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Dancer
May 23, 2011
Spreadsheet link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bXSvg9wQF3aeUQWLo0qIrHlfO2xFUmFdY26vaM1HgwI/edit#gid=0

https://imgur.com/a/3Rk7M

Because I'm slightly crazy, I decided that running just one pbf wasn't enough. I recently acquired this game, and have few hopes of playing it myself with my current gaming group, so I will have to be satisfied with experience it from the sidelines. This is a rather dry game of trading and speculating using an abstractized global currency market. The good news is that the rules are actually rather simple. Play goes clockwise, and each player chooses one of four action. What has the potential to make things interesting is the complex behaviour that emerges out of those fairly simple actions.

First, a link to the rulebook on BGG:
https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/152342/ex-rulebook

I will give a short summary, but going through that document will be required to play the game.
First, a description of the market. There are 7 currencies that you can trade back and forth, and they each have an exchange value to each other, with one of the two always being 'stronger' than the other. Here is a sample screenshot from the spreadsheet I intend to use to run this:


Let us take a random currency pair, EUR and CAD. The token indicating their relative value to each other will be in the row corresponding to the stronger currency. We can see a CAD token in the EUR row, indicating that EUR is stronger. Specifically, 1 'unit' of EUR is worth 1.5 'units' of CAD, as you can tell by the column in which you can find the token. It is possible for two currencies to have an exchange rate of 1:1, but one of them will still be stronger (for example, GBP and EUR). No exchange rate will ever be more imbalanced than 1:8.

Throughout the game, individual currencies will constantly become strengthened or weakened. When a currency is strengthened then the following happens:
- for each currency pair where it is stronger, the paired currency will move one step to the right in the table. If it is already at an exchange rate of 8:1, then it will not move further.
- for each currency pair where it is weaker, it will move one step to the left in the table. If it is at an exchange rate of 1:1 then the two currencies will swap. The exchange rate will stay the same, but the currency will take over as the stronger one.
If a currency is weakened, the exact opposite happens.

Each player turn consists of one optional spot trade, followed by one obligatory action.

A spot trade is an exchange with another player of exactly one unit of relatively strong currency to the amount of another currency that is indicated in the table. This exchange must be consented by both parties. Half-units of currencies may be owned and traded. As such, if we look back at the example table, a player might trade 1 GBP for 1.5 EUR.

There are four available actions to a player:
1) Make a contract with a bank.
The player commits themselves to, at a point in the future, trade one currency for another at the current exchange rate. The amount of the stronger currency must be in whole units and may not be larger than 10. Using that same table, a player might commit themselves to trade, for example, 10 USD for 35 CNY, or 35 CNY for 10 USD, when the contract is resolved (explained later). A maximum of six contracts can exist at any given time.

2) Invest
The player may spend 2 units of a currency to acquire one certificate for that currency. As a result of this, the currency is strengthened. This action can be viewed as an investment in the particular economy doing well, as there are certain points in the game where certificates pay dividends.
Within a single Investment action, a player may acquire either one single certificate, or two certificates of different currencies. A player may never own more than four certificates of the same currency.

3) Divest
The player may permanently remove owned ccertificates from the game and receive 2 units of the appropriate currency from the bank per certificate. Within a single Divestment action, a player may sell any number of certificates of the same currency. The currency is weakened one step for every certificate thus sold.
Furthermore, when a player does this action, all other players may, as a free action, also divest that type of certificate. These divestments also weaken the currency in question

