Assembly Hall

One of the things everyone always focuses on when they talk about EVE is how players shape the universe, from building empires to massive, player-driven economies.

With this in mind, why don't we have stock market(s) in-game? A feature that would allow a corporation to create and sell shares in an open and transparent way, much like any item you can find on the market. It would allow individuals and groups looking to earn cash a way to invest in corporations that have ambition, but lack the funds they require.

"How would you prevent scams?", one might ask. The short answer is, "you can't" - there will always be front companies out there, looking to milk investors for their own profits. But I think overall, this would be a good addition to the game, bringing more forum-based deals out into the public eye for everyone to interact with.

This really has been on a lot of people's bucket list for the last decade.

There are a few issues with shares that need to be addressed.

Obviously the existing system is 'broken' in a number of ways but some groups are using it to lock down BPOs. Either a new set of shares needs to be created, or the old system needs to go away. My choice would be remove the old system and change BPO lock down as part of a general overhaul of corp roles and associated permissions.

What features should these stocks have?

We should be able to pay and collect dividends.
There needs to be a way to do forced buy backs, or perhaps shares have a specific duration from the initial offering at which time they are all forced buy back (this makes shares some what bond like) or simply expire.
It would be nice if the market interface for stocks was not region specific.
They should show some historical data, price history (our familiar market chart), dividend history, top 10 share holders, how widely held (how many different players own shares in this corp), number of shares outstanding, total number of shares.

Are all these features needed? No, but they would be nice. And if they are not considered at the initial design, they may never get implemented.

My best guess is, we won't see a stock market until we see corp roles redone.

The stock markets work in the real world because there is a level of trust incorporated in things like the SEC. Without that there would be nothing to stop 'traders' from becoming 'traitors'.

Eve does not have anything like that and so scams abound, from ponzi schemes to simple margin trade scams.

Unless you can propose some tools to allow a person to make a careful investment that actually is monitored/guaranteed then the concept will die at birth. I don't mean make it totally safe, scams still do happen in the real world but there should be some safety nets and 'stock concord.'

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