Feedback: Corporations

[Xyth]

What additional Corporations are you planning ?

I'm not planning to add any more corporations. However, I may be using the mechanic to introduce a few other non-government organizations, which won't be connected to resources or compete with the current set of corporations. That won't be happening in 1.19 though.

 

[kiwitt]

OK thanks for that.

Working on my 1940 scenario in fine detail now. Should be finished by the end of October, all going well, for alpha testing.

 

[Boggy]

If you conquer a world wonder, it will not produce culture any more. Well, we know that. I've just captured the Barilla headquarters - no culture. That's a bit stupid, as you lose the entire headquarters bonus. Of course, this bonus is only worth anything if you try a cultural victory, and you surely won't make a conquered city legendary - but still, if you can change that, it would be nice I think.

 

[Xyth]

If you conquer a world wonder, it will not produce culture any more. Well, we know that. I've just captured the Barilla headquarters - no culture. That's a bit stupid, as you lose the entire headquarters bonus. Of course, this bonus is only worth anything if you try a cultural victory, and you surely won't make a conquered city legendary - but still, if you can change that, it would be nice I think.

Good point, changed for 1.19.

 

[Xyth]

I've been meaning to revisit and expand Corporations for a long time now. Finally happening in 1.24. Please note that everything below is subject to change, as design flaws and technical problems inevitably emerge when doing stuff like this. Here's how the Corporations themselves currently look for 1.24:

Aramco
Energy, based in Arabia
• Requires: Refining, Great Scientist
• Trades: Peat, Bitumen, Coal, Gas, Oil, Copper
• Provides: Production and Research
• Competitors: Bayer, De Beers Rio Tinto, Vinci, Al Niqaba


Barilla
Mediterranean Food, based in Italy
• Requires: Representation, Great Artist
• Trades: Wheat, Olives, Spice, Wine, Pig, Sheep
• Provides: Food and Culture
• Competitors: Bombay Dyeing, East India Company, General Mills, Nestlé, Mafia


Bayer
Chemicals and Medicine, based in Germany
• Requires: Plastics, Great Scientist
• Trades: Dye, Opium, Saltpeter, Aluminium, Gas, Uranium
• Provides: Production and Research
• Competitors: Aramco, Bombay Dyeing, Hudson Bay, Rio Tinto, Triads


Bombay Dyeing
Textiles, based in India
• Requires: Assembly Line, Great Artist
• Trades: Dye, Cotton, Flax, Hemp, Silk, Sheep
• Provides: Commerce and Culture
• Competitors: Barilla, Bayer, General Mills, Los Cárteles, Triads


De Beers
Jewelry, based in South Africa
• Requires: Photography, Great Artist
• Trades: Gold, Silver, Copper, Amber, Jade, Gems
• Provides: Commerce and Culture
• Competitors: Aramco, Rio Tinto, Vinci, Al Niqaba, Triads


East India Company
Tropical Goods, based in the West and East Indies
• Requires: Corporation, Great Merchant
• Trades: Fruit, Tea, Spice, Incense, Tobacco, Rubber
• Provides: Commerce and Wealth
• Competitors: Barilla, Nestlé, Taiyo, Los Cárteles, Mafia


General Mills
Cereals, based in America
• Requires: Fertilizer, Great Doctor
• Trades: Corn, Potato, Rice, Wheat, Sugar, Hemp
• Provides: Food and Research
• Competitors: Barilla, Bombay Dyeing, Nestlé, Taiyo, Los Cárteles


Hudson Bay
Arctic Goods, based in Canada
• Requires: Biology, Great Merchant
• Trades: Bison, Deer, Furs, Seal, Whale, Timber, Saltpeter
• Provides: Commerce and Wealth
• Competitors: Bayer, Taiyo, Vinci, Mafia, Triads


Nestlé
Dairy and Beverages, based in Switzerland
• Requires: Healthcare, Great Doctor
• Trades: Cattle, Sugar, Spice, Cocoa, Coffee, Tea
• Provides: Food and Wealth
• Competitors: Barilla, East India Company, General Mills, Taiyo, Los Cárteles


Rio Tinto
Mining, based in Spain and Australia
• Requires: Metallurgy, Great Engineer
• Trades: Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Aluminium, Coal
• Provides: Production and Wealth
• Competitors: Aramco, Bayer, De Beers, Vinci, Al Niqaba


Taiyo
Seafood, based in Japan
• Requires: Refrigeration, Great Merchant
• Trades: Shellfish, Crab, Whale, Rice, Tea, Salt
• Provides: Food and Wealth
• Competitors: East India Company, General Mills, Hudson Bay, Nestlé, Al Niqaba


Vinci
Construction, based in France
• Requires: Labour Unions, Great Engineer
• Trades: Timber, Stone, Marble, Copper, Iron, Bitumen
• Provides: Production and Culture
• Competitors: Aramco, De Beers, Hudson Bay, Rio Tinto, Mafia​

And here are the new Syndicates that will compete with them and steal your wealth:

Al Niqaba
Syndicate, based in Arabia and North Africa
• Requires: Civil Liberties, Great General
• Trades: Salt, Gems, Silver, Gold, Oil, Elephant
• Provides: Corruption and Espionage
• Competitors: Aramco, De Beers, Rio Tinto, Taiyo, Triads


Los Cárteles
Syndicate, based in Central and South America
• Requires: Chemistry, Great General
• Trades: Hemp, Tobacco, Incense, Coffee, Cocoa, Fruit
• Provides: Corruption and Espionage
• Competitors: Bombay Dyeing, East India Company, General Mills, Nestlé, Mafia


The Mafia
Syndicate, based in Europe and North America
• Requires: Insurance, Great Spy
• Trades: Wine, Olives, Tobacco, Furs, Horses, Marble
• Provides: Corruption and Espionage
• Competitors: Barilla, East India Company, Hudson Bay, Vinci, Los Cárteles


Triads
Syndicate, based in China
• Requires: Heritage, Great Spy
• Trades: Silk, Opium, Saltpeter, Amber, Jade, Gems
• Provides: Corruption and Espionage
• Competitors: Bayer, Bombay Dyeing, De Beers, Hudson Bay, Al Niqaba​

• 4 new resources have been added: Hemp, Opium, Saltpeter, and Bitumen. The only resources unused by this system are Fish and the three media resources.
  
  
• McDonalds and Toyota have been removed. I needed to remove 1 food corp and 1 production corp in order to free up resource and competition options, and these two were the obvious candidates. Neither had a particularly unique array of resources they traded in, and both arrived quite late in the tech tree - McDonalds especially so. BASF has also been redesignated Bayer.
  
  
• Each Corporation and Syndicate will now trade in 6 resources (though Hudson Bay currently has 7). With this new arrangement I've been able to rectify a number of things that have bugged me for ages. In particular, the East India Company finally trades in Spices! And Rubber!
  
  
• Each Corporation and Syndicate has 5 competitors. Food corporations compete with 2-3 other food corps, 1-2 commerce corps, and 1 syndicate. Production corporations compete with 2-3 other production corps, 1-2 commerce corps, and 1 syndicate. Commerce corporations compete with 3 food or production corps, and 2 syndicates. Syndicates compete with 4 corporations of any type, and 1 other syndicate.
  
  
• Syndicates are founded by Great Spies or Generals and provide espionage via their Headquarters. They do not provide yield per resource like Corporations do, but instead cause corruption - the old corporate maintenance mechanic repurposed. They still cause unhappiness and unhealthiness like Corporations though.
  
  
• Once founded, both Corporations and Syndicates will spread on their own volition, establishing branches in cities attractive to them. There'll be things you can do to make your cities more attractive to Corporations, (e.g. have many relevant resources, construct certain buildings) but you won't have direct control over them. Except:
  
  
• Executives will only be trainable with the Central Planning civic, which will also disable independent spread of Corporations within your borders (but not in anyone else's). I haven't yet decided if the Syndicates would have equivalent units, but it might be cool (Mafia Don, Triad Dragon, Cártel Capo).
  
  
• The Free Market civic will make Corporations more interested in spreading to your cities. Retribution will reduce corruption from Syndicates. Social Welfare and Sustainability effects will remain, but the Industrialism and Free Market effects won't. Undecided about other civic effects at this stage.
  
  
• Syndicates will help level the playing field a little in the late game. They'll be attracted to large wealthy cities where they can profit most and not bother smaller struggling civilizations too much. Similarly, with Corporations now acting independently they can spread to weaker civilizations that could benefit from them, regardless of whether the civ that founded them wants them to or not.

 

[Nightstar]

Looks very interesting, but I think I'll need to ponder it more deeply before I can give substantive feedback.

Though just off the cuff, I'm a little worried that the Executive restriction would make Central Planning too strong.

 

[Xyth]

Decided to get ambitious. Here's an early preview:

 

[AbsintheRed]

Ohh, nevermind my last question in the other thread
You do have some other awesome mechanics in mind

 

[Nightstar]

Now *there* is a screenshot that begs for further explanation!

Though if I'm interpreting what I can see correctly, you're not kidding about the ambitious part. No wonder it's been so long since the last update report.

 

[Xyth]

Some explanation of the screenshot above:

• Corporations can now sell shares that can be bought by players, other corporations and syndicates. Syndicates do not have shares but they can own them.
  
  
• There are 100 shares in each corporation and this amount never increases or decreases. So in HR, number of shares and percentage of ownership are effectively the same thing.
  
  
• Any player (except Barbarians) can own shares in any corporation, even if it isn't present in any of their cities. Corporations and syndicates can own shares in any corporation except those that they directly compete for resources with.
  
  
• The more shares you own in a corporation the more likely it is to spread to and remain in your cities. Shares will also affect corporate headquarters, but I'm still experimenting with this.
  
  
• The share price is the minimum amount of wealth it costs to purchase a single share in a corporation. Prospective purchasers can bid higher than this amount if they wish.
  
  
• Share price is determined by a corporation's accumulated wealth, demand for its shares, and by its market dominance – how many cities and resources a corporation controls, especially in comparison to its competitors.
  
  
• Shares are bought and sold by open tender, they cannot be traded or gifted or stolen. If a shareholder is killed or goes bankrupt, their shares return to the corporation.
  
  
• Shareholders start a tender process by selecting the number of shares they wish to sell. Prospective buyers choose how many shares they want to buy and place a bid. Transactions are resolved at the start of the next turn.
  
  
• Currently you can see the number of bids, but not who or how much. There are no counter bids like in an auction. These are things I might change, but there are technical and balance implications, and I want to keep it simple till I've got everything else working well.
  
  
• Allowing more than one share tender per turn will also be a technical challenge, especially with multiplayer to consider.
  
  
• The 'Trend' display is rudimentary at the moment, will be improved and expanded.
  
  
• Graphs would be awesome, but not something I'd attempt for 1.24. They'd also be limited as I cannot store/save the full price history of every corporation, just a certain number of turns (currently 25).

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[lindsay40k]

Wow. I am extremely impressed. Is all this functional on the OSX version? I'm a commie who RPs as a robber baron, and share trading systems are great fun for that sort of thing!

Are there any bonuses for being a majority shareholder? I would suggest that the bonus to spreading should double if you have the largest share, triple if you pass 50%. Any way to work dividends and global recessions into the system? Perhaps the HQ income could be used as a determinant for a dividend pot that's shared amongst shareholders.

Interesting that Syndicates have no city-level yield. So, founding one gives you an espionage bonus, which increases as cities around the world become very wealthy and rich in the resources the Syndicate deals in, boosting your EP and costing them money?

 

[Xyth]

Wow. I am extremely impressed. Is all this functional on the OSX version?

Yes.

Are there any bonuses for being a majority shareholder? I would suggest that the bonus to spreading should double if you have the largest share, triple if you pass 50%. Any way to work dividends and global recessions into the system? Perhaps the HQ income could be used as a determinant for a dividend pot that's shared amongst shareholders.

This is all stuff I'm still experimenting with, I'll let you know more details when I know them myself. Most probably the largest (non-corporate) shareholder will have the HQ in one of their cities, but HQs will likely be redesigned as I'd want their income to become a dividend (divided proportionately between shareholders). Majority shareholders probably be able to train Executives.