4) Resolve
There is a Contract Queue in the game that can contain three types of items:
- Dividends
- Contracts
- Loans
This action resolves the next item in the queue.
At the beginning of the game, the queue has a single item in it, which is the first dividends card. Whenever a contract is made, it is added to the end of the queue.
4.1) Dividends
There are five dividends cards in the game which, when resolved, pay out moneys to certificate holders. The first starts the game in the queue, and whenever a dividends card is resolved, the next card is added to the back of the queue. When the last card is resolved, that immediately triggers the end of the game: All items remaining in the queue are resolved, after which the game ends.
The first dividends card does not actually pay out anything. Further dividends cards pay out 2 units of currency per certificate, and the last card pays out 3 units per certificate.
4.2) Contracts
When a contract is resolved, the owner of the contract (note: this can be different from the person performing the Resolve action) must immediately perform the trade they committed to. If they are not able to, then the contract becomes a Loan. Let's take an example.
The contract that must be resolved is a trade of 8 GBP for 24 CAD. The owner does not currently have 8 GBP. Interest is accrued in the form of exactly one unit of currency, regardless of how high the contract's value was, so the owner's new obligation is 9 GBP. The owner immediately takes the money they were meant to receive (so they gain 24 CAD), and a 9 GBP Loan is added to the end of a contract queue.
There is a special case, where a player has already taken a loan. In that case, the amount of the new loan is simply added to the other one, regardless of where it is in the contract queue, and regardless of currency. As such, it is possible to end up with a loan for multiple currencies.
4.3) Loans
When a loan is resolved, the owner must immediately pay it back in full. If they are not able to do so, they go bankrupt, and the game ends immediately. Further contracts in the queue are not resolved.

When the game ends, the 'strongest' currency is determined (check rulebook for details). All other monies are converted to that currency, rounded down.The person who ends up having the most money wins the game.

Accepting sign-ups. I'm hoping to get 4 players for this. Sign-ups will be open for at least 48 hours.

I set up a little spreadsheet that I imagine would be very useful to keep track of the game status. Feel free to offer comments or suggestions; it's meant to be easy to read.

Dancer fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Nov 19, 2017

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Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"
I'm going to take some time to read the rules, but I'll be tentatively in.

gutterdaughter
Oct 21, 2010

keep yr head up, problem girl
Let's crash some economies.

Porfiriato
Jan 4, 2016


I'm a hopeless nerd, therefore count me in.

edit: i do want to spend a day or so to read up on the rules as well

Porfiriato fucked around with this message at 08:29 on Nov 19, 2017

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.
I've been excited for this game so I'm in.

Known Lecher posted:

edit: i do want to spend a day or so to read up on the rules as well

Shouldn't take that long, it's a six page rulebook.

silvergoose
Mar 18, 2006

IT IS SAID THE TEARS OF THE BWEENIX CAN HEAL ALL WOUNDS




I'll watilist; happy to jump in if you don't get enough interest, and happy to replace, but happy to sit and watch for now too.

Because even fuckin Container made my head spin.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Okay, due to interest being higher than expected, and me getting too hyped :v:, I'm going to shorten sign-ups. Randomly drawing 4 players this evening (in like 8 hours).

Also, a quick rule I failed to mention the first time: Whenever dividends are paid, we determine the currency with most player-held certificates. That currency is strengthened one step. In case of a tie, the resolving player decides.

Jordan7hm
Feb 17, 2011




Lipstick Apathy
I’m in, if there ends up being room.

Trying to decide if I buy this for my santee in a bgg secret Santa... or if I just buy it for myself. So I’ll be watching either way.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Okay, I just did the draw. We have the following players:
1. Jordan7h
2. Some Numbers
3. Mr. Squishy
4. Lecher
Y'all can start playing immediately. I'll clear the spreadsheet in a few minutes (for clarity, everyone starts with 2 bucks of each currency). I just now also selected what certificates are removed from the game:
CNY
USD
GBP
EUR
CNY
USD

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Oh, and important detail: Please always number your turns. So Jordan7hm should start their post with "turn #1" or something like that, Some Numbers should use "turn #2" etc. I will add a cell to the spreadsheet to show which turn was last processed.

One last clarification: I will use the notation for dividend cards that is used in the rulebook. So the first (non-paying) dividend card is 0, and the last one is 4.

Dancer fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Nov 19, 2017

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.
Should we set up a room in the discord so we can set up spot deals without too many posts in here?

