Resource Management System

[Jamie]

Resource Management System​

DRAFT // EARLY REVISION​

I. Concept
The next two updates will see some major changes across the forum, the second update which will likely be early 2023 will see the implementation of a new Economy System which is been re-designed from the ground up with the intention of installing new features and opening the forum up to many new, meaningful roleplay scenarios. This would include the 'Resource Management System' that would allow the production, consumption, import and exporting of specific resources that will impact your country in more then one way.

II. The Resources
This would see a number (Unconfirmed quantity but could be between 10-20 types of resources) be introduced. For the purpose of the below documentation, a few examples are: Oil; Food; Gas; Metal. This is managed in five terminologies:

• PRODUCTION
  • Factories / Refineries can be built in-game using the Infrastructure forms and their price / resource are determined by the size. This can range from a small to a large factory. Once complete, you will see a 'PRODUCTION' quantity be added to your Stockpile (see below)every tax period.
• CONSUMPTION
  • Each resource will have a consumption quantity based on your population. For an example, each person in your country may use 2 units of gas a tax period. This would show in your consumption as to what is used domestically. This would be a fixed percentage for each type of resource, and subject to the countries population.
• IMPORT
  • Trade Submissions would be updated to allow resources to be sent to other players, this would allow a small number of resources per trade route (Number unconfirmed, but as an example, 3 resources per freight ship). This figure would be the number of units per resource that you are receiving from other players per tax period.
• EXPORT
  • Trade Submissions would be updated to allow resources to be sent to other players, this would allow a small number of resources per trade route (Number unconfirmed, but as an example, 3 resources per freight ship). This figure would be the number of units per resource that you are sending to other players per tax period.
• STOCKPILE
  • The equivalent of what you have available, this would be under the following formula: PRODUCTION + IMPORT - CONSUMPTION - EXPORT. To maintain your country, this should be at 0 or higher. If below, it can cause some serious problems domestically.

At the start of the system, and any new players, a 91-day immunity period would be granted before the consequences of missing resources would take place. This detracts from an emphasis on just military roleplay, invokes a more meaningful use for trade and something to seriously consider when managing your country.

III. Military and other Events
Although this would have huge non-military application, it would need to be a consideration for any operations. Militaries must be fed and supplied and by engaging in an operation, your CONSUMPTION rate per tax period would increase. This could mean you may be using more then you have available which would see your stockpile go down, or even develop into worse situations.
The exact same scenario would take place for other aspects of the forum, not just war. This could mean that the closing of certain canals would cause delays and a temporary modifier would be instilled; causing issues with trade and your countries resources. Perhaps it opens options to meet new friends to maintain your income.
It also means trade routes need to be protected, losing a ship currently full of rice or machinery - well, you don't really need to worry. Losing it with the Resource Management System in place, it could costs you millions, even billions of dollars.

VI. The Bonus
We have to acknowledge that certain countries have certain benefits due to their geographical location. This isn't always the case, but we would have an option to apply a "National Advantage". In the interest of fairness, this would only apply to one resource per country and would be based on real life. For example, a Middle Eastern country may receive more oil per tax period per factory, as a none-Middle Eastern country. This opens the doors for other countries to have a serious impact on the world and... quite frankly, be needed.

V. What extra 'Chores' would I need to do?
This is always the concern when we've ever had discussions of resources, or even other systems. I personally RP because I like it, I'm a fan of micromanagement to a degree and right now, I personally think MN has too many 'forms' to fill out (Disclaimer: I'm working on this, the next update will see a huge overhaul to reduce admin time for everyone).

FORTUNATELY! This isn't all that different. Trade Submissions are already done on the forum except this would be changed. We'd add the options to specify the resource, and how many units. Rather then just adding new fields to an already-over-populated form, we'd also look to reduce it.

Personally, I think we would get away with just having origin/departure as the nation, not the exact port. The removal of the interval, as this would be per tax period. We could also remove the route and work on the basis that it would take the most direct route... been realistic, you'd have a freight ship go down the Suez Canal as opposed to going around Africa unless IC affairs dictated otherwise.

This is just some examples but from a trade submission point of view, it'd be more meaningful and a little less, useless information.

