Hey, Ramul, hands off my MVO!!!

[spamwise]

I'm trying to construct a dock. I've had the good fortune of acquiring 1 food (as a potential dock owner, I have a shore. Mmm, rusty fish.) I'm sitting on 4 pig iron. So, I'm looking for 1 food and 4 pig iron/1 steel.

I've been playing with my policy settings to test out some trades and I believe I have enough other materials to get 1 Food and 1 Steel from Ramul. However, with my MVO set to food, when trying out my Steel trade I get this:

In exchange for 1 Steel, Three-fingered Ramul requests: One Food, 2 Enriched Uranium. Take it or leave it!

Excuse me, Ramul, but that one Food just ain't gonna fly.

[jc]

It is possible that Food is always chosen first by the Black Market, even if it is your MVO, since it does say that the Black Market values it highly and will insist on trading it before anything else... So it may be a feature, rather than a bug, although it may be frustrating.

[spamwise]

From the documentation:

Your Most Valued Object will be conserved at all costs: It will be the last object to overflow, it will never be fired from a Cannon, and Ramul will never[/i][/b] ask for it.

Is it never already?

[Rasteroid]

He asks for Food first. It takes precedence. Debate.

[spamwise]

Wasn't that thewhole point of a MVO?!? An "I'm really trying to preserve X and I'm willing to risk other items or even pay exorbatant prices of other resources, but please, dear God, don't touch my X" type of labeling?!? A "take it off the books, hide it in the closet, there's nothing to see here, these aren't the droids you're looking for" kind of deal?!?

The way it plays out now, shouldn't we call it an MMVO (a Mostly Most Valuable Object) or OMVO (Occasionall/Often Most Valuable Object)?

[jc]

It's your most valuable object, but that doesn't mean it can never be lost - you'll still be tithed it, as far as I know, and if you *must* overflow something, I think it goes, too, if everything else has already tried being overflowed... Plus you can trade it away manually, or use it to build things.

The description of MVO just says that you'll never fire it from a cannon (which is a good thing for Diamonds, generally, heh) and that it's the last to go from overflow. It also basically makes it the last thing asked for by Ramul (but also making it so that if Ramul has to ask for it, he simply says there's nothing he can do) except that Food automatically moves to the front of his list.

Rasteroid: Why not make it so that asking for anything from Ramul when Food is your MVO just makes Ramul say he can't do anything for you? I mean, he'll ask for Food first - and then since he's asking for your MVO, gives up.

It would mean people would have to temporarily change their MVO in order to use the Black Market, if they have it set to Food, but it means people won't accidentally trade their Food away at Ramul without noticing because they thought they had Food as their MVO so wouldn't be asked for it (although, I assume that people ought to read the Docs, so...).

[Rasteroid]

You guys talk like I have control over Ramul's character.. he's a three-fingered Food-hungry maniac! What am I supposed to do? I can't change the lovable old thief.. you guys have to learn to get along with him.

[spamwise]

I get that he's a hungry little devil, but how can I encourage him to look for other resources. I wouldn't even bring my MVO (in this case food) to the table.

[Lynx Shaman]

Yeah, I agree that if Food is the MVO, he shouldn't be able to ask for it. MVO should be good for any object. It's not like there aren't other resources he could go for. If you've got a lot of URO, it doesn't make sense that he won't trade you one Bauxite because you have 1 Food you want to hold on to.