winstonopai

LINK TO TECH DEAL CENTRAL? Tech dealers large and small - good news. I just saved 15% on my car insurance by switching to Geico! Also, and more importantly, the tech deal forum is back up and running smoothly. From July of 2007 until a few months ago, we sold over 150,000 tech to nations from basically every alliance in Cybernations - at least 200. We have over 1,100 registered tech dealers on our forums and more signing up each day. I took a break from Cybernations recently, and although business slowed down, Col John S Mosby took charge and ran the forum superbly. Now I'm back, and Mosby and I are rolling again - with the help of our other moderators. The recent war did lead to a paucity of dealers, but as everyone rebuilds, we expect business to boom. Large nations need tech and need it fast. Small nations want an easy profit. Why deal on the black market? Here you have no accountability, no administrators, no one to make sure your deal runs smoothly and quickly. Here you have to set up your own deals, you may get ripped off, and you may be dealing with nations you can't trust. There IS a better way! We have 1x1's; $3m/100 tech deals that use up 1 aid slot for 30 days. Simply post your nation link HERE and we'll match you up with a nation immediately. We have 2x2's; $2m/50 tech deals that use up 2 aid slots for 10 days. Again, post HERE to sign up. We have 3x3's; $3m/100 tech deals that use up 3 aid slots for 10 days. These are our most popular deal! Post HERE to sign up. Don't wait - let us do the work for you. Instead of trying to work out deals here on the black market, simply post your nation link in one of the topics above and let us handle the logistics. We'll sort out your deal, provide diagrams and links to the other nations in your deal, and ensure that every participant completes the deal quickly. We in-game message you when your deal is set to begin. In the long-term 1x1 deal section, we message small nations a reminder the day before they are due to send technology. Hope to see you there! Winstonopia ----Here are some recommendations: - Thomas Scott - CuBone - Taget - Erik -Russell07 - Grillick - Dtigner

and where are people buying tech most of the time? thru their alliance? on the black market?

So I used to buy/sell tech... a lot of it... either through my alliance at the time, or at my independent tech forums. We bought and sold hundreds of thousands of tech, and I'd like to think I was pretty successful at handling the logistics and making sure each of the deals was processed quickly and smoothly. Lots of you CN vets will remember buying or selling tech at my forums months (or years?) ago. I basically left CN (and the damn politics I was so frustrated with) in July of last year, but I'm back (part-time) this summer. I don't want to get too involved again, nor do I want anything to do with the current war or any of the politics. I honestly don't care that much lol. So, anyway, after this war is over, I would like to at least entertain the possibility of dealing some tech once again, just for fun. This might just be a thing I do for Greenland Republic, but I'd at least like to hear thoughts on taking the system outside of my alliance. Now, things have changed since last July. I'd appreciate if you all could explain HOW exactly tech dealing has changed. Do most people do tech deals within their alliance? Or with some inter-alliance trading system (if so, where)? Or do people just post here on the black market and figure it out? With people on their color? Independently? Would anyone be interested if something were to be set up similar to what I used to have? (For those who don't know, we used to have a forum where you'd come from ANY alliance, post your info, and we'd set you up with buyers/sellers and PM you reminders and everything and the deals went quickly - you'd deal with people from other alliances, and could do either immediate 3x3's or long-terms) If something were to be set up, what sort of deals and prices are people looking for (the poll above should help answer that)? Or is a inter-alliance tech-dealing service not possible anymore in CN? I really haven't been on here once in 9 months - my nation died and everything. Thanks for the help

We're not an alliance of tech dealers, actually. Tech Deal Central is simply a forum - a marketplace - a site where nations from any alliance can come in and participate in deals. Every participant is already part of an alliance, like you're in Legion. But instead of dealing tech just with other alliance members, TDC allows you to do deals with nations in other alliances as well. You don't need to be "a member", and we are not an alliance of our own. We're a place where people who are already in other alliances can come and deal tech.

you can do your sleds and aid chains inside an alliance. but when you're dealing in between different alliances, that isn't possible. alliance nations are always willing to help out their own small nations, but less willing to do so for small nations in other alliances.

Sleds are intra-alliance chains... as an inter-alliance tech forum, we don't really have that option...

