/vt/ - Virtual Youtubers

>>24455842
Its still a work in progress but here, the /nasfaqg/ general lore document! https://rentry.org/MerchantLore

Hi. /nasfaqg/ rep here, chosen by the thread.

I'm coming here to discuss something that we've discussed for a while, which is /nasfaqg/'s aesthetics and technological level. The world of /vtwbg/ has been bumped up several times since we've debuted our initial aesthetics (XVth Century Venice) or subsequent one (XVIth Century Netherlands). Right now, the thread treats late XVIIIth and early XIXth century inventions and concepts as if they were common, together with the presence of multiple early XIXth century threads (you can say it's the 1700's but surprisingly basically no one is in them). Which leads us to...

>The Proposal
/nasfaqg/ would wish to move onto a late Victorian-era aesthetics building on the European-esque feel of Venice/Netherlands, into something akin to London - think Dishonored. The Exchange itself would be based off NYSE from 1860's-1880's, the era of industrial and financial magnates like Dow, Rockefeller, or Morgan.
Regarding technology, it'd vary wildly for reasons I will get into in the reasoning/drawbacks section, but it'd likely use a pre-industrial 1800's as the baseline, with individual plutocrats reaching tech in their favored discipline up to 1880's. Overall, we'd assume 1850's tech level would be "average", primarily in commercial and theoretical technology, with tech that'd be mass produced stalling behind significantly, including military technology.

The level of technology /is/ higher than the general level of technology, and I will explain the reasoning and the drawbacks that would a) cull back on its usefulness and b) stop its spread.

>The Reasoning
/nasfaqg/'s core identity relies on two things: the stock market and trade. The former comes from the fact that the game the thread centers around clearly parodies NASDAQ - a modern exchange, supporting digital purchases, as well as taking certain elements of the cryptocurrency aesthetics. As such, we've always strived to be the most "modern" stock exchange/financial setting of the /vtwbg/ current era, which currently falls outside of the Dutch Golden Age. The latter comes from both the game's auction system and translation of the game's mechanics into thread culture and ultimately /vtwbg/ behavior. In order to remain competitive in the trading department, one either has to stay ahead of the curve in terms of development of transport, good production, and information, or maintain a iron-grip monopoly over a specific market.

The first core identity drives us to the stock exchange that'd be closest to modern one - thus our choice of NYSE and Dishonored-ish aesthetics. The second means that it's extremely hard to justify /nasfaqg/'s wealth or trade when several other threads offer to /share/ their technology while using it to benefit them economically. Why accept /nasfaqg/'s investors when someone domestically can build a better cement/a faster ship/a better product?

Finally, it does make sense logically. /nasfaqg/ is an extremely open melting pot thread, which means that putting the baseline below what other threads openly know about would be illogical - this excludes, of course, technology that is unique, being kept secret, or is unusable AND kept secret (a'la /nasa/). It's an extremely competitive environment where traders aim to gain any kind of tangible advantage over their opponents, meaning tons of funding and drive to improve /specific/ technologies.
If you can learn information about what goods are needed on the other side of the globe and send it faster to the chapters of your company present there, you can respond to crises and shortages faster than your competition.
If you can transport certain goods either faster, in bigger amounts, or cheaper than your competition, you're carving out a niche for yourself that your opponents cannot fill.
If you can model and process data better than your rivals, your financial investments domestically and on the stock exchange will yield greater returns.
If you can improve your mental processing power and physical stamina, you can trade for longer.
If you develop psychoactive substances from Chuubanite/Vitubium and study biology/chemistry extensively, you can tap onto your subconscious to make trades using the "flow" of the market, tuning into its "black magics".
This competitiveness and extreme individualism, while driving progress forward, ironically also stops it from proliferation which I will touch upon in the Drawbacks.