Board game to understand non scarcity

[Peter Froberg]

Most of the people on this network have a great understanding og non-scarcity economics. About how this methods of production and possible business models. Yet this can be very hard to understand on an intuitive level.

I while ago I picked up on the idea of Joseph Jackson here on the Ning. The idea was to use a board game to create an intuitive understanding. Since I have been talking with a board game design company about the possibilities and they are exited about the idea. Yet this is a rather small company, so they can not put up the start capital for the project.

Do you have any great ideas for places to find finance ?
I would love to hear any input the you guys might have on the subject.

The following is a preliminary description of the idea:
Board game based on the economy of non-scarcity
Purpose of the game
The purpose of the game is give players a good experience, while getting an intuitive understanding of non-scarcity economics.

Background
The development of computer technology has created a lot of possibilities. One of these is the possibility to duplicate and distribute content via the computer.This is possible for software,text, sound, video, pictures and everything else that can be produced on a computer. A great example is the mp.3 music file. Since this has made it possible to proliferate content much cheaper then before. The production and distribution cost of a mp3 album is virtually the same weather 10 or 10 million people has a copy of the music.

This technological situation has created a unique economic situation. where some resources are no longer scares or limited. Because of this situation there new possibilities within business models and ways of creating common good.

Business model
In a traditional record company it makes sense to let costumers pay per album they consume. In the non- scares economy, there is virtually no cost of duplication and distribution. This means that new possibilities are opening up. Like letting costumers consume the music for free, then to sell them concerts, merchandise or deluxe editions.

Common good
with a business model based on non-scarcity, you would naturally let people have free access to a lot of products. The software, knowledge and culture that is accessible in this way, would also be available to those who could not previously afford it.
This can be great value to these people. within this area open source software has already showed that effect for the common good. Like the way poor education systems now can afford to implement computer education

Gameplay
The game itself should be relatively easily accessibly. At a level where an average adult would be able to play it out of the box.

If it possible, the could be an ad-on that increases the complexity. This ad-on would make it more of an educational game, played with a facilitator

Game ideas
The game could be a resource management game. Possibly with changing circumstances along the game. So that the economic changes as you play, in a way similar to how the economy of non scarcity has appeared in our society.

To underline the principles of the non-scarcity economics, it would be great if the game could be available in a non-scares version. this could be a game that could be played online or a blueprint from which you can print your own game.

[AGNUcius]

Hi Peter,

I have spent some time thinking about such a game myself. An old start is at http://EcoComics.sf.net

But before we can talk about that, there is a detail that must be ironed out if we are to make sense to each other.

You say:
"distribution cost of a mp3 album is virtually the same weather 10 or 10 million people has a copy of the music."

Many people say this. And I guess I understand what they intend, but unfortunately it is simply incorrect.

Digital content cannot exist without the physical resources needed to store it.

Digital content cannot be copied without yet more physical resources needed to store that new copy.

Digital content cannot be distributed without physical resources such as copper wire or satellites or wireless transceivers, or unless it is delivered by truck or plane on optical or magnetic media such as a tape or disc.

And in all cases there is also energy (electricity, fuel, and even human effort) to operate and maintain those physical resources.

These details may seem unimportant, but the reason I want to focus on them initially is so we can work toward the further understanding that *all* things have an 'infinite' side and *all* things have a 'finite' side.

I hope this can be a fruitful discussion.

Please see the following papers for a more complete treatment of this idea:

* http://Blog.P2PFoundation.net/one-loaf-per-child/2007/06/14
* http://Groups.Google.com/group/gnu-society/browse_thread/thread/b66...

love,
Lord AGNUcius

[Peter Froberg]

Hi Agnucius

I think you have overlooked a small but significant detail in what I wrote:

"The cost is virtually zero"

Meaning that the cost i very close to zero, but not zero.

None of the people that are talking about this area are saying that the cost is zero, but that it is so close to zero that it is insignificant in a larger perspective. From the producers side

I am talking about this from the viewpoint of the producer. Not society in general.

Best
Peter

[AGNUcius]

Peter Froberg wrote:

"The cost is virtually zero"

Ok, I guess I was confused by your statement about 10 vs 10,000,000.

10 people downloading a file from a website can be nearly disregarded, while 10,000,000 might cause major disruption. Similarly, the ecologic impact of 10,000,000 computers being used to display that file is much more profound than just 10 (both for their initial construction and also for the electricity they use).

So, to follow through with this thinking, would you say the cost of something such as Almonds or Blackberries could ever approach "virtually zero" if we had them growing down every lane, or do you see that as a completely different issue?

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Patrick Anderson

[Peter Froberg]

I would say that Bluebarries and Almonds is a completely different issue. Digital production is uniqe in the radical speed the cost of manufacturing is exponentially decreasing.

It is true that 10.000.000 has a larger cost then 10. But this I very small in the bigger perspective and it is getting increasingly smaller. (This is only seen from th view of the destributor)

[Chris Watkins]

Love the idea - can't think how to do it, but I look forward to seeing what you come up with!