Important financial information concerning the whole Kingdom

We thank everyone and especially the subscribers of the TIE bond, for the trust you have shown on our game and its development. The city indeed looks beautiful with all its new buildings especially around the Culture Square area, which was also chosen the 2nd most desirable place to stay. (1st - Centre, 3rd - King's Park).

There has been some uncertainty about the cost and schedule of the online version, and since there have been 6 people actively involved in the issue, it has been safe to assume that costs are not insignificant. The lamentable delay was a product of multiple misunderstandings and communication problems, as well as clearly wrong estimates.

The cost side of the technical development is now settled and the Town economy is not burdened by uncertainty about costs (or, in fact, even the costs themselves!) until the interactive version is playable in the browser. The gratitude from this solution belongs to the project managers Earl of Forte Spagnolo and Knight sXpher.

Since our Majesty is most righteous, these good deeds do not go unnoticed but will be immediately recognized.

They will be compensated as follows:

Knight sXpher is created Baron and he is given 64,000 gold. Half is given immediately and the other half once the online version is up and running. The gold will be given to safekeeping with Earl of Forte Spagnolo (he has a secret vault in his property whose location no one knows) and he will give it to the Baron according to their common agreements.

Earl Riccardo is given 16,000 gold.

The gold is given in Trust In Economy gold bars, which weigh 1,600 gold and are purchasable by the others also at a markup of 10%.

These massive transfers of gold (13.3% of what exists) grant us peace to develop the economy free of financial worries for the time being, in line with the principles of Mercantilism that the King has now been immersed in and is sure that the financial well-being of the town economy is secured by maximizing foreign income and minimizing costs.

The stone quarrying subgame should be ready in 1522. From there, it may take some time before the amount quarried matches our needs. The peasants did fortunately give a crossover period of 500,000 stone per year for 100 m/stone, for 9 more years. In line with Mercantilism, this windfall is captured by the Town, who sells the stone to the merchants and builders at market rates. (The 500 million the peasants thus gain, goes 70% to the services pool, making even this activity strongly profit the local economy).

The problem is apparently with the interpretation. Despite that all his predictions are "clearly wrong in all possible ways", he himself is able to make money on them.

Trust in Economy Series C bond auction 1520-1600 is ended.

Results:

4   The Marquess of OZ
2   The Marquess of New Liberty
2   The Marquess d'Armagnac
2   Lord Paulson
2   Lord Luigi
1   HM The King
1   Earl Ale
1   Earl Jacket
1   Dr. Choo
1   Lord Zechariah
1   Knight Febo
----------------------------------------
18 units @ 70 mil (0.45% APR)


Every subscriber is given a Trust in Economy gold medal weighing 16 grams.


Since the borrowing rate (from the bank's perspective) is now known, we can lock in the lending rates also.

We are lending:

0.60% AAA clients/collateral
0.70% AA clients/collateral
0.80% A clients/collateral

(In between grades is also possible)

Loans are given against a land/building collateral of double the value of the loan, and the character's income and its stability play a role in determining the credit grade.

The overdraft of the T_MON account is reduced to 1.2% (was 1.6%) per day, which is 1.2% (0.8%) APR.

Evil and crafty people try to shake your bitcoins from you. Once they have completed the current round, the price is let to rise. The exponential trendline will hold. The price rise may be in the order of 100x before the year is over.

It is good to be open for developments, like privacy-centric altcoins. Currently Monero is still my pick, nothing better has come (same with Bitcoin btw. even if price goes to $100, if there is nothing better, why should you worry?). Monero marketcap is 1:1,000 of Bitcoin, so it is very cheap to take a hedge bet.

Crypto Kingdom will conquer the world.

Oh no, no need for minimum gold! You can play the game without any gold, but it is kind of frustrating, since you start at level 1, with no labor pool income. Having some gold boosts your level right away. Also the gold staking is the most juicy when you have 1-200 gold. The gold above this generates less benefit (but is still very useful as almost everyone holds 2,000 or even 10,000 gold).

The bond auction will run until the end of 1520 (about 14 hours).

Current situation:

0 @ 85  Buy Me Now!* (0.20% APR)
1 @ 80  Lord Zechariah
1 @ 76  Dr. Choo
2 @ 75  Lord Paulson
2 @ 75  The Marquess d'Armagnac
4 @ 74  The Marquess of OZ
1 @ 73  The Marquess of New Liberty
1 @ 73  Earl Ale
2 @ 73  Lord Luigi
1 @ 72  HM The King (0.41% APR)
1 @ 71  The Marquess of New Liberty
1 @ 71  Earl Jacket
1 @ 70  Lord Saddam
----------------------------------------------
1 @ 70  Riddick
1 @ 69  HM The King

=> 18 units @ 70 mil (0.45% APR)


Every subscriber is given a Trust in Economy gold medal weighing 16 grams.

The new Building Cost Calculator can be found in the CK Building Editor /Building editor tab. Enjoy!
(The old one is still in use today.)

Quarry business will start in some of the following days once the subgame is finalized. That will also be fun

There should be greetings from the online devs coming today also, can't wait...

The bond auction will run until the end of 1520 (about 14 hours).

Current situation:

0 @ 85  Buy Me Now!* (0.20% APR)
1 @ 80  Lord Zechariah
2 @ 75  Lord Paulson
2 @ 75  The Marquess d'Armagnac
4 @ 74  The Marquess of OZ
1 @ 73  The Marquess of New Liberty
1 @ 72  HM The King (0.41% APR)
1 @ 71  The Marquess of New Liberty
1 @ 70  Lord Saddam
1 @ 70  Dr. Choo
1 @ 70  Riddick
1 @ 69  HM The King
----------------------------------------------
1 @ 66  HM The King
2 @ 65  Lord Luigi

=> 16 units @ 68 mil (0.48% APR)


Every subscriber is given a Trust in Economy gold medal weighing 16 grams.