Interesting that Syndicates have no city-level yield. So, founding one gives you an espionage bonus, which increases as cities around the world become very wealthy and rich in the resources the Syndicate deals in, boosting your EP and costing them money?

Yes, though this may change as the rest of the system comes together. Note also that Syndicates will readily spread to your own wealthy cities too, not just your rivals.

 

[Xyth]

Writing the AI for this is proving much harder than I anticipated. Getting there though, slowly.

 

[Xyth]

I've decided to scrap the idea that Corporations can own shares in each other. It's just not an interesting enough feature to warrant the large amount of AI coding it would require. Might revisit it the idea in the future, but for now it makes getting this all finished quite a bit easier.

 

[Xyth]

Here are the pedia articles for Corporations, Syndicates, and Share Trading. I haven't bothered to remove the formatting codes. Please let me know if anything seems confusing or missing.



Corporations

Non-governmental organizations have existed throughout history but few have obtained as much power, wealth, and notoriety as Corporations. Corporations are business entities recognized by law to have rights and responsibilities like natural persons. In Civilization IV: History Rewritten, Corporations use natural resources to provide greater benefits to your cities than they could achieve by government management alone. At a price, of course!


Founding Corporations

Corporations can be founded by [LINK=CONCEPT_GREAT_PEOPLE]Great People[\LINK] once their technology requirements are met. To found a Corporation, the relevant Great Person must travel to a city that has at least one [LINK=CONCEPT_RESOURCES]Resource[\LINK] that the Corporation trades in. The player can then place the Corporation's Headquarters in that city, expending the Great Person. The founding player will receive a 25% [LINK=CONCEPT_SHARE_TRADING]Share[\LINK] in that Corporation.


Corporate Headquarter

Corporate Headquarters significantly boost the generation of wealth ([ICON_GOLD]), research ([ICON_RESEARCH]), or culture ([ICON_CULTURE]) in their city. They also enable their city to train Corporate Executives, which are the only method by which a player can directly control the spread of a Corporation. However, Corporations are neither philanthropic nor patriotic; they follow the money. If another player obtains a larger [LINK=CONCEPT_SHARE_TRADING]Share[\LINK] in the Corporation, then it will relocate its Headquarters to one of that player's cities instead.


Corporate Offices

Once founded, Corporations will start to establish offices in other cities. Corporations earn wealth for each office they've established and for each resource an office has access to. They spend this wealth to establish even more offices, forever seeking to maximise their profit.

The presence of a Corporate Office stimulates economic activity in a city, providing food ([ICON_FOOD]), production ([ICON_PRODUCTION]), or commerce ([ICON_COMMERCE]) for each available resource that the Corporation trades in - including multiple copies of the same resource. However, Corporations are not renown for their fair labour practices or concern for the wellbeing of the environment; each Corporate Office also causes unhappiness ([ICON_UNHAPPY]) and unhealthiness ([ICON_UNHEALTHY]) in their city. These penalties do not scale with number of resources, and can be mitigated by the [LINK=CIVIC_SOCIAL_WELFARE]Social Welfare[\LINK] and [LINK=CIVIC_SUSTAINABILITY]Sustainability[\LINK] civics, respectively.


Corporate Executives

Executives can only be trained in the city that hosts their Corporation's Headquarters, which means they are only available to the player that is the Corporation's largest [LINK=CONCEPT_SHARE_TRADING]Shareholder[\LINK]. Executives allow the player to choose where to establish new Corporate Offices, instead of just relying on the vagaries of the Corporation's business strategy. The target city must have access to at least one resource that the Corporation trades in, and can be within the player's own borders or in a foreign civilization, so long as you have an [LINK=CONCEPT_DIPLOMACY]Open Borders[\LINK] agreement with that leader.

The disadvantage of using Executives to expand a Corporation is that the player is responsible for the cost of doing so. A certain amount of wealth ([ICON_GOLD]) is deducted from your treasury whenever you use an Executive to establish a new Corporate Office. This amount is increased if the player is attempting to spread the Corporation to a foreign city or replacing a competing organization.


