The Town decisions - Real boost for the game economy
To tackle the issues that are hindering new player adoption and making the gameplay less fun for existing players, we solved all our problems. Please inform us Councillors if new problems emerge:
We don't have money! (
nobody is taking it really, it goes to the town and is distributed to gold holders so these decisions are between different groups, not between players and somebody else(tm))
NPC & other expenses "tax rate" down to 10%
When Services pool, and Servants, were introduced in 1450, the "tax rate" was 50% because it was deemed that many cannot live in the city, so they often take their money out, without benefitting the local economy. Town received up to half of the NPC income then, and the rest was put in the Services pool.
While the NPC housing has proliferated, this rate has come down, to 30% in ~1500 and recently 20% in ~1550. Now it has been taken to 10%. Even this is not really tax, it's just the difference between tourism (+) and remittances (-), so more correctly a
balance of payments (the imports, as we know, go to the town as there is no "outside of the gameworld" account that anyone could tap into). When the city is booming, the builders increase the remittances, worsening the balance. As it has cooled down a little in the construction front, the balance has improved.
We still don't have money, and no use for the Science!
RWWC, Royal Windows Works Corp.
The windows are a large cost item in the buildings. Soon, a Royal Windows Works company will be established, and you can buy shares of it with Science points and money. Science will retroactively accumulate from 1550 to whatever is the year that the system is fully implemented. The corp will build large halls where this industry can be operated, and Windows will become items to be bought from this monopoly company. The intention is to keep windows price the same, or increase it only a little, and deliver the monopoly profits to shareholders. The science-bought shares may have restrictions on transfer. Others can be freely traded.
This will be a large company. The windfall monopoly income from the windows is, even at the current level of construction, about 20 million/year. This spells the company valuation of 2,000 mil+.
Getting to own housing is too much of a hassle!
The Town Housing Company (THC(tm))
The town will catalyze the housing front with the following plan:
- The THC is established with Town money. It will be delivered to Town shareholders (goldowners) as dividends as soon as practical. This will be an extra dividend in addition to the gold dividend.
- The aim is to develop "placeholder houses" in areas that are in the first stages of development or where land price is low for some temporary reason. These houses are intended to be quickly built at a low cost, and return a high ROI. When they develop a need of repairs / when the land price increases and prompts for a more important use for the land, they can be sold/demolished, land sold for profit, and new houses built, so the RE portfolio all the time slowly creeps towards the edges of the town.
- The stock of the company could be bought freely, and new shares are emitted as needed (at ~NAV). Also buyback would be effortless and liquid. The company would pay daily dividends.
- No restaurants, hotels, etc in these houses. Just simple rental.
- The houses would be built from a selection of model houses, cutting the Architect cost and saving their time for player projects.
I need Architect/BI!
Roopatra is backAlso she will raise prices!
This is good, because it increases availability. Also Febo is a BI. Trying to ask Asenath or me might not work so well, the former has the 30-million-stone project in 1-S and mine is the Town housing + all royal projects.
Nobody can compete with the professional restaurant owners!
If you operate just 1 restaurant, you'll get +1 point in Special.
In the cheapest category it matters little, but in midprice and high-end, a +1 is a sought-after thing worth up to millions per year.
There is too little land!
Oh yes, we have noticed - 2 new boroughs will be opened in an instant
It might seem that there's plenty of land, but since the minimum price to acquire new land is 1000 mil/q, it really does no harm to anyone to open up some new. Also the time when stone transport starts to cost you is near. (Many things that make the game interesting in the micro level are there, almost ready to be started, pending other things to be released first.)
We need the online gameplay!
It is coming.
Even when it comes, what we think it helps, is the new player and visitor experience. As a noble who plays Quarry, rest assured that it will still be played in the Google DB for the weeks to come.
The good points with the delayed online version is that our economic structure is so much better thought-of, and we players know the game better and are still interested. This increased trust is shown in the price of gold that hit the new record. Since we have been growing 2.5% daily at a meager growth in new accounts, the "market" has shown that
this is exactly what we have needed.
Even I am often indignant that the release is taking 3 times as long as was promised. I should not be. It is doubtful that anyone
could have done it much faster. Now we get it cheaper, at only 1.25 times the original price + 8% of all the gold in existence.
Of course, if all this information had been available before the devteam making foolhardy promises, I would have:
- first rejected their much higher realistic quote outright;
- then wasted time in trying to find the guys who both promise and deliver in 3 weeks;
- then need to organize a crowdfunding round for what is not a game yet, just a monologue thread (b/c not having willingness to take all the risk from my pocket, because then I would get the rewards also, and sharing the rewards has been the idea all along);
- then start over with searching for the devs;
-
and never having time to develop what is the most important thing in the game; what distinguishes us from the competition: the culture, and the economic engine.
I think we are doing fine, and everyone involved is certainly happy with the result, if (and only
) the game succeeds.
We need a rulebook!
It is coming
HG The Bishop has started a Wikia and is periodically updating it.
Lord sXpher has promised to update it according to my detailed instructions how to do it the best.
The Prince of New Liberty has hinted about making an instructions manual about the subgames.
The thing is, anyone can write these, and they are much appreciated. It's just a fact that the rules are a-changing, and it will always continue to happen. If this disheartens you, don't write a manual nor help others then