Branded Drugs
Marketing, it's not just for Corpies

I think that the game would benefit from the branding of drugs. By branding I am referring to the real life analog of dealers putting their powder in distinct baggies and stamping their pills with recognizable symbols. (see images below)

Drug branding will contribute to the game in a number of ways.

1. In the current system, unless a character has specific skills, they have no idea about the potency of the drug that they are consuming. By branding drugs, chemists and dealers who are putting out good product can establish a following and create demand for their product. Conversely they can damage the competition who might not be producing the same quality product.

2. Branding drugs allows for the creation of 'turf' in the drug game. On one hand, people creating high quality product will naturally see the market shift in their direction. What about the people on the other end of that, who aren't willing or capable of creating a competing product? With branded drugs, they can target their rivals and take them out. "If you're selling anything other than Brand X drugs on Group A turf, you're going to have problems."

3. ???

4. Profit

How do we make this happen in game? I know zero about creating drugs, so this is all conjecture. I think that there are two important factors to consider though. One, how to actually apply the brand to the drug. Two, how to protect the brand.

Applying the brand is simple enough. The current drug equipment can be modified to append the brand to the description of the drug that characters can then see when they 'look' at the drug. To use mRc as an example, the BRANDING is in caps.

A bubble pack of mRc capsules STAMPED WITH A YELLOW STAR. 1 small capsules of powder marked 'mRc' remain wrapped in clear bubbles of plastic.

To keep the branding from getting too out of control, there should be a limited number of branding options. I am thinking the six primary colors of the rainbow, and a half dozen or so icons (star, heart, crescent, happy face, katana, handgun, etc.)

The first time a chemist uses the lab, they will be given the option to select a BRAND. Once the brand is selected, it becomes locked into the lab. For each subsequent batch, they have the option to apply the brand, or leave it unbranded.

I don't know enough about drug creation to know if it makes sense to have one brand apply to every drug created by the lab, or if each drug could have its own brand. Also I don't know if it makes any sense to be able to apply a different brand for different grades of drug.

Once a brand is established, it needs to be protected.

I think it is extremely important that it be difficult to change the brand once it has been selected. It should require secure_tech or something similar, akin to cracking a vehicle security system with the risk of destroying the lab equipment if you screw up. We don't want to make it impossible to 'steal' someone else's brand, but it should be difficult to do.

Thoughts? Critiques?

Not to mention, it'd make one of Chemistry's alternative FOIC uses pretty much moot.

The fact that drugs are rather indistinguishable also allows for some shadiness.

Could do that through disguise, artistry, forensics or even business potentially. One of those. Maybe two.

The talk I had also involved stickers, but right. The pricepoint for a single sticker would jack the price of drugs to absurd levels.

I admit to not knowing anything about MOO code. That said, I know a lot about programming in general.

It seems pretty straightforward (assuming that MOO code is object oriented).

The 'drug lab' object would need a new Attribute ($lab.BRAND)

The 'drug lab' would need a basic menu / picker interface to set the $lab.BRAND attribute.

The 'drug' object would need an additional Attribute ($mRc.BRAND, $LnA-3z.BRAND, etc.)

The 'drug' object 'description' attribute would need to be modified to include the .BRAND attribute.

I'm not saying it's SIMPLE but it's not super complex either.

I think that protecting the brand would be a bit more difficult. That's why I put out the suggestion of using the Vehicle Security System code. It's already there. Just copy / repurpose it.

Not to mention, if you have access to a rival's lab...?

That shit isn't going to be tinkered with.

It's going to get got.

All the more reason to brand the drugs and try to establish a following. YELLOW STAR brand drugs are created by someone always trying to make the best, highest grade stuff. BLACK KATANA brand drugs are created by someone making the least expensive doses possible.

Or buck the trend and don't brand your drugs. Nobody says you HAVE to claim the product that you put out onto the street.

Chemists have no DIRECT control over their output. They have LIMITED control.

Whenever chemists brew up a new batch of drugs, they input a few commands with random rolls they hope turn out ideally. Yes, this makes for inconsistency, but it also means JoeBaka with insane chemistry can't pump out the perfect v-202 every single time.

How is this achieved? Not only do drug grades alone influence effectiveness, but those who are familiar with the system will know what additives are.

These additives roll randomly, within that limited controlled window, and you may very well despite your best efforts create military grade crap. Why? Because any player created drug can affect any stat, positive or negative, by varying degrees...

And these are rolled randomly every time.

The reason branding is impossible is every time you make a batch of drugs, you're rolling at a chance of say... Types of Drugs x Number of grades of that drug x number of stats x the degree each of those stats possesses x the combination of stat positives and negatives... And so on and so forth.

There is no QA for consistency with drugs as the system is, so there is no chance for branding to be had.

HOWEVER!

With the oft forgotten FOIC Chemistry usage I mentioned, each drug -does- technically have a name that -hints- at what that drug does... if you have enough experience making drugs or talking to a drug maker to know what that name implies.

1. Add ansii Colors to drugs. Everyone will now be able to see the color of marcy powder, th-2c, v-202 vial, etc. Color will be impacted by quality and variant. I.E. There will be ways to make shitty drugs cut with something look -similiar- to awesome drugs.

2. Make drug names identifiable not just by chemists but by traders as well. A good fixer should be able to identify what they're selling by name, right? Otherwise, there's already a tool in-game for forensic people for once. :-)

3. If we could pull off the first two - I'd say we also switch gears and look into enhanced obfuscation. Different colored GENERIC powders, pipes, and vials. Identifiable by people with the right skills as stated above.

4. Add different consumption mediums for some drugs. I.E. Have a lighter? You can cook up your marcy and shoot it. The goal wouldn't be add gear to do drugs but rather different methods to interact with generic drug objects. I.E. That powder was lana. You should've cooked it and shot it. Not snorted it. Oh fuck. You gonna OD?

In most scenarios, #4 would be influencing side effects of drug use along with maybe adjust come-up and come-down times variably.

I have seen both in game and in RL, people trust their dealer when they shouldn't. The dealer *is* the brand. Even when they're selling drek-grade as lab-grade.

As a dealer selling that lab-grade shit it's your job to convince your customers that their other dealer is ripping them off. If your customers are dumb enough to pay lab prices for bathtub drek then fuck 'em, they ain't the sort of bakas I want to do biz with anyway.

This can be checked already IC, I don't see a need to cut out the middle-man/woman to check if your dealer is ripping you off/clueless about what they' re dealing.