Don't have a good answer for that... would have to know more about what the other factors in the game the number of inhabitants affects.
I'd be interesting to find out about the anticipated demography of users after years 1, 3 and 5 of the game's launch.
Is this game pitched mainly at (some random non-mutually exclusive categories):
i) Hardcore gamers
ii) Followers of the original Elite games
iii) Mainly students / teenagers with lots of time on their hands
iv) Retired pensioners
v) Stay at home Mums
vi) Couples with families
vii) Males
viii) Local MPs
Some interesting snippets of info below.
Like all on this forum, I have donated coz I love the original game. And I'd like to put in additional capital - but if I were to do this by buying shares (post the IPO), I'd like to know the above information. The majority of threads I have read on this forum seem to have an implicit assumption that i, ii and iii are the target audience. (Don't mean this as an insult -- and obviously all are welcome to play the game -- just there are different ways of drawing in different groups -- and by getting the groups that spend the most online playing the game, in whatever capacity -- will bring in the most revenue -- and result in more capital being available to fund the platform...? (TBD))
Consumers in the family lifestage and those with young children are amongst the most likely to rely on the convenience of online shopping, while – with the exception of home electronics, portable electronics and online gaming – women are more likely than men to spend in every e-commerce category surveyed by Mintel.
According to IMRG data, UK online spending in 2010 grew by 17.6% to reach a total of £58.6 billion, with Ofcom reporting that average spend online per person reached £1,031 in 2010.
Two thirds of consumers are spending online on a basis of once a month, or once every two months, with the most frequent spending groups including those aged 25-44, ABs and families with young children.
Some 27% of consumers have welcomed internet shopping because they hate shops, and 77% of these consumers say they use the web to try to save money as well. These consumers are highly likely to have children, although there is, perhaps surprisingly, no greater tendency amongst men to have been driven online by a hatred of shopping.
