Topic: Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City) - page 142. (Read 632699 times)

Just a reminder that the B.6 chapelry auction is now at 1,238 mil. Two chapelries were sold at about 1,250 mil, seven remaining.

The Long Bond auction is now showing 1.1% APR. While it is obviously less than the up to 3% returns offered by the sweetest building deals (already 3 taken in 2-N), it is also much easier to administer, and both beats gold's 0.5% average return and comes at no downside risk of the principal!

Gold and bonds hedge each other nicely: It is possible to construct a portfolio that has 0% worst case and yet a nice upside over 1 realyear investment period. If you have 1,000 to invest, buy enough bonds to recoup the 1,000 after the year, and invest the rest in gold. Everything the gold yields is pure profit. The only risk is of course that the Town goes bankrupt but that is getting less and less of a concern - we are almost a year old now!

I am not bashing gold but trying to sell bonds, forgive me.

Wow - the progress towards the goal is astounding. Only 21.9% remaining! You can see the situation in /LitSoc and subscribe yourself!

The land King previously had on offer was changed to a 100 mil cheaper, 4 q bigger and more centrally located lot in 3-N (thanks NewCorp!) In addition we have reserved 600 mil for the building, but more could be used (some of the land can be made rentals, to provide the income to offset the losses of book printing...  )

Avitohol want to buy 6 shares for 30 SCI.

The Earl of Grass would like to contribute 100 SCI for shares of The Literary Society

Books give not wisdom where was none before
But where some is, there reading makes it more.
John Harington

The Marchioness would like to buy the perpetual standing order to get all the books printed by the society forever, in 1 copy: 35 mil <- 7 shares bonus!
As well as the 50 SCI points mentioned in previous post.

Greetings from NewCorp

NewCorp (#60) is established 1522 and reformed to its current business in 1600. The intention is to handle the Royal commercial assets, mainly land development and quarrying. In practice, NewCorp buys land in "chapelry auctions", waits, quarries it, tries to sell the stone, and zones the land for further use. We aim to mainly operate in wholesale.

In addition to the King, NewCorp has 4 other members (we are not seeking new members and trading with the stock is disallowed). The nominal share capital is currently 28.1 bil, making us the most valuable company in the game. We are also the largest holder of urban land.

We have released 3 chapelries from quarrying, and the land is offered at some of the best terms available, starting from 12.85 mil/q!

- In 3-N, the connector chapelry, large tracts are open next to the Culture & Science Boulevard going from the center to B.8
- In 5-SE, 2 very nice lots surrounded by streets throughout, facing south over Tavastia Boulevard are offered
- In 2-N, the connector chapelry to B.6, 7 lots are left after Lord Thud bought his. These are all gardened and feature a "Summer House", a 2-story 100% lux, all elaborate, pedestaled, terraced, high lobby, much windows construction, which is able to be used for rental, CUL or SCI. All except one have the view to the House of Magnificence, and the HofM park.

We seek to raise money quickly for the impending chapelry purchases, so the prices are very lucrative. The 2-N properties (even in their current state as mostly unbuilt, and centrality as "suburban" which might change to the better soon) yield ~3% APR.

Every time you buy from NewCorp (with the exception of stone trades worth <100 million), you get a NC1600C collector coin worth 3 CKG! If the value of the trade is 500 mil or more, 2 coins are given.

NewCorp actively manages the land & property portfolio, so don't expect the lots to only go down in price, they might also go up, and big lots may be rezoned to smaller ones, and houses built etc. Snatch the opportunity when it is present!

The Hypothecary Bank wants to announce that since the current NewCorp offerings are so tightly priced, 50% of the purchase price can be financed by a 30-year loan from the Bank at a cutthroat rate of 1.9% (50% is the standard, but the rate is variable based on the solidity of the collateral). This makes possible even profitable leveraged investments.

What is more, the King has not forgotten that not all Barons and higher have a tax-free haw. We are not giving free land at present, but since the area in 2-N is such magnificent (overlooking HofM and near the haw chapelry of 2-NW and the Summer Pavilion), every noble not already having a haw who buys a lot here, will have it designated as a haw (1 per char).

Sir Hokusai will buy e8-e13

We would like to sell the eternal subscriptions as well (they are easiest to implement in Ultima, like shares that get books as a dividend ) might you think this to be a worthy idea or do you think the price needs to be reduced?

Thank you. Not that it is in any way related to the recent purchase, but:

Dr. SS, the King's Physician, is gifting his special 20 CKG pure gold goin SS1600T, obverse: ""MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO" surrounding the Snake on the cross, below: "1600", reverse: "PALATIUM CULTURAE ET SCIENTIAE" surrounding the Palace of Culture & Science, below "SITUS A.D. 1559"", to other characters. He has not divulged the objective criteria, perhaps because he wants to retain the supreme right to give the coins according to his pleasure. (The same way as volumes have been written about Noble promotion even though the rule is "King's pleasure".)