Competition

Some resources are useful to several different organizations. If two or more Corporations or [LINK=CONCEPT_SYNDICATES]Syndicates[\LINK] make use of the same resource, then they are in competition with each other and cannot coexist in the same city. If a Corporation or Syndicate expands to a city where it has a competitor, the competing organization is removed from the city. Competition means that individual cities can host 3-4 Corporate Offices at most.


Attracting Corporations

Although Corporations are independent entities, there are a few ways the player can influence where they might expand:

[ICON_BULLET][BOLD]Resources:[\BOLD] Each Corporation builds wealth by trading certain resources. The more of these resources your cities have access to, the more appealing they are to that Corporation.

[ICON_BULLET][BOLD]Civics:[\BOLD] Corporations do not appeciate government interfering in their business - unless it's to provide subsidies! Certain regulatory environments are more appealing to certain Corporations than others. The [LINK=CIVIC_AGRARIANISM]Agrarianism[\LINK] civic will make your cities more appealing to Food Corporations, [LINK=CIVIC_INDUSTRIALISM]Industrialism[\LINK] best suits the activities of Production Corporations, and a [LINK=CIVIC_FREE_MARKET]Free Market[\LINK] economy is favoured by Commerce Corporations. Corporations will not expand to civilization with the [LINK=CIVIC_CENTRAL_PLANNING]Central Planning[\LINK] civic. Corporate Offices already present in such a civilization will become inactive, no longer generating any additional yield in its cities.

[ICON_BULLET][BOLD]Shares:[\BOLD] The most reliable way to get a Corporation's attention is to buy it. The more [LINK=CONCEPT_SHARE_TRADING]Shares[\LINK] a player owns in a Corporation, the more likely it is to expand to that player's cities.





Syndicates

As a civilization develops, its economy becomes more complex. New opportunities and ways of doing business arise, but not all of them are sanctioned by the state or appreciated by the populace.
Crime is as old as society itself, but when criminals start working together, activities such theft, fraud, extortion, smuggling, and terrorism become a serious problem for law enforcement and a drain on a civilization's economy. In Civilization IV: History Rewritten, organizations participating in such activities are called Syndicates.


Founding Syndicates

Syndicates function in much the same way as [LINK=CONCEPT_CORPORATIONS]Corporations[\LINK]. They can be founded by [LINK=CONCEPT_GREAT_PEOPLE]Great People[\LINK] once their technology requirements are met. To found a Syndicate, the relevant Great Person must travel to a city that has at least one [LINK=CONCEPT_RESOURCES]Resource[\LINK] that the Syndicate trades in. The player can then place the Syndicate's Headquarters in that city, expending the Great Person. The founding player will receive a 25% [LINK=CONCEPT_SHARE_TRADING]Share[\LINK] in that Syndicate.


Syndicate Headquarters

Syndicate Headquarters significantly boost the generation of espionage ([ICON_ESPIONAGE]) in their city. They also enable their city to train Syndicate Agents, which are the only method by which a player can directly control the spread of a Syndicate. However, if another player obtains a larger [LINK=CONCEPT_SHARE_TRADING]Share[\LINK] in the Syndicate, it will relocate its Headquarters to one of that player's cities instead.


Syndicate Cells

Once founded, Syndicates will start to establish cells in other cities. Syndicate Cells do not bring any benefits to their city. Their use of intimidation and violence causes unhappiness ([ICON_UNHAPPY]) and unhealthiness ([ICON_UNHEALTHY]). And for each available resource that the Syndicate trades in, an amount of wealth ([ICON_GOLD]) will be stolen from the city.


Syndicate Agents

Agents can only be trained in the city that hosts their Syndicate's Headquarters, which means they are only available to the player that is the Syndicate's largest [LINK=CONCEPT_SHARE_TRADING]Shareholder[\LINK]. Agents are invisible to other players and can enter rival territory. They allow the player to choose where to establish new Syndicate Cells, useful for destabilizing a rival civilization. The target city must have access to at least one resource that the Syndicate trades in.

The disadvantage of using Agents to expand a Syndicate is that the player is responsible for the cost of doing so. A certain amount of wealth ([ICON_GOLD]) is deducted from your treasury whenever you use an Agent to establish a new Syndicate Cell. This amount is increased if the new cell is replacing a competing organization.