Well I never did one tech deal as a small nation, and I turned out fine, so personal experience ain't quite the way to prove it. 3x3's were great when we had an even balance of large and small nations, but as the game grows and technology is in higher demand, we had too many large nations trying to buy tech. Ever since we've switched to 2x2's, small nations are making more money ande profitting more from the deals, while large nations are acquiring their tech faster because they do not have to wait in line. It's win-win!

nope, 3x3's are things of the past. and for a nation that's 80 days old, you know an awful lot about the past, don't you?... you'll see. and yes, assassin, you're right hehe - i'm looking forward to it!

my stance on the current war - privately, I have my personal views and those will be kept privately, but in terms of tech deals: #1 - nooo! stop!!! all of you!!!! all the tech that I've sold to alliances on both sides is being destroyed!! aaah! #2 - ooh... this is good. we're going to have a better large nation : small nation ratio now! but yeah, as i'm sure you can imagine, we're going to have to stop tech deals for now. period. until this is all over and done with. see what you quarreling kids have done? win

I have no problem with the Gramlins' system, no doubt. And yes, our system uses up more aid slots. CN is a game where... welll... to each his own. I play the game to help not only myself but other nations as well - I don't just look out for myself, but like boosting others up as I do, even at the cost of "efficiency" in my own nation. In the long run, I don't think it makes that much of a difference. Regular activity, consistency, improvement swapping - that seems more important. Regardless, I couldn't do $3m/100 tech deals even if I wanted to. Soon you (Gramlins) will find that you can't either, and you'll be stuck paying more (and using more slots) to get tech. As I've explained, with the rising demand for tech, this is just a natural progression. Even if you find it crazy, you're going to be paying more, no matter how many expletives you use . It's not something I like (as a large nation) or something that you guys like, but it just... is.

Yes, small nations do become big nations. Although we can't find a balance of large nations and small nations in the game of CN, we can find a balance of large nations and small nations applying for tech deals. Before we had too many large nations applying and not enough small ones. By raising the price of tech, less large nations apply and more small nations apply, thereby giving us a balance of applicants, which is what we're looking for. As for the future, yes, you're correct. If the game rules do not change, in a few months even this $2mill/50tech price will be considered cheap, and the price will rise to $3m/50. We have not reached that point, though, and are not even close to it. It is completely necessary to be flexible and adjust to the changing times.

Exactly thank you learz, thank you dudluv, thank you choader!

Never heard of it, sorry

precisely. still, though, i am baffled as to why grant and i seem to not understand each other and will keep on trying until we do! I don't care how many buyers there are, or how many sellers. All I want is a balance between the two. I don't want to "shut people out" of buying tech, but what's the use of having 200 buyers and 20 sellers? No good. 200 sellers and 20 buyers? No good either. 100 sellers and 100 buyers? Yes. So what we have to do is continually adjust our prices until we get an even mix of buyers and sellers. Raise prices and you get more sellers. Lower prices and you get more buyers. Simple math Let me explain again. Let's say there are 30,000 nations in CN today. Of these 30,000, let's say 10,000 could be classified as small nations (SN's), and the other 20,000 as large nations (LN's). Let us say 100 new nations join each day. These 100 new nations become small nations, correct? Also, as small nations advance in the game and grow, they become large nations, right? So on day 0, we have 30k nations; 20k are LN, 10k are SN. Now, after 1 day, we have 100 new SN's (that have joined the game), but there are also 100 less SN's, because 100 nations have grown from SN to LN. So after day 1, we have 20,100 LN's and still 10,000 SN's. Next day? 20,200 LN's, 10,000 SN's. Eight days later? 21,000 LN's, 10,000 SN's. Twenty days after that? 23,000 LN's, 10,000 SN's. Do you see how the demand (LN's) is increasing while the supply (SN's) remains constant? As theone said, this is a business. It has nothing to do with "me" or "my people" - for the tenth time,I make no profit or any sort of benefit from tech deals. The price increase has nothing to do with me! There is not "plenty of supply", as I proved above. How can you claim that fact "regardless of the numbers"? The numbers prove[/i my point! Well, tech costs me about $4,000,000 per 10 tech. So until we get to the point where we're selling 50 tech for twenty million dollars, tech deals are still worth it for me. And no, that isn't going to happen. I'm making my point, and it's strong already. Nowhere in this did I mock you, although it would have been quite easy to do so!

