#Economic Games

[techdriveplay]

The Ultimate Guide to Solo Board Games

In recent years, solo board gaming has quietly emerged from the shadows of its multiplayer counterparts, carving out a distinct and vibrant niche within the board game community. Once considered a pastime for the introverted or those struggling to find a gaming group, solo board gaming has transcended these stereotypes to become a celebrated and integral aspect of the hobby. Whether due to the…

[whovian223]

New to Me - November 2024

New to Me - November 2024 #boardgames @beziergames.bsky.social

At last, almost a week late, one of the probably longest posts I’ve written, because there are so many freakin’ games on it! Yes, this is the list of the eleven (!) new to me games I played in November 2024. December is not looking high on the new to me list considering the holidays and everything, so if you’re interested in new to me games (I mean my new to me games), absorb this one because…

[elbiotipo]

It's fascinating to me that for our modern (at least on European-influenced societies) thinking, the classical Roman way of life is so familiar. When you read about it, the rethoric of the speeches feels modern, a society based on contracts and laws and litigation, with public works, a state bureucracy and standing army and trade economy and even spectator sports, a concept of philosophy separated from religious dogma and tradition, with even a limited understanding of a government by 'the people' and 'citizenship', even the names all sound familiar even if in completely different contexts, and no wonder since they inspired our current politics.

This all in contrast to medieval feudalism, which is completely alien to me. A society created upon family connections and oaths of fealty and serfdom with no such thing as an overarching state, not even kingdoms were any more real than a title one person holds, and all held together completely, utterly, to an extent I cannot emphasize enough, by the institution of the Church and the Christian faith. In a way we just aren't used today in our secular world. I simply cannot overstate how everything, every single thing, was permeated by faith in the Medieval worldview and the Church which took its power from it, we have an understanding of it but I think people just don't realize it.

[prokopetz]

Do you ever have a passive gripe with the way trade is represented in medieval/sci-fi/post-apocalyptic fiction? I can't shake the feeling that those are societies that have moved beyond the need for abstract currency - that such forms of trade are more a concession for the viewer to analogize trade to our world instead of offering some kind of unique barter for a world.

A medieval peasant isn't gonna want gold coins for jack because the next trade caravan is two seasons away, they'd much rather a useful tool or some extra fertilizer. Credits in science fiction universes can become worthless due to Future™️ hackers setting their bank accounts to extraordinarily high values, so extra parts for firearms and spaceships are much more useful. Caps in Fallout just make no sense in a world where food and water are few and far between!

I feel unreasonably grumpy about this and I wanted to know if you have any kind of insight to this kind of thing.

There are a couple of only partly related problems here:

1. The idea that the economies of most sci-fi and fantasy settings, as depicted, don't make any sense. This is absolutely true, because most science fiction and fantasy authors don't really think about that sort of thing – their settings only have economies to the extent that the details of those economies are relevant to the plot, which they usually aren't.

2. The idea that it doesn't make sense for currency to exist in these settings because most of them logically ought to have barter economies. The trouble with this assertion is that there's no such thing as a barter economy. Yes, you can describe what one would look like, but no civilisation which has ever actually existed has operated in this fashion. It's a made-up idea – at best, a spherical-cow approximation of how the exchange of goods and services operates in a stateless society, and at worst, complete bullshit.

Consequently, whether or not it makes sense for anything like currency to exist is going to depend on the particulars of how the setting's economy operates (i.e., all the details that that are getting glossed over in point 1, above). About the most we can say in nearly all cases is that we simply don't have enough information about a given fantasy or sci-fi setting's economic structure to know whether it makes sense to have currency or not; we can't just assume in the absence of further details that things will default to a barter economy, because – again – there's no such animal.

[serpentface]

Wardin provincial tax magistrate on the annual Apomalo Tlinya (phrase close in meaning to 'journey of the late (autumn) sun'), which is a tax collection tour.

His station is marked by his white cloak, royal blue belt, gullfeather khattanocuy, the ability to bear a sword, and a scroll containing documents stamped with the Usoma's seal confirming his identity and authority. He does not travel alone, but is accompanied by a large retinue of scribes, soldiers, advisors, and servants.

