Inside Scoop page 1

POPULAR DESPOTISM - KEEPING IDLE WORKERS HAPPY

by Jezz

With the recent change in rules to the number of characters that can be logged into the game by any one person at a time, there have been a few rumblings that some prolific players may "mothball" a number of their factory-owning characters. This is a perfectly reasonable thing to do if the player feels that the work of keeping a number of characters going when they can't have them all logged on at the same time, and therefore not constantly tended, is not worth the effort or may open the companies up to the risk of a shareholder rebellion. Some planet owners may be worried that they won't have enough factories on their planet to protect them from a riot. I think the biggest drop in factories may be those on abandoned planets, which is fair when you think about it. After all, if the planet owner hasn't looked after their planet, why should anyone else? But in case you are worried, I thought I would write a little about disaffection from unemployment.

So, if you're a planet owner, what does a possible drop in the number of factory owners mean for you?

Well... if your planet is at agricultural level, it makes no significant difference to you at all. It's a well known fact that farmers get up before the crack of dawn to tend to their herds and crops. There's nothing like the thought of an early morning wake-up call to put the mockers on a night of rampaging and rioting. So agricultural planets don't suffer from the effects of unemployment-prompted disaffection the way some more advanced planetary economies do. This gives agricultural planet owners the perfect opportunity to... make hay while the sun shines... if you'll forgive the expression.

Quite frankly, agricultural economies don't need factories. The prudent planet owner will have some factories on his agricultural planet because he will need them later, because he may cover some deficits without having to haul goods in and because offering factories to other players can improve relations with others. But there is no reason to rush.

At resource level things do change. A planet that promotes to resource without having taken care of unemployment beforehand is running a big risk of a riot. There is no one day grace period as there is at manufacturer when a new cycle begins. In my articles for factory owners I stressed the importance of having a business plan. Well, it's the same for planet owners. If a restaurant owner decided to expand his business and bought another building in which to open his second restaurant, but forgot to have money for tables, cutlery, cooking equipment, bathrooms and running water, you would expect his staff to walk out on him. You might wonder what made him think he could possibly expand his business and be successful. Now apply that to promoting a planet. If a planet promotes without the groats to build the appropriate infrastructure for the new rank, why would the workers be happy about it? The planet owner should be constantly planning for contingencies.

Engineers can easily build a 15% approval rating without adversely affecting efficiency, if they read the manual and build wisely. That approval rating will protect the planet from riots if the unemployment rises to 70%. One does have to allow for the possibility that one or more factories could end a cycle right at reset and artificially drive unemployment stats up. But the point is that a planet that is promoted sensibly doesn't have very much to worry about if there are suddenly a few less factory owners around. Of course, if the population has been raised sky high by other builds and the new exchange roll isn't particularly factory friendly, then the planet owner might have a little more to worry about. But if you read the build specifications you'll find builds that will reduce disaffection and reduce workforce at the same time if that is a problem.

Moguls have more anti-disaffection builds at their disposal if they promote with the groats in the treasury to build them along with the required builds and efficiency builds. An approval rating in the low to mid twenties is easily achievable for an Industrial economy. After the first day of being a Technocrat, one should no longer need to worry about having factories to stave off disaffection as a very high approval rating is achievable, given the groats. Even if the unemployment rate is 100%, the maximum amount of disaffection from unemployment is 30% and easily covered by technological level builds.

So here's the thing... If you plan properly for your next promotion, have a business plan that lets you know how much cash you'll need to safely expand your business, and build upon your personal knowledge of how to run a planet well by reading the manual, then the only planets that need to have factories and employment are those with resource and industrial economies. If you don't read about infrastructure builds, promote without enough groats to build the right things for your new exchange, don't plan for an exchange that may be factory-unfriendly or perhaps believe that there will always be a factory owner to come to your rescue, then you shouldn't be surprised if factory owners start telling you, "Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency to me".

You may notice that I haven't given you a list of builds to solve all your disaffection problems. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, as each exchange roll is different there are slight differences in which builds would most benefit each planet. Secondly, different players have different expectations and different styles and thirdly, if I tell you exactly what you should do, I wouldn't be helping you to learn more about how to run your planet yourself. The manual has all the details you need on every build available. It's easy to understand. You don't have to read about every build all at once. Just understand the ones for your level and the ones you'll need at the next level.

An important thing you can do to protect your planet is make sure that you have the treasury available to correct adverse situations should they arise. Before you hit that promote button, make a list of the builds you should do on the first day of your new rank, including those that will increase your approval rating in case your roll is factory-unfriendly. Work out the total cost of doing those builds and allow some groats to walk up the exchange. Check that your treasury has at least that amount plus an emergency build fund. That way, if you do get the builds wrong, you'll be able to correct your mistakes.

An important thing you can do for yourself is to spend the time to read the manual section on infrastructure builds and bookmark it so you can go back there quickly. Educate yourself. And don't complain because someone else isn't playing as many "alts" anymore. There is no requirement for players to run a Fed charity business with factory owners they don't need, just so that inattentive planet owners don't have riots.

One more thing to note if you are an factory owner and need to freeze your company for a while:

If you just freeze the company, your factories will finish the cycle, lay off all the workers and close. You will be protected from a shareholder rebellion but the workers on the planet will be unemployed.

If you "stop" the factory mid cycle, the workers are in effect locked in the factory and therefore technically employed even though they aren't making anything. You can then freeze the company to protect it from a shareholder rebellion and also protect the planet from possible unemployment riots.

If you are planning to be away, it might be a good idea to contact the planet owners where you have factories and check which option they would prefer.

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