Master Crichton and Master Mooo have been sent the coin, gold included, as is the custom these days.

The Marchioness of Neverland would like to give 50 SCI towards the printing press, in exchange for 10 shares of The Literary Society.

I'll buy e1-e7.   

Affordable living in the Old Town - rare opportunity!


It has been a while since middle-to-low income housing was last built in the Old Town (the previous attempts, Expert Village and Master Village, both foiled due to the land becoming 10x as expensive as the house).

Now the opportunity is in East Alley, the city-wall side in the Village (1-SE). The lots are mainly only 45 sqm and the units are 19 sqm total in 2 floors, with sun in 2 directions, front lawn and roof terrace, 60-80% lux, elaborate front facade, and - located in the Old Town!

Prices start as low as 29 mil, they are calculated to give a 1% APR after the extra tax therefore purchasing any or all of them for investment is an option as well!

While the Long Bond offering is going on, and will for 2 more days, the math-wizards in the Villa Rotonda have developed an instrument that might make obsolete all the other Town debt issues (especially if we consider that the other instruments are not issued to raise money - which is not really needed - but to provide feedback of the economic health of the Town and the game).

The Consol.

What the Long Bonds have tried to establish, and failed so far, is an interest rate regime. The issue prices of the long bonds give some information, but as far as is known, no aftermarket trades have ever been conducted, making the "economic barometer" wish unfulfilled.

Consols are a combination of bond and equity - a perpetual obligation to pay a fixed sum per year. Because it pays a fixed sum, it resembles a bond. But the principal is never paid - as in an equity.

If the Town would issue consols that pay 0.1 mil per year for instance - forever - valuing these would be very easy: the price of one unit would be y/r, where y is the yield (0.1 mil) and r is the gameannual interest rate. At the current situation in the Long Bond auction, the APR is 1.1%. Therefore the 0.1 mil paying perpetual would be valued at 0.1/0.011 = 9.0 mil.

And that is all you need! When you buy a consol, you know exactly how long it takes to get your money back (90 weeks, in this example). What you don't know is how the value of the consol will develop. It is most probable that if the game becomes more solid, the interest rate will become lower and lower, raising the value of the consol in the process. When we get to the 5% per real-year level, reasonable in mortgages, the price of the consol bought at 9 mil becomes 0.1/0.001 = 100 mil! Therefore not only you receive about 1% per week on your investment, but also the residual value of your investment grows 11x!!

The interplay of gold and consols (and real bills) was a key playground in finance in 1750-1913. We in the Villa Rotonda School of Economics are eager to reinstitute it!

When all the Town bonds are consolidated to be one, single item, the tracking of its price and, hence, the interest rate, will be so easy! The way of victory with gold has been because it is fungible, liquid, and pays interest relative to the success of the game. The way of victory with consols will be that they are fungible, liquid, and pay a fixed interest irrespective of the success of the game. Switching from one to the other keeps the dividends flowing, and at the same time rewards the speculator with a double move in the asset prices!

The Literary Society in CryptoTown

Lately, SCI has been needed in a few advances:
- 5,000 SCI to build 6-horse carriages
- 5,000 SCI to have the training center for horses
- 5,000 SCI for making "silver water" (ormus silver vodka with health benefits)

Starting the Royal Mint did not require SCI because the minting press was based on a very old technology. Completely different it is with the Printing Press though. 10,000 SCI is required for procuring and learning how to operate it.

If the SCI is spent, the resulting capability would be 2 book issues per year, normal size (big books will be in several volumes). The print run will not be the limiting factor, hundreds of copies can be made at almost the same difficulty (cost) as tens. Therefore, the likely result in the first decades will be to print mainly to stock, hoping that the future generations will find value in our efforts, by buying the books. They are durable though

The operating team would cost 30 mil/year and the facilities needed for the production are rather modest. To showcase the importance of literacy in the Kingdom, the premises will be made opulent, containing the public library as well. The King's suggestion for the lot is 3-E-F2, in the University borough where books are needed the most, and where SCI establishment will soon start to receive a significant bonus.

The Society would be a joint-stock company, with all the ones who contribute money, land or SCI, are given the shares based on the contribution. The Members (shareholders) would also register for the standing order, and receive X copies of everything fresh from print. (This is sold as a one-time offer - to get all future issues perpetually in X copies). When large numbers of new players join in, they will be able to buy the books from the bookstore one by one.