All citizens have tax obligations regardless of class, and these are owed primarily in grain and livestock. This is based in this internal economy being predominantly a barter system (with its coin currency having direct value as precious metals and serving as a means of establishing fixed values for various trade goods) and heavily reliant on agricultural goods. It is significantly more difficult to evade or cheat on taxes when what you owe can be established by sight, measured in hard to miss livestock and fields of crops.

As such, taxes are collected via annual tours in which these magistrates (personally appointed by the Usoma and collecting in his name) tour their lands in person. The Apomalo Tlinya serves multiple purposes. It is primarily a method of collecting tax, but also doubles as a way to assess a province's agricultural wealth and well-being as a whole and to take an official census of the population.

This routine act of taxation has been integrated into official religious practice, being looped in with the bounty of the harvest season and thanksgiving to the face Inyamache for having provided the necessary long summer sunlight as the days grow shorter. The actual Apomalo Tlinya begins upon the official celebrations of the New Maize day in each capital city (usually observed on a separate day at the actual end of the harvest for each village), where the festival ends with the tax party leaving the city in procession. The magistrate always ceremonially rides a red bull khait, bearing a solar disk framed by royal dual-viper insignia on its horns. The bull's journey is compared to the ideal seasonal behavior of the sun, generating new life out of rain-fertile earth and then 'dying' after the harvest to allow for the rains to come. Villages who host the Apomalo Tlinya entourage each night experience a fringe benefit via permission to introduce any receptive mares to the bull and possibly get some (very valuable) calves out of it. The bull will be sacrificed at the end of the journey in a final act of thanksgiving, in hopes this offering will help ensure the next year is bountiful.

The attempted veneer of solar thanksgiving and harvest cheer aside, the Apomalo Tlinya visit is enjoyed by just about no one (except for perhaps the people lucky enough to get a pretty khait calf out of it), as it entails the personal loss of some of this aforementioned harvest. Nobility owe SUBSTANTIALLY higher taxes than commoners (given that they are considered to Own the majority of the crops/livestock, which is only Tended by their land's peasants), though the actual tax burden is proportionately steeper on the peasantry (whose tax obligations will come primarily out of their allotted share of the harvest, and/or any livestock they raise on the side). Taxes don't tend to be outright devastating in years with average crop yields, but an already bad year can be made ruinous by this visit. The timing also coincides with seasonal harvest festivities. A few unlucky villages every year may have their New Maize feast day interrupted by the sound of horns and a small legion of white-clad taxmen bearing down to collect.

Each province has only one tax magistrate, making this a lengthy and logistically complicated undertaking. It begins at the end of the harvest season (late summer), and the rounds may not finish until early winter. While it might be easier to divide these duties among a greater number of less-powerful officials, this allows taxation to remain Relatively centralized and performed by trusted appointees (often friends or relatives of the Usoma himself). This has had side effects of these officials becoming especially powerful individuals within each province, with very little checks in place to prevent corruption (beyond hope for sustained loyalty, often reinforced with special privileges and favors). Flagrant abuse of this system is rare, but more unpopular magistrates are commonly suspected to leverage additional off-the-books taxes for their own personal gain.

[scarletfasinera]

Literally. Be vigilant I love you. Something beautiful is going to happen. True love is possible only in the next world—for new people. Tomorrow is just a whisper away. We refuse to accept that the world has to remain like this. It's the world and you're made of it, you can't be unmade now. This is somewhere to be, this is all you have but it's still something. Things can't go on like this forever; something will give, it always does. Comrades, the forsaken, the wretched, who tried to rise against the horrors of the world. She would die to return to it. One day I will return to your side. They're beautiful and true—and they will win. The future can be better than the past, if we're willing to work and fight and die for it. In dark times, should the stars also go out? I exist. I exist too.

[lifegoesonevenifeverybodyisgone]

Sharpodonties, Currency Exchange, and How Much Money Vertin Can Actually Make

Honestly looking at some of the richer character's belongings I think about how rich Vertin must be.

It takes around 180 Clear Drops to have one pull. I heard some players having 100 pulls or the regulars having around 30-40 pulls. This means Vertin at some points can have 6 of Isolde's designer jewels or multiple copies of designer shoes.

The evaluation of their prices are based on Pandora Wilson's biases since Pavia's jewelry has gotten a negative value status (which I find improbable in real life objects).