You are being modest. Riddick has in his 3 days in the game earned:

- 3.4 XMR
- 33,000 stone worth 6.6 XMR
- Land Discount Coupon worth 10 XMR.

A certain player has done nothing ever (except bought the initial gold) and last time I checked, his account had gained 185 XMR worth of stuff 

The bond auction will run until the end of 1520 (about 1 day).

Current situation:

0 @ 85  Buy Me Now!* (0.20% APR)
1 @ 80  Lord Zechariah
2 @ 75  Lord Paulson
2 @ 75  Marquess d'Armagnac
1 @ 72  HM The King (0.41% APR)
1 @ 70  Lord Saddam
1 @ 70  Dr. Choo
1 @ 69  HM The King
1 @ 66  HM The King
2 @ 65  Lord Luigi
--------------------------------------------
4 @ 64  The Marquess of OZ

=> 12 units @ 64 mil (0.56% APR)


Every subscriber is given a Trust in Economy gold medal weighing 16 grams.

I am not thinking the world that way.

We are pleading for more Trust in Economy. This bond is closing in about 1 day and the rate is still so high that it does not indicate much Trust in Economy and (if it stays) makes taking loans unprofitable, hampers the construction of houses, puts the Bank in trouble, etc.

Great things are happening with the game Now we know who trust in it

Zechariah knows his patriotic duty and subscribes 1 @ 80.


The bond auction will run until the end of 1520 (about 1 day).

Current situation:

0 @ 85  Buy Me Now!* (0.20% APR)
1 @ 80  Zechariah
1 @ 72  HM The King (0.41% APR)
1 @ 70  Lord Saddam
1 @ 70  Dr. Choo
1 @ 69  HM The King
1 @ 66  HM The King
4 @ 64  The Marquess of OZ
1 @ 63  HM The King (0.58% APR)
--------------------------------------------
1 @ 60  HM The King (0.64% APR)

=> 11 units @ 63 mil (0.58% APR)


Every subscriber is given a Trust in Economy gold medal weighing 16 grams.

I don't think it is the subject of this thread, but:

- Monero is a leveraged bet on Bitcoin, and
- A hedge on Bitcoin.

It is not prudent to invest a large part of your wealth in Monero, because the probability that it will completely fail next year is at least 25%. The probability that Bitcoin will not see 2016 is at max 5%. Monero has much better +EV though.

In the first case you gain 2500%, in the second you lose 100%. I'd give about equal odds for both (with a possibility for the in-between result also). This makes it a very good +EV investment.

The loan is also now paid back, clearing almost all the deficit, so no gold sales or deposits are needed, unless you want to expand your position.

If we are not mistaken, our Royal Majesty is the Grandmaster of the said Order. We feel it our duty and privilege to aid the construction of this important and creative edifice with 50 million, paid to the Church account.

The University, on the other hand, really needs to pick up. There has been no war nor much military training, and no other departments exist. We give a strong admonition to start functioning. And a gift of 50 million.

Note to donators: It is not a trespassing to donate more to a cause than the King. He is typically in the position to increase his donation if such is felt necessary to save face.

¨

Please, do ABSOLUTELY NEVER PM BOTH DAVID AND SADDAM.

THEIR DEPOSIT SERVICES ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND HAVE NO RELATION OR CORRESPONDENCE WITH EACH OTHER.

If you deposit to saddam's address and payment id, then saddam is responsible of the funds for me.

If you deposit to David's address (as was the only option until very recently), saddam (or me) have nothing to do with it and can do NOTHING in case David is late or having issues.

Needless to say, it is much preferable to use Saddam's service, for which you need a new address and payment id from him.

Funds sent to the original address are only handled by David, and the late entries to T_MON will accompany a refund of the overdraft charge as usual.

I am not doing anything related to deposits (anymore) so asking me is futile and will not be answered.

Bitcoin is a long option to a better world with infinite maturity and zero time value.

If a better world comes, it will be so valuable.
If a worse world comes instead, I think it will also be very valuable 

I am holding.

From the Chair of the Professor of Economics, His Majesty

Important changes to fundamental economic mechanisms of the game

We are entering the era of Mercantilism, which means that the Town seeks to be more self-sufficient so that the money would circulate internally and not so much be diverted to imports.

How the quarrying works

The peasants have seen their stone income dwindle because they continue to measure it in unbeliever currencies such as Bit Coins and green paper. Because on the other hand we cannot increase it (Rules), they have decided to stop it altogether.

They have provided a way out for us by preparing a site near our Town to be the second borough when it is emptied of the stone that their geologists say is readily quarriable below a reasonable layer of top vegetation. They have done the surveying completely and even provided the exact results concerning how much stone is available, and where, and how easily it can be dug. But the condition for showing the key to their result was revealed to our Majesty only on the condition that it is not divulged nor directly exploited.

Since quarrying volume soon needed must be massive (the last 20-year average consumption is 1.15 million stone per year; now the gold-> stone generation is only 0.62 million/year, and it is more than likely that the construction will not exactly halve just because the passage of time is halved from tomorrow on), we have decided that a whole chapelry is quarried at once by a professional operation.

Such operation needs the normal corporate license of 10 mil + land deposit of 150 mil (the Town has an option to buy the land back at the same price after the operation is closed and the land is cleared for construction). It is possible to generate up to 300,000 stone per year from the area of one chapelry if the operation is organized properly (many of the stats pertaining to the proper setