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Special thanks to all our writers and contributors:

Federal Government, riser thehopehitman2, Rats! and Tuned

The Federal Tribune January 2011

Price: Free

[EDITION 1] All rights reserved by The Federal Tribune

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Dear readers, The staff of The Federal Tribune would like to thank you for taking your time to read this new magazine. The magazine is based on the great principle of ‘Quality News’, which is also our main slogan. Our goal is to provide you quality English articles about a wide range of subjects, including trade, politics, statistics – and their differences between trade-periods – and international relations. As most of our writers are based in Virtua, most articles will be about Virtua, this however doesn’t stop us to write important international articles about Ibisha, Digitalië and Cyberië. We hope that you enjoy reading our new English magazine, and we’d like to welcome all feedback in our club. Yours sincerely and a happy new year, Our complete staff

Ibisha and Virtua

By the hopehitman2 Page 3

Inside the CoV

By the Federal Government Page 6

The Virtuan Awards By Tuned Page 8

International Trade at Risk By riser Page 10

Virtuan Statistics Source : Tuned Page 13

Product Demand Increases By the Federal Government Page 14

Hell_riser’s Tourism Teaser By riser Page 15

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Ibisha and Virtua, a partnership for the future By thehopehitman2

his trade period has had many political interactions across the Federation that have not ended as perfectly as the two governments might have hoped. It is rare to find an agreement that can match both sides needs perfectly, but when it happens, the

citizens of both countries directly feel the effects for the better. This round, one of those rare agreements have taken place, but not many people are convinced that the trade deal between Virtua and Ibisha is for the best. I have to admit that at first even I was skeptical of what the agreement would bring to either side, but upon further research have discovered the magnitude of the treaty. To fully understand what the trade deal has accomplished one must first dig into the making of the deal itself. I recently sat down with the political leaders of both sides and discussed what went on behind closed doors to get the deal done.

In the beginning stages Virtua was naturally drawn to the possibility of trading with Ibisha due to some trader’s history there, as Tuned the president of Virtua put it “Well, in some way Virtua is very connected with Ibisha, some Virtuans have lived, worked, talked, and slept in Ibisha. And this was a possibility to improve our relations, this would also benefit our traders; a bigger market for our and their traders. However, I wanted to discuss the benefits of it with the Ibishan Leadership, to have an equal-beneficial agreement between the two countries.” This didn’t come without some concerns from both sides of course, when asked about his initial concerns craftsman the leader of Ibisha

answered “My initial concerns were that it wouldn't work due to Virtuan traders not giving the importance needed to the treaty and the low population at the time on Ibisha. Surely this was not the case since both parties took a major role in the treaty. Virtuans were very eager to help out and Ibisha had new Spanish speaking citizens that made trade easier.”

Ibisha’s slow start to the trade period almost made the trade agreement impossible to achieve due to the lack of resources needed for the national harbor. But luckily Ibishans eventually supplied the government with the proper raw materials for the job and the treaty was signed for the remainder of trade period 84 and 85. From the beginning it was clear the two sides were after two very different things. Ibisha was looking for a boost in activity in its city and a chance for international trade recognition, while virtua was looking to expand its trade, increase profits, and gain valuable resources it lacked. Among these resources were iron ore, gold, and diamonds.

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Craftsman: “My initial concerns were that it wouldn't work due to Virtuan traders not giving the importance needed to the treaty”

“…not all the traders felt the same way about the products Ibisha had to offer.”

