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The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

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Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#91

Post by mafro »

martindale wrote: post #83
invalidOrTaken wrote: post #66

One game that, like GTA, is not focused around making tons of virtual money, but has some neat emergent lessons, is Escape Velocity Nova: http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/evn/ You have a small starfreighter, and one way to make money is by buying goods where they're inexpensive, loading them up in your cargo hold, and flying somewhere where they're expensive to sell them. Eventually you realize that it makes sense to…

Isn't Ambrosia the company behind the amazing turn-based RPG series, Exile; with Exile I, II, III, and Blades of Exile being some of the most critically-acclaimed independent RPGs of all-time? edit: nope, that would be SpiderWeb, who has apparently renamed the series to "Avernum" (???): http://www.spidweb.com/

Ah man that Exile series was awesome. Awful, but awesome.

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#92

Post by tedunangst »

tanzam75 wrote: post #89
mcdougle wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are (or at least were when I sold insurance) products that costed very little (compared to an actual plan) that provided you with the negotiated price the insurance company would pay if something happens. If you can afford to self-insure, the best bet would be to buy one of these products and store the rest in the bank. No clue if those things exist anymore with everything going on in the world of health insura…

But you really can't afford to self-insure, even if you're young and healthy. There's always the small but real chance of getting a catastrophic illness and running up a million dollar bill. Therefore, you really need to buy at least catastrophic coverage. And that's real insurance, not self-insurance.

Health insurance is complicated because for most people, it's so much more than just insurance. It's prepaying $300 a month so you don't have to pay $200 to visit the doctor once per year. No, I don't know why people do that. You're right that paying $100 a month for "please reattach my severed limbs" insurance is more affordable. Terminology be damned, that's possibly what people mean by "self-insured". They pay day to day expenses out of pocket.

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#93

Post by jonnathanson »

moneyrich4 wrote: post #90
jonnathanson wrote: post #86

Calls to mind "Wall Street Kid," a stock-trading game released on the good ol' NES back in 1990. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Kid The premise of the game was fairly ludicrous: if you could earn a decent return on a $500,000 loan, you stood to inherit a $600 billion (!) family fortune. But the stock market in the game, while randomized, was pretty innovative for its time. (It's been awhile since I've playe…

Oh I hated this game! I was so bad at it and made no profit in the week I had it rented. Turns out I did about as well in the real stock market. gg. The game was really fun though

I sucked at it for the longest time, but every now and then, I'd have an incredible run of luck. A 10-year-old Gordon Gekko, I crushed it on Wall Street, bought the boat, the houses, and even the family castle (why I bought the castle from my own family trust, I'm not really sure; in retrospect, I assume it was some sort of complex inheritance-tax-evasion mechanism).

Lots of fun! Unfortunately, I grew up to be considerably less successful and, at least for now, castleless. :)

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#94

Post by eru »

tanzam75 wrote: post #89
mcdougle wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are (or at least were when I sold insurance) products that costed very little (compared to an actual plan) that provided you with the negotiated price the insurance company would pay if something happens. If you can afford to self-insure, the best bet would be to buy one of these products and store the rest in the bank. No clue if those things exist anymore with everything going on in the world of health insura…

But you really can't afford to self-insure, even if you're young and healthy. There's always the small but real chance of getting a catastrophic illness and running up a million dollar bill. Therefore, you really need to buy at least catastrophic coverage. And that's real insurance, not self-insurance.

Fortunately, the catastrophic insurance can be pretty cheap, if you choose a high excess.

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#95

Post by eru »

aninhumer wrote: post #43
baddox wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What scenario would be good for a car insurance company? If cars never have any problems, then no one would buy car insurance (perhaps other than the government-mandated minimum). So is there some happy medium where the insurance industry would thrive?

The ideal scenario is that the public hugely overestimate the risk of car accidents.

So a few high profile incidents like the ones caused by the protagonist are exactly what you need.

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#96

Post by roryokane »

mey wrote: post #81
choult wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The BAWSAQ is by far the most interesting market. The BAWSAQ is an online market driven by the buy and sell orders of all 15M+ players." I'm surprised no Scots have popped up to point out how hilarious that market's name is ;)

Care to enlighten the non-Scots?

BAWSAQ = “ball-sack”.

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#97

Post by derleth »

hrkristian wrote: post #68
jlgreco wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Casino , not the gambler, counts on a constant stream of money coming in with the occasional large chunk of money going out. Insurance companies operate the same.

What you're both describing is socialism, insurance is opt-in socialism, pure and simple.

You know what's really socialistic? The systems inside any large company. You need a computer and a cubical? These things will be provided to you, in return for your work. Nothing reasonable is denied as long as your productivity justifies it, comrade!

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." -- Karl Marx. Not a misquote.

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#98

Post by ars »

roc wrote: post #44
aninhumer wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insurance is the opposite of gambling. You take a guaranteed loss instead of risking a huge one. Not having insurance is a bet that nothing bad will happen. If you can afford to replace everything you own out of savings, good for you, but most people can't.

Beyond that, given the perverse 'market' for health care in the US, even if you can (theoretically) afford to self-insure, the pricing mechanisms and negotiating power of insurance companies practically ensures that they can offer you premiums for less than your out-of-pocket cost for even fairly pedestrian services.

You don't completely self-insure, instead you get a high deductible play ($5,000 - $15,000) - also called major medical or catastrophic insurance.

That way you insure the vast majority of things, but you are covered for the really insane stuff, plus you get the benefit of the negotiated rates.

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#99

Post by jronkone »

6cxs2hd6 wrote: post #31
nlh wrote: post #13

I...bought...twenty shares of Augury Insurance (which sells auto insurance — a good bet, considering all the cars I've been wrecking) I'd argue the opposite, no? The 100-year-storm of destruction that we, as Player 1, unleash upon the poor Liberty City automotive world would probably make any insurance company run screaming and crying in the opposite direction of profitability. "We had HOW MANY claims yesterday after…

To stay in business, casinos need to be a bad deal for customers _as a group_. Did I say casinos? I meant insurance companies. Seriously, insurance is a bet on something bad happening. Usually it only makes sense to buy insurance for the equivalent of long-shot "lottery jackpots". Like a catastrophic health problem. Or like the damage you might do to other people and their property in an auto accident --- but probabl…

Please don't compare insurance companies to casinos. In casinos the odds are completely computable and known beforehand to everyone. Not so with insurance which deals with real life.

Re: The Best Part of Grand Theft Auto V is the Stock-Trading Platform

#100

Post by xerophtye »

derleth wrote: post #97
hrkristian wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're both describing is socialism, insurance is opt-in socialism, pure and simple.

You know what's really socialistic? The systems inside any large company. You need a computer and a cubical? These things will be provided to you, in return for your work. Nothing reasonable is denied as long as your productivity justifies it, comrade! "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." -- Karl Marx. Not a misquote.

actually... no. Companies are still pretty capitalistic considering the owners/shareholders get all the major money out of it without putting any "effort" in. Though i guess socialism would be a like an employee-owned company where everyone gets a share of the total profit etc. Or where they decide as a whole what to do with the surplus (get a pool table, or heck even an indoor POOL!)
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