Many people believe that our alter egos are an extension of ourselves. Similarly, many people also believe that the games we play (board games, video games, text based games...etc) are an extension of life. In recent history, we have witnessed two world wars and hundreds of smaller wars. In this game, in every single reset, there are a few major wars and several smaller wars.

Have you ever wondered why all these wars occur? It's simple. We are playing a zero-sum game. When country A attacks invades country B and steals their land, country A prospers from the new land and country B suffers. In a football game, teams battle to secure a win in order to earn points so that they can move up the standings. The losing team fails to earn any points and moves closer to the bottom of the standings. This is another example of a zero-sum game.

My idea is to turn this game into a non-zero sum game. A game where those who assist each other are rewarded and will prosper, while those who do not act kindly towards others will suffer the consequences and will eventually become extinct. My goal is to not only change this game, but to change the world.

Unfortunately, there is only one way to achieve this goal. The system must be altered so that the current warmongering behavior that's prevalent is punished rather than rewarded. Ideally, our own behavior should be enough to turn this game into a non-zero sum game but we are simply not programmed in a way where we can succeed in this endeavor.

Imagine a game where warstats would be a thing of the past. Imagine a game where you wouldn't have to worry about NAP or retaliation policies. Imagine a game where everyone would win. Now, take this idea one step further and imagine a world where everyone wins. A world where crooked salesmen and manipulative criminals become extinct because their actions no longer provide them with rewards.

Some of you may think that this is simply not possible but I assure you that it is. Anything that we can imagine can one day become possible and everything I discussed has been debated for years by everyone from scholars to lowly members of RD. The only thing that's holding us back is ourselves. In order to make this a reality you must refuse to kowtow to those who attempt to convince you that you must continue abiding by the status quo.

Together, we can make a difference. We can take control of our lives and our world.

im in

LOL... no, just no...

You've made the right decision. Let's wait a few days and then come up with a set of rules we can all agree to and begin the process of transforming this game and our world for the betterment of every species.

Bugger off. You'll be extinct soon anyway.

You obviously haven't heard of ghost acres.

Lay off the weed

the game is already a non-zero sum game.
from ghost acres to exploring to teching/cashing to the way research allies work.

thread.fail

Agreed. I too am a communist

You don't know the difference between zero-sum and non-zero sum.

Knowledge fail.

+1 thread fail. There is no point system in standings for football...

The point of this game is to win, not hold hands and sing kumbaya

HAHAHAHA!

ZERO-SUM GAME: A SITUATION IN WHICH A PARTICIPANT'S GAIN (OR LOSS) OF UITILITY IS EXACTLY BALANCED BY THE LOSSES (OR GAINS) OF THE UTILITY OF THE OTHER PARTICIPANT(S)

NON-ZERO SUM: A SITUATION IN WHICH THE INTERACTING PARTIES' AGGREGATE GAINS AND LOSSES ARE EITHER LESS THAN OR MORE THAN ZERO.

MARTIAN GAVE YOU SEVERAL PERFECT EXAMPLES OF THIS GAME BEING NON-ZERO SUM. HIS KNOWLEDGE IS UNASSAILABLE. AND A LITTLE SEXY!

cut it out vic!

The problem is, you can't live by both a "zero sum game" and "non-zero sum game" ideology simultaneously. So the only way to gain adherents is to move them away from their current ideology. Therefore, the act of spreading this ideology is itself a zero-sum game.

-Fooglmog
Guy with no clue.

foog where is my money!

Already procreated Ramses, so my kind is safe. Good luck with your silly pipe dream though...

Bots are thee answer

Exchanges occur most frequently when both parties value the goods they're giving up less than the goods they are receiving. For instance, if an orange farmer wants to make an apple pie and an apple farmer wants some orange juice, they could get together and exchange their oranges and apples. Each of them has a lot of the good they're giving up (it's thus less valuable) and they don't have any of the good they're receiving (thus it's more valuable). Now if this were a closed system, then it's very simple.

Of course it's not that simple, because a New York Merchant decides he wants to sell oranges in New York. He goes down to Florida and buys a truck load of oranges and drives them back to New York. What's the merchant's product? It's the oranges + transporting the oranges to New York.

Long story short, most transactions are not zero sum with one winner and one loser; most transactions have two or more winners and no losers.

The answer is landtrading!!!

Dude, seriously, you gotta hook me up. The stuff your smoking is way, way better than what I can get.

Hook me up, dude.

fluffin commies

Nah Vic is way better than this........ I wouldn't even put him at this level of ... I don't even have term for this.
/walks off

It surely sounds a little like Vic in his bad days.

lmfao

lmfao

You sure your not ODing on acid atm? or Crack ?

lol you guys are nuts.
if you think i remember anything about earth2025 4a server or whatever nonsense Shady Bunch/ Dutch Bunch this guy is on about, you are insane.

if you think i knew about some of those names this guy was throwing around - yet hadn't mentioned them in all of my AT archive exploits, you are insane. this guy is from a different group of players - his references completely escape me and if i were ever attempting to troll AT and be funny - it would look WAY different than this.


i will surely go to battle on AT when people troll me or i feel i am being attacked.
but this guy is a whole other element.

he actually started sending me harassing pm's and then out of no where began to cc tulosba on them.
tulosba ... wtf??? both me and tulosba have no idea what this guy is on about and it was funny at first but frankly if any of you actually think in any sort of way this could be somehow someway possibly me, you are absolutely insane.

i have NO idea how to use proxies. i've NEVER used proxies. there are just so many things about this guy's delivery, his content, his reactions, his sentence formulation that just couldn't even be me trying to be someone else.



not me. in any way shape or form.
i'm just thinking about it - when i get all worked up, i type like the above. all over the place, no care for sentence structure or fluidity of thought. this guy types very VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY differently under pressure.