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Although Tuned used the resources available in Ibisha as a way to sell why this was a good deal for Virtua, not all the traders felt the same way about the products Ibisha had to offer. Many wondered why those resources were so valuable because Virtua had done just fine in the past with what it had on its own soil, but the value of these resources would prove itself as the round progressed. Soon after the deal, iron traders in Cashington started to complain about low yields and shrinking reserves. People opened MV’s on Ibisha to supplement the depleting resource while traders used some of that same ore to refine into iron and sell back to the Ibishans who needed it for their infrastructure. While the iron demand in Cashington was up, the iron traders found themselves depleting not only iron ore in the area but another, just as valuable commodity in the region, lot condition. Although the iron traders were not the only ones to blame, the lot conditions around the region fell rapidly and officials could not keep up with the environmental depletion. Rats! the mayor of Cashington quickly offered exims to the traders so that numerous parks could be made around the city and over 70 parks were set into construction. This unfortunately was not enough to stop the landslide, and Cashington quickly fell below 90 and even 80 average lot condition, which was enough to get the Federal Government involved and caused some officials to warn of earthquakes. When Virtua found itself in another crisis, Ibisha’s resources again served as the answer for some, in the form of diamonds. Diamonds in the Federation serve a dual purpose; they are a main ingredient in gun making in Digitalie but they also make diamond drills which can be used for improving lot condition. Once a person has a diamond drill they can increase a lots condition by 50 and the surrounding 8 lots by 10, for every diamond they use. As an inhabitant of Cashington I naturally asked the question, has this ever been done before? Can diamond drills really save a city in environmental trouble? My research into this issue quickly brought me to Roebelarendsveen one of Cyberias most

prized cities where in the past it has been rumored that diamond drills saved the city. I sat down with one of the traders that were present during the days of Roebelarendsveen’s environmental troubles, Pedro Alvarez. When asked if diamond drills have been successful in the past he replied “It was very successful, I think we ended the round with the highest average lot state. It is a lot cheaper than buying parks. The exact amount that was used I don't remember, but it was over 1000 diamonds I believe.” And when asked how it was done he said “It was done by traders, but I think there was a little subsidy from the government. But I'm not sure of that. We had also a deal with a (Digitalian) trader who sold us diamonds but I think the biggest part of the diamonds came from Marcelbuters MV in Ibisha.”

Once I had learned it was possible, I wanted to see if it was practical for the current situation in Virtua. I quickly journeyed to Ibisha where I spoke with a local diamond miner, and returned to Virtua with 130 diamonds (this was all made possible by ships set to sail to and from Ibisha thanks to the treaty). I quickly made a diamond drill and began drilling one of my lots until all the diamonds were gone, when I was finished I had made a lot with a condition of 6537 and the eight surrounding lots had reached 1337. With this one lot the average lot condition for Cashington jumped from 77.13 to 80.33 the equivalent of over six parks. What this meant was that if five traders were willing to invest 2.5-3k in diamonds we could have Cashingtons lot condition back into the 90’s.

“…we could have Cashington’s lot condition back into the 90’s.”

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This was a huge discovery in many ways, it meant that Cashingtons lot condition could be saved and it also meant that the value of Ibisha’s resources had been verified. Virtua was clearly getting its worth out of the trade treaty and so was Ibisha. During My interview with craftsman he disclosed to me his countries trade numbers, up to that point Ibisha had generated 1957 product sales for a total of 360,627.73 ISH, this is compared to 14643 product sales in Virtua totaling 3,523,361.94 ISH. Clearly the Ibishan economy has a lot to gain from the added flow of trade. The trade agreement between Ibisha and Virtua has proved to be successful for both sides. As of now no real downside has been seen from either side of the deal. Politically and economically the friendship between Ibisha and Virtua has been strengthened, as Tuned put it “I've learned more about Ibisha and Craftsman, and this is basic knowledge which we can use to have more agreements in

the future.” Time will tell how Ibisha fairs in the future with its population, but until it improves it is clear Virtuan traders will be willing to deliver goods to the shores of Ibisha to help out. When both leaders were asked if Ibisha was in more need of products or citizens Tuned replied, “I think both, as the one is connected to the other. But mostly more citizens are needed; more citizens would also mean that there will be more Ibishans that can trade a product which solves the lack of products in Ibisha. However the best way to keep citizens is not only to have good resources, but by also having an active social community. Because Ibisha is so small, it lacks any social community clubs.” While Craftsman simply added “Well citizens of course!”

This article was written by our Chief Editor thehopehitman2.