The valuation of the objects are a little bit more unreliable because the characteristics of money is that it is:

Uniform (5 pesos is 5 pesos, 1 dollar is 1 dollar regardless of person)

Value (it is seen as a transfer of value) (This replaced barter since barter requires the "coincidence of wants" which means Person A wants what Person B has and vice versa. This doesn't always happen, thus the need of a universal transfer of value: currency)

Portability (can carried around)

Durability (not perishable)

So what currencies do we have in Reverse 1999? Well it seems that we have: Clear Drops and Sharpodonties.

Dust is not a currency since it is a transfer of energy NOT a transfer of value. So it is more like a power up snack. It seems to be a gatherable resource from arcane energy.

(Does it have anything to do with Apeiron?)

Anyways, back to the two currencies, it is clear that Clear Drops are considered more valuable than Sharpodonties. It might have something to do with the storm since it's shape seems to be going up. At the same time, it appears to be like crystal...so like gold currency perhaps?

Sharpodonties, in the other hand, are the more commonly mentioned, used, and exchanged currency.

It seems to be a universal and exclusive arcanist currency that is used by arcanists around the world.

For example, Zima (Russian) and Kanjira (Indian) both use Sharpodonties.

It seems like it wasn't always this appearance since Sharpodonties underwent currency evolution like other currencies do. In Melania's event, she was in charge of protecting the Mainedonty.

The Donty currency family have a collective characteristic to bite and to sense arcane blood. The Sharpodonty then becomes a perfect currency for exclusive use by Arcanists. It is portable, valued, durable, and assumes a uniform form. Surprisingly enough, it is also...edible.

If we look into some stories, you would see that Sharpodonties are listed amongst ledgers.

In Medpoc's 2nd story, it is basically a ledger of their expenses:

Pioneer, who is a businessman, also seems to use US Dollars and Sharpodonties at the same time for transactions.

Now the question is: What is the exchange rate between a US Dollar and a Sharpodonty?

It is not always clear because we have to account for inflation, supply and demand, and other factors. But I have a clue.

Looking back at Medicine Pocket's ledgers, they listed different items that they purchased with Sharpodonties. Let us use DOG TOYS as an example using this example from real life:

Given:

$ 3.30 per 1 teething dog toy (real life)

o 40 per 15 dog toys (Medpoc)

Question: What is the exchange rate between US Dollars and Sharpodonties?

Let's determine the price of the dog toy in the 1990s.

We can reasonably assume that the exchange rate between Arcanist currency and dollars will change depending on the state of US currency. Using equivalent exchange, I determined that the price of a teething dog toy is $1.36 dollars per dog toy in the 1990s.

2. Find the rate of Sharpodonties per dog toy.

This will help both currencies have a comparable object to compare prices to. Let us summarize Sharpodonties into an abbreviation called ACS (Arcanist Sharpodonty) using the same naming convention used in real life currencies. 1 dog toy is equivalent to 2.67 ACS or 1.36 USD.

3. Find exchange rate.

Using equivalent exchange again, we can determine that the exhange rate between ACS and USD is:

1 ACS = 0.51 USD in the 1990s(forgive my error, the exchange rate from 1 USD to ACS is 1 USD = 1.96 ACS NOT the other way around)

If we are to consider that Arcanist currency hasn't deflated in value but USD has, then the current exchange rate as of 2024 will be:

1 ACS = 1.23 USD or 1 USD = 0.81 ACS (0.80909091) which means that ACS has become a more valuable currency.

I converted the ACS to other modern day currencies of Russia and Great Britain.

That means that Zima's quill costs around 758.85 Russian Rubles today and Kanjira's headband costs around 73.17 Indian Rupees.

Digger's Bubble Glasses will then be around 65.05 British Pounds. Feel free to use this chart for converting the price of items that the characters have.

I didn't account for Clear Drops since 1) it is not an often used currency, 2) I have not seen a general (not handcrafted or unique item) item that I can compare to a real life item.

What does this mean when it comes to Vertin's income? She earns 9000 ACS everytime she goes to Mintage Aesthetics. This means she earns around 11,070 Dollars for each trip. She also has passive income. If she uses all her energy (let's say 7 times a day to account for 190 stamina) each day, she earns around $77,490 each day or around $2,324,700 a month. Of course, we are not accounting the passive income that she can earn from the Wilderness or from rewards or gifts.