Competition

Some resources are useful to several different organizations. If two or more Syndicates or [LINK=CONCEPT_CORPORATIONS]Corporations[\LINK] make use of the same resource, then they are in competition with each other and cannot coexist in the same city. If a Syndicate expands to a city where it has a competitor, the competing organization is removed from the city. Competition means that individual cities can host 1-2 Syndicate Cells at most.


Deterring Syndicates

Although Syndicates operate without respect to rule or regulation, there are a few ways a player can deter them from establishing cells in their cities:

[ICON_BULLET][BOLD]Corporations:[\BOLD] It is more expensive for Syndicates to spread to cities where a competing [LINK=CONCEPT_CORPORATIONS]Corporation[\LINK] is present. It thus pays to welcome such Corporations to your cities as they not only make it more difficult for Syndicates to move in, they can sometimes drive existing cells out of business.

[ICON_BULLET][BOLD]Civics:[\BOLD] Syndicates struggle to recruit and operate in civilizations where the penalties for lawbreaking are harsh. The [LINK=CIVIC_RETRIBUTION]Retribution[\LINK] civic will make your cities less appealing to them. Syndicates will not expand to civilization with the [LINK=CIVIC_CENTRAL_PLANNING]Central Planning[\LINK] civic. Syndicate cells already present in such a civilization will become inactive, no longer stealing wealth from its cities.

[ICON_BULLET][BOLD]Shares:[\BOLD] The most reliable way to keep a Syndicate at bay is to bribe it. The more [LINK=CONCEPT_SHARE_TRADING]Shares[\LINK] a player owns in a Syndicate, the less likely it is to expand to that player's cities.





Share Trading

A share is a certificate that grants a player partial ownership of an organization in exchange for a monetary investment. In Civilization IV: History Rewritten, each [LINK=CONCEPT_CORPORATIONS]Corporation[\LINK] and [LINK=CONCEPT_SYNDICATES]Syndicate[\LINK] has 100 shares that it can elect to sell or retain. This number never increases or decreases, meaning that the number of shares that a player has is equivalent to the percentage of the organization that they own.

When a Corporation or Syndicate is founded, the player that used a Great Person to do so receives a 25% share. If the founding player has the [LINK=TRAIT_FINANCIAL]Financial Trait[\LINK], this starting share is increased to 50%. The remaining share is retained by the organization. From time to time, an organization may decide it needs additional investment to fund expansion and help it gain an advantage over its competitors. It will then 'float' additional shares, which players can buy.

Any player (except Barbarians) can own shares in any organization, even if it isn't present in any of their cities. The more shares a player owns in a Corporation, the more likely it is to expand to that player's cities. The more shares a player owns in a Syndicate, the more likely it is to leave that player's cities alone. An organization will place its headquarters in a city belonging its largest shareholder, enabling them to train Executives. Finally, owning a share in an organization means you will be paid a dividend each turn.


Dividends

Corporations and Syndicates earn wealth each turn for every office or cell they've established and for every resource each office or cell has access to. From this, a dividend is paid to each shareholder in the organization, proportional to the percentage of shares they own. For example, if a player owns a 25% share in a particular organization, then that player will receive 25% of that organization's profit each turn as a dividend.


Share Price

The Share Price is how much it would cost to purchase a single share (1%) in a particular organization. It is recalculated each turn and is an indication of its accumulated wealth and market performance; how many cities and resources a corporation controls in comparison to its competitors. An organization's price trend shows how its share price has fluctuated over time, how much it has risen or fallen over the short term (5 turns), the medium term (15 turns), and the long term (30 turns). This information can be useful when deciding whether to buy or sell shares.

Shares cannot be traded for more or less than the share price, nor can they be gifted, stolen, or traded for other goods. They can only be bought or sold by closed tender, using the Corporate Advisor.