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Inside the Council of Veterans By Federal Government

he Federal Tribune has asked the Federal Government to publish an article about the Council of Veterans, an important group of players that discuss the issues the Federation has and gives the Federal Government arguments about these issues.

This article starts off with the history of the Council and then shows the changes as to how the Council runs these days. It gives an insight in the work and the results, and finally a peek into the way advises are set up. History of the Council The Council of Veterans has been around for quite some time now. Although I’ve been unsuccessful in determining the exact date, somewhere between period ten and thirteen, the Council saw light for the very first time. Most of the players active then are no longer around, but in round thirteen, the members were: - Webb_cam - gelaarsdekat1 - zofona - Leader - sksmit - RedDevil85 - Job - Guardian - Veyron - The Minic The only two still active now are zofona (as Federal Manager) and The Minic (as Federal Coordinator). Because at this time the Federation was all Dutch, no English speaking members were in the Council. It would be quite a long time before they even came to the Federation, and even longer to get into the Council. In these early days, the Council had to consist of ten members, including the chair. They had to be of different disciplines (trade, social, politic etc.) and could not be member of the national government. The Federal Government decided who was seated in the Council.

The Council had five written tasks: 1: Being jury in the –nowadays- International Court 2: Advising Federals, national and local government 3: Reintegration of cheaters, who at this time had to finish a course at a school and these results would be given to the Council for them to decide about the reintegration 4: Approving political parties: the Federal Government had to receive ten text messages from players who approved the new movement before the Council would look into the structure of the party and would then decide whether or not a party would be accepted in the upcoming elections. 5: Establishing social-economic numbers, such as VAT and national budgets The Council today Today, we see some major changes. The Council usually has nine or eleven members, because the chairman now has the right to vote as well, and an uneven number of members makes it easier to decide over matters because no ties are possible. If a member cannot vote and a tie would present itself, the chairman decides. This period, that problem could arise, since there are ten members at the moment. The Chairman of the Council is decided by the members themselves. Also, the Council has welcomed some English players. They come and go, but today Craftsman and riser have a seat in the Council. The members are also no longer chosen by the Federal Government, but by the members

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themselves. They draw up a list of candidates that has to be approved, but the Council has more saying in the team setup. This is important, because the team has to be able to cooperate very well. Disturbing factors lead to a lesser result and therefore have no access to the Council. The work of the Council Some of the tasks have been removed from the Council. They don’t jury in the International Court anymore, but do keep an eye out: a watchman makes sure everything goes as it should be. The Council also appoints a chair for the Court. The approving of new parties is gone as well, now the Council only looks into new ways of government. Finally, the establishment of social-economic numbers is gone. The Council has transformed from a passive to an active organ. In the past, issues would be given to the Council and the Federal Government would ask the opinion about a matter. Nowadays the Council actively picks up problems and issues and discusses them. Some issues will later be left alone, and no action is taken: no advice will be given to the Federal Government as well. Sometimes the Council decides that action does have to be taken, and occasionally that involves the Federal Government as well. However, the Council can also make an advice to a country, a government, a Mayor or to traders. The Federal Government is not needed in those situations and the Council can carry out the advice on their own. The results of the Council The variety of discussions can be found in the messages that the Council has issued this period: - banks can give out higher loans and the interest will be calculated per day and not per week as of next period. - diplomas are valid one round longer. - eligibility of players after being fired. - changes in the International Law. - cheater statuses and the removal of them, as