In conclusion, Vertin and her gang are easily rolling in dough!

[sensationallysangwoo]

Guys I think I fucking brain-rotted too close to the sun. OKAY HEAR ME OUT.

You know how Berlin is sick with Helmer’s Myopathy right? WELL imagine a Berlin x Reader crossover fic where reader pulls a fucking In-ho and joins the game to help pay for Berlin’s treatments/medications.

AND READER MEETS SANG-WOO. And stuff ensues. Like a love triangle or IDK AH. Am I just a sleep deprived idiot or am I onto something LMAO.

Please elaborate guys. I’m sorry I’m just thirsty for both of my husbands okay?

[tamquira]

Hey so what better way to start up my tumblr page than to post what is esentially a communism fanart? Sort of? Communism-inspired??? But also my favourite artwork I have done to this day.

[fr3akshow-d4rlin]

Berlin/Song Jungho x reader

Warnings: mention of death, concentration camps and guns,

Word count:1.2k ( i actually checked this time 🩷)

A/n: i like this fic!! I hope you enjoy it and it was requested!

Berlin’s eyes shot open, the darkness of the room swallowing him whole. His body was drenched in sweat, his heart racing in the cold stillness of the night. He sat up in a sudden, frantic motion, as if trying to escape the nightmare that was still gripping him. His breath came in sharp, desperate gasps, and for a moment, he didn’t know where he was. The faint smell of antiseptic, the cold steel walls—he was back. Back in the hell of the concentration camp.

The sounds echoed in his ears: the screams, the marching, the gunshots. His body trembled, his fists clenched at the memory of the torment he had survived. He could still hear the haunting whispers of those he had lost, the faces of the men and women who hadn’t made it out alive, etched into his mind.

Suddenly, a soft voice broke through the fog of his nightmare.

“Jung-ho.”

His head snapped toward the voice, blinking in confusion. It was you. Your soft, reassuring voice grounded him, pulling him back into the present. His vision was blurry, but he could make out the outline of your figure beside him, the warmth of your presence in the otherwise cold room.

“Shhh,��� you whispered, your hand gently reaching for his trembling arm. “You’re okay. It’s just a nightmare. You’re here with me.”

His eyes filled with panic, his chest tight. The nightmare hadn’t fully left him, and his breath was still ragged. But as your hand touched him, it was like an anchor, a lifeline in the darkness.

“Not again,” he muttered, his voice low and shaky. He didn’t want to relive that terror. Not again. Not in front of you. “I... I can’t—”

“Jung ho,” you said again, your voice unwavering, soft yet firm. “You don’t have to be afraid. You’re safe. I’m here.”

His eyes searched yours, and for the first time in a long time, he saw no judgment, no pity—just understanding. He had always been so proud, so careful to keep his vulnerability hidden away, locked deep inside. But with you, he felt something he hadn’t in years—acceptance. You didn’t see him as broken. You didn’t see the monster others sometimes painted him as. You just saw him.

A quiet sob broke through his chest, his emotions swirling in a violent mix of helplessness and fear. His hand reached for you, desperate, and without hesitation, you took it.

He met your eyes, the usual arrogance and bravado gone, replaced with vulnerability. It was rare, even for someone as complex as Berlin, to show this side of himself. But with you, he felt safe enough to let it slip away.

“Please,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “Please stay with me.”

You nodded, moving closer to him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, pulling him into the warmth of your embrace. He leaned into you, his body still trembling from the remnants of the nightmare, his head resting on your shoulder. The comfort of your touch soothed him, and slowly, he felt his racing heart begin to calm. He let out a deep breath, closing his eyes, trying to focus on the sound of your heartbeat against his ear, the steady rhythm grounding him.

The room was silent except for the soft, quiet sound of your breathing. You held him tighter, feeling the tension in his body slowly begin to dissolve. The air between you was thick with the unspoken connection that had always been there, even in moments like this, where all Berlin could show was his raw, unguarded self.

“I hate it,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “The nightmares... they won’t go away. I don’t know how to stop them.”

