Trafficking Changes in V2

[tim|away]

Seeing as there has been a bit of confusion about the tafficking in V2, I'll try to provide some clarification and facts in this thread.

What is the problem?
As some of you might have noticed, there is a problem with the local dealer which allows players to constantly sell drugs at a very high price level - the price simply doesn't decrease as drugs are being sold. As a result of that there was a significant imbalance which needed to be taken care of.


What has been done to antagonise said imbalance?
In order to prevent 400m+ scores at the end of the round, we have equalised the upper and lower price at the local dealer. We could also have disqualified everyone who was silently taking advantage of this problem which did seem a bit harsh to us.

Who is affected by this problem and who is not?
Accounts that are basing their strategy on drug trafficking are affected by this change for the rest of the round. In short: about 15 of 2,500 accounts. At the time it appeared to be a reasonable call to let 0.6% of the players adapt to the new settings whilst providing an improved overall balance for everyone else. There are three players who have reported themselves and therefore been offered to receive either their tokens back or to continue their game as is. Everyone who was hoping to get away whilst secretly taking advantage of this problem, has to continue their game as is.

How does this affect said 0.6% of the players?
Before making this call, I have simulated how badly concerned players will actually suffer from this change. I have estimated a realistic worth of more than 250m in A-Games after 23 days with 8 days to go. However, this means nothing to you as I might be making figures up to support my point. Let's run the very simple maths.

Two of my former fellow members and I have tested drug traffic for 5 days in order to make proper assumptions. Our main objective was to find the average difference between upper and lower price.I have been slacking slightly wherefore I ended up with an average margin of only $9.5 whereas my two friends achieved $9.6 and $9.7 respectively. In short: It is easily possible to pruchase your drugs at price x whilst selling them at (x + [$9.5 - $9.7]). We will calculate with a profit of $9 which is lower than the value we determined.

Riding the subway costs 1 token in V2; We will ignore the stations that take 2 tokens to get to. The dealer limit is 192,000 and you have 4 transactions. I will assume that we have the 384,000 coat in order to sell 2*192,000 per trip as well as buying 2*192,000.

Considering that the market maturation system has an impact on one's profit, I will assume that you either run junkies or get your money through trafficking to obtain the 384,000 coat for $78m on day 10. We have 13 days of trafficking from here so let's crunch some numbers ...

profit per token (1 token to ride the subway):
192,000 * 2 * $9 = $3.456m
by the way, this equals the income of more than 5,600 junkies working for you at 175%. remember that we have this income from day 10 to 23.

tokens per 24h: 120

total profit made in 13 days:
money: 120*$3.456m*13 = $5.391bn

$5.391bn / $1000 = 5.391m vests

5.391m * $38.5 = 207m+ networth


So let me sum this up quickly: We haved ignored your gain in worth over the first 10 days completely and I also assumed you have no theft credits, junkies, machines or anything else that would provide a steady flow of weapons, money respectively. Taking team efforts out of the equation as well and assuming that you don't hoard at any point, your worth should be well over 200 million at this point.

As always I stand to be corrected. We aren't dealing with secret facts here. They are either known or can be easily figured out by everyone who's playing this game.


That being said, let me follow up my favourite quotes from other threads on this subject.

i don't understand why its been hastily introduced in the middle of the game. such a drastic change is bound to effect many people's strats. what happened to involving the players in the process of fine tuning the game? i don't suppose there's any chance of getting all the tokens back that many of us have wasted now. you gotta feel sorry for those poor fools who donate to this game.
i bet the admins will find away to shaft some1 n ruin this some how....:S
you prophecy has come true

Seeing that you consider yourself to be a skilled player, I am sure you will finish well over 200m. You will outscore every machinist, gunner and junkie player easily and I can see the big smile on your face knowing that the only players you're up against are traffickers like you.

who knows, perhaps if all the donators get alienated we'll see to what extent the game is dependent on them.

Do you even realise the irony, darling? We aren't running this page to make profit. I know for a fact that Jacx, unlike me, is working his fingers to the bone whilst constantly having to put up with the needless moaning. Actually, I should ask you why Jacx and I are doing this job. You might realise one day that there really is no reason except for caring for this place.

Keep indulging us with your happiness, sir, and keep in mind that at the end of the day it's a bloody online game.

I wish you a christmas that will fill you with joy and happiness.

