Changes to rules, slot transfers (to discuss)

[dmoose42]

Ezzeqiel - I agree with you on this one.  Having a development schedule would be nice.

As for the programmers, I don't think the budget allows for it.  If you figure there are 1500 players across the game worlds (and some times it's lower than that), that's only 1500 credits a week, so maybe 1000 euro at best.  Unless Sami has hit the secret educational market hard, there's not a ton of resources to pay for external help...

[LemonButt]

Yea if you do the math sami is bringing in a maximum of $50k/yr on AWS, which is why it isn't his full time job.

I do run a website fulltime and I can tell you 80% of the work no one sees, so even if you don't see changes/new features I promise you there are incremental improvements being made every week that you just don't see.

[Curse]

I only believe in what I see. Like dinosaurs or man in the moon.

[BD]

Why not add slots to the amount of slots normally released, with the adders being calculated based on a threshold market share of each airline based there (e.g. those with 50% share or higher ?  Or, alternatively, release a new slot for every one that a dominant airline over a threshold percentage share buys?

Maybe even have it scale such that a higher percentage share causes an increasing number of slots to be released.

It seems it could be simple to code (relatively).

No comments so far.   Not sure if it needs to be articulated differently, or maybe I misunderstood the original problem to be addressed and folks think this is off the mark.

As a temporary solution, wouldn't this work? 

[Sami]

There won't be any fixed & public development schedules since this isn't my full time job, and any such schedule would be most likely lost in the first 6 months already. There is a "master plan" (internal use) that is being followed in the long run...

(also any programming is purely done by myself, but I have used, and "project permitting" will use, external help in various other tasks like graphics / UI design, data gathering etc)

[spiff23]

Out of curiosity for future since I didn't see this and a reasonable solution has been put forth, but how hard would it be to focus on the 10 or so truly long-term Slot constricted airports  and allow transfers for a high price via something like the plane UM?...instead of planes, you see the 10 worst airports. 

While somewhat following the situation, in theory I don't see an issue with players swapping slots as a competitive position as long as a price would be paid (I.e., in future enhancement) and not a collusion as what seems to have caused the uproar (see RW examples like DL and US at LGA and DCA recently, or UA selling/leasing many of its unused LHR slots in the 2000s to help raise funds to get out of Chapter 11; or the outright purchase of PA LHR by UA and AA purchase of TW LHR ops/slots early 1990s).  If something easy to do I'd rather see the game stay competitive and close to real world...and of course if a collusion has occurred, there's always the government anti competitive entities (I.e., SAmi) to impose a harsh penalty.

If a slot market limited to a few airports could be created and to then get around the alliance issue, maybe if it's two airlines in same alliance, game engine sets a very high fee for the transfer and price paid goes to the AWS bank (I.e. No intra-alliance money laundering) where as if it's alliance to player outside alliance then it's whatever that person is willing to pay...with assumption 7 slots at LHR are going upwards of $10-$15m depending on the era..sort of like the way it works in the UM for planes.  This would be an option for a struggling airline to raise cash and anyone based at LHR can surely afford $10m for a weekly flight If there was a market for LHR, HND, ORY, JFK...those are the only ones that seem impossible start to finish.  Maybe in certain phases you can add airports like PEK, AMS, MUC when they become closed off with the old airports. 

Just a thought if practical to explore in the future and a new twist that create another liquid asset to raise cash if hitting financial turbulence.