well as removal of IP blocks, which makes it possible for players to access the game again. Of course, the by laws that are being issued at the moment are discussed as well, since it impacts the game as a whole. Other, more local, problems are discussed as well. Decision making in the Council Before any discussion, information about the issue is gathered by the members, and sometimes it will be provided by either the players or the Federal Government. After a good discussion which is not being hasted, a vote completes the process. Even if the discussion made clear there is consensus, a vote still comes to make sure everybody was understood correctly. The vote results are not made public, but the decision itself is. This process can take up quite some time, especially if information contradicts itself or when members have an opposite opinion on the matter. Eventually, a satisfying decision has to be made and thus discussion can take some time. Seven to ten days is the ideal time span, but it varies greatly. It’s possible that the Federal Government disapproves some advice, though it rarely happens. When a discussion leads to a point that doesn’t satisfy us, we interrupt before it’s discussed too long. We need advice we can work with, and discussing one that we can’t has no point. However, it does happen. The Council advised us to extend the degrees from four to six rounds, but we tempered it to five rounds, after the vote of the Council. Hopefully this will give some insight into the Council, how it works and what they do. The Council is an important organ which the Federal Government respects greatly. They make decisions that influence the game and the members are aware of this. They act professionally and we are very pleased with the work they do.

This article was written by the Federal Government

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The Virtuan Awards, final results By Tuned

ASDAQAR – It was in the big Nasdaquila casino were the awards were showed and given to the winners, alecto was the proud host and entertainer of the evening. He welcomed all guests at the front door after they were checked three times by

National Officers to ensure safety. As a foreign attack could be likely, especially when all big politicians and traders are expected to be in the same room. Alecto couldn’t wait to announce the first award and receive a hand shake from the winner, with a great applause he began; “The Most PG Beautiful Virtuan Government Profile will go to ….. “. Everyone was holding their breath. “To Wouter!!”. A big applause replaced the chattering. It’s still unknown whether or not he won the award due to fear of reprisals. Second: alecto Third: Tuned, sahib and Ronald After some drinks it was time to present the next award. Pimgezel1 climbed up the podium and was given the microphone: “What’s the difference between a Digitalian and a Pizza? …” Nobody in the public reacted... “A Digitalian doesn’t scream in the oven!”. The Virtuan politicians - who sit close to the podium - were the first one to laugh monotonous, but with fear for possible retaliation of Digitalians.“The Best PG Virtuan hopehitman2's Mayor will go to …... riser!!”. Riser received the award with a big smile. Second: Samurai02 Third: Rats! It was pimgezel1 who gave it another try with the next award; “What’s the difference between a Cyberian and a Ibishan?..... Only the Cyberians are after your money!” A good laugh filled the casino room. It was clear that his jokes were made to impress the winner of the next award. “The Most PG Funny alecto's player award goes to.... iHockey Schneider!!” It is uncertain for this editor whether or not iHockey Schneider received the award due to funny jokes or due to wearing his cape and his looks as family head. Second: Jythier Third: Rats!

It was time for the Virtuan traders to receive a reward; this time it was (Brendan) who received the honor to open the envelope.”The Best PG Virtuan (Brendan) Trader Award goes to...” “Goudie!!” A wealthy man, wearing gold as a jacket, and golden extensions in his hear jumped off his seat and was very enthusiastic when he received the microphone. “I promise gold to all those who voted!” He quickly left the stage with his associates, who were also wearing golden bulletproof vests. Second: riser Third: the hawk It was one of Tuned’s bodyguards who received the microphone on the podium. “Due to recent threats and possibe attacks, our force has decided that the risk of a potential attack is too great, therefore I will announce the following award. The Most PG Friendly Tuned Virtuan Player will go to... (Brendan)!” (Brendan) received the award with great pleasur “Thank you very much, thank you, thank you!!” And threw some kisses to the ladies who sat down in the audience. Second: thehopehitman2, sahib and Rats! Once again it was pimgezel1 and Goudie on the podium holding an award. To the joy of everyone it looked like that pimgezel1 was out of jokes. Goudie was given the honor to announce the award; “The Best PG Virtuan Goudie's New Player will go to ….... (Brendan)!” (Brendan) quickly walked up the podium and started thanking everyone. Second: Jythier Third: rico.vito

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Former president riser stepped up the podium to announce the last award together with pimgezel1. “It is with great pleasure and great honor to announce the Best PG Virtuan Hell_Riser Politician Award as former president. The award will go to … Tuned!”. One of the President’s bodyguards received the award and quickly disappeared from the podium, it was clear that the president wouldn’t risk an attack. Second: White Queen Third: thehopehitman2