Buying Shares

When there are shares for sale in an organization, a message will announce the sale and the organization will be listed in [COLOR_HIGHLIGHT_TEXT]blue[COLOR_REVERT] in the Corporate Advisor. To purchase shares, select the number you wish to buy (or can afford) and press the Bid button. Bids are not processed until the start of the next turn. If there are more bids than there are shares for sale, each player's bid is reduced by one share (1%) in turn until the number matches. The order of bid reduction goes from smallest bid to largest, so the player(s) attempting to purchase the highest number of shares will have the advantage. Once the purchase is finalized, shares are distributed to the successful bidders and the purchase price is deducted from their treasury.


Selling Shares

Selling shares is done via the Corporate Advisor. Select an organization, the number of its shares you wish to sell, then press the Sell button. The sale will be announced to other players and processed at the start of the next turn. If more than one player is selling shares in the same organization, and there are insufficient bids to purchase them all, each player's sale is reduced by one share (1%) in turn until the number matches. The order of sale reduction goes from smallest sale to largest, so the player(s) attempting to sell the highest number of shares will have the advantage. If the organization itself is floating shares on the same turn as a share sale, the floated shares are always sold first. Once the sale is finalized, the shares that sold are removed from your portfolio and the sale price is added to your treasury.

Any shares that are not purchased that turn will remain on sale until they are sold, or the sale is cancelled. Be aware that the sale price of such shares may change as the share price is recalculated each turn.


Dissolving Shares

If a player is defeated and removed from the game, any shares that they owned are returned to the organization.

 

[lindsay40k]

End of paragraph eleven could do with a clarification on how Central Planning affects the health and happiness penalties, and if adopting said Civic will eliminate or put to sleep existing Offices (I seem to recall State Property and Mercantilism eliminate Offices in standard BTS - either way, the player should be informed).

I do think that Corporations (and, indeed, Syndicates) owning Shares would be an essential feature to make them distinct from state-owned enterprises, but entirely agree that it's not as important as getting the system running smoothly as it is and might be difficult to justify the time and effort needed relative to the resulting gameplay experience. It would be a hell of an achievement to get it working, though!

 

[Xyth]

End of paragraph eleven could do with a clarification on how Central Planning affects the health and happiness penalties

Good point.

and if adopting said Civic will eliminate or put to sleep existing Offices (I seem to recall State Property and Mercantilism eliminate Offices in standard BTS - either way, the player should be informed).

They aren't removed but become inactive. True of both BTS and HR. I've made some tooltip changes in the city screen to make this clearer.

I do think that Corporations (and, indeed, Syndicates) owning Shares would be an essential feature to make them distinct from state-owned enterprises, but entirely agree that it's not as important as getting the system running smoothly as it is and might be difficult to justify the time and effort needed relative to the resulting gameplay experience. It would be a hell of an achievement to get it working, though!

I think this would be cool, but not only was it considerable challenge to code, it turned out to be poor for balance as well. Too many entities vying for shares made it too hard for any one player or organization to amass a significant percentage, making it all much less interesting.

 

[rsab]

Ok, let's see if I'm able to better understand the Corporations/Syndicate mechanics.
In my game I'm the Anasazis. According to the screenshots:

-Hudson Bay:
The Malays founded it. On the right of the screenshot it's indicated how much comerce contributes the corp. to a city (+17 on my cities, +14 on the malay cities). Above of this section, the arrows are saying how the Price of the corp. is changing over time (-3, -3 -1). In this case we can see (at the left of the screenshot) it has lost a value of 8, and now the Price of the corp. is 57. And finally: the Malays own a share of the 25% of the corp., while the other 75% belong to the corp. itself (or private hands).

Here I'm missing:
-how the Price (57) affects to the mechanics? What I think is: when some shares are launched to the market (available to be bought), the Price will determine how much this shares will cost. Is it right?
-how the Share affects to the mechanics? Ok, the more shares you own the more dividends you will get. But I don't get to understand how the dividens are determined. (if you could provide me an answer related to the current example I will really apreciate).
-if the crop. headquarter (Terengannu in our example) creates Corporate Executives to expand the corp., the owner (Malays in this case) will have to pay to create offices. Is it posible o calculate this amount required? It requires the same amount to expand in own cities and foreign cities? And why would be interested the Malays to open offices in my cities? what would be their proffit?

