Blogshares and me--part III

Continuation of Blogshares and me—part II

I was on my computer one evening when I received an IM from my brother informing me that I should log on to Blogshares as soon as possible. A player was currently attacking a fellow Robber Baron’s portfolio. This particular attack involved a single player attempting to forcefully takeover a particular blog.

Taking over a blog in which you initially have no shares generally requires three to four artefact-usages. On average two to three artefact-useages are required to restructure and gain at least 20% of a blog’s shares, at which point another artefact can be used to perform a hostile takeover (HTO) to purchase all the remaining shares.

Artefacts are useful, powerful tools, but each can only be used once or twice (depending on how much karma a player has) in a 24 h period. In addition, only certain artefacts can be used with any particular blog. A player with many artefacts has a high probability of having one that can be used on a particular blog; a player with many artefacts also has a high probability of matching more than one artefact to a blog. However, there’s a limit to how many different artefacts can be used on a specific blog and this in combination with the limited use of artefacts in a 24 h period means that a single artefact-wielding player is at a severe disadvantage when working against a group of artefact-wielders.

If memory serves, this particular attack was limited in scope. The attacking player was acting against only one of our blogs and no public relation disasters were involved—which at this point would have been a waste of artefact-useage, anyway. Our response was measured so the fight was limited to this particular blog. Our tactics were relatively simple: we let the attacker use his/her artefacts to gain 20% of the shares, but before he could HTO us, we’d HTO first. In this manner the attacker used up artefacts at a faster rate. When the current Robber Baron at bat ran out of artefact-useages, the next corporate member would step up to the plate.

The attacker recruited some help and the fight ebbed and flowed over a few days with the Robber Barons having the upper hand, and ultimately hostilities ended.

I found the entire episode fun, and I enjoyed participating in my first Blogshares battle. It both rejuvenated and enhanced my interest in Blogshares. Robber Barons is a congenial group and not opposed to anyone trying to make a profit; at the same time, we’re not going to let anyone abuse the corporation and we’ll make a measured response if provoked. I feel fortunate that I was able to join a corporation that welcomes newbies, providing help, support, tactical and strategic tips. The Robber Barons and Stilyagi memberships are a friendly, active group of players that form a large part of the reason why I probably spend too much time on Blogshares.

Having found the defense of our corporation to be an entirely enjoyable event, I was regretting--and feeling slightly guilty about feeling that regret—the probability that similar events would be few and far between.

Little did I know….