Following that (which is already done), the only extra I could see in terms of workload would be building factories - but even then, that's an optional venture as discussing trade routes may be what you'd prefer. Letting others supply your resources, for a nice buck no doubt. $$$
In terms of the admin, I don't think this is too much in comparison with the benefits the system would have.

VII. The Pros and Cons
Even though it's an idea I'm pitching, I'd actually prefer to hear the cons. Modern Nations main focus is to be a geopolitical nation sim, not a war sim. If no one likes this idea, there's no problem with that but I would love to hear the feedback, good or bad.
The benefits I've considered are:

• Meaningful trade can take place, this isn't just a form that no one will ever use to export cargo that will also never be used. This lets trade routes be discussed in-game with genuine consideration for what your country needs.
• It's another expense. I suppose you could mark this as a con but most the transactions on the forum are military in nature. This would be a boost to none-military roleplay. I think that's a pro!
• New business opportunities, trading as a country is one thing but it opens a new revenue for a new or established business. It also means buying vehicles to transport the foods.
• Military application is good for those that prefer it. It means you could cut the supply lines and it really impact the player. If they don't have fuel, how can they launch their aircraft? Push them into submission!
• World affairs must be watched. You could easily live in Europe and avoid Asia at all costs ... unless you have a trade route that you rely on. What if pirates, or another state interrupt it? Security of your trade routes suddenly becomes... well, vital.
• Humanitarian aid becomes more then just a post! Delivering x amount of units of y resource to z country due to a wildfire? It matters!

So, I struggled with the cons. I'm not saying there isn't any, but from what I'd like to see, the only cons I could consider are whether it would be a chore of some sort, but I hope my points above would suggest otherwise.
From a staff team point of view, the new economy I'm working on reduces a lot of work elsewhere. I'm trying to make it as self-sufficient as possible with less manual work. This would be discussed with the full staff team to make sure it won't be unmanageable.

VIII. The finale
A few considerations that don't yet have solid answers as we would need to understand the impact, but I thought I'd mention them:

• What if a country leaves that has a trade route active? I'm not sure! There may be an argument that it stays active, but at the moment if a player leaves we consider it that the government has collapsed. If the trade route closed with a collapsing government, it would mean the world is forever changing and you would always need a backup and to be careful with which governments you deal with. I don't think it would be a bad thing, but at the same time, we could just keep it a valid route. Discussions to be had on this one!
  
• What would the resources be? We'd need a good amount to make it viable otherwise it would be too easy to just build factories for the 3 resources and job done! Ideally a good variety of options where some could have genuine impact.

This is a very early concept, some terminology/processes may change depending on the process but at the moment, we'd love to hear ANY AND ALL feedback!
Could this give a new lease of life to the RP / forum? Or just make everyone feel like it's a lil' bit of a chore.

 

[JamieA]

Believe it’s a great idea, would definitely gives us more to do and think about with our roleplaying

 

[JamieA]

Also I’d definitely like to see a photo or a possible working database to see it in person and get a feel for it

 

[Jamie]

It would essentially be a bunch of columns for each resource.
This would show the Resource name, production quantity, consumption, import, export then the stockpile.

Next to it would show your factories and what they bring in.
Then you would have the trade map, similar to how it is now but detailing the Resource difference.

 

[Odinson]

Jamie I really love this idea. I've always loathed trade because it feels worthless. I wanted to ask, and recommend, a couple of things:

1) In regards to section VIII, I think having trade routes last forever (if a player leaves) is not a good idea. Longstanding players will eventually have an immense trade advantage. Instead, perhaps players should have 30 RL days from the day that player is taken off the forum before that trade route "expires". This would give the person two tax periods to find a new trade route before they are with less resources. Also, an important thing here would be that it needs to be very clear when a player has been removed from the forum. This could be a tab on the forum that has an official list of players and their countries (like in the economy section) and that a player is not "removed" for trade purposes until they are removed from that list, or all trade partners of a country are sent an alert when a nation they are trading with has been removed. Either way, people need to know so that they can keep up to date and don't get frustrated.

2) I really like the idea of the "Stockpile" system and the simpleness of it as well. My question here is: what is my incentive to trade if I have more than the resources that I need? Do I get money for exporting resources, like in RL? Does the money come from the country, or from MN? Will there be a global set price for a resource, or are players meant to negotiate this themselves? For example, if the most valuable resource in the world is Fish, and you suddenly have Iceland join the game and they are one of these countries that you mentioned which has an abundance of Fish, but they only want to do the bare minimum of trade, what would be their incentive to do any more trade than they need to?

3) Let's say I have a large stockpile of Coal. Canada is at war and they have a negative balance of coal, and it is greatly hurting them. So, I decide to send a dozen cargo or trains to Canada loaded with coal to help with the war effort. Can I do this at no cost to myself besides seeing my stockpile go down?

4) I think the idea of making Humanitarian Aid matter will be especially exciting for B and especially C-List countries, as it can give them a bigger feeling of fulfillment (this is assuming that disasters actually happen where humanitarian aid can take place). I think this is brilliant.

5) As an Environmental Science graduate who took a lot of Geography and Economics classes, the most exciting thing to think about is what resources there will be. I have no idea how in-depth you are thinking about making this, resource-wise, but I'll share my ideas below. Basically the concept I have going here is that each "type" of resource has a small variety, that way it would become difficult for one country to have a total monopoly on, say, "Food" or "Fuel". I also added in "Refined Products" that need other resources in order for you to be able to make those.... Not sure if this is too complicated, but I thought I'd offer this idea just for the sake of it:



RAW RESOURCES

RAW FUEL RESOURCES - Will satisfy your country's need for fuel for transportation and military vehicles. The variety will allow nations to RP more green countries, or give them some say in who they are dependent to for their fuel.
Coal
Crude Oil
Natural Gas
Raw Chemicals

EARTHLY RESOURCES
Metal
Rubber
Sand
Uncut Gems
Water
Wood

FOOD RESOURCES - Will satisfy your country's need for food.
Fish
Fruits and Vegetables
Grains
Poultry
Red Meat
Rice



REFINED PRODUCTS

COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS
Alcohol/Spirits (Grain, Water)
Cars (Glass, Rubber, Metal)
Electronics (Glass, Semiconductors, Metal)
Glass (Sand)
Industrial Machinery (Metal, Semiconductors)
Pharmaceuticals (Refined Chemicals, Water)
Plastics (Crude Oil, Water)
Refined Chemicals (Raw Chemicals)
Jewlery (Uncut Gems)

REFINED FUELS
Biofuel (Grains, Water)
Refined Gasoline (Crude Oil, Natural Gas)
Hydrogen (Water, Metal)
Propane (Natural Gas, Metal)

 

[Jamie]

Thank you for your input! Please see the answer to your questions below:

What is my incentive to trade if I have more than the resources that I need?
Money! Technically if you have more then you need (+ figure in your stockpile) then you can trade it to gain money. Noting that it would work out more expensive to make a factory for every resource, then actually having trade routes (otherwise people could just spam factories which would make resources pointless).
Naturally, countries with more money would be more self sufficient. You could also exchange it for other resources that another person would have.
Another incentive is to increase your stockpile even further - having more then you need just protects you from any government collapses, gives you more flexibility in war, etc.

Do I get money for exporting resources, like in RL? Does the money come from the country, or from MN?
Up to you! This is managed by yourself, the same as you selling products. If you sell a tank, you get a player to transfer you the money.
Same scenario - if you want to sell x units of y, then charge the player z.

Will there be a global set price for a resource, or are players meant to negotiate this themselves? For example, if the most valuable resource in the world is Fish, and you suddenly have Iceland join the game and they are one of these countries that you mentioned which has an abundance of Fish, but they only want to do the bare minimum of trade, what would be their incentive to do any more trade than they need to?
Not yet confirmed but I'd like to see a global set price that fluctuates based on supply / demand. If there was a higher demand for it (because people didn't have many available), then the price would go up. That would be the set price but as always, the individual player could quite easily charge more if they wish, or even less just to be more competitive.

Let's say I have a large stockpile of Coal. Canada is at war and they have a negative balance of coal, and it is greatly hurting them. So, I decide to send a dozen cargo or trains to Canada loaded with coal to help with the war effort. Can I do this at no cost to myself besides seeing my stockpile go down?
If it's done through a military operation, the operation cost would still be applied on top of the stockpile going down.
If it's done through a trade route, then it would only impact the stockpile but you'd need to have a mode of transport to deliver the cargo (I.e. an available freight ship).