Oolite Bulletins

I have a few non-oo ideas in mind - in addition to the oone account and Ooyds OXP of course...

In the SW corner of Chart One - Two Corporate State Rich Industrial Systems have formed what have some considered to be an unnatural alliance. After a failed attempt to form this partnership nineteen Galactic Standard Years ago, where, during the final, delicate negotiations, the felines of Ensoreus finally lost control of their instinctive urges and began to knock the Blue Frog delegates of Onrira around the table covering them in fluff in the process.

Both sides have denied that all of the most recent negotiations have been undertaken via Holo-3D Vid-Conferencing to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing incident.

In the short period since this financial product from "Alliances" hit the market the number of Commanders visiting these two systems has increased by 32.8% (the only requirement to hold an "Alliances" account is that new account holders must spend at least 21 standard days at one of the systems main stations).

It is said that the logo for "Alliances" harks back to the days when both systems had access to only the ageing Coriolis Stations and, as their Marketing Department points out, the logo also imitates the compass directions of North, South, East and West - clearly showing their intentions to spread the benefits of an Alliances account to the four corners of Chart One.

Slightly overtaken by current events but there's always



"Some years ago Isinorians were enthusiastic players in the sector’s Futures market. At the height of the bubble almost three-quarters of their planetary GDP was tied up in offworld speculations. But the escalation of the Thargoid war brought about a slump in large-scale trade; the resulting bank crashes hit Isinor hard, and the Sel, once a rival to the Legeesh Lotch, dropped through the floor."

I'd forgotten all about the excellent "isinorthern rock" from YAH - and a splendid little wiki-worthy back-story t' boot.

Bravo.

Not many newly qualified Commanders will ever visit Beanen, and who can blame them, poor and low tech, it can't afford to pay a decent price for that hold full of computers and farming equipment you're carrying and it so desperately craves. On your way in-system, you're as likely to be jumped by the ships of rival warlords and knights, who have mistaken you as a hired gun of one of their rivals, as you are by the genuine opportunist.

Well, some say that's the old Beanen. Allow me to explain:

A series of unfortunate jousting incidents lead to the death of not only King Leopold, but two days later, his heir, Prince Oswald. This just left poor, weedy, quiet Prince Ludwig who had left Beanen several years earlier to become an accountant. Before his new reign could be challenged Ludwig brought in his own private army to stabilise the system and this gave him a chance to reveal his plan.

At University Ludwig was befriended by the off-spring of the CEOs and Senior Partners of several big corporations. While they had all the money they could possibly want they were intrigued by the Heraldic System of Ludwig's home system and they wanted a piece of the pie. They wanted to be a Baron, or an Earl, or a Duke - no matter what the cost...

So, the Royal Bank of Beanen is open for business, providing you have a title, and of course you can have a title, for a price...

For the Commander who has everything else - a title is now yours for the taking (or at least - for the purchasing). A cellar full of vintage Lethal Brandy with every title - guaranteed.

You talk about buying a station - what if you actually could buy a station..? Put it near the sun, you'd get free fuel. Put it on the planet, you'd get cheap resources... Of course, you'd need to stay near it for it to be useful, but what if you could buy anything in the game? Escorts, trade ships, stations, planets.... Of course, if you buy too much, or do too much trading, you might have a local economic crash... say you bring a condor load of wheat into an agricultural system, then sell it below the planet's price? It could be a form of warfare, and a way for rich people to spend their money. Of course, it'd be pretty hard to implement (impossible?) but it would be very fun. It would be a great addition for if anyone ever made [blasphemy]multiplayer Oolite[/blasphemy]

This thread has gone a little quiet but I wanted to offer up a new bank (it was Gogz69 who set the mind a ticking), and pay homage to recent good work in the Constore thread:



EDIT: Just spotted the spelling mistake in "Financial" will fix and reupload!

EDIT: Done - did anybody notice my numptyness?

personally, I don't know if i'd take financial advice from a skull in a pirate hat & an eccentric looking doctor though!

Griff wrote:

personally, I don't know if i'd take financial advice from a skull in a pirate hat & an eccentric looking doctor though!

Actually, the sums up the current banking debacle pretty much does it not!

This is a wonderful thread. I do want to note (and hope I'm not a stick in the mud), that the back story of Black Monks mentioned that lending was limited to non profits and implied they were the only ones. New banks would have to rewrite the backs story a bit or provide an explanation as to why Black Monks don;t simply wipe them out of business.
The flip side is that if other banks offer much better less loan shark deals, then why would anyone deal with the Black Monks.
I think having the Black Monks be the only one who makes loans to offenders or fugitives is a good idea.

One must also consider that the life of a trader is a dangerous one which can end pretty abruptly, and dead men don't repay loans (and detroyed ships can't be resold).
You may want to demand regular banks demand that borrowers have either an escape capsule or be required to purchase 'loan insurance' which basically ads some percentage points to the loan as premium. It's similar to car loans that require insurance and mortgages that require insurance.

I like a lloyds of london idea, where rich pilots can partially insure a large shipment and receive a premium if the shipment makes it and have to cover a loss if it does not.

Chrisfs wrote:

I like a lloyds of london idea, where rich pilots can partially insure a large shipment and receive a premium if the shipment makes it and have to cover a loss if it does not.

Wait! It's just a simple bet on Your shipment success. I thought that Hoopy Casinos are for gambling, not insurance companies.

Chrisfs wrote:

I do want to note (and hope I'm not a stick in the mud), that the back story of Black Monks mentioned that lending was limited to non profits ...

That may not be entirely true ... if you're referring to Mr Gimlet's advice, then he may have been reluctant to offer any adverse commentary regarding the Bank of St Herod, especially to a stranger in a more-or-less public place ...

goran wrote:

Chrisfs wrote:

I like a lloyds of london idea, where rich pilots can partially insure a large shipment and receive a premium if the shipment makes it and have to cover a loss if it does not.

Wait! It's just a simple bet on Your shipment success. I thought that Hoopy Casinos are for gambling, not insurance companies.

AIGdequat is known for it's hoopy insurance companies

Quality ideas and I'm looking forward to it, but I have to sound a note of caution. I've worked in this sector and getting rich appears to be incompatible with a sense of humour...

...so after all the discussion we had in another thread about getting sued over derivative work (which I agree is unlikely)...

...banks are FIERCE when it comes to protecting their reputation (har har) and we need to be very very careful what we do with logos and backstories. Seriously. Parody is a defence in some countries, but not all.

Anyway, carry on! An idea... who regulates the galactic banks, and might they occasionally need "help" dealing with transgressions?