[p0et]

nice one tim and merry christmas everyone:cheers2:

[seasider]

ok tim, let me first wish you and your family as well as everyone connected with dopewars a very merry christmas.

secondly: i take issue with the figures you presented as while i have been experimenting with this strat the lowest price i have been able to find to buy at is $25 and the best selling price is $33. admittedly a tidy profit but my simple high school maths makes that a profit of $8 dollars per drug unit. if i'm missing something i'd be more than happy for you to point it out. furthermore i found the prices did fluctuate to the point that my average profit was approx $5 dollars per unit, although as i am new to this strat i may have been missing something that would have increased this.

thirdly: for you to imply that trying this strat is somehow borderline cheating is a little offensive. not only did i undertake it in good faith i also discussed it on forums accessed by leading dopewars players such as dc, ridge and steff and no-one suggested this would be bending or breaking the rules. on previous occasions when something has been suggested that might contravene the rules warnings have been issued and heeded.

forth: as for considering myself a skilled player; i make no such claim.

here's to a great 2008 :pot:

EDIT: surely the market must have matured in B games now

EDIT: "darling" really? thats very sweet of you

[Smash Bros]

ok tim, let me first wish you and your family as well as everyone connected with dopewars a very merry christmas.

secondly: i take issue with the figures you presented as while i have been experimenting with this strat the lowest price i have been able to find to buy at is $25 and the best selling price is $33. admittedly a tidy profit but my simple high school maths makes that a profit of $8 dollars per drug unit. if i'm missing something i'd be more than happy for you to point it out. furthermore i found the prices did fluctuate to the point that my average profit was approx $5 dollars per unit, although as i am new to this strat i may have been missing something that would have increased this.

thirdly: for you to imply that trying this strat is somehow borderline cheating is a little offensive. not only did i undertake it in good faith i also discussed it on forums accessed by leading dopewars players such as dc, ridge and steff and no-one suggested this would be bending or breaking the rules. on previous occasions when something has been suggested that might contravene the rules warnings have been issued and heeded.

forth: as for considering myself a skilled player; i make no such claim.

here's to a great 2008 :pot:

EDIT: surely the market must have matured in B games now

EDIT: "darling" really? thats very sweet of you

there is nothing wrong with the strat. what the complaint is that there can be a misuse of the strat with the less tokens and able to see the market etc..


ohhh and to help you out with your profit of $8 here is some maths that will help you out to figure at that price....



profit per token (1 token to ride the subway):
192,000 * 2 * $8 = $3.072m

tokens per 24h: 120

total profit made in 13 days:
money: 120*$3.072m*13 = $4.792bn

$4.792bn / $1000 = 4.792m vests

4.792m * $38.5 = $184m+ networth



that might help. ohhh and if you say your profit was more at $5 here it is again for you.



profit per token (1 token to ride the subway):
192,000 * 2 * $5 = $1.920m

tokens per 24h: 120

total profit made in 13 days:
money: 120*$1.920m*13 = $2.995bn

$2.995bn / $1000 = 2.995m vests

2.995m * $38.5 = $115m+ networth

[seasider]

thanks ben, i agree with your maths 100% - i was going to publish the same figures but didn't feel it strictly necessary to support my position.

[Tca]

your all a fucking buncha nerds :giggle:

[Chas]

First of all I hope everyone had a great christmas and best wishes all DW players and their familys


with the way you have phrased bits of your statement tim you basically accusing people who have ran this strat of trying cheat

silently taking advantage of this problem
secretly taking advantage of this problem

If using this strat is cheating why is written on the log-in page as a way to play the game

Join over 7,500 active players and try your hand at creating an online drug empire! Buy your favorite narcotic at one subway station and sell it else where for profits! But that's not all, the more you make, the more you can pimp-it-up with bigger, badder jackets, weapons and armor. You can use these to jump other players and steal their goods or increase your trafficking volume.

And also in How to Play in Oddthought wiki it's one of the first strats/tips/piece of advice w/e you come to

Trafficing
This is the simplest and most common way of quickly making money in the game however can be less effective over a game-long period. Simply traffic goods from one subway station to another. An example of how money can be made this way: Say you buy 6,000 units of LSD at Union Station for $21 each (total cost of $126,000) and then ride the subway to York University and sell all 6,000 units for $31 each (total proceeds of $186,000) you just made a quick and easy $10 per unit times 6,000 units, a total profit of $60,000!

So is this legit or not ?

also while running this strat I test spent $100,000 on quite a few occasions and found vests to be worth 36.9 and not 38.5

While V2 was being tested I ran this strat for 3 rounds and won each time (i'm not bragging) 2 rounds ago my score was virtually double that of the players that came 7th,8th,9th ,10th...Now seeing that the game was still being tested at this stage why wasn't this picked up on then ? and it's been left till now when the game is supposed to be working properly (medals awarded,,prize money)......I also pm'ed you in game and here on the forum (when some adjusting had been done to the values in game ) when this game was still in beta testing and nothing was mentioned about the strat being borderline cheating

[Smash Bros]

First of all I hope everyone had a great christmas and best wishes all DW players and their familys


with the way you have phrased bits of your statement tim you basically accusing people who have ran this strat of trying cheat

silently taking advantage of this problem
secretly taking advantage of this problem

If using this strat is cheating why is written on the log-in page as a way to play the game

Join over 7,500 active players and try your hand at creating an online drug empire! Buy your favorite narcotic at one subway station and sell it else where for profits! But that's not all, the more you make, the more you can pimp-it-up with bigger, badder jackets, weapons and armor. You can use these to jump other players and steal their goods or increase your trafficking volume.

