Edit: please vote up the article on eRepublik - the more citizens can read this the better ERX will be in the end :)
The idea of a stock exchange for eRepublik came to me many months ago, quite naturally. We've got a monetary market and a semi-realistic economy, so why not also a way to trade shares and invest into companies?
The first steps:
A few ideas were thrown around, a small amount of community feedback gathered and development on the basics started. Much later however, it dawned on me that such a project could not be successful without two key ingredients:
1) some thorough planning: which features to include and skip over, how to implement them best and how to protect investors while still ensuring some level of share ownership.
2) a way to interact with eRepublik accounts; an Application Programming Interface (API) that would be used mainly to transfer gold between investors and general managers.
At the time both of these were missing, and so the project went into a standstill and not much was heard for several months. Recently however, a private beta of the eRepublik API was released, and so my interest was sparked once again. Although it works really well and some of my tools already utilize some of its features, the gold transfer option is not yet activated and therefore cannot be used in apps yet.
Unfortunately the release date of the eAPI has just been pushed back another 3-8 weeks due to team restructuring. The eRepublik devs want to focus on fixing the core game first before opening it up to the outside world. This of course means that ERX won't be able to go live for the duration of this time.
State of the Project:
All the basic functions of the stock exchange are already finished and working as intended. Upon logging in users can buy/sell shares, monitor companies & investments in real time, view stock performance graphs and many other minor things. Here are a few screenshots from the current alpha build:
Nonetheless, some essential features remain to be coded, but before moving on I wanted to ask the community for feedback/suggestions on some rather complicated issues:
1) How can we insure that investors are protected, i.e. that GMs won't run off with shareholder invested gold?
2) Share ownership - if an investors comes to own 51% of the shares, should the current GM of the organization be forced to give up his entire org to the investor?
3) How will dividends function? Should the GM be forced by investors to pay out unused gold in the org account to shareholders via a voting system? Or should dividends be left up to the GM to make his stock look attractive?
What do YOU think?
Some of the aforementioned issues may at first glance seem like they have obvious solutions, but the truth is that the eWorld != the real world, and for the sake of simplicity or due to lack of game-side enforcement many aspect of the stock exchange will have to be ignored or simplified to make all of this viable and attractive to citizens.
I have come up with a few potential solutions to these challenges, but before I go any further I would like to hear what the community thinks. What is your take on these issues, what are your ideas? What are the features you want/don't want to see?
You will notice that a comment system has now been implemented on erepublik.ws, so go ahead and post your ideas, suggestions or concerns. Alternatively you can also reach me directly by emailing me.
Posted by Trixi 538 days ago:
Superb!
my advice for number :
1. We can use admins feature "contracts" you know, any abuse would be penalized by temporary/perma ban.
2. Yes, i agree
3. Devidents in my view, is an obligation to be transferred to the shareholders in a particular amount and period of time. Maybe once in 1 or 2 week with the amount as written in the contract. So it's surely must have been proposed first before putted on a contract.
We're expecting much from this feature m8. Thank you^^
Posted by Salinger/red star corporation 538 days ago:
I can't wait till it gets out!
As for your question (#1) I suppose you could inform the admins of you project, and with their cooperation, the GM's that steal from investors will get banned. And of course, don't forget to write that on the first page of the ERX!
Posted by Luuklag 537 days ago:
Question 1:
Just make a contract, so for example, an ORG wants gold to upgrade to a next quality lvl. Make a contract in wich states that if the owner of the org fails to make the upgrade after all shares have been sold al the gold goes back, and he gets 1 forfeit point.
question 2:
Just make it that an org can only give out 49% of the stock, and that he has to keep at least 51%. Just as easy as that.
question 3: Make it optional. Dividend is the profit that isn't reserved for anything. But in erep its really hard to tell whats profit, since you can donate to your company / org. or sell local currencie for gold, so this would be way to easy to avoid.
Posted by Gentyle 535 days ago:
1) Make either the Org take steps before it is listed in ERX. Maybe a bond system where they place gold into a holding as a fail-safe. Contracts as mentioned by others. Maybe some sort of backing by an "insurance" company. The insurance thing could be a money maker as well.
2) I think share-based takeovers should be possible as in the real world. It would add a new dynamic to the game.
3) Not all stocks pay dividends in RL. It could be same in eRep. People can decide to buy stock based on that. Maybe a stock that pays dividends stays around a consistent price while one that does not pay dividends possibly raises in price higher.
Posted by AidenAstrup 451 days ago:
I would have to agree with Gentyle for number one. Make them deposit money...and a contract is always nice. Even having to wait a few days before you get your company listed is worth the security and makes sense.
For number two...no ownership rights, the GM should decide themselves what they want to do in that situation
Three - they should pick their own dividend amount...
