Re: [Rails-devel] No sale in first (share) round - exact interpretation?

[John D. G. <jd...@di...>]

On 2015-03-12 13:56, Stefan Frey wrote:
> There seems to be a rule which is nearly identical for all 18xx:
> 
> "There is no sale of company shares during the first round."
> See http://www.fwtwr.com/18xx/rules_difference_list/1_3.htm
> 
> However what exactly is the definition of the first (share) round?

I consider the definitive answer to be what it is in 1830: the first
stock round means everything that precedes the first operating round.
Thus the test for whether a player can sell shares should simply be
whether or not any company -- even a private -- has operated.

(tl;dr The rest of this message is merely detail to support/explain this
theory.)

Thus in 1830, the first stock round usually includes the entire set of
private-company auctions and goes on to cover the "regular stock round"
that follows those auctions.  However, if all players pass at some
earlier point and private-company owners collect income, then the first
stock round has ended then.  (If all players pass before the SVN&RR is
purchased, so that there is no operating round, the first stock round
has NOT ended and it continues to be illegal to sell any shares.)

Similarly in 1835, the first stock round usually includes the sale of
the entire starting packet, and sometimes a small number of stock
purchases after it has sold out.  But again it is possible for the first
stock round to end while some privates remain unsold -- in which case
under standard rules, an operating round takes place, thus ending the
first stock round.  (I'm not sure exactly how the option setting "Minors
don't run if BY has not floated" affects this question.  If that option
prevents even privates from paying out, then no operating round has
occurred, so the first stock round has NOT ended yet.  But that's
academic, since if BY has not floated then the rule that you can't sell
any shares of companies which haven't operated (except PR) prevents you
from selling anything anyway.)

Most games will follow one of these two general patterns, with some
variations.