And also in How to Play in Oddthought wiki it's one of the first strats/tips/piece of advice w/e you come to

Trafficing
This is the simplest and most common way of quickly making money in the game however can be less effective over a game-long period. Simply traffic goods from one subway station to another. An example of how money can be made this way: Say you buy 6,000 units of LSD at Union Station for $21 each (total cost of $126,000) and then ride the subway to York University and sell all 6,000 units for $31 each (total proceeds of $186,000) you just made a quick and easy $10 per unit times 6,000 units, a total profit of $60,000!

So is this legit or not ?

also while running this strat I test spent $100,000 on quite a few occasions and found vests to be worth 36.9 and not 38.5

While V2 was being tested I ran this strat for 3 rounds and won each time (i'm not bragging) 2 rounds ago my score was virtually double that of the players that came 7th,8th,9th ,10th...Now seeing that the game was still being tested at this stage why wasn't this picked up on then ? and it's been left till now when the game is supposed to be working properly (medals awarded,,prize money)......I also pm'ed you in game and here on the forum (when some adjusting had been done to the values in game ) when this game was still in beta testing and nothing was mentioned about the strat being borderline cheating

because there was a glitch in the way it was working it was illegal.

usually no there is nothing wrong with this strat. although cause people were taking advantage of it without reporting anything they have been fucked over and it has been fixed and shit.

[Spork!!!]

Im glad it's fixed. Lots of us have better things to do with our time than playing such a time consuming strat, but still enjoy being competitive.

[steff]

Chas it's unfair to have a strategy where in the right hands could treble a normal strategy. The game is supposed to be as fair and as equal as possible. It will be toned down, not eradicated.

[seasider]

but it still hasn't 'matured' so you can hardly call that a 'feature' there is another word beginning with 'f' that springs to mind

[Uganja]

i only see those partaking in the strategy being those that refer to themselves as cheaters.


Something about self fulfilling prophecy springs to mind. Adapt your strat, like all good players do

[Chas]

Chas it's unfair to have a strategy where in the right hands could treble a normal strategy. The game is supposed to be as fair and as equal as possible. It will be toned down, not eradicated.

I do know this and i'm all for it being bought in to line with other strats..I was basically trying to point out that I thought this would have been picked up on while this was still in testing stage

Thses are the scores from 2 rounds ago

Game A Test Round #3 (Oct 15th - Nov 1st)
TOP PLAYERS
1 Fred (#3) A12 $293,962,884
2 skilcraft200 (#153) A1 $187,415,165
3 monggonjon (#220) A1 $172,830,944
4 convict (#20) A6 $157,216,426
5 ohalloran (#132) A6 $154,317,795
6 ~3~FoOtEr (#9) A4 $149,974,086
7 K°A°Ç°K° (#8) A1 $149,854,411
8 ~3~FoOtEr (#10) A3 $149,710,992
9 I?dì?? (#273) A1 $149,582,944
10 David Miscavige (#59) A1 $149,310,064


Seeing as admin post these scores and the game was being tested that someone would have noticed how unfair it is and sorted it out then rather than leave until now when the game was supposed to be running properly....thats all I was saying

[seasider]

market is still not 'matured' in B games and silence from he who would 'make this game fly'

hope everything is cool my teutonic brother

[tim|away]

Firstly, excuse the delay, I was busy enjoying my valuable time with the family which others most obviously have done too.

As far as some figures here are concerned, it's admirable that those who are new to the trafficking strategy share their own experiences in order to point out that they can't make as much profit as others. The upper price wasn't $33, the lower price wasn't $25 and the difference was $11 - not $8.

As far as being called a cheat is concerned, we don't call people a cheat and leave them playing the game. We will review the case and delete the account if necessary - we don't threaten to delete anyone. Let it be said that neither was anyone called a cheat nor was anyone deleted for trafficking. I was trying to point out that there was an imbalance which needed to be taken care of. It was possible to gain more than 200m worth in 13 out of 32 days and the figures I've used were even lower than what players actually experienced. With a couple of tweaks one could make a profit of more than $9 per token while the profit in V1 was about $6 per 2 (!) tokens. In short: the profit was three times higher than it was in V1 which I consider to be a major imbalance. Therefore, it's hardly surprising that there are threads called "bullshit scores" in the AIW section.

I'm puzzled as to how less than 1% of all players are so focused on their individual profit whilst completely ignoring the overall balance of the game. Despite the changes that have been made, you could easily win this game as proven by "Sebor" in A1.

Carry on!

i only see those partaking in the strategy being those that refer to themselves as cheaters.
"]nothing like winning the room
and
Crying About It !

[spinningbone]

I totally agree, if people want to take the time to traffic still, then let them do so...Now that they dont have to consume all their time in that strat, their mad cause they cant keep their scores at the top...If they still play it right, they will be at the top, but they just wont have the enormous leads that they once did...In all, i think it was a good move to fix the problem, and those that used that strat should be thankful they got to finish out the rounds...

[Expectation]

Sorry that this is late, but how is this much different from AD and TLB abusing the back-button bug during trafficking. Clearly, those scores are typically unreasonable.

[seasider]

well it didn't involve using a little known bug...