Bidiots - why does artist not get money purchasing your own painting
This question is about the bidiots game in the jackbox party pack.
I believe when you purchase a painting, the artist will receive half of the payment at the end of the game (and presumably the "house" takes the other half).
However, when you purchase your own painting, why is half the payment not given back to you at the end of the game? Or maybe it is, I'd like some clarity here.
Also, your painting, like anyone's else, is worth some money. If you buy your painting back for less than it's worth, shouldn't you get profit like you do if you buy someone else's painting? Or maybe you do, I'd like clarity here as well.
The artist has too much information
If their low value painting ($500 - $2,500) has sold then they know that their other painting is high value ($3,000 - $5,000), or vice versa. This bypasses the intended mechanic of guessing the painting price based on the name and other people's bids.
To add risk to self-bidding
The average painting price is $2750. The artist would get:
• $(bid/2) if someone else buys their painting.
• $(2750 - bid) if they buy their own painting under current rules.
• $(2750 - bid/2) if they buy their own painting under suggested rules.
Under the current rules, the artist can achieve greatest average profit by self-bidding up to at most $1800 (the last value until bid/2 exceeds 2750 - bid). Additionally, they can bid up to $2700 before making an average loss.
Under the suggested rules, the artist could achieve greatest average profit by self-bidding up to at most $2700 (the last value until bid/2 exceeds 2750 - bid/2). Additionally, they could bid up to $5500 before making an average loss.
(Though bidding up to $1800/$2700 isn't necessarily the best strategy if you think you can make a greater profit by using the money elsewhere, because of how buying a painting locks up that money until the end of the game.)
So, while I can't speak for developer intentions, the artist likely loses the money to prevent the meta being to only bid on your own paintings. Instead, self-bidding is a risky calculated move, usually for situations where you're relying on someone else out-bidding you.