This article was written by our publisher Tuned

Lawbook changes round 84 By Tuned Hereby a short description of all lawbook changes for the next round: - A new structure in the lawbook, using chapters and an index will be introduced, which will make the lawbook easier for new citizens. - Consul of Education can remove degrees of Virtuans with a criminal or cheater status. - Bodyguard and Priest become a profession, and can be appointed by the government. - You are not required to have a lawyer degree or be represented by one in a lawsuit in the Virtuan Court. -Local officers appointed by mayors can’t move their hometown, or will receive a dismissal and a fine. -All government clubs will be on the account named ‘Virtuan Government’ to improve visibility for citizens.

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International Trade At Risk! Is It Good News? By riser

e have recently seen a lot of friction, anger and resentment between Cyberië and Virtua. Those two countries are the most similar in the Federation, shouldn't they be the best of friends? They both have trade and politics in their heart, do not accept violence as

way of life and have many cities that trade with each other. Then why did a conflict escalate that high between the two sister countries? To understand that, we need to look at each country and see how the day-to-day trading usually works. Virtua Virtua has a small population of people from all timezones. As such, it is active 24 hours per day. It can result in very good business partners never seeing each other. It is not unusual to see a huge shop being completely emptied during the night when a trader’s clients woke up and came to trade. Moreover, the low population rarely allows more than a single autonomous group of traders. Virtua has three cities that lie very close to each other. In fact, one could argue that Virtua is basically Cashington (the central city) with two smaller resource supplying cities. If taxi prices drop enough, it costs about the same to transport a product from the corner shop, than it does to buy in the neighbouring cities. For larger products that requires more than a single gas to bring home even if the sale price is the same; it can be cheaper to buy in the neighbouring city and use a taxi to bring it home unless you own a car, which doesn't make that much sense given the typical low price of taxis. Because of this, any serious trader will open shops in all three cities and will try to dominate the market in all of Virtua. To do otherwise almost guarantees that a trader for that product will develop a trade in any ignored city and will grow strong and start trading everywhere. That makes Virtua a monopoly business. Very early all traders are fighting to gain the whole market and very often a single trader will become master trader. If the trader is successful enough, the other traders sell so little for a day or two that they will abandon trade for this trading period.

Many traders from Virtua see Cyberië as a hoard of traders who only want to drop Virtua’s prices to be able to reach higher in the ranking. Cyberië Cyberië has the biggest population of active traders in all the Federation. Moreover, almost all of those traders live in the same timezone and thus are able to talk to each other and make deals. The population is large enough that there are usually many traders for each product. People make deals with each other and try to get new clients. Very often, a trader will be the exclusive supplier of a few but not all potential clients. There is a lot of competition but there are a lot of potential clients too. Cyberië has four cities that they do not lie very close to each other. Except for Roebelarendsveen and Eurodam who are close together, cities are far enough apart that until taxi prices fall enough, the cities are slightly protected from traders of other cities. It is thus likely that many traders from different cities will have time to develop before being hit by other traders. When it happens, prices usually drop but the shipping cost ensures a minimal profit. Most traders will try to sell in other cities but may or may not be successful. When someone successfully manages a (near) monopoly, that trader will reach very high. Many traders from Cyberië see Virtua as a bunch of wimps unused to fair competition, who only want to drop Cyberië’s prices to be able to reach higher in the ranking.