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Ideally I won't bug the admins again. If all of you send me a PM on Discord, I'll just make a group chat with the 5 of us. I'm the only Dancer on the server.

e: Here's the Discord invite from the board game thread OP
https://discord.gg/DWnexP3

Dancer fucked around with this message at 21:22 on Nov 19, 2017

rchandra
Apr 30, 2013


Mr. Squishy posted:

Should we set up a room in the discord so we can set up spot deals without too many posts in here?

As an interested spectator, I'd suggest you at least post the outcome of such a deal here though.

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"
So the only way to get additional currency is through Dividends? Otherwise, the economy is completely closed (including the bank)?

And I for one, think all discussions should be in the thread.

cenotaph
Mar 2, 2013



rchandra posted:

As an interested spectator, I'd suggest you at least post the outcome of such a deal here though.

:same:

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.

Some Numbers posted:

So the only way to get additional currency is through Dividends? Otherwise, the economy is completely closed (including the bank)?

And I for one, think all discussions should be in the thread.

You can set up a contract when a currency is weak and if its strong when it pays out you've... created value? That's something, right?
And you're right, there's limited discussion in that spots are always going to be 1 strong buck for whatever in weak (or vice versa). That's sensible for a thread.

Jordan7hm
Feb 17, 2011




Lipstick Apathy

Some Numbers posted:

So the only way to get additional currency is through Dividends? Otherwise, the economy is completely closed (including the bank)?

And I for one, think all discussions should be in the thread.

I think have the private discussions wherever, but I won't have a chance to be on the discord much. It makes sense to have one though.

In any case...

not too sure about nomenclature

Turn #1

Make a contract with the bank:

4 GBP : 8 CAD

Dancer
May 23, 2011
A spot trade is part of your turn. Yes, it kinda goes without saying that all actual game actions (including the spot trades that happen) will be posted in the thread. I'm okay with discussion occuring in Discord (as long as it's public to all the players), but I'm also okay with it happening here. It might be a bit slower, but it's not a big issue.

Mr. Squishy posted:

You can set up a contract when a currency is weak and if its strong when it pays out you've... created value? That's something, right?
And you're right, there's limited discussion in that spots are always going to be 1 strong buck for whatever in weak (or vice versa). That's sensible for a thread.

Some Numbers posted:

So the only way to get additional currency is through Dividends? Otherwise, the economy is completely closed (including the bank)?

And I for one, think all discussions should be in the thread.
Contracts can also generate new money: Imagine selling 10 USD for 20 CAD (when the exchange rate is 1:2) and later selling 10 CAD for 10 USD (when the CAD has become stronger so exchange rate is 1:1). The world now contains 10 more CAD than when we began.

Dancer
May 23, 2011

Jordan7hm posted:

I think have the private discussions wherever, but I won't have a chance to be on the discord much. It makes sense to have one though.

In any case...

not too sure about nomenclature

Turn #1

Make a contract with the bank:

4 GBP : 8 CAD

Just pointing it out, in case someone isn't aware yet. A contract that is written like this, without literally pointing out which part is "selling" and which is "buying" indicates that the person commits to paying the left "side of the contract" to the bank when it resolves, and receiving the right side.

(note that I'm not complaining, there's absolutely nothing wrong with keeping it compact like this, I'm just explaining).

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"
Turn #2
Establish Contract B
Pay 2 EUR for 7 CNY

Jordan7hm
Feb 17, 2011




Lipstick Apathy
I like the clarity of Some Numbers' post anyway, so I'll change it to that going forward.

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"
I'm used to playing games that require explicit detail in PbP formats, so I err on the side of overexplaining

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.
Spot offer: anyone wanna give me 1USD for CHF, JPY, or CAD?

Jordan7hm
Feb 17, 2011




Lipstick Apathy
I'd do it for JPY.

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.
Great!
Turn 3
Spot Trade with Jordan
I lose 1.5 JPY and gain 1 USD
Make Contract:
Pay 3 USD for 4.5 CAD

Porfiriato
Jan 4, 2016


Let's get those fat staxxx of cash everyone!

