Re: (TFT) Jobs table: 100,000 simulated soldiers and farmers

[Jay Carlisle <maou.tsaou@gmail.com>]

> > Are you trying to set me up?

> No. It's another great example both of supply and demand, and how value is
an evolving idea that persists beyond its origin and takes on other forms as
it travels and time passes.

> The story is cool and interesting, but the meaning is invented.

Id like to point out here that another advantage of using the Earth as a
model is being able to pull examples like this.
If I ever bother writing this all out in a finished form Tera is a much
clearer example environment that a hypothetical such as Cidri.
And, as I use Earth as my play environment the example answers the questions
quickly and clearly without asking me to speculate on many details that
otherwise might lead to issues.
Why red and yellow stripes?
Because red is a rare dye colour and a striped pattern is difficult to
achieve.
Why is red rare?
Because it comes from a location far away.
I want to go there.
You cant.
Why?
Because I dont have an adventure written up for there.
Oh, okay guess Ill go in the dungeon then.

As to the meaning I get your point but isnt invented meaning just another
way of saying perceived value in this example?
More on that after you finish.

> When the armorer in Bendwyn makes more shortswords than he sells and
builds up a stock, there is no right answer to whether the price goes up or
down or not - it depends on what happens, who sees it and what they happen
to think about it, which is largely random and up to the GM (or players if
their PCs get involved). It's not something that can be proven "rightly".

Okay, Im going to use a term here that a fella Shawn Doucette threw out
many, MANY moons and several realities ago.
For this discussion, instead of G.M. (game master) lets use G.O.D. (game
organizational director).
Whats random appearing to players in a game environment does not
necessarily have to be so for a G.O.D. (although its often sufficient).
Now Im the kind of G.O.D. that likes to be passive when play is actually
going on in my game-world (I let bad things happen to good people, but
thats because the game-universe my game-world is in was a small firework I
set off in my basement surrounded by extremely high-speed cameras and all I
can do is go back and look at what happened after the fact, but thats more
mnoren/apotheosis stuff).
To do this I have to spend my effort on setting up the environment before
play begins.
As you point out, public attitude during play can be important in ways that
cant easily be quantified.
I agree with you that trying to make the behavior of the public fixed to a
set of rules that predetermines outcomes is simply not the way to go but I
also feel that going with a totally random determination of public behavior
is similarly the wrong approach.
In the peasant population of Dale that I mentioned before I assigned the
group a Fame/Fortune/Happiness ratio of 0/20/80 if I recall.
This gives me some very general information about the group as a whole.
Practically none of the farmers of Dale are likely to be motivated by
opportunities for fame and only about 20% are more strongly motivated by
money than by their sense of community.
Knowing this about the group helps but I also need to know a bit about Dale.
How does the community protect itself against threats and what feudal
obligations, if any, are owed?
If the citizenry as a whole are expected to learn the Sword Talent so as to
form a militia in times of peril as opposed to paying taxes to maintain a
small but professional town guard (and guard house) then there would be a
much better chance that those surplus blades would have some demand,
especially if there has been a population increase over the last generation
or two.
Thats town charter stuff.
Also of note is how many Jobs on Dales Jobs Table require a sword?
The demand pressure wouldnt be nearly as much as if all the peasants (80%
of total population) were required to maintain a blade but could still be
significant, especially if a new Job requiring a sword becomes available in
significant numbers.
Another consideration is about how much cash is floating around town.
Knowing the population, Jobs Table, and power structure of Dale makes it a
simple task to determine a rough estimate of the minimum amount of money
required for the economy to run on a day to day basis.
If Dale is set very close to the minimum amount required for day to day
operation then the smith is going to have a hard time selling anything, much
less surplus swords.
Players of course can no more see this information than they could see
the Goblin board during a raiding period but the G.O.D. can use it to make
informed decisions when assigning the randomness to something like
economics by factoring the built in trends that are still determined, just
as you say, by the G.O.D.
I set it up this way so that play is available in areas like council
membership (Nomic), town building (Simcity), and business (Space Trader
http://sourceforge.net/projects/spacetraderwin/ a simpler example than
Traveler) to players.
Another one of those take it or leave it things.
Of course Dale could be viewed like Bendwyn, just window dressing for the
real adventure at Lonely Mountain (Tollenkars Lair).
In that case I would imagine that the smiths surplus is part of the
plot-line somehow.
Me, Im more of a freewill kindda G.O.D.

<sings>
Psycho Gamer,
Qu'est-ce que c'est?
fa fa fa far fa fa far fa far far youd better
Run run run run, run run run away
>From Jay-ay
Ie ie ie IE IE IE IE IE ie ieeee....
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