This is an offer for those who truly trust in the glorious future of Crypto Kingdom. The books now printed will either be invaluable treasures in 100-200 years, or worthless and forgotten.

For 5 SCI, you get 1 share (10,000 SCI needed, OZ has promised half)
For 1 mil, you get 1 share (1,000-1,500 mil needed)
The perpetual standing order to get all the books printed by the society forever, in 1 copy: 35 mil <- 7 shares bonus!
The perpetual standing order to get all the books printed by the society forever, in 2 copies: 60 mil <- 12 shares bonus!
The perpetual standing order to get all the books printed by the society forever, in 5 copies: 100 mil <- 20 shares bonus!
The perpetual standing order to get all the books printed by the society forever, in 10 copies: 140 mil <- 28 shares bonus!
The perpetual standing order to get all the books printed by the society forever, in 20 copies: 200 mil <- 40 shares bonus!

Books are excellent gifts (as are wine bottles... )

As for we, the King - we see great value in being able to get all the books in many enough copies to our libraries. Also we offer the well located lot that is suitable for a peaceful haven of learnedness (600 mil for 20 q), and already the Royal Architects have made plans of zoning the perimeter of the lot to be very compact townhouses in the sub-100 mil price category to be rented or sold for income to the Society. If other providers of SCI don't show up, we can contribute some of it as well.

A lot of money sloshing around (the aggregate m balance of non-town, non-pool, non-King balances has increased from 25 bil to 40 bil in 2 weeks...). Let's add the following bids to the equation:

3 @ 65 Soul
2 @ 64 Sarajas
2 @ 63 HS-S
1 @ 62 Jungherr Paul
2 @ 61 Sarajas
3 @ 60 Soul
1 @ 59 nikke1
6 @ 58 OZ
-----------------------------
20 units will be issued at 58 mil each (72% total, 1.1% APR)


ADD: And the chapelry auction price is decreasing irresistibly: 1,494 mil. I would be very surprised if tomorrow this time all the chapelries remain unsold...

Tavastia may be all kinds of pussy, but at least he thinks himself to be an able merchant... secretly resolved to show the Prince off, he tries to obtain the IC necessary to stock up with 5,000 bottles of the coveted W1604 wine.

Unable to find enough eligible buildings to repair, he has to contend with having 3,000 bottles for sale. At least he derives sick pleasure from being able to lower the price to 0.034 each. For some reason, Tavastia seems to dig himself deeper in the hole with the offering, though... his balance is already down -745 mil from the start of the year.

Riddick bought all 2000 bottles of W1604 that Tavastia was able to procure, thank you!

Tavastia's supply was depleted quick, but he did not lose heart. It seemed that the Better Hive in 1-N and Zechariah's Guesthouse (the original from 1470) in 1-W were in dire need of structural repair (only Tavastia is bold enough to keep a building in use when it is 0.41...)

With the IC + some of his m stash, the wine + liquor supply of the merchant now measures 6,000 bottles, surpassing even that of the Prince of Ramsey himself (5,000 bottles)!

Prices are of course unchanged

First Founder Carriages Built and Shipped!

Phaeton Carriage Works is very happy to announce that we have now delivered our first carriages! There were 4 possible to be built this year before we ran out of allocated labor points. Here they are, in order based upon order time:

HM_The_King               A 6-horse, very elaborate purple carriage with 100 CKG, at an early founder cost of: 200mil - TRC6-1, 1601 IC
Marquess of Rome        A 4-horse, most elaborate blue carriage with 50 CKG, at an early founder cost of: 44mil  - TRC4-11, 1601 IC
djjacket                       A 4-horse, most elaborate blue carriage, at an early founder cost of: 40mil  - TRC4-12, 1601 IC
Crichton                      A 2 horse, very elaborate blue carriage with 50 CKG, at an early founder cost of: 44mil    - TRC2-16, 1601 IC


Reminder: we already have over half of our labor for 1606 already allocated by 3 other orders, so please put your order in now if you wish to get a carriage in a realweek's time! The order form is here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14hk2kSQNwFJ47BFH9YN1Y2hozRILyi3H6c1RKjh_6zk/viewform

We will be taking the full order cost as a deposit on orders to ensure operating capital. If you want to see the cost calculator, please visit: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tgIzgMza7NQsTpMO9pHke1ZVXYH7l5Sj5bHdZHItivo/edit#gid=1122998271

You can see the base prices there, and modifying K5 and K9 will show the cost with silver/gold added.

Regards,
Phaeton Carriage Works

Saddam went to do his weekly stock up but noticed that 1000 W1604 have mysteriously disappeared from Tavastia's supply, and can't seem to find who might have purchased them! Hmm...