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Comparison Those countries have their differences but regularly they are fighting and succeeding at reaching top positions for about the same networth. Even the two smallest countries Digitalië and Ibisha, when they have enough traders to cover most products, reach about as high as the other countries. Why? Because as long as almost all products are made, the number of people trading does not have big influence on the amount of money changing hand per person. A more detailed explanation of how this can be so will come in a later edition of "The Federal Tribune". In Cyberië, there are many citizens offering each product. This competition almost guarantees there won’t be sky high prices. But because there's a lot more people trading and buying, there's also a huge demand for those products. Many clients + many sellers = high profits. In Virtua, there's a lot less active clients. Therefore, each client is essential. Top traders often go to very great length to ensure they get their client and keep them. Often, a single trader dominates a trade by making deals with his clients. If the trader manages to get all the clients for a day or two, he can bore his competitors to death making them stop coming to trade at all because they realize their round is over. Once this is done, the master trader gets to fix the price he wants because there's no other real competitor. Few clients + few sellers = high profits. Are these two countries that different? Is Virtua less cutthroat than Cyberië? Not really, but Virtuan traders have to be cutthroat very fast to get rid of competitors who are stuck to selling to tourists only and at the start, there's very few of them. Let's recall round 80. There were 2 machine traders in Centropolis when a new citizen who was used to trading in Cyberië comes and sees a 10% profit on those machines, or about 30 ish. He decides to sell for 10 ish less loudly saying how easy it is to trade in Virtua. Both traders, without ever talking to each other both dropped their prices 35 ish (or 5 ish less

than the newcomer could do, but not below what the other two could). Less than a day later, the newcomer stopped trading. 2 days later, prices were back to normal. Had the newcomer stayed long enough to get better suppliers, he would have discovered he still didn't have any clients until he convinced some. Early cutthroat or failure. Since Virtuan traders spend so much time and money to try to get a monopoly, they tend to see their products as their own and resent any infringement on their territory. It’s a good thing that fines are as high as they are in Virtua or we would see a lot more bankruptcy caused by Digitaliën assassins. While Cyberian traders must deal with similar situations there’s a lot more clients and therefore it is harder to convince every single one of them to buy in their shop to get rid of competitors. International Trade How does international trade change the above equations? When a new foreign shop opens in a country, it means there’s now more suppliers. But any money spent in that shop leaves the country so it does not mean more clients in this country’s economy. A new supplier in Virtua means: Few clients + Many sellers = Low profits. This makes Virtua very protective of its market. On the other hand, when there’s many suppliers for some products in Virtua, prices tend to drop very low because all cities are basically the same market. When these very low priced products are exported to Cyberië, they often disrupt trade because they are sold for a much lower price than the cyberian product, sometimes being sold for a lower price than the manufacturing cost made from local products. Is the international trade only bad? No, of course not. When there’s a large price difference for some products, it is usually lucrative for those traders that export. International trade also allows many trades to expand including, but

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not limited to, ship building and ship sailing, gas trade and the many products needed in the building of the big ships gives a boost to the whole country’s economy. In addition, international trade has almost every trading period helped countries by supplying them with the resources or traders it needed but was unable to supply. An excellent example is the mutual profitable trade that Ibisha and Virtua have established this trading period. Reason for the conflict Given that both countries didn’t want to be invaded by foreign traders but hoped to be able to sell their own products overseas was the trade that bad? No it wasn’t. It wasn’t much worse than during almost any other trading period. Why did it go out of proportion? It became so, mostly because Virtua’s president Tuned learned about a 2000 ish Cyberian subsidy to help traders open shops on foreign soils and he felt it was an attack on Virtua’s trade. He decided that it had to be cancelled. For Cyberië this subsidy is a simple to help and allow their strongest traders a better chance to reach into the heart of foreign countries. They don’t feel it is out of proportion because competition is the way of life in Cyberië and they don't mind giving free money to their top traders. For Virtua, most successful traders have worked hard to reach their (near) monopoly situation. Because of the Cyberian subsidy they could have competition from every single trader in Cyberië; it was felt it was an unfair subsidy giving out of proportion money to traders, because it gave more than what was strictly needed to open a foreign shop. Since the Cyberiën government didn’t want to remove the subsidy despite the demands of Virtua, Virtua implemented increasingly drastic measures to protect the Virtuan trade. Those by-laws in turn prompted a reaction

