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Dividend stocks in economic nodes.
Blair
Member
As many of you know stock markets will be in AOC, specifically in the EN. But I want to know what you think about the possibility of a dividend stock as well as a regular stock? (IF YOU DON'T NO WHAT A DIVIDEND STOCK IS) A dividend stock is a stock that you buy for lets say £20, and every 1/4 of the year you are payed back a % of that stock WITHOUT HAVING TO SELL IT. The stock can also continue to grow which will then increase your pay even if the % is the same. I think investing in local taverns, blacksmith's and even player shops would work great with this. Because they control how many shares and the % they pay each time AND it can help to stop a node from de-levelling. But again what do you think? And if you like this discussion don't forget to like. 
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My main problem with this (correct me if I'm wrong) is that it depends entirely on a Tavern being able to operate at significant profit margins - which I honestly doubt will happen. Otherwise these payments will be pulling money from thin air - and that can get out of control pretty quickly.
To be honest I haven't looked into how stocks are going to work in AoC, so I honestly shouldn't be commenting here - but I'll jump in!
You are correct (mostly). I forgot to mention Dividend stock can turn into normal stocks and back whenever the business owner want i.e (THE MAYOR and PLAYERS) The one thing you would need to watch out for is something we are dealing with right now called ETF fund. (NOT GOING TO BORE YOU WITH DETAIL) But essentially people invest in a stock just because its doing good even if the business is dyeing. This can cause a bubble and then a crash like what happened in 2008. Hope this helps.
So basically people become stockholders of a Metropolis?
ooft.
This much Money and Power in economic nodes would be a boiling pot for drama with all the power struggles. I like it. But I would stay far far away hahaha.
For example, who or what decides when & how much dividend gets paid?
In RL there're all kinds of regulations & other factors at play such that a stock which never pays (or only pays very little) dividend u~sually don't end well (ok tech stocks are now an exception).
But in game, what'll stop my evil merchant guild from launching an IPO -> using the received funds to launch my business into stable orbit -> pocketing all the profit for myself and never pay any dividend? My stockprice plunging at this point does not worry me since my business's already stable in orbit - unless some form of hostile takeover is allowed, which should encourage business owners to keep their stockprices as high as possible. But then the "hostile takeover" system itself would probably need a lot of effort to balance / tweak.
And if the system determines how much I must pay, then am I forever indebted to my stockholders? If I have to make a fixed payout every month, what if I decide to quit / pause playing Ashes for a while? Am I doomed to bankruptcy (coz I keep losing $ while I'm unsubbed) when I eventually come back? Can I redeem myself from this fate?
And say if I have to pay a % of my profit every month, how should that "profit" be calculated? What stops me from faking a zero profit like Amazon / Apple by "reinvesting" all my earnings?
Maybe some sort of track record tied to your account that lets people see your history of payments (or lack thereof)? I don't imagine people would trust someone with a blank slate.
I agree with you though, given the state of today's stock markets - someone is going to find a niche exploit and amass a ridiculous sum of wealth. Then I reckon that person will eventually get bored and decide to crash the economy.
Ashes already has a system to counter this. Taxes and money made by the business go DIRECTLLY to the node not the owner or mayer pocket. This is to help with inflation and people hording money. A node can de-level if it performs poorly so even if your stock is high if the BUISNESS didn't make anything then you run the risk of losing your money.