'Zine Shocks and Stares

        Nick Parish called on me for a chat when he was up in Oxford t'other
day, and very nice it was to see him too. The conversation fairly predictably
started on the twin subjects of music and boomerangs, but soon turned to the
subject of bourses. I had thought some days ago about how fine a game where
shares based on 'zines currently available and the concept of 'zines getting
prices which go up and down and can be compared against one another would be,
However, I wasn't sure if this idea was at all original. TurboNick said that
he thought rules for such a game had been printed in ZEEBY, but the problems
were so apparent that the game had never actually been tried.
        Naturally I was intrigued to know what the problems were; simply the
Zine Poll was seen as too unpredictable and it would be too hard to follow
zines' progresses throughout the game. It soon became apparent that I had
misunderstood just how bourse games worked, or rather, the way in which
players accrued Victory Points in them. By happy accident, the way I had
thought VPs were allocated may be more appropriate for a game based on
the progress of 'zines (though less appropriate than standard bourse rules
for a game based on the progress of countries in a Dip game). Hence this
is not a bourse as such, and in fact is a completely different game with
a completely different name. This isn't a gamestart as such, merely rules
for discussion. Should people feel these rules would make for a good game,
I might start one at some point in the future (heh, maybe after my exams
when a break in service is not looming). OMR would be a good zine to run
such a game in, with its high circulation and strong hobby news placing it
as a zine fairly central to the hobby already.

1. The shares in this game represent 'zines and will be named after them.
   The list of shares in the game will be drawn from Mission From God and
   'Zine Poll results. It may not be exhaustive. Each share will be given
   a starting price of one pound.
2. Each player shall start with one thousand shares of each type and ten
   thousand pounds in game cash.
3. Each turn, players buy shares from a central pool with an unlimited
   supply of each share, and can sell up to 500 of each of the different
   types of share that they own. No going into debt or fractional shares.
4. After all player transactions, each share in turn changes price. Each
   type will be considered in turn. The total number of shares of that type
   bought that turn less the total number of shares of that type sold that
   turn shall be calculated, this figure divided by 100 and rounded to the
   nearest integer; that number of pence shall be added to the value of
   that share. For example, if 750 shares in OMR are bought and 1310 shares
   in OMR are sold in one turn, this results in a net purchase of -560
   shares and a consequent fall in price of the OMR share by six pence.
Up to this point, I believe the rules are pretty much the same as that of
a bourse. The next rule, about allocation of VPs, is different. Attention!
5. Every turn each player receives Victory Points according to the total
   cash value of their shares and cash held after prices have changed. Each
   player must attempt to maximise the value of their portfolio each turn.
   The last turn shall be announced in advance, and may be announced to be
   worth double points. The player with the highest total of VPs accumulated
   over the game after the last turn wins the game. Ties are broken randomly.

The game, as it stands, has shares' values based purely on a random walk
as there is nothing to drive the market and make playerv irrationally
purchase or sell certain shares. Nothing makev any one share a better buy
than any other share at the moment - the winner would be the one who can
best predict the shares' random walks. I propose one of these two methods to
drive the market:

6. This is suitable for a relatively short game running from the start of a
   year to the end of that year's 'Zine Poll. As well as price changes driven
   by the market, share prices would arbitrarily change according to the
   zines' performances in 'zine awards (the 'zine poll winning zine's share
   instantly doubling and so on). Some schedule would be announced in advance
   based on how many 'zine polls, Gladys awards etc. there would be and how
   worthwhile success in them was felt to be.
7. This is suitable for a longer (several years) game. The only way a share's
   price could change other than purchase and sale would be were that 'zine
   to fold (either officially or by not appearing for, say, 6 months), when
   its value goes to zero permanently. 'Zines expected to run and run and not
   fold would be more valuable; worries about zines' futures would hit prices.