from Cyberië and each country felt the need to increase their retribution. Citizens of both countries felt those actions were too drastic and that bred resentment. Resentment bred hatred and hatred prompted some citizens to direct anger at the leaders of the other country. The Leaders of Virtua received almost daily threats while leaders of Cyberië received visits of Digitaliën hitmen. That only made things worse. International trade is the great equilibrating force. It's the solution to overcharging citizens that runs a monopoly in their own countries. With a high harbor fee, there should be mininal profit for the local traders. So the persons who have the most to lose are those who run these monopolies and those who fail to resupply their shop regularly enough. By the time those international shops start popping all over the countries, those who owns those monopolies usually have finished spending money except to refill their shops and so are contributing less and less to the economy. The other trader might not even notice the influence of those foreigners that much but it really does change the economy of a country. What will happen? Will the next leaders find a peaceful solution to this conflict or will anger make the two countries at war? We can’t know yet. Maybe Virtua will subsidy its own citizens. But no matter what happens, the conflict cannot go on as it is. Somebody will be forced to act. It may be the Council of Veterans, the Federals, the International Court or the citizens themselves but somebody will soon react because this conflict cannot stay as it is because trade is hampered and trade is the heart and soul of the Federation. When that happens, you can be sure that the action taken will be drastic, so now is the time to find a solution before somebody decides for us.

This article and cartoon were written/drawn by our senior editor riser

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Virtuan Statistics Source : Tuned

Virtua

Budget: 767889.78 ISH

Statistics 5th of january 23:00

Cashington Nasdaqar Centropolis Budget 21467,83 39353,73 13189,65 Mayor Rats! riser Samurai02 Number of shops 78 58 50 Number of parking lots 7 6 6 Number of lots 5258 3960 7321

Number of road lots 92 110 93 Number of free lots by road

7 49 43

Number of parks 81 54 53 Number of hospitals 2 2 1 Average lot state 93,3634 102,0556 98,7133 Federal lots sold 2266 1984 1864 Lots for sale by Federals 2899 1856 5338 Successful thefts 8 7 15 Number of tourist sales 1356 1489 2055 Tourist sales 439959,43 469120,51 598426,46

Number of product sales 9638 5174 5298 Product sales 2743057,92 1344248,89 1326254,92 Active players 78 72 79 When we use 100 as highest amount for a certain statistic, and compare them, then

we'll get the following:

Budget: 54,55 100,00 33,52 Number of shops 100,00 74,36 64,10 Number of lots 71,82 54,09 100,00

Federal lots sold 100,00 87,56 82,26 Lots for sale by Federals 54,31 34,77 100,00

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Product Demand Increases By Federal Government

s the maps clearly show us, demand of resources has gone up dramatically this trading period. The production statistics confirm this. The numbers of period 80, 81 and 82 have been compared to this one (84). Round 83 has been left out because it was only two weeks

instead of three. The numbers of this period came from Wednesday evening, 2.5 days prior to the end of the period.

The production of bricks has stayed the same more or less, holding steadily around 180.000 (186,000). The iron fields of all countries and even of cities that don’t have that many ore are almost depleted. Production has increased from 146,000 to 213,000 (+ 46%), which also caused the wood demand to go up: wood has gone up from 1,143,000 to 1,846,000 (+ 60%). The cities of Zwollar and Nasdaqar clearly show emptiness where lush forest used to grow. All these wares had to be transported as well, causing gas to go up as well: from 160,000 to 220,000 (+ 38%). Tools, especially saws and shovels, have gone up in

demand as well to keep up with all that resource searching. Saws went from 12,300 to 20,000 (+ 63%) and shovels from 50,000 to 70,000 (+40 %). The production of screwdrivers shows an even more dramatic increase and went from 14,000 to 24,000 (+ 71%). Electronic articles could attract little interest from traders: alarm stayed at a steady 550, and camera’s dropped to 775 (-/- 5%). Telephones rose to 700 (+ 35%) and computers rose a little to 400 (+ 12%). However, computers showed an enormous boost period 82 (670) because Mayors needed computers to return VAT. Compared to that number, production dropped significantly. Chips went up to 21,500 (+ 20%). This trading period clearly had an emphasis on resources and not on high quality end products. It is to be expected that a resource orientated trader will win the period. This article was written by the Federal Government

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“Saws went from 12,300 to 20,000 (+ 63%!).”

