Field Notes · decisions, not news
Take a game economy all the way to an action.
Every note answers one player question, shows the calculation and ends with a model you can rerun for your own case.
Analysis library
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What is actually confirmed about the GTA VI economy
Separate official facts, narrative economic signals and mechanics Rockstar has not confirmed.
verified · GTA VI · pre-release dossier · Aug 20, 2026Read the analysis ↗
What GTA Online can teach us about GTA VI without predictions
Keep the useful ways of measuring money, time and risk without presenting one game's mechanics as facts about another.
verified · GTA VI · pre-release dossier · Aug 20, 2026Read the analysis ↗
How to measure the GTA VI economy honestly in the first 72 hours
A protocol from the first currency observation to repeatable payouts, major purchases and recommendations with visible confidence.
verified · GTA VI · pre-release protocol · Aug 20, 2026Read the analysis ↗
Returning to GTA Online: a 30-minute economy audit
A practical sequence for bank, assets, the current event and the first major spending decision after a break.
estimated · GTA Online · Brand Wars · checked August 18, 2026Read the analysis ↗
The first 20 minutes as a decision ledger: a Patch 7.41e guide
Read lane income, acceleration, usable item timing, the next objective and liquidity as one match system.
estimated · Dota 2 · Patch 7.41eRead the analysis ↗
A Curse of Ula’tek market plan: from discovery batch to turnover
Return to the WoW market, validate demand with limited volume and avoid freezing all gold in attractive modeled margin.
estimated · WoW Retail · Midnight: Curse of Ula’tekRead the analysis ↗
Frontier reserve in Patch 8.1: a long-campaign Total War guide
Connect province income, building payback, the next army and second-front risk in one campaign plan.
estimated · Total War: Warhammer III · Patch 8.1Read the analysis ↗
Treasury before and after succession: a Crusader Kings III 1.19 guide
Use the Ledger, compare a building with liquidity and transfer optionality to the heir instead of only a title.
estimated · Crusader Kings III · Update 1.19.0.6Read the analysis ↗
Will the building pay back before the next war? A campaign-horizon guide
Compare marginal income, construction delay, frontier risk and lost tempo before pressing the build button.
estimated · Total War: Warhammer III · Patch 8.1Read the analysis ↗
Sack or hold: pricing a conquest on an unstable frontier
Compare immediate loot and future flow across one horizon with recovery delay and province-loss risk.
estimated · Total War: Warhammer III · Patch 8.1Read the analysis ↗
Should you build before succession? Domain payback in version 1.19
Test the next building through marginal income, construction time, partition risk and the treasury left to the heir.
estimated · Crusader Kings III · version 1.19.0.6Read the analysis ↗
The war chest before declaring war: run the bad case
Combine current flow, wartime burn, one-off costs, duration and a required reserve before pressing the war button.
estimated · Crusader Kings III · version 1.19.0.6Read the analysis ↗
GTA Online purchase runway: target, date and reserve in one model
Calculate a real large-purchase horizon without mixing headline sales, weekly net flow and cash that must remain untouched.
estimated · GTA Online · Brand Wars · checked August 18, 2026Read the analysis ↗
Dota 2 item timing without silently spending the buffer
A step-by-step model for remaining item cost, current GPM, the match checkpoint and gold that must survive the purchase.
estimated · Dota 2 · Patch 7.41eRead the analysis ↗
WoW gold goal: a liquidity runway, not storefront GPH
Turn goal cost, available hours and the realized cash cycle into a plan that does not count unsold inventory as finished gold.
estimated · WoW Retail · Midnight: Curse of Ula’tekRead the analysis ↗
Total War war-chest countdown: pricing preparation by turn
Plan recruitment, expected deficit and a second-front reserve across one horizon before declaring war.
estimated · Total War: Warhammer III · Patch 8.1Read the analysis ↗
CK3 succession buffer: how many months does the treasury need?