Um.. yeah? Generally, if anything is at a lower price, more people can afford it and will want it. With that same product at a higher price, less nations can afford it and want it. If you are trying to create a balance, acheive equilibrium, that's what you need to do. Higher prices = less buyers = balance. It makes sense. I fail to see how I benefit from raising prices, lowering prices, or anything. I don't benefit from anything having to do with this forum. I put my time and effort in and get absolutely nothing out of it. Zero. No tech, no cash, nothing except a few smilies and a few "thank you's" from happy customers. There is nothing in this for me. I don't benefit. I prefer having a balance of large nations and small nations so I can better serve the people who sign up for tech deals. If applicants are made to wait a week before getting in a deal, I'm not doing a very good job. By raising prices, I ensure that wait times drop and deals go more smoothly. I don't benefit - the tech deal participants do. I make no money from these deals. I simply do the logistics, handle the organization, and make sure everyone is happy. I get nothing out of it. Is it just me, or am I beginning to repeat myself? :lol:

Let me try to explain better - I know I'm not very good at putting this into words, but trust me. Supply and demand determines our prices. To have an effective marketplace, we need an even balance of sellers and buyers. To get an even balance of sellers and buyers, we need to offer fair prices. Agreed so far? Anyway, for the last few months, our prices have been "fair". We sold tech for $3mill/100 and had an even balance of small and large nations. However, something changed. It was gradual. It involved CN, and had nothing to do with our tech forums. As I explained before, the number of large nations in the game increased, while the number of small nations in the game remained constant. Agreed so far? OK, so we have more LN's, and less SN's. The higher number of large nations need more tech, so they apply for tech deals in greater numbers. At the same time, the small nations continue to apply for tech deals at the same rate. Understood? OK. So we have more large nations applying, and the same amount of small nations applying. Therefore, we have an imbalance - too many large nations piling up, but not enough small nations to handle the load. So, to again get back to our equilibrium, we had to raise our prices to $2m/50 tech. Now, we have an approximately even mix of large and small nations applying. In other words, we adjusted to the changing times and found the new fair prices. These are not unfair to anybody. We don't take any cut of the tech deals or anything for ourselves, so there is no way we can increase the prices to 'make money for ourselves' or anything. So it's not that we're changing anything - the problem is that "fair" has changed, and we've adjusted to it. I don't understand your comparison to gasoline or to bottled water. Large nations pay more for the same amount of product simply because the product is in higher demand. I ain't angry, btw.

Don't change tech stuff! That'd put me out of business! I agree with Drai - tech needs to be more difficult to get. As it is now, buying tech in-game is reasonable for the first couple months of gameplay but useless afterwards. Maybe tech prices could be tied to something other than the nation's current amount of tech?

i don't get it, learz. honestly. anyway, with the exception of one batch (damn you 57!), we have completed our first 80 2x2 batches in only 16 days (since the 24th). keep up the good work, and keep applying, large nations!