Spot trade offer:

Looking for 1 CHF, willing to give USD, JPY, EUR, GBP


After talking with Dancer on Discord, we came to the conclusion that everyone should reply to a spot trade offer in the thread by passing if you're not interested, just so we know everyone else has seen it before moving on with the rest of our turn.

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"
Pass

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.
If im right, the GBP trade would be i get 1 and you get 1.5 CHF?
And sure, I'll do that.

Jordan7hm
Feb 17, 2011




Lipstick Apathy
Not sure how we want to handle spot trade offers, but I would also spot trade 1 CHF for 1.5 JPY. I'm cool pulling that back if we want to do it first come first serve or something, not sure what the spirit of the game would be here.

Mr. Squishy
Mar 22, 2010

A country where you can always get richer.
The rules explicitly allow for table talk so I'd say FCFS runs counter to the spirit.

Porfiriato
Jan 4, 2016


I worded that trade poorly. I'm looking for CHF, but per the rules I have to trade at least one full "buck" of each currency involved. (But can I only trade exactly one buck of the stronger currency in the deal.)

So for currencies that are stronger than CHF, I would be trading one unit of X in return for more than 1 CHF. Like GBP, I would actually be trading 1 GBP of mine in return for 1.5 CHF. And vice versa for weaker currencies.

I guess the full breakdown of my spot trade offer would be

Offer 1 GBP for 1.5 CHF
Offer 1.5 JPY for 1 CHF
Offer 1 USD for 1 CHF
Offer 1 EUR for 1 CHF

So I've got takers for GBP->CHF and JPY->CHF, right?

I agree that everyone should have a chance to yea/nay before the person offering the spot trade makes a decision.

Porfiriato fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Nov 20, 2017

Jordan7hm
Feb 17, 2011




Lipstick Apathy

Known Lecher posted:

I guess the full breakdown of my spot trade offer would be

Offer 1 GBP for 1.5 CHF
Offer 1.5 JPY for 1 CHF
Offer 1 USD for 1 CHF
Offer 1 EUR for 1 CHF

So I've got takers for GBP->CHF and JPY->CHF, right?

I'm pretty sure this is correct, yeah.

Porfiriato
Jan 4, 2016


OK cool.

Turn 4
Spot trade with Mr. Squishy
My 1 GBP for his 1.5 CHF

Contract
1 CHF for 3.5 CNY

Jordan7hm
Feb 17, 2011




Lipstick Apathy
Turn 5

Invest
1 GBP
1 CAD

Dancer
May 23, 2011
It occured to me that this game may not be very fun to spectate in this format. To help just a little, I decided I'm going to make a clone of the spreadsheet every 4 turns. If you're watching this game with some delay, maybe that's useful.

Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"
I was expecting you’d update the spreadsheet anyway for the players’ benefit, so we wouldn’t have to keep track of all the ups and downs mentally.

Dancer
May 23, 2011
Oh that's definitely true, I intend to upgrade the sheet after each move (or at least as often as I'm online). But then the old state is gone. Just saying this way there's some "history" people can look at, should they care.

For the players, the sheet should be accurate up to the "last processed turn" indicated in the top right.

Jordan7hm
Feb 17, 2011




Lipstick Apathy
I think that makes sense. Would be helpful for the players too of course.

Late edit: I’m looking for spot trade for GBP or CAD as well.

Jordan7hm fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Nov 20, 2017

Dancer
May 23, 2011
BTW Some Numbers, you know it was your turn to play when you posted, right :v:?

Like, I don't meant to pressure you, I understand if you're taking your time to figure out a strategy, just making sure you know.

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Some Numbers
Sep 28, 2006

"LET'S GET DOWN TO WORK!!"

Dancer posted:

BTW Some Numbers, you know it was your turn to play when you posted, right :v:?

Like, I don't meant to pressure you, I understand if you're taking your time to figure out a strategy, just making sure you know.

I absolutely know, that’s why I was checking to make sure the spreadsheet was getting updated, since two currencies were invested in.

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