[DISC] OPS Debrief

Result: Partial success. Some people on the server have argued that this act had no or little impact on the prices. It still could have reached its goal of lowering prices to the $400K range. How?

Maybe if my reply didn't look like this:

Analysis of this proposed policy.

Phase One
Categorized as a government purchase program.

Beneficiaries: Obsidian sellers
Losers: Obsidian buyers, our budget
Overall impact: Loss

Phase Two
Categorized as a subsidy. Effective while our obsidian supply lasts.

Beneficiaries: Obsidian sellers (as an entire group), obsidian buyers
Losers: Our budget (who cares)
Overall impact: Loss

Phase Three
Also categorized as a price ceiling, done by artificially adding competition to the market.
Overlaps phase two, but carries on longer than phase two until someone decides to bump up the prices again.

Beneficiaries: None
Losers: Obsidian sellers, obsidian buyers (as an entire group; a single obsidian buyer may benefit)
Overall impact: Loss

Comments
The main concern is not to penalize obsidian sellers. In order to maintain price stability, obsidian sellers need to be willing to produce. We don't want obsidian sellers exiting the market. If we discourage miners too much, the goal will only be sustained for a short period of time.

The goal is to reduce obsidian prices. I don't expect this to be a long-lasting effect, unless we don't suddenly diarrhea-shit out obsidians into the market.

So we also need to encourage mining to maintain the natural equilibrium at a low price. This is why we should introduce SOPA. My vote is a conditional yes, on the condition that SOPA is passed.

There's also criticism that we're wasting our budget by buying overpriced obsidian.

I'd like it if we instead, bought them at whatever price they are selling for instead of a set price.

boat wrote:There's also criticism that we're wasting our budget by buying overpriced obsidian.

We should continue it, but from now on, we save to an extreme amount of Obsidians so that we don't run out and then the prices resume being outrageous.
We should also urge friends, and other members of the community to help us with this. NEWB shouldn't be just us and ToG.