The idea of a stock exchange for eRepublik came to me many months ago, quite naturally. We've got a monetary market and a semi-realistic economy, so why not also a way to trade shares and invest into companies?
The first steps:
A few ideas were thrown around, a small amount of community feedback gathered and development on the basics started. Much later however, it dawned on me that such a project could not be successful without two key ingredients:
1) some thorough planning: which features to include and skip over, how to implement them best and how to protect investors while still ensuring some level of share ownership.
2) a way to interact with eRepublik accounts; an Application Programming Interface (API) that would be used mainly to transfer gold between investors and general managers.
At the time both of these were missing, and so the project went into a standstill and not much was heard for several months. Recently however, a private beta of the eRepublik API was released, and so my interest was sparked once again. Although it works really well and some of my tools already utilize some of its features, the gold transfer option is not yet activated and therefore cannot be used in apps yet.
Unfortunately the release date of the eAPI has just been pushed back another 3-8 weeks due to team restructuring. The eRepublik devs want to focus on fixing the core game first before opening it up to the outside world. This of course means that ERX won't be able to go live for the duration of this time.
State of the Project:
All the basic functions of the stock exchange are already finished and working as intended. Upon logging in users can buy/sell shares, monitor companies & investments in real time, view stock performance graphs and many other minor things. Here are a few screenshots from the current alpha build:
Nonetheless, some essential features remain to be coded, but before moving on I wanted to ask the community for feedback/suggestions on some rather complicated issues:
1) How can we insure that investors are protected, i.e. that GMs won't run off with shareholder invested gold?
2) Share ownership - if an investors comes to own 51% of the shares, should the current GM of the organization be forced to give up his entire org to the investor?
3) How will dividends function? Should the GM be forced by investors to pay out unused gold in the org account to shareholders via a voting system? Or should dividends be left up to the GM to make his stock look attractive?
What do YOU think?
Some of the aforementioned issues may at first glance seem like they have obvious solutions, but the truth is that the eWorld != the real world, and for the sake of simplicity or due to lack of game-side enforcement many aspect of the stock exchange will have to be ignored or simplified to make all of this viable and attractive to citizens.
I have come up with a few potential solutions to these challenges, but before I go any further I would like to hear what the community thinks. What is your take on these issues, what are your ideas? What are the features you want/don't want to see?
You will notice that a comment system has now been implemented on erepublik.ws, so go ahead and post your ideas, suggestions or concerns. Alternatively you can also reach me directly by emailing me.
Comments (5) [Add]
Posted by Trixi 538 days ago:
Superb!
my advice for number :
1. We can use admins feature "contracts" you know, any abuse would be penalized by temporary/perma ban.
2. Yes, i agree
3. Devidents in my view, is an obligation to be transferred to the shareholders in a particular amount and period of time. Maybe once in 1 or 2 week with the amount as written in the contract. So it's surely must have been proposed first before putted on a contract.
We're expecting much from this feature m8. Thank you^^
Posted by Salinger/red star corporation 538 days ago:
I can't wait till it gets out!
As for your question (#1) I suppose you could inform the admins of you project, and with their cooperation, the GM's that steal from investors will get banned. And of course, don't forget to write that on the first page of the ERX!
Posted by Luuklag 537 days ago:
Question 1:
Just make a contract, so for example, an ORG wants gold to upgrade to a next quality lvl. Make a contract in wich states that if the owner of the org fails to make the upgrade after all shares have been sold al the gold goes back, and he gets 1 forfeit point.
question 2:
Just make it that an org can only give out 49% of the stock, and that he has to keep at least 51%. Just as easy as that.
question 3: Make it optional. Dividend is the profit that isn't reserved for anything. But in erep its really hard to tell whats profit, since you can donate to your company / org. or sell local currencie for gold, so this would be way to easy to avoid.
Posted by Gentyle 535 days ago:
1) Make either the Org take steps before it is listed in ERX. Maybe a bond system where they place gold into a holding as a fail-safe. Contracts as mentioned by others. Maybe some sort of backing by an "insurance" company. The insurance thing could be a money maker as well.
2) I think share-based takeovers should be possible as in the real world. It would add a new dynamic to the game.
3) Not all stocks pay dividends in RL. It could be same in eRep. People can decide to buy stock based on that. Maybe a stock that pays dividends stays around a consistent price while one that does not pay dividends possibly raises in price higher.
Posted by AidenAstrup 451 days ago:
I would have to agree with Gentyle for number one. Make them deposit money...and a contract is always nice. Even having to wait a few days before you get your company listed is worth the security and makes sense.
For number two...no ownership rights, the GM should decide themselves what they want to do in that situation
Three - they should pick their own dividend amount...
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