Cantrian Businesses

[CantrFreak]

Well, there are alot of businesses in Cantr. Admit it, there are. Millions, and almost every day I discover new types.

Banks, mailing, manufacturing, trading, loaning, shipping, travelling, and many other things (if there are.. XD) in Cantr. This thread is to discuss them, and if you wish, how good they work and how they are run.

Me myself, am involved in banking (though I seriously don't understand it), some shipping, and manufacturing/loaning?.

Shipping could be great for islands like K-Island where there aren't as many resources, and can be very profitable by getting valuable resources from K-Island. Sailing to a nearby island, trading it for resources not found on K-Island, and sail back. This makes for a great profit.. I think.

As for manufacturing, I'm pretty much a beginner and just lucky I spawned in a place prime for steel manufacturing.. I'm lucky like that. But since steel is a pain-in-the-neck process, and made using very expensive things, the steel will provide a great outcome in profit.

[DylPickle]

I've noticed a little bit of an increase in the paying of actual wages to employees, and I have one character that even buys food back from his employer for decent deals.

I find real functional buisnesses are hard to have in cantr, because people tend to preffer to build things themselves, than trade for it and encurage economies. It's one of the fundamental flaws in "cantr-human-player nature"

[N-Aldwitch]

True.
There is not enough emphasis on team work. Though we came very close to having a good emphasis recently, in which the more people you had on a project, the quicker it went (so 2 people doesnt equal 50% faster, it was actually like 65% or something) but I think the topic died out.
That'd encourage Building companies.

[tiddy ogg]

Maybe the problem is the failure of currencies, generally, thus limiting the value of what can be obtained in wages. Also, the slow nature of the game. RL people buy a lot of things because they haven't time to make them, but many Cantrians will work on things for years, and why not? Except for the high tech stuff, and there's not a lot of that, you'd have to work for as long to buy something as make it yourself. (The skill system was, perhaps, introduced to try to promote this.)

[El_Skwidd]

I've been running a mining company almost since I started playing 3 RL years ago, and I really can't seem to get it off the ground. We've had one client who traded coal for iron, and I've been able to trade iron for limestone (but only after I went out and traded it myself). I also can't get any employees.

Granted, my location is a little remote, but it's not that far from civilization. It seems, like Aldwitch said, that people just want to do things themselves.

[Pie]

I don't have much experiance in making a company, but i do have some experiance with being in one. but meh. I'm about to start one though, and it is a really good place. 2 away from hemetite, 1 away frome limestone, and it has coel.

and with a differen't caracter, I'm about to be able to create iron, to help start a government.

and thats all I can say.

[TatteredShoeLace]

While I stopped recruiting as furiously as before, I'd like to think that T&T Automotive was always a fairly successful little gem of mine. I was able to keep characters content and motivated, and we've made well over 20 vehicles now. And we use coins for currency and I'd say it works pretty well.

[Nakranoth]

I've had a little self-run food cooking gig running sense I joined... and it's somewhere that all of the sudden had an up-spike in population... or possibly a down spike in other labor... I may well end up with an employee or two

[Sparkle]

2 of my new characters are working for others while 1 is going with the flow of the wind I guess you can say.

However, 2 of my old characters kinda had businesses. Farrah originally started off with her own store. It was becoming successful until she began to run the town and if any of you have tried it you know that trying to do both is a very hard and time consuming task.

Then there was Fidel who worked for GM Postal since the day he was spawned. He was really good at it. I really miss doing that job. It was fun being needed by alot of people. When the radios were implemented and others began figuring them out, he mostly delivered resources then notes.

[Redbeard]

... Farrah originally started off with her own store.
... Then there was Fidel who worked for GM Postal since the day he was spawned....

These were two really really really well played characters... I had a couple of mine interact with them and enjoyed it... I hope your new ones are as much fun.

[Jos Elkink]

While I stopped recruiting as furiously as before, I'd like to think that T&T Automotive was always a fairly successful little gem of mine. I was able to keep characters content and motivated, and we've made well over 20 vehicles now. And we use coins for currency and I'd say it works pretty well.

That sounds cool. Perhaps you should write a Webzine article about it sometime? It sounds closest to what I always imagined Cantr companies to be.

And yeah, I know most companies do not turn out like that, but I know some nice examples in the game by now. The biggest problem, however, imho, is that people indeed do too much for themselves and that companies are too much all-in-one companies, so they don't need each other. I guess the issue is that too much of the advanced production requires the same machines and resources - once you acquire decent steel production, you can take on all industries but clothes or something. For as far as I know the RD is very well aware of this and gradually changing this, but wouldn't you agree that's part of the problem?

[dryn]

Yeah, I used to have a char working in T&T (old account). The system that was set up worked really well and was the cause for that contentness and motivation. 20 vehicles you say? Nice going!

[TatteredShoeLace]

My business itself has become a 'Jack of all Trades'. It is just how the game works. Now that I have 3 branches located on the coal/wood/rubber, hematite, and limestone/food locations, the overall business is too efficient for the demand.

Strong iron and steel manufacturing outweighs the demand from the people. So in order to remain a business I need to cater to the entire demand of the public. Sure I can build a bus, but who has the resources to pay for it? But I can easily sell pickaxes and shovels to just about any newspawn with a bit of something to trade.

I think that's a good thing, Jos. With fuel and vehicle compartmentization on the horizon, it will mean I need to be more efficient in my time as well as managerial skills. And it will boost the expenses, as it will undoubted make vehicles harder to create and maintain. Who knows when I'll hit a low point in employees and can't afford to create massive vehicle projects, or cannot keep fuel in customers' tanks? I may need to downgrade to tools or machines.

The biggest issue with cantrian businesses is what you're all mentioning; no one wants to be a bottom rung iron worker forever. It gets boring, and as an employer you can only RP motivational speech for so long before you yourself find life becoming a routine. The best you can do is try to keep everyone happy and always look to increase the size of the company, and hopefully you don't get robbed of your stockroom in the process.


And Jos, I suppose I could write a little something up...what exactly are you looking for? A history of the company from Tanner Frost's perspective or the agenda of the Player, me?

[TatteredShoeLace]

Yeah, I used to have a char working in T&T (old account). The system that was set up worked really well and was the cause for that contentness and motivation. 20 vehicles you say? Nice going!

Who did you play?

I'm curious who played Tidus Anderson, my co-founder and long time friend who died on a resource run.


And while I'm OOC I'd like to thank Angelspice, because without Bridget my company would be nothing. The same goes to the players of Mike, Lance, and Kermita. They are the truly dedicated individuals of the company, I'm glad I have characters I can trust.

[Sparkle]

... Farrah originally started off with her own store.
... Then there was Fidel who worked for GM Postal since the day he was spawned....

These were two really really really well played characters... I had a couple of mine interact with them and enjoyed it... I hope your new ones are as much fun.

Thank you. I hope the new ones are as much fun too. So far things seem to be getting a little more lively with them, but it will be a while before they will gain good reps like my old chars. had.

(Well not all of them had good reps. Some were pure evil. )