 

[rsab]

And now let's see the Syndicates.
Still on the same game with Anasazis. Let's take a look to the screenshot:

-The Mafia:
I installed this Syndicate in Mogollon. I see the syndicate is stealing 41wealth in my cities and 29 in the malay cities (note here it says "wealth", while it was "commerce" in the corp. example; why this difference?).

So...
-Here there's a dividend of 8 wealth. I don't get to understand how this is generated.
-I don't remember to sell shares at any moment: how Tun Perak and Atlatl Cauac got to own some shares? Is the copr./syndicate also selling shares by own decision? This decision is randomly taken or always happens under determined circumstances?
-Since the syndicates only bring problems, I'm not interested at all having The Mafia in my cities. But if I want to create a Syndicate I have to install the headquarters in any of my cities, isn't it? It's difficult to me to understand or calculate the profit to create a Syndicate, in this example my only profit is that I get the 29% of the dividend (8), which is really insignificant. Another profit could be to damage he economy of my rivals (the Malays in this case), but since I cannot control how the Syndicate expands it's really risky... Also I've noticed that my Mafia Agents where not able to create Cells in the Malay cities.


Xyth I hope this specific example would clarify the mechanics. I'm excited about this new crop./syndicate system but I don't get to properly understand by the moment.

Once again: very sorry for my English skills... I hope you can understand my post.

 

[Xyth]

-how the Price (57) affects to the mechanics? What I think is: when some shares are launched to the market (available to be bought), the Price will determine how much this shares will cost. Is it right?

Yes, it is the price of a single share (1%), to buy or to sell.

-how the Share affects to the mechanics? Ok, the more shares you own the more dividends you will get. But I don't get to understand how the dividens are determined. (if you could provide me an answer related to the current example I will really apreciate).

The Mafia are earning wealth for every city they've spread to and for every resource they currently have access to. This is their profit. Because you own 29% of the Mafia, you are receiving 29% of that profit. They get the other 71% and will use it to fund expansion to new cities. The more they expand, the more their profit (and thus your dividend) will increase.

The other effect of owning shares is that the more you own, the more likely a corporation is to choose one of your cities to expand to. But in the case of Syndicates, the more shares you own, the more likely they are to leave your cities alone.

-if the crop. headquarter (Terengannu in our example) creates Corporate Executives to expand the corp., the owner (Malays in this case) will have to pay to create offices. Is it posible o calculate this amount required? It requires the same amount to expand in own cities and foreign cities?

It's mostly the same as in BTS. Foreign cities are more expensive, as is replacing an existing organization.

And why would be interested the Malays to open offices in my cities? what would be their proffit?

The Malay aren't putting offices in your cities. The corporation is doing that itself. If the Malay are training Executives they'll most likely be using them on their own cities.

-I don't remember to sell shares at any moment: how Tun Perak and Atlatl Cauac got to own some shares? Is the copr./syndicate also selling shares by own decision? This decision is randomly taken or always happens under determined circumstances?

Looks like the Mafia floated a 10% share at some point. You, Tun Perak, and Atlatl Cauac all bid. You and Tun Perak got 4% each, Atlatatl Cauac got the remaining 2%. He must have made a smaller bid than you guys. It always favours those trying to buy the largest number of shares.

-Since the syndicates only bring problems, I'm not interested at all having The Mafia in my cities. But if I want to create a Syndicate I have to install the headquarters in any of my cities, isn't it?

You have to have to have the headquarters, but because you're given a 25% share in the Syndicate, it's 25% less likely that it'll spread to your other cities.

It's difficult to me to understand or calculate the profit to create a Syndicate, in this example my only profit is that I get the 29% of the dividend (8), which is really insignificant. Another profit could be to damage he economy of my rivals (the Malays in this case), but since I cannot control how the Syndicate expands it's really risky...

If you're one of the leading civilizations in the game, you most probably don't want to found a Syndicate. You'll have large cities with lots of resources, so you'll be a prime target. Syndicates are primarily designed as a way to slow the progress of powerful civilizations a bit, and to make it harder for them to hog all the corporations for themselves.

Also I've noticed that my Mafia Agents where not able to create Cells in the Malay cities.

They can't in beta4, but in the release version Syndicate Agents are invisible like spies and can enter rival territory.