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Abundance - should I be worried?

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  • The more you guys dig, the more I will talk about this on a Tuesday show. ;^)

    Now to get a copy of the game...
  • edited May 2013
    The more you guys dig, the more I will talk about this on a Tuesday show. ;^)

    Now to get a copy of the game...
    Worth a shot --> Abundance on Ebay
    Post edited by trogdor9 on
  • edited May 2013
    Cult in the form of a board game, that's a new one. Now I want a meta board game where you play as the cult leader scamming people with sheisty board games.
    Post edited by ninjarabbi on
  • Ooh, a game about managing cults sounds pretty interesting.
  • edited May 2013
    I don't know about any Abundance or any of that stuff, but I play Cashflow 101 and it's an okay game. It generally takes a few hours to play, but it can take as little as a half hour if you get lucky with the stocks mechanic or hit it big with a buyer in the market cards (not the same as stock market). Actually, I kinda wanna bust it out and play with some people. Playing with my family is boring because we all know the game so well.

    Don't bother with the Cashflow 202 expansion. It only adds more arbitrary-ness to the game and is generally stupid.

    It is a big hit with the Amway crowd (of which my dad is a part of), but I wouldn't be worried about the players on the whole. It definitely has a big draw to those financials types because of Robert Kiyosaki. My dad is a fan of Kiyosaki and has a lot of his books.


    EDIT: Just watched a bit of that Abundance instructional video. It is ripping off CashFlow 101 from the board design to some of the mechanics, but does it shittily and in ways that makes the game much worse.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • Cult in the form of a board game, that's a new one. Now I want a meta board game where you play as the cult leader scamming people with sheisty board games.
    That meta-game is already underway.

    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/springboard/emperors-new-clothes
  • That ebay listing appears to be by the guy himself, and he has an auto-bidder set up to push the price up. ;^)
  • Kiyosaki is kind of a scammer nutjob, and Amway is a straight scam.
  • That ebay listing appears to be by the guy himself, and he has an auto-bidder set up to push the price up. ;^)
    Oh, I didn't look at the seller info. Yeah that's no good at all. Isn't that also a huge violation of Ebay policy?
  • edited May 2013
    The feedback listings are interesting, because they effectively show a price history:
    http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&ftab=AllFeedback&userid=higherlaws&iid=-1&de=off&interval=0&items=100
    The price is highly variable, so if this is the work of an autobidder it's one with a random cutoff. Of course, some or all of the lower prices could also be fake sales.
    Post edited by lackofcheese on
  • I'm not sure how complex it is, but it might be worth "pirating" just to see how shitty it is. I don't mean doing a really nice custom set, but just printing out the board and using some pieces you already have.
  • Aw, I saw the thread title and was hoping for post-scarcity. Oh well, here goes:

    10 years ago smartphones were basically nonexistent. Now people walk around with a device in their pocket that makes the Hitchhiker's Guide look like a joke (but not in the way it originally was!). How long until we have Diamond Age 3d printers?
  • It's just a mice moving shitopoloy from what I can gather on the Internet.
  • Sigh, sadly it seems like there's not much I can do about stopping the game night. As long as no actual sales are happening in the common room (and even if there were, it would be hard to prove the tickets are for something conclusively illegal without going to a seminar and documenting it), I can't really tell them they can't use the common space because their board game is shitty. Oh well. At least the people themselves are nice, so it won't be a pain to deal with them.
  • edited May 2013
    You should totally go anyway and bring real board games that are economy based. Convert them back!
    Post edited by Cremlian on
  • Can't you tell some people how sheisty it is and try to stop people from going in the first place?
  • People who fall for things like Amway almost never un-fall for them. Telling them that it's a scam only strengthens their resolve to prove that it's not a scam.
  • People who fall for things like Amway almost never un-fall for them. Telling them that it's a scam only strengthens their resolve to prove that it's not a scam.
    They are certainly a very profitable scam, though. Amway is the presenting sponsor of your home town Detroit Red Wings.
  • People who fall for things like Amway almost never un-fall for them. Telling them that it's a scam only strengthens their resolve to prove that it's not a scam.
    They are certainly a very profitable scam, though. Amway is the presenting sponsor of your home town Detroit Red Wings.
    There's also an Amway "store" in one of the street-facing retail spaces in Citi Field.

  • Amway is an interesting case in that it's very legit at one level while also being very scammy at another. They do make real, physical products that people can buy and sell (I'm not arguing over the quality of their products here as I've never used them). That's the legitimate part. However, the way their distribution network is set up lends itself very easily, perhaps even purposefully (though their founders deny this, of course), to being turned into pyramid schemes.
  • Amway is a pyramid scheme, but not legally. They live right on the edge using every loophole and technicality, so that the government can't go after them. The laws that define monopolies, pyramid schemes, etc. Need to expand their definitions to include more things. Also we should expand the power of agencies, such as the FTC and justice department, to take action against such corporations of their own initiative.
  • The laws that define monopolies, pyramid schemes, etc. Need to expand their definitions to include more things
    Like internet and cell service providers.
  • edited May 2013
    True, the fact that Amway actually makes legitimate (in that they exist, whether or not they actually work as advertised) products is probably how they get around any existing pyramid scheme laws. It's certainly a different scenario and considerably more clever than the old "send one dollar to the top five addresses in this email with a note saying 'add me to your mailing list'" schemes.
    Post edited by Dragonmaster Lou on
  • edited May 2013
    People who fall for things like Amway almost never un-fall for them. Telling them that it's a scam only strengthens their resolve to prove that it's not a scam.
    True in this case too. I sent another email to the game night head yesterday letting them know my concern about Brandon Broadwater (while making sure not to place blame on them or their players for falling for stuff). Thankfully, the response was understanding of my position and concern, but at the same time digging in and asserting that the guy's teachings have made improvements for them in their lives, while also defending the guy personally. They also said I should come and play the game for myself sometime because it's only fair to hear both sides amirite?

    Yeah, sounds like they're not too interested in giving up on anything anytime soon. And I don't know any of their players or social circles, so there's no way really for me to prevent anyone from coming before they show up.

    Now, with the invitation on the table, serious question: should I sacrifice my time for the good of the thread, playtest this shit, and report back with my findings?
    Post edited by Eryn on
  • I strongly doubt that that would be worth it.
  • edited May 2013
    True, the fact that Amway actually makes legitimate (in that they exist, whether or not they actually work as advertised) products is probably how they get around any existing pyramid scheme laws. It's certainly a different scenario and considerably more clever than the old "send one dollar to the top five addresses in this email with a note saying 'add me to your mailing list'" schemes.
    I don't like Amway as a business model (if you can call it that), but their products are actually good, especially the XS Energy Drinks. That stuff is delicious and I've never experienced the same sort of crash I've gotten from Red Bull/Monster/etc. I could finish a 12 pack of the root beer flavored ones on my own.

    Back to the game...
    I strongly doubt that that would be worth it.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • It's clear everyone involved has been suckered in. Discovering more about it does not, in fact, give you the ability to further discredit it as you'd like it to.
  • I strongly doubt that that would be worth it.
  • Was kind of hoping people would say that. No dice, Abundance. Get out of my face.
  • edited May 2013
    I will say that the dishwashing soap is very effective as a windshield anti-fogging solution.
    Post edited by MrRoboto on
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