Interaction & Tension

The difficulty with adding additional playspace is that it reduces the interaction and tension between the players, especially between the Company and the Firms.

To help address the lack of tension, the scenario includes the following mechanics (most of which have been already discussed):

Bidding at the Tea Auction

The firms will negotiate with the Director of Warehouses to obtain the Tea exported from China. Tea acts as a bonus for trade in America. The bidding is the resulting interaction between the players. This exchange helps the Firms feel less isolated from the Company, especially at the start.

Smugglers and Colonial Merchants

In the Deregulation scenarios, the Firms are competing with the Company (and each other) for the trade orders, as once an order is filled, it is worth half the money (rounded down). This direct competition for trade provides a lot of tension in the deregulation scenarios.

In this scenario, the Firms start in America, separate from the Company. It’s hard to dictate having multiple firms (especially with only 3-4 players), so some sort of competition needs to be provided. History provides us with a solution: The colonial merchants who smuggled trade from the French and Dutch.

The smugglers will act similar to the Company in terms of providing some obstacle that the Firms should account for. In addition, multiple firms can be established and add to the competition, as in the other deregulation scenarios.

Tariffs and Other Statutes

Since the Firms require enterprises for investment, the firm players often have a good amount of voting power at their disposal. The firm is both directly competing against the Company for trade, while being dependent on the Company to open orders. Thus they have a unique position in influencing the laws and the vote about possible laws and policies.

However, in the beginning of this scenario, the Firm relationship is less combative with the Company. To make sure there is still some interest in the Parliament Meets phase, tariffs are be included that affect America. While a Firm may not care about the law, they make care about the tariff being voted upon. This creates tension and encourages negotiation between the players, even if they aren’t directly competing.

If Tea Regulation passes, the Company will be competing directly with the Firms in America. This relationship will be more contentious than parasitic, as the Firms are not depending on the Company military to open orders.

Government Offices

In addition to the Company offices, additional Government offices will be introduced. This will add additional negotiation, as the Firms will be dependent on the Government to assist with providing the military to keeping orders open and unrest down. If Tea Regulation passes, the Company will also be dependent on the Government.

This will also support higher player counts with keeping all players engaged, as there are 3-4 more offices available from the start.

Available Credit

There is a limited amount of Credit in this scenario for the Firms, the Company and the Government to draw from. At the beginning, this doesn’t add much tension, but the pressure will rise as the Company and Government struggle more. For pro-Company or pro-Government players, this will add to the desire to have Tea Regulation enacted, which will increase the interactivity.

The London Season

With the additional roles present in this scenario, there are more opportunities for retirement, which means additional competition during the London Season for the Prestige cards.