Plan a liquid opening for the next ruler through a working horizon, net income and one separate transition shock.
estimated · Crusader Kings III · version 1.19.0.6Read the analysis ↗
What to buy in GTA Online with GTA$2.5m after a long break
Find the next best solo-returner business through payback, net profit and operating friction.
estimated · GTA Online · July 2026 estimate setRead the analysis ↗
Acid Lab or Bunker: which is the stronger solo purchase
Compare two production assets by entry cost, net flow, payback and solo friction.
estimated · GTA Online · July 2026 estimate setRead the analysis ↗
Why the largest sale number is not the best business
Separate headline payout from net profit, production throughput and capital payback.
estimated · GTA Online · July 2026 estimate setRead the analysis ↗
The best GTA Online business with only four hours a week
Build a calm solo scenario with a friction ceiling instead of maximizing theoretical income.
estimated · GTA Online · July 2026 estimate setRead the analysis ↗
Nightclub: standalone cash flow or portfolio asset?
Why low friction does not automatically make Nightclub the best first purchase, and how to frame infrastructure synergy.
estimated · GTA Online · July 2026 estimate setRead the analysis ↗
When a weekly bonus should change your GTA Online plan
Separate a free asset, a temporary multiplier and a short cash window from long-horizon business economics.
verified · GTA Online · Brand Wars · Aug 13-26 2026Read the analysis ↗
When Hand of Midas actually pays back - and why 160 gold is misleading
Calculate Midas incremental value, break-even minute and realized ROI through the expected match end.
estimated · Dota 2 · Patch 7.41f baselineRead the analysis ↗
How much gold to actually hold for buyback before Roshan
Correct the old formula, calculate the reserve gap and separate the value of a second life from a blanket ban on spending.
verified · Dota 2 · Patch 7.41f · buyback formula verifiedRead the analysis ↗
How to value Madstone and +40 attack speed without faking Midas ROI
Separate guaranteed Transmute gold from patch-specific non-cash value and run a sensitivity case.
estimated · Dota 2 · Patch 7.41f baselineRead the analysis ↗
Why strong GPM proves nothing without item timing
Connect income to purchase minute, the nearest objective and the realized conversion of the lead.
estimated · Dota 2 · Patch 7.41f frameworkRead the analysis ↗
Component or buyback one minute before high ground
Analyze the late-game fork through reserve gap, re-entry and whether the purchase creates a new way to win the fight.
estimated · Dota 2 · Patch 7.41f scenario modelRead the analysis ↗
Four timestamps that turn a replay into an economy review
Purchase, objective, death and buyback reveal the decision that changed the trajectory instead of hunting one bad minute.
estimated · Dota 2 · Patch 7.41f replay frameworkRead the analysis ↗
Why 3,420 gold/hour in WoW may be only 1,957 of real gold
Understand the liquidity haircut from sell-through, Auction House cut, expenses and unsold inventory.
estimated · WoW Retail · Midnight baselineRead the analysis ↗
How to calculate real crafting margin after the Auction House and liquidity
Move from an attractive spread to expected profit after the AH cut, sell-through, deposit and batch size.
estimated · WoW Retail · Curse of Ula’tek market modelRead the analysis ↗
Profession Knowledge reset: choose the market before clicking
Turn a one-time reset from an impulsive respec into a market-specialization decision.
verified · WoW Retail · Curse of Ula’tekRead the analysis ↗
Crafting Order commission: what your work needs to earn
Build a minimum commission from crafter materials, recraft reserve and the opportunity cost of time.
estimated · WoW Retail · Crafting Orders modelRead the analysis ↗
Batch size: how a profitable craft becomes an inventory trap
Why positive unit margin does not prove that the market can absorb twenty, fifty or one hundred crafts.
estimated · WoW Retail · Curse of Ula’tek market modelRead the analysis ↗
Gathering or crafting with only a few hours a week
Compare two market routes across capital, liquidity, time fit, specialization moat and operating friction.
estimated · WoW Retail · Curse of Ula’tek market modelRead the analysis ↗