You pulled back just enough to look at him, your thumb gently brushing over his jawline. “You don’t have to stop them. But I’ll be here with you. You don’t have to face them alone.”

Berlin’s gaze softened, his usual arrogance and deflection fading in the intimacy of the moment. His eyes traced the contours of your face, searching for reassurance, for something to hold onto in this fragile, vulnerable space. You were here—his protector, his anchor in the storm. He never asked for this kind of connection, but it had found its way to him all the same.

“I don’t deserve this,” he muttered, his voice thick with emotion.

“Everyone deserves love, Jung-ho,” you replied, your voice quiet but firm. “You included.”

He leaned forward, his forehead resting against yours. The contact was intimate, grounding, and in that moment, nothing else mattered. The nightmares, the fears, the endless weight of his past—it all seemed to fade away in the presence of your closeness.

But there was still so much unspoken. A part of him wanted to distance himself, to retreat back into the layers of pride and walls he had so carefully built over the years. But another part—the one that had been slowly unraveling ever since you had come into his life—longed to let you in. Longed to let you see the parts of him he kept buried.

Without thinking, Berlin’s hand reached for your cheek, his thumb brushing gently against your skin. His breath caught as his gaze locked onto yours, his lips barely inches from yours. His heart thudded in his chest, the same rapid pulse that had filled his veins during the nightmare, now pounding for an entirely different reason.

“Jung-ho,” you whispered again, your voice a quiet plea, a question. And in that moment, you knew what he needed—what he wanted. You didn’t wait for him to ask. You closed the distance between you, your lips meeting his in a slow, gentle kiss.

The world around you seemed to disappear. There was no nightmare, no past, no walls. There was just the warmth of your lips against his, the softness of your touch, the connection between two souls that had found solace in each other despite the darkness of the world.

Berlin’s heart raced, but this time, it wasn’t out of fear. It was out of something deeper—something beautiful that had been growing between the two of you. He deepened the kiss, his hand cupping your face as if he were afraid you might slip away, as if he might wake up from this moment just as he had woken from the nightmare.

But you were real. You were here.

And for the first time in a long time, Berlin didn’t feel alone.

When the kiss finally broke, both of you were breathless, your foreheads resting against each other, your hands still tangled together. Berlin’s eyes were closed, his body leaning into yours as if drawing strength from the simple, pure connection.

“I didn’t know I could feel this way again,” he whispered, his voice raw, as though he was confessing something deep within.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore,” you murmured, kissing the corner of his lips softly.

Berlin nodded, his chest swelling with something he hadn’t let himself feel in years. Hope. Love. The quiet promise of something more. “Thank you,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

“You don’t have to thank me, Berlin. I’m not going anywhere.”

And in that moment, the nightmares seemed just a little more bearable, the future a little less uncertain. As long as you were by his side, there was hope. There was peace. And for the first time in so long, Berlin let himself believe in it.

A/n: i hope you enjoy it!!

[fruttymoment]

Yo??

[tavosketch]

"This is a man with a lot of past, but little present. And almost no future."

[whovian223]

Bottoscon 2024 Retrospective

Bottoscon 2024 Retrospective @oinkgames @fanfactories @devirgames @StrongholdGames @AMIGO_GamesUS @alderac @Gamewright

Once again in November I was able to attend Bottoscon, the largest wargaming convention in the Pacific Northwest. This year, they managed to get over 150 attendees, which is amazing considering that when they began 18 years ago, they had 32 attendees. The convention is run by Rob Bottos, a prominent wargamer, and a cohort of other people who help keep the con organized and well-run, solving…

[macmanx]

The Virtuous Economic Cycle

[cannibalhalflinggaming]

"I’m not stating anything particularly controversial when I say it’s tough to be a game designer. The tabletop RPG market is an economics nightmare; demand is low and supply is incredibly high. Demand is low because this is a niche hobby whose marketing to the public at large is, essentially, Hasbro screaming so loud that nobody else is heard. Supply is driven by the fact that, at a functional level, thanks to crowdfunding Kickstarter, itch.io, and DriveThruRPG, basically anyone can make a TTRPG and get it on sale. TTRPGs and self-published fiction are very much the same, and everyone’s looking for the solution to the fact that 90% of everything in the market is utter crap." - @levelonewonk

[irl-loading-screens]