*The Stock Market In The Eyes Of The Public

[platanocat]

It’s been a while since the stock market has been overhauled and reopened. Since then, there have been mixed feelings about the upgrades; some more vocal than others. I decided to ask a group of both ISFL and DSFL players to share their thoughts with me.

Please note: the opinions of those quoted below are not necessarily shared by myself and those who participated in the creation of this media piece shall remain anonymous.

The first question I asked was this:
What is your opinion of the stock market since the overhaul?

The most opinionated answers were these:

“it's horrible and anyone that uses it is a charlatan”

“I like the stock market now more than I did when it first opened because it works more like a stock market.”

“F**k stocks. It's just a get rich scheme by the people who already have money.”

Some answered in a less volatile, more lucid manner that seemed more of a response to the amount of money needed to participate.

“There’s kinda a high entrance fee for stocks so its seems like a huge risk unless your already rich”

“Imagine having enough money to buy stocks”

“eat the rich”

Other people simply displayed a lack of understanding of the new stock market.

“I haven't really looked at the stock market and it feels like the stock price is set arbitrarily but I also don't know how stocks work so :shrugs:”

“Before, the stock market was generally hard to understand, and specifically it was incredible difficult (imo) to predict how prices were going to fluctuate. That hasn't changed at all since the overhaul. The only things that bring stock market related clarity to me are articles written by someone who, as far as I know, has nothing to do with the stock market.”

“it's still overly complex and it feels arbitrary if you don't put a lot of time into understanding how it works (or even once you do...)”

This lack of understanding may be the cause of some contributors’ indifferent attitude.

“I haven't done anything with stonks I have no opinion”

And finally, as with any public survey, some people took the opportunity to promote their conspiracies.

“I really think that Slate has a stock in the stock market and is getting paid under the table to write articles to get more people in the market”

“I think the casino workers definitely designed it for themselves and not for anyone else”

So where does this feedback leave us? Well I asked participants by inquiring:
How could the stock market be improved?

“It would be better if there were a lower barrier to entry both complexity-wise and money-wise.”

“it could be improved by destroying it”

“By deleting it.”

“I wanna bet”

“It would be better if stock prices could move more in response to game results.”

“LET US BE ABLE TO BUY 51% OF A TEAM AND BECOME THE OWNER”

And there you have it. Hopefully this questionnaire provides an accurate snapshot of the public sentiment since the stock market’s rebirth. Where will the market go next and what is in store for both fans and critics alike? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading. <3

[Hordle]

“I really think that Slate has a stock in the stock market and is getting paid under the table to write articles to get more people in the market”

Applied

[zaynzk]

SMH Plat censoring "Eat Zayn"

[slate]

“I really think that Slate has a stock in the stock market and is getting paid under the table to write articles to get more people in the market”

smh I told you that in confidence

[Crunk]

Occupy Wall Street.

Seize the means of production.

Eat the rich.

[Memento Mori]

Personally I lost interest in the stock market when it went offline for a season or so. I think it's probably better now than it was but the way people's money got locked in there with no warning besides a short period where they opened up stock sales due to the backlash left a bad taste in my mouth and I don't feel motivated to read up on the new mechanics and get involved again.

[slate]

Personally I lost interest in the stock market when it went offline for a season or so. I think it's probably better now than it was but the way people's money got locked in there with no warning besides a short period where they opened up stock sales due to the backlash left a bad taste in my mouth and I don't feel motivated to read up on the new mechanics and get involved again.

I came at it with fresh eyes having not dealt with the stock market before the changes that were made, so I was definitely more willing to give it a chance in the reboot.

I agree that would be super frustrating, especially since a lot of stocks changed price significantly while people were locked out giving people no way to avoid losing a bunch of money in some cases.

[AdamS]

I can answer the one about "designed by the casino for themselves"

the designer didnt work for the casino until afterwards

[slate]

I can answer the one about "designed by the casino for themselves"

the designer didnt work for the casino until afterwards

Okay since I've now seen two Casino employees get upset about this quote (which *shock* is something I told Plat), I'm going to elaborate on it because I don't think the way that people are interpreting it is in line with how I meant it. I should have been more careful about how I phrased this at first, sorry about this.

The meaning that I think most people are interpreting this, which is definitely not the meaning I intended, is that Casino employees designed the Casino to increase their ISFL bank accounts at the expense of other people in the league. It's blatantly false for, among many other reasons, the one that AdamS gives here.

What I meant by this is that the Casino, as a "game" to play within the ISFL, was designed to be fun for the people who designed it (and other people who think similarly to them, myself included), without considering what might make it fun or unfun for people outside of that small-ish group. I think some of the mechanics which result in unintuitive stuff like stock prices moving independently of on-field results, different tax rates on sales made back to the Casino and via open auctions, etc. etc. are cool to analytics-y nerds like me who enjoy understanding how the stock market works in detail and figuring out ways to take advantage of these mechanics.

But to the general user who thinks "Oh! There's a stock market, let me check it out! I'll buy 3 shares of my team's stock! Wait, my team is 3-1, why has our stock price gone down while Arizona's has gone up???" I don't think the stock market is very fun at all, hence the majority of Plat's quotes from other users.

Hopefully that explains my thinking on this topic. Please direct any questions or concerns to Frostbite.

[AdamS]

I'm not upset, I just like to try to clear up misconceptions when I can. And since a good chunk of what you're talking about was either my idea or I gave the okay on, I'm that person.

When I first pursued the idea of bringing in a casino (or bringing back technically), I approached a diverse group to help set up ideas and bounce plans around. I had a whole server for it that had an HO rep, the head of the bank, the head of fantasy, the PBE casino head, and several others who would come in and out with ideas and such. The idea definitely was to make it fun for a larger group.

As for the stock mechanics, while I agree they may not be intuitive on their own, most people at least in the US are at least vaguely aware of the stock market changing based on perceived value. Then again, I don't understand it very well myself. I just kind of idiot savant my way to money mostly.

The different tax rates were put in place to make it more lucrative to sell to other players rather than the casino. Plus, mostly everyone here likes to compete. And you could end up buying stock slightly more cheaply than you would otherwise. It hasn't hit as much as I'd thought it would so I definitely overestimated that.