Somewhat Special Event: The Extras Talk Back!

[AmbushCat]

Hmm... well, I could always talk a little more about that "Game" Callista was involved in. How about that?

[Ookalf]

Oh, sure. What was the story with that?

[AmbushCat]

I think for starters, hmm... well, I think I'll talk about the economics a little bit. Let me gather my thoughts here...

Okay. *clears her throat* First off, due in part to Kittenoan speed, reflexes, cloning and overall shipbuilding hax, the I.D. was able to procure a decently-sized territory in their universe by 2002, over which they held jurisdiction. The thing is, covering all those thousands upon thousands of star systems, each and every one of them having a patrol squadron to rival some fictional fleets in order to maintain control, each and every ship (barring starfighters) having anywhere from dozens to thousands of crewmen... And then you have to factor in stuff like weapons and concepts development, maintenance, shipbuilding... And on top of that, have some sort of major action going down every couple days, after which everyone would be required to rebuild...

*chuckles* Suffice to say that nonsense was Expensive with a capital 'E'.

[Ookalf]

*Sassafras nods slowly.* Yyyeah... That sounds like an awful lot of stuff... Like, even more than Miss Circe has. How did they manage something like that?

[AmbushCat]

Well, we noticed a few planets that had naturally re-spawning ore and gemstones, the latter of which was worth a high amount of money normally. We seeded additional worlds with both of these so that all the factions in the game had access to them, then set a financial system in place so that everyone had the means of taking care of their business.

Logically speaking, one would assume that the ore would drop in value the more of it there was, but this didn't turn out to be the case. This sort of system... it makes absolutely no sense from a realistic standpoint. Seriously, I went down to Muffinville once in disguise and showed it to an economist, and he was crying a minute later. It really should not work at all, but it still does. Good thing, because all of the superweapons in use were a constant power drain, and by extension a constant money drain.

As for total costs... *holds a hand up to her mouth to hide a grin that's threatening to appear* ...well. I'm assuming you have a smartphone with you? Look up what the word 'centillion' means.

[Ookalf]

Oh, sure! Lemme just... *Sassafras fishes her phone out of an apron pocket and does a quick search. Once she does, her eyes widen in shock.* That's... That's a lot of zeros. Did you pay that all the time?

[AmbushCat]

It would be more accurate to say that was the payment we received from all of the factions combined, thanks to the nonstop mining. That in turn meant that we could reward those involved with some good salaries for their time and effort. I'm not sure if you and yours have ever wondered why Callista seems so well-off despite her not doing much actual work for years, but if you have, that's the reason why.

And credit to her for not doing much to flaunt it.

[Ookalf]

Ah, I see. I actually have heard some of the girls gossiping about that. I don't think anyone guessed all this, though...

[AmbushCat]

To say nothing of Muffinville's citizens. I've seen one or two magazines over the years that named Callista as one of the Continent's richest individuals, with a few different estimations of her net worth. The paparazzi would flip their collective lids if they knew just how far from the truth they were. *snorts softly* Maybe that will teach them not to photoshop her into their trash-bin gossip mags.

[Ookalf]

Heh, maybe... But, ah, couldn't she do something about that already? Maybe she doesn't actually mind that much? ...I guess I really wouldn't know, though.

[AmbushCat]

Oh, she's tried to get them to stop before. Thing is, that industry's a bit slow upstairs. They don't care if they get in trouble for it: they just want to make money. And to do that, they'll work up whatever scandals in their brains that they think will get them the most attention. At times, that's translated to "no one could possibly remain single their whole life, so let's make it look like Callista's hugging somebody". *crunches down on a Dorito* Idiots.

[Ookalf]

Oh, I see. That does sound pretty bad... Like I said, there's a lot I don't know about these kinds of things. I've never nearly that popular...

[AmbushCat]

Just as well. Though from what little I've heard, you do fairly well for yourself. You've just managed not to attract the wrong people up to this point, so I'd count that as a win.

...Barring the occasional idiot who tries snooping around the Manor, anyway.

[Ookalf]

Heh, yeah. We do get some weirdos and troublemakers. Miss Circe usually takes care of that pretty quickly, though...

But, uh, that's not really what we're here to talk about, is it? You probably don't want to hear about me too much...

[AmbushCat]

Hmm... well, this meet-and-greet's going to last for at least another 4-5 days, from what I understand. You got here pretty early on the first day, so we should have plenty of time.

Unless you don't really want to talk about yourself. I'm okay with either, and I understand either way.