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Betting in the New Economy

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The Shuhite The Shuhite's picture
Betting in the New Economy
I've just started a game set in Locus and one of my players asked what people in a rep economy bet with? I said they were betting with favours but it seems unsatisfying. What do you guys think
RustedPantheress RustedPantheress's picture
Inconsequential things. I'm
Inconsequential things. I'm guessing that there isn't a lot of betting going on, as that usually requires money.
Somebody is using bad science! Snark, facts, snark. Your body is corrupted: Cool, do more science to it. Your mind is warped: That's nice, want a cookie? What do we say to the God of Death? Not today!
Dr. Black Dr. Black's picture
Good question, I would also
Good question, I would also go for favors: „If you win I will make the next hull repair duty for you.“ An other possibility are ridicules actions: „I will wear a bear costume (the kind the use as football mascot) for two weeks.“
RustedPantheress RustedPantheress's picture
As an example, look at
As an example, look at Firefly: That card game between Jayne, Simon, and Book. They were betting using chores, so that can be used as well.
Somebody is using bad science! Snark, facts, snark. Your body is corrupted: Cool, do more science to it. Your mind is warped: That's nice, want a cookie? What do we say to the God of Death? Not today!
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
Every card game in every B
Every card game in every B western or mob movie has watches, guns, car keys or someone's girlfriend on the table. Not having money is not the same as not having wealth. Gambling isn't about money it's about wealth. GMing Rep bets is flavorless if you allow it to become a matter of anny a low @-rep favor and raise a Moderate R-rep favor. If you define those favors; anny a night at Ma'am Beuela's, raise your favorite shard gun, it gets much more fun. When it gets to the point you've got everything but your vacuum suit and the morph wearing it in the pot, and you have to raise or call, it gets pretty intense. [edit] just realized I mentioned R-rep favors, I'm thinking those are pretty juicy. If you can bet a favor-what ever it might be- from someone on the RNA net you're probably chipping in something cool.[/edit]

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

NewtonPulsifer NewtonPulsifer's picture
Betting my favorite shard
Betting my favorite shard pistol might not matter if it can be re-fabricated down to the molecule. Certain rare-ish elements could still act as money (gold, platinum, strontium-90 for nuclear batteries), but cred isn't impossible to come by, even in Locus (it's just a farcaster transaction away, really).
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."- Isoroku Yamamoto
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
in locus there are probably
in locus there are probably several Solaris bankers but I don't see people buying Solaris' chips for a "friendly" cardgame. :)

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

GreyBrother GreyBrother's picture
NewtonPulsifer wrote:Betting
NewtonPulsifer wrote:
Betting my favorite shard pistol might not matter if it can be re-fabricated down to the molecule.
It might not, but why would you want to lose your shardpistol named Carol with which you did sooo many interesting things together...
NewtonPulsifer NewtonPulsifer's picture
I'm trans-sentimental now. A
I'm trans-sentimental now. A perfect copy is as good as the original :)
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."- Isoroku Yamamoto
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
NewtonPulsifer wrote:I'm
NewtonPulsifer wrote:
I'm trans-sentimental now. A perfect copy is as good as the original :)
Transentimentalism is not a common quality in the setting or there woudn't be any value in Earth Artifacts or handcrafted items. The ability to make one perfect copy destroys the singular value of the original. More so, since making a perfect copy probably requires actual destruction of the original.

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

NewtonPulsifer NewtonPulsifer's picture
Creative use of XP and memory
Creative use of XP and memory lock and I can disassemble that Stradivarius, sell a copy 5 times, and still believe I own the original!
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."- Isoroku Yamamoto
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
NewtonPulsifer wrote:Creative
NewtonPulsifer wrote:
Creative use of XP and memory lock and I can disassemble that Stradivarius, sell a copy 5 times, and still believe I own the original!
That's what i love about you man. :D Your willingness to be mentally flexible is legendary. BTW would you like to see my new Stradivarious? Some guy is selling them from the back of a van out on the quad! I'm thinking of getting 2 more so we can do a quartet :D

