Ok… It’s official. Some fansites will let *ANYBODY* in. With that in mind, here’s another first for Tanstaafl… a guest column.

When I was first approached in #hsx, I thought… sure… I can write a column, how hard can it be? Then I started and quickly realized that what I had suspected since I started playing this game was true: I know absolutely nothing about movies.

This realization, while answering many questions that I had been asking myself for months, quickly spawned a more burning question: namely, if I know nothing about movies then how had I managed to accumulate the modest HSX$150 million+ that I see in my port? In trying to answer this, I realized that I had a column.

One of the beauties of the enigma that is HSX is that you really don’t have to know about Hollywood, or the movies, or the actors/actresses/directors to succeed in the game. Sure it probably helps, and I’ll never catch some of the legends of the game, but it is not necessary. In fact, one could successfully argue that HSX is not about the movies at all. It’s about the people who know (or at least THINK they know) the movies. What follows are *MY* tips and guidelines to playing the players… agree or disagree, this is how I play.

Tip one: choose your resources…

HSX has a reasonably large regular following… people from all walks of virtual life. From the SPAM gods to the lurkers to the regulars, we hear from them all. One of the keys to building my port was to figure out who I could listen to. Which fan sites had the best or most useful information… where could I go to hear the rumors… issues like this.

This is probably the most “work” that I have done while playing this game, and it was more an investment in time than anything. I count on Ticker Talk for the rumors, filtering information from a number of posters who contribute useful information regularly. This is not to say that I count myself among the flock of sheep that seem to gather in the TT pasture. The key to following TT is to know the poster, follow up on the source, and, most importantly, have an opinion of your own.

Another relatively recent forum that I have found useful as a tool is #hsx on the undernet. The biggest difference between using TT and using #hsx is that TT is real-time, while #hsx is usually lagged about 20 minutes (just kidding). Actually, the big difference is the sources… though most of the people who chat on #hsx are reasonably reliable, citing sources is less frequent. For me, #hsx has turned into a place to bounce ideas off of other people rather than listen for the latest rumors. In the course of bouncing ideas off of people, there is occasionally some information about movies exchanged too…

My final regular source of information is the fan-sites. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to follow any site on a regular basis, but the information on the sites can be invaluable at times. I would never be able to play the bond market without the assistance of the HSB&R bond charts or ABBond’s bond charts. In addition, the screen counts and EAPs/EDPs that are posted make a good last minute sanity check for my weekend predictions.

Tip two: Play the players…

There is only room, during any given weekend, for a certain number of movies. These few, the openers, are a big part of the game, and guessing them correctly can bring you fame and fortune and everything that goes with it. Perhaps a bigger part of the game is the stocks that AREN’T opening… Once an opener opens, the stock adjusts and you win or lose. The stocks that aren’t openers can win (or lose) many times before their weekend hits.

Guessing which way the sheep will stampede is an invaluable skill… but take care. You are much better off in front of the flock than mucking through the sheep dip, which is where you’ll be if you guess wrong. A couple tips for playing the players:

1. 1. (sarcasm) IF IT’S ALL IN CAPS, IT MUST BE TRUE!!!  (/sarcasm)
2. 2. Know the poster… A post from say, David, carries a bit more weight than a post from, say, hglkgjlk.
3. 3. Check the source… even a post from David is questionable without a reliable source… after all, you never know what them prophets is drinkin’
4. 4. Get in early… When acting on rumors, timing is everything.
5. 5. Git while the gitten’s good… or Go on, take the money and run… Rumors are good for a drop or a spike, but things will eventually level off.

Tip three: know thyself…

Facts and figures be damned… form your own opinions on the choices you make. The screen counts, tracking numbers, reviews, sneak previews… they are all good sources, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut. Ask anyone who shorted “The Blair Witch Project” how wrong the facts and figures can sometimes be. Half of the fun and challenge of HSX is picking the next “Blair Witch”… finding that stock which skyrockets to inconcievable heights.

In addition, noone likes a player who has to ask for an opinion for every movie. It becomes tedious for the other community members to constantly be answering questions about how you should play the game. If you develop a reputation of always asking, then you are more likely to get flamed (mmmm… roast mutton) than to get an answer. If you can’t form your own opinions with the information at hand, then why are you playing a game where that is one of the major challenges?

Tip four: have fun…

Get involved… contribute to the community… find other ways to get involved… Making stock picks is interesting, but can get tiresome. The community involvement makes HSX what it is, even more than the game itself. Besides, the community gives you a distraction during the (infrequent?) periods when HSX is down. If you don’t have anything to offer in the way of information, then listen… or try your hand at landing the elusive FIRST… or even come over to #hsx on undernet and serenade whoever is *cough* lucky *cough* enough to be there at the time.

The community is the reason I am still around. They are funny, supportive, fickle, odd… a little of everything all at once. Get involved.

Final tip:

I couldn’t help but using this medium to shill a few of my picks, so for you sheep in the crowd:

• -> BUY PINK2!!!
• -> 4DOGS WILL BE HUGE!!!
• -> HFORD to pass on INDI4 to star in “Crotchety Old Men”.

For anyone else that has made it this far:

I *KISS* YOU!!!