New Idea Math is Coming!
We've worked out as many bugs and issues as possible with the new Idea math code, and can do nothing more until it is run on the game live. The target date for implementation is August 21, so you have a reasonable time to get your Idea holdings in order. Between coding, analysis, testing, and all the various discussions that have gone into this, the Admin, GIC, and BoD members have easily spent over 100 hours getting this ready, and the end result is a dynamic Ideas market that should be much more interesting than what you see currently. Premium Members will have access to at least one additional tool or data set to help with Ideas market play, and we'll have this ready prior to this implementation.
Now some caveats:
* We cannot predict what this new math will do beyond the spare tests we have run. Because we don't have a mirrored backup server, we can't test it live on real data beyond a one-off run. This means we are forced to make predictions of how the market will work based solely on a very small, and possibly non-representative set of data. We've done the best we can, but be forewarned that even TPTB don't know how the market will handle things over numerous iterations.
* There may be several times during early implementation that Ideas play will need to be taken offline to make adjustments to the code. This is expected to happen, so please understand that we will do so to prevent undesirable or unstable side-effects from taking place. This should only happen during the first few weeks or possibly as far as a couple months after implementation.
* We do not expect to see instant crashes of market prices, nor do we expect to see instantaneous skyrocketing of prices. However, we have observed those effects in one or two industries (and even then, only once or twice). We believe we have code in place to prevent such drastic price movements from happening in one drop or even over a short set of drops. That said, again, be forewarned that either extreme reaction is still possible. We will not correct the market should this take place except in cases where bugs cause extreme reactions.
* The new math code brings a couple new twists to the Ideas market, one of which has long been requested by a wide variety of players: consumption. Simply put, if Ideas are sitting on the market when a drop happens, the most typical response is for consumption of sitting ideas rather than dropping additional ones onto the pile. While downward price pressure during the drop remains high, consumption eats away at existing Industry Ideas, which in aggregate, pushes upward price pressure higher with each drop. Consumption does not affect Player Held Ideas!
* A second twist deals with when Idea pricing changes take place. Previously, prices changed for all Industries (which already had prices) regardless of whether that Industry was specifically involved in the current production run. This will change in the new math. Price changes will only occur on an Industry if Ideas were produced or consumed during the current production run. This will be significantly different than what takes place now. Reindexing strategies will change significantly for the best Ideas players as a result.
* There have been rumors of people losing their Idea holdings due to (insert rumor reason here). Let's set the record straight before this goes too far. The original math had proposed what was called 'Revolutionary New Ideas'. In short, this was the destruction of all Ideas in an Industry when the Industry reached a low price point which was never recoverable. This proposal item has changed dramatically. Active players will not have to worry about having any Ideas 'destroyed' by the game. Active is defined as having played within the last six months. Instead, we will be selling idea portfolios of Inactive players (over six months of not playing) down to levels of 10K Ideas in each industry. Players having this occur will be compensated. The short explanation for this happening is that large holdings of inactive players will significantly hamper growth and tend to create a drag on the entire market which cannot easily be overcome. By selling off excess Idea holdings, the Active players can decide the fate of these Industries.