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

RustedPantheress RustedPantheress's picture
I would like a set of
I would like a set of bagpipes attached to a claymore. Make that two claymores! No, make that a claymore and a claymore.
Somebody is using bad science! Snark, facts, snark. Your body is corrupted: Cool, do more science to it. Your mind is warped: That's nice, want a cookie? What do we say to the God of Death? Not today!
NewtonPulsifer NewtonPulsifer's picture
The first claymore is named
The first claymore is named Killie, the second Crankie. Killiecrankie is a real place in Scotland. Makes me giggle every time I say it.
"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."- Isoroku Yamamoto
RustedPantheress RustedPantheress's picture
SCOTSMAN TOWARDS ENEMY
SCOTSMAN TOWARDS ENEMY
Somebody is using bad science! Snark, facts, snark. Your body is corrupted: Cool, do more science to it. Your mind is warped: That's nice, want a cookie? What do we say to the God of Death? Not today!
GreyBrother GreyBrother's picture
A Claymore attached to a
A Claymore attached to a Claymore? Thats something i could get sentimental for.
uwtartarus uwtartarus's picture
wow
Claymores attached to claymores, and Stradivarii replicas? This forum is endlessly amusing. Large enough habitats with enough traffic, politics aside, would bound to have people trading credits, even if you are an honest Autonomist, never hurts to have credits to give/trade for rep or favors. Pure rep economies with ZERO use for credits seem more of a far outer system thing, where Inner System types or Extropians are too rare for the credits to mean much, nigh Brinker!!
Exhuman, and Humanitarian.
Nick Chopper Nick Chopper's picture
Using commodities and or
Using commodities and or favors to cover betting happens in today's economy, and not just in "moneyless" venues like prison. So betting maker bricks or thorium batteries wouldn't be anything new or outlandish. What would be different would be gambling for the sake of reputation gains. The loser might owe the winner a public admission being wrong, and that the winner was correct.
Justin Alexander Justin Alexander's picture
If the new economy actually
If the new economy actually worked as advertised, there would be no gambling. You might see some gambling games survive with people playing them socially for an arbitrary pool of meaningless table stakes, but most gambling games are pretty boring without money on the line and would simply disappear. If the new economy doesn't actually work as advertised, then gambling will serve to highlight the system's failure points: What is the stuff that's still scarce? That's what people will gamble with: Fabber access. Rare materials. Et cetera. Look at how gambling worked in Soviet Russia: That's how it will work in new economies. A more realistic interpretation is that "rep" is just currency with a different name operating in a society with the trivial resources necessary to make widespread and high quality welfare systems common and accepted. (The "new economy" described in the core rulebook actually looks exactly like a late-20th century capitalist society except it somehow magically gets away without using currency.) If that's the case, then people will gamble with rep.
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
Justin Alexander wrote:If the
Justin Alexander wrote:
If the new economy actually worked as advertised, there would be no gambling. You might see some gambling games survive with people playing them socially for an arbitrary pool of meaningless table stakes, but most gambling games are pretty boring without money on the line and would simply disappear.
Hmm. I'm wondering how you feel about the idea that novelty will be a currency for people with few tangible needs.

Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

The Doctor The Doctor's picture
uwtartarus wrote:Large enough
uwtartarus wrote:
Large enough habitats with enough traffic, politics aside, would bound to have people trading credits, even if you are an honest Autonomist, never hurts to have credits to give/trade for rep or favors. Pure rep economies with ZERO use for credits seem more of a far outer system thing, where Inner System types or Extropians are too rare for the credits to mean much, nigh Brinker!!
Why not use peoples' access to different people in bets? Just because someone is in your social network does not necessarily mean that they are favorably disposed toward you, or that they would even consider doing a favor for you? So, make the bet the other person calling in a marker on your behalf. In other words, if I lose a bet I have to call in a favor that a friend of mine owes me but have the favor be something you need done.
Justin Alexander Justin Alexander's picture
OneTrikPony wrote:Hmm. I'm
OneTrikPony wrote:
Hmm. I'm wondering how you feel about the idea that novelty will be a currency for people with few tangible needs.
Sounds plausible. Large chunks of our current economy is already built on buying and selling novelty, after all. But it will still be traded as a currency. Why? Because it doesn't matter what you're trading: A currency system will be better than barter.
The Doctor wrote:
Why not use peoples' access to different people in bets?
Case in point: Mary, Scott, and Louise are all playing poker. Mary opens with a bet of "access to the CEO of Dandelion Industries". Scott wants a job with Dandelion Industries, so that sounds like something he really, really wants. So he calls Mary's bet with "access to the famous painter Gecko". But Mary hates paintings and has never heard of Gecko. Has Scott actually called her bet or not? Then there's Louise, who highly values the Gecko access but could care less about Dandelion Industries. What does she need to bet in order to call? Valuable access or not-so-valuable access? What if she wants to raise? Mary has X and wants Y. Scott has Y, but doesn't want X; he does want Z. Louise has Z and wants F or maybe a little bit of M. Oh, man. If only there were some way we could genericize value so that trading could occur without creating large, specific networks of desirable trades. ;) X in this scenario can be a goat or a favor or access or a rare mineral or the latest episode of Doctor Who. It doesn't really matter. This is a solved problem.