whoa whoa buddy... lol... hold the phone. i've never had any contact with you, nor meant you any harm, so i'm not quite sure why you're on such a vendetta. good luck with your store, i guess, but why the need for such savage competition? i have personally been working at the tech forums, volunteering my time and effort day after day for YEARS simply for the benefit of other nations around CN. the other volunteers, like learz, have similarly been donating their time for the benefit of others. you'd like that to come to an end? i understand if you disagree with our prices (but you're wrong, by the way), but why do you want our forums to come to an end? please explain. let me first tell you that you're not the first to try to start your own forums. i've seen dozens of CNers wildly attempt to start their own tech marketplaces.... suffice to say, most don't last a week. i've been selling tech for a year and a half (over 180,000 tech sold by now i think), and would like to think i can consider my forums quite reliable. other than intra-alliance tech businesses and raasaa's neat system at NV, i don't know of any inter-alliance marketplaces that have been successful and have lasted. so you're free to try, but... now let's get on to the details. first of all, you mean "they're". second of all, and more importantly, how are we causing more trouble for the powerful nations? there's a reason we've had 160 large nation applications in the two weeks since prices have gone up. Ford (the car company) had a system set up as well. Prices were agreed upon - $825 for a Model T when it began in 1908. Why change that? Why can't I buy a pickup for $825 today? Hmmm.... well... sorry to break it to you, but times change. In our case, supply and demand changes. The number of small nations in Cybernations stays constant; let's say 80 nations join the game each day, but 80 "small nations" graduate to become "large nations" as well at this same rate. So the number of small nations is constant. On the other hand, the number of large nations increases by 80 each day. More buyers, same amount of sellers = price changes. I'm not sure how long you've been in CN, but let me tell you that this is nothing new. Tech prices used to be $1,200,000 for 50 tech. Well, as time went on, prices went up to $1,500,000 per 50 tech (or $3mill/100). Well, times are still changing. More people want less available tech. So now tech is $2,000,000 per 50 tech. Get used to it. Ummmm.... no. Again, we are not causing anything. We are adjusting to something that has naturally occurred. Haunt us? Are you serious? This is laughable. Please clearly explain how we are NOT helping both small and large nations. Small nations get a nice profit from doing tech deals, and large nations get tech efficiently. For large nations like myself, the extra 500k is pocket change. I'll gladly use it to help a small nation grow. Regardless, the $3mill/100 tech deals are things of the past simply because the number of large nations is too large - tech deal participants will have to wait days and days to get in a deal, whereas with us they can get in a deal immediately. Therefore, we ARE helping out the large nations as well. Again, ask the hundreds of nations who've been doing deals with us... OK... enjoy your "several" tech sellers. I'll stick with the 800 of mine . As for the "speed" of your deals, well, I challenge you to try and complete deals faster than we complete ours. I'll put any amount of CN cash you want on it. This literally had me fall onto the floor laughing. Not just the "rofl" smiley... I actually fell sideways off my bed, onto the floor, chuckling. Have you ever been to our forums? Ever? Not getting attention? Every applicant gets a copy/paste message, regardless of whether they're large, small, or canadian. "bigger names"? what is this, hollywood? since when are there "big names" in tech deals? every nations is obviously treated exactly the same. every question is answered individually and as quickly as possible by either learz or i. there are no favorites, there are no 'big names'. when i sign MYSELF up for a tech deal, even I don't get to jump ahead in the line - i sit and wait just like everbody else. since small nations are getting a better profit at our forums than they would get at yours, how does that make it so that i'm not "giving them attention"? look at all the small nations who've applied - they may apply as often as they'd like and can do as many deals as they'd like. each time they get a PM to their in-game nation and a personalized message if need be. if that's not "attention", i don't know what is.(I almost think this guy is joking? ) Win

Well, ironically, we seem to have been too successful in finding large nations to come and participate! :lol: We now have a beautifully balanced mix and are just rolling through deals - with only one or two exceptions, all of our 80+ deals since July 24th have gone off smoothly and extremely quickly. All's well

That is definitely an option. However, many many nations across CN do not have access to the small nations in their alliance, or the resources/time to train the small nations in their alliance. Many nations are also in high-NS alliances that do not have small nations of their own.

lol nice.... unless al thought he meant september of last year? :lol:

strange to see a gramlin that doesn't understand economics... Anyway, ... you mean tech?anyway, $6m for 200 tech their way, $6m for 150 tech our way. Yes, you get 50 less tech per 10 days. On the other hand, with these "better" tech deal alliances that you claim to know, you are frequently waiting days and days to get in on a deal, waiting days and days to get a deal completed, and often end up with no tech at all when the small nations go inactive. So, speaking strictly in terms of efficiency, this 150 tech that you get on time, immediately after applying, and reliably, week after week is actually more efficient than the bad service you'd get at other forums. Ask the hundreds of large nations (like garbunkel) who return week after week because they know they're getting an easy 50 tech with us. We had your 3x3's, your $3mill/100 tech deals. We did that for months (and very successfully, I might add). However, when the wait times got to be a week or longer for large nations like you, we realized we needed to balance things out. The $3m/100 are things of the past - pretty soon you won't find them anywhere because the small nations will be doing deals where they get more money (aka $2mill/50). There are more and more large nations demanding tech these days, and not enough small nations to provide it. So feel free to wait for a week while you get some inactive n00b to deal you tech at a bad price... when instead you could simply be doing lots of 2x2 deals with us and in the end, getting yourself more tech with a whole lot less hassle. example? ...i thought so. yeah, only about 800...and yes, learz is 100% right as well. and i quote,

nice position for me to be in - i could join any of the alliances on the list and automatically make them a good candidate for biggest gainer :lol:

40 completed deals in 10 days (almost all within 24 hrs) and 12 more in progress - business is GOOD!