Intentionally sabotaging hostile takeover (Little Upsilon)

I submitted a bid for a privately owned corporation. I logon today to find the previous owner had taken out 1T in loans during the bid process, sold all raw materials, and all the cash was gone. This was obviously done to make me retract the bid, or just destroy me.

I'm fairly new to the game. Is this something that happens often, and should I simply not make bids for private corps with low MV? I don't have time to continously monitor the bidding process to see if this is happening.

Yes. This practice is sometimes called a "debt bomb" and can be used to punish and profit from those who place hostile bids on corporations.

Hostile bidding is frowned on here. In the future you can avoid this situation by only placing bids on player-owned corporations if you were given prior consent.

w00t! Nice bombing...

New players take note, this is what can happen if you hostile bid.

Crafty

While some may be enraged by an act so amazingly small, imperceptibly minuscule and transcendently trivial as bidding, I'm not. It gives me more space to update on my elderly enterprises and a most generous return.

You can bid freely and without penalty on C3 state corporation or on the corporations belonging to the Gamemaster Corporations. But if you cannot resist the curious temptation to bid on a player owned corporation, you can bid on mine. But be sure to read what the blue rectangle which states:

<!-Quote-!>Quote:

The price paid for corporations, owned by another player, is increased with 50B SC$ cost if the highest bid is below 200B SC$. The price is increased with 100B SC$ cost if the highest bid exceeds 200B SC$.<!-/Quote-!>

But one does have to wonder why bid on player owned corporations, when this penalty is place makes it (economically) irrational. The price to copy the parameters which make a corporation successful come at zero and the transaction costs to acquire the knowledge are simple, quick and most fairly cheap - transaction costs include such invaluable commodities such as time, and that's why it isn't free.

I'll write something with a bit of a more stabbing and twisting motion next time.


With the penalty in place, and regarding only player corporations, it only makes sense to bid on corporation with a market value below 50 billions. Above that, well, if you want to take into account the supplies, the upgrades, the profit... lets just say that in the whole, it is not rewarding (vide transaction costs). I really don't recommend bidding on corporations, not because of what others think or might do - blocking a corporation under bidding from taking out loans is fairly easy -, but because it quite simply doesn't payoff and there are more profitable alternatives.

I can think of a easy way to turn this scenario upside down... Positive for everyone, actually.

If I wasn't working on something at the moment myself, I wouldn't mind. As it stands though, unless things have changed, buying c3 corporations is per se "profitable" since last time I did so they "kindly" gave me 30 free upgrades in each category.

Too bad I didn't want those upgrades.

It definitely never hurts to ask someone though, even if they may ultimately be making a profit from the whole deal.

It's a good excuse for starting a war and having this much espoused 'moral high-ground'.

Very well put LG btw, only one quick question though, how would you block a corporation under bidding from taking out loans?

Crafty

I didn't meant that like something capable of a player. Some years the owner of a corporation under bidding had its access blocked to it: he was unable to move it, change strategies, strip it of supplies and from transferring all of its money out. I think nothing is blocked in corporations under bidding anymore.