Ozone (Industrial Waste) Turn 9.2

EOG from Eric
Harold commented on my "strategy." I don't think of my win in this game as coming from a "strategy" per se, though I guess it might look like it. I have played a number of games face to face, and all of the pbem games I'm in (and I'm in at least three) are different from what I was expecting based on my ftf experience. However, all the pbem games are different from each other as well. This has made pbem Industrial Waste a very interesting and enjoyable experience. You can't just stick to a fixed strategy and hope to succeed.

In "Ozone", the thing that surprised me is that Raw Materials were selling for a lot more than I expected throughout most of the game. My response was to keep bidding fairly low, and to try to resist the temptation to pay through the nose for Raw Materials. I also tried to take card sets that included Raw Materials so I could profit from the lucrative sale prices.

Of course, this had its consequences. I didn't get a chance to produce many Orders, given my Raw Materials shortage. If I had known Raw Materials were going to be so expensive, I would have innovated early in the game on Raw Materials usage and not so much on Waste Reduction. One interesting feature of the game is how interconnected it is: as you see what Innovations other players select, it changes your optimal strategy. In another game in Zero Sum, the critical issue seems to be Waste and not Raw Materials, and that game feels totally different from this one.

Another odd effect of my "strategy" is that I took relatively few Growth cards. This meant I had no ability to end the game, even though I was in a position to win if I could have ended it. I was wondering what it would take for me to end the game (a lot of Growth cards, clearly, but would that give anyone a chance to catch up.) It was nice to see Harold end it on his own initiative, so we didn't get a chance to find out whether I could end it myself and still win.

The game ends as Harold reaches the end of the board. Congratulations to Eric on his win.
A couple of notes on the play. Harold opted to pass on his last Order because it would have generated enough waste to penalize him during the end of turn accident. However, selling the order would have generated $20M, even with the loss of $5M in penalties and the reduction of his growth from 20 to 19, he would have been better off. The $15M gain (7 points) more than offsets the 1 point lost for the reduction in growth. Luckily for Harold it didn't change his standings. Richard also made a calculated move in playing his innovation prior to putting his Raw Materials up for auction. This reduced the units to 1, so that even though Andy purchased them, it wasn't enough for him to process an order.

Press:

• 9.2.a
  • Harold plays his Advisor and spends $10M to pay off his loan
  • Eric plays his Growth
  • Andy plays his Growth
  • Richard plays Innovation and spends $5M to improve his Raw Materials usage
• 9.2.b
  • Harold plays his Growth
  • Eric sells his Order, generating $16M and 1 waste
  • Andy plays Innovation and spends $5M to reduce his Rationalization
  • Richard puts his Raw Materials up for bid. Harold passes. Eric bids $4M. Andy bids $5M and Richard takes the money.
• 9.2.c
  • Harold passes.
  • Eric plays Waste Disposal, reducing his waste to 1.
  • Andy puts his Raw Materials up for auction. Richard bids $4M. Harold passes. Eric bids $9M. Andy takes the money.
  • Richard passes
• 8.2.d
  • Eric pays $3M in end of turn costs.
  • Rich pays $5M in end of turn costs.
  • Andy pays $3M in end of turn costs.
  • Harold pays $4M in end of turn costs.