MULE Mogul (thoughts for a next-gen game)

[napier]

With smithore spoilage the 1.2 game is now much better balanced and the games are closer. It's good to be true to the original with a Classic Mule version. 

Having said that, I really liked the high-stakes smithore market in 1.1 and would love to see strategies like this in an expanded Mule game.  The strength of Mule is that it's a simple and elegant market simulation that is rich enough to allow for creative strategies.  I'd like to see Mule2 simulate a larger aspect of market economics, with the option of "market making" activities and stockpiling resources.  Here's my wishlist for a "MULE Mogul" game that allows some of the bigger market strategies:

- Any resource can be exported, not just Crystite.  With enough money, any player can start an export operation and sell a resource off-world (buy a satellite?  a space elevator?).  Crystite sells for high prices but is risky and harder to find.  Food and energy are easier to produce and less of a gamble, but require larger amounts of land.  Players have to build a critical mass of wealth to start exporting. Typically a player will focus on one good to export but with skill a player could run more than one export operation.

- Crystite and Smithore don't spoil.  Energy spoils but not as much as food.  In Classic Mule the spoilage feature rewards selling off quickly and large stockpiles are wiped out each turn. MULE Mogul allows stockpiling, so players can build enough wealth to influence markets.

- If the store needs smithore to produce a mule shouldn't it also need energy?  Have the store consume two units of energy to produce a mule so it becomes an active consumer in the energy market.  Energy could be a big market within the colony and balances the smithore market.

- The store can loan money.  Players can take out a loan from the store which they have to pay back in a set number of turns, or risk losing land, mules, etc. The loan accrues interest so, like spoilage with food or energy, the player has incentive to pay back quickly. Debt is factored into the asset summary each turn.  The colony could become cash starved.  The store can raise or lower interest rates.  Credit/debt is a huge part of our real-world economy (as we're painfully aware from recent events), and it could be a lot of fun to simulate this aspect of business building.

- Energy could have higher demand, say, one unit for each land plot and one unit per mule. Increased production means bigger need for energy for transportation, storage, etc.  In the real world energy demand curves upward as scale increases while in Classic Mule the energy demand is linear and feels artificially low (the energy market, aka the oil industry, is one of the biggest industries in real-world economics).

- Multiple players can buy from the store at the same time.  If there's a run on smithore or energy other players can get in on it. Players buy what their strategy and money allow instead of being locked out because they lost a race to the top of the screen.

Other related ideas:

- Have a land market. As land prices increase the value of owned plots goes up, affecting the players assets.  The land auctions would have to be like real-world auctions to prevent arbitrarily driving up prices, ie. you can't run up an auction to $4000 and then exit.

- Have desert spots again so the energy producers have hi-yield land to compete for.  And spots next to the river could be 3 unit food producers. Provides more opportunity to optimize land.

- Have off-world news events, ie. show a headline from the Wampus Street Journal each turn that warns of conditions that affect the export market.  Players can predict movement in off-world prices.  For example: "Pirate attacks triple!" (Crystite risk rises),  "War in Outer Bonzoidia" (greater demand for smithore), "Crops freeze on Afcany Plains" (greater demand for food).  The events have an impact over a three turn period and provide another dimension to game strategies.

[Intergalactic Mole]

I like all of your ideas. Great post!!!

[Jaradakar]

- If the store needs smithore to produce a mule shouldn't it also need energy?  Have the store consume two units of energy to produce a mule so it becomes an active consumer in the energy market.  Energy could be a big market within the colony and balances the smithore market.

I really like this idea!  

What if it was one energy per Mule so Smithore is still the dominate ingredient to producing a mule.

- Energy could have higher demand, say, one unit for each land plot and one unit per mule. Increased production means bigger need for energy for transportation, storage, etc.  In the real world energy demand curves upward as scale increases while in Classic Mule the energy demand is linear and feels artificially low (the energy market, aka the oil industry, is one of the biggest industries in real-world economics).

This is also an interesting idea, it might be worth testing/trying out.  It does add complexity, for example try explaining to a new player how much energy they need.  One per plot is very easy to understand, but it might not be too bad if it's something simple like 1 energy per plot for 1-10 plots and for every one above that it costs 2 per plot.  Or if the UI constantly displayed your current energy needs.

- Have desert spots again so the energy producers have hi-yield land to compete for.  And spots next to the river could be 3 unit food producers. Provides more opportunity to optimize land.

This would make more sense to add back in with energy being a bigger part of the game.

It might be interesting to allow a storage shed upgrade.  For each shed you can store/prevent spoilage of X more units of goods (say 10 per storage plot).  Of course adding them would reduce profit as they'd no longer provide production.  

-Jara

PS: There are a few ideas I don't like much.  Part of the game being an economic competition deals with not everyone being able to get all commodities at all times.  Having a shortage and not being the one to buy it prior to another is a big part of the game, imo.

Having goods spoil is a balancer and I think not having it showed in Planet Mule how it unbalances the game (for the worse imo).

Having the store loan money would just add complexity for imo little gain.

[napier]

What if it was one energy per Mule so Smithore is still the dominate ingredient to producing a mule.

It makes sense.  1 unit of energy vs. 2 of smithore varies the impact of the resources.  Maybe energy could be used in some other way, so the demand peaks at different times than smithore.  The main point is to have the store be a consumer of energy so that it creates demand for another resource.  And it makes sense that the store would consume energy for something (light? heating? running the slot machines at the pub?).

It does add complexity, for example try explaining to a new player how much energy they need.  One per plot is very easy to understand,

True, having energy use curve upward is hard to represent.  A simple approach could be a higher energy cost associated with the advanced features.  For example let's say it takes 5 energy units each turn to run a space elevator to export goods.   And if the game included a new resource (ie. Buntenol or mule parts that have been suggested in other threads) those resources could require additional energy to produce (more than just the standard 1 unit per mule).  So as you produce these deluxe resources your energy demand steps up higher.

This way the energy market can grow big enough to compete with the smithore market.

Having goods spoil is a balancer and I think not having it showed in Planet Mule how it unbalances the game (for the worse imo).

Yes smithore stockpiling did unbalance the Classic Mule game.  But that's largely because smithore is the only resource that the store has an appetite for, so you could play the store for huge profits but just in that one market.  If there was another resource that the store needed (energy for example), and export markets to create demand for all the resources, then there are more ways to make money and the game can be balanced (without resorting to a 50 unit cap on smithore).  A Mule2 game would need to be conceived from the ground up with these dynamics in mind.

[Jaradakar]

/Agreed

I like your thinking napier