“The cities of Zwollar and Nasdaqar clearly show emptiness where lush forest used to grow”

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Hell_riser's Tourism Teaser By riser

fter reading about Jythier's article about tourists, riser was wondering about that phenomenon since they had been very determinate in avoiding his shops. Of course, tourists are known to be a shy bunch of people that prefer to buy from corner shops

instead of massive large scale retail shops like riser's. Moreover, being occupied as Nasdaqar's mayor, he was way too busy to launch a full scale investigation on tourists. He decided to a give a call to his evil twin, hell_riser who promptly accepted to do that investigation. hell_riser's established himself

in Centropolis. Covered from head to toe in bulletproof vests, smelling of gunpowder and a full backpack with strangely alarming bumps, he was seen walking in Centropolis and Cashington, very soon opening shops in both of those cities. Vests were for sale for a very cheap price in Cashington and massively overpriced machines were for sale in Centropolis's shops that were a flashing blue and yellow neon sign saying "Don't buy here". A couple other products were seen for sale but none of those were refilled after they were sold out. No citizen was seen shopping in Centropolis's shop but every morning delivery trucks could be seen refilling the shops. During the most active days of hell_risers's activities, it was possible to see him emptying the other Centropolis shops because heading to Cashington to try to do the same over there. Centropolis stock market shares skyrocketed. "I don't know what happened but suddenly, the whole town was suddenly alive every morning. We are making a committee to

investigate this phenomenon" said an official of Samurai02's administration. Hell_riser's success was apparent. Travelling in a brand new car, sponsoring the Virtuan Awards, selling bulletproof vests for a lower price than what was seen in Virtua for months, buying products with little or no discount, having one of the few very high marketing shops seen in a long time, he seemed in a hurry to spend as much money as he could. "I've got too much money, even spending as much as I can I'm getting too rich too fast", was hell_riser's own words. But beside that daily open and successful business, there seems to be a darker side to the man. Inside hell_riser's home, beside graphs of profits and expenditure is a bullet riddled photograph of SiemenRey1 who is rumored to have pilfered a whole crate of

vests while the technicians were busy installing the video camera surveillance equipment inside hell_riser's Cashington shops. "I'm simply biding my time because of my brother's job." Confirmed report of gunshots in his private shooting range and

A

“…tourists are known to be a shy bunch of people that prefer to buy from corner shops…”

“…having more shops only affects how quickly you sell your products but not how much you sell."

16

unconfirmed reports of screams late at night coming from his home, casts doubt about his good nature. "Rumors of tourists kidnapping and torture are totally unfounded! After all, all the tourists are still out there buying as much as ever and none of them reported a crime, have they?" When asked what makes the tourists buy his overpriced machines, he answers "You have to persuade them. If they know what's good for them, they will buy my products. If they don't, I'll remind them why they should." If asked about his persuasion methods, he smiles a broken toothed grin but does not answer. "We are afraid of him", says a policeman working for Centropolis Chief Officer SomeWeirdo. "We know he carries more weapon on him than the whole police department put together but until he actually commits a crime where we can catch him, there's nothing we can do." His report on tourist investigation is supposed to be a very enlightening report but whether his conclusions will be useful for real traders who don't consider violence as a method of persuasion is still in doubt. When is the report supposed to be available? "Probably next trading period. Those current tourists are too tame, there's not much I can do with them anymore. They only keep babbling the same information over and over again. At this point I’m only telling you this: having more shops only affects how quickly you sell your products but not how much you sell."

Newsflash: Federal Union By Tuned At this very moment, all leaders of the Federal countries are in a meeting to establish a union organization between them which will have some powers. Some basic notes and idea which are being discussed: - The Federal Union will consist of five people. The Chairman, and four members which will be the leaders of every country. - The Union wants to take over the power of the International Lawbook. - An ambition is to take over the International Court