deciding where your funding goes. Calculators do pretty much the same thing, although their calculations do vary. They are useful tools for figuring out how much money you can spend in GE&T, though they are not required.
NSEconomy
NSDossier