+1

RamsesII fails. If this were a zero sum game then for every happy player there would be an unhappy one. In an online game this would result in the player base shrinking very rapidly resulting in system failiure. Plus batman rides an elephant.

It is one thing to claim it is possible to achieve, but until you present a credible plan, there is nothing of substance here.

Why is warmongering a bad thing?

I love to hug my wood like the average guy, but plenty people like the challenge of warring as much as others like the challenge of being T10?

how this game is currently is fundamental to my participation for many a year :)

DFA, enjoy hugging your wood:)

"Hugging wood" mhm lol

I thought your goal was to discredit Patience for nearly ruining your career & marriage...?

I thought his goal was to conquer the Assyrians.

the game "nuclear war" is not a zero sum game.
:)

this is a weird post

Jesus? Is that you?

guess again, he wears sandals and drives an ass

This guy must have a direct source of Alaskan Thunderfluff. Dude, Hook me up!

I can't tell if you truly don't know the difference between zero sum and non-zero sum or if you're simply being stubborn just to disagree with me since you seem to dislike me for some reason.

Here's the basic difference between the two:
A zero-sum game is also called a strictly competitive game while non–zero-sum games can be either competitive or non-competitive. (taken from wikipedia).

Here's an example:

In football (or soccer for you North Americans), the bottom 2 teams are relegated at the end of the year. Heading into the last week of the year, the bottom 4 teams have the same amount of points. Let's call these teams, Team A, Team B, Team C & Team D

Team A plays Team Z, who is in 10th place and has no chance of being relegated. Team D plays Team X, who also has no chance of being relegated. Team B plays Team C. At the start of these games, Team A, B, C & D are all playing to win because they want to avoid relegation. The game between Team A & Team Z and Team D & X both end 5 minutes before the other game. When these games end, the score of this game is flashed on the scoreboard while Team B is playing Team C. Team A & Team D both lost.

With 5 minutes left to play, the score between Team B & Team C is 1-1. Up until this point they played a hard fought game. After all, it IS a zero-sum game. However, as soon as the managers of Team B & Team C learned that Team A & D lost, they instructed their teams not to take chances and focus on maintaining a tie since 1 point would be enough to avoid relegation.

During the last 5 minutes, both teams stopped attacking and started wasting time by passing the ball around in the midfield zone. Thus, due to the circumstances, this became a non-zero sum game.

Football is a zero-sum game even when there is a tie because teams are playing to win. Your example of 1 happy person per 1 sad person doesn't make sense.

You've got some nerve. If you don't retract this statement then I publicly request that Pang read both of our PM's but only the ones we sent each other. Then he can publicly announce which one of us is guilty of harassment. For the record, I'm the one who asked you to stop sending PM's.



What pressure?

Why are you twisting my words? I took responsibility for the downward spiral I experienced and I believe that, to a certain extent, I have resolved most of my problems.

My goal was to a) uncover the truth & b) to exact justice on the person I believe was responsible for illegal and immoral activities. I believe this person is Patience but I have had a change of heart and I no longer want to pursue this matter any further. There comes a time in a person's life when they begin to realize the importance of age, time & wisdom.

Patience & I are about the same age. We are very different people and, again, although her actions were far worse than anything I ever did, I don't believe this is worth pursuing. I've also just discovered that apparently you eliminated RD from this game. I don't know if this is simply a ruse perpetrated by the admins to give the illusion that action is being taken to reduce cheating in the game in order to appease the honest players but for now at least, I like to believe that you have taken action against them.

One thing that hasn't changed in this community is the immaturity level. It's rampant! Although I don't fault you for jumping to Patience's defense, the manner in which you and your cohorts are attempting to denigrate me and assassinate my character is both repugnant and juvenile. None of your claims would hold up in a court of law since you are unable to back any of them up.

That was going to be the second phase and it still might be depending on how much support this idea receives. This is something we should all brainstorm. The most important aspect of this process is devising protocols that discourage deviant behavior such as warmongering and attacking other countries, especially weaker countries and then implement ways to incentivize cooperation and goodwill. The entire scoring system must also be changed.

I had to come back to this. Although I can confirm that Vic & I are not the same person, he is lying when he says he doesn't remember The Dutch Bunch & the other people I've referred to in previous threads. In his PM's to me he mentions that he knows BobDole and other members of the shady bunch but insisted that he did not "run with them".

I do not know why he would lie about this. It is the height of foolishness to make an obvious lie when you're trying to prove something, especially when the subject matter you are lying about has absolutely no relevance to what you are trying to prove. That, my friend Vic, is insane.

Well its something to pass the time I guess, I doubt if he ever makes it to 50 posts, but who knows. Sounds more like Martian than Vic, although Vic was a master at this fluff.



I literally blew scotch out of my nose when I read that, lol. Vic, it was good scotch too, you fluffer!

FWIW, I can TOTALLY see Patty as the nefarious underworld mastermind.

War is fun in the game - not so much in real life.

Shaddup "czar", his title predates yours by almost 3000 years.

I took my sleeping pills and tried to see if any of this made sense now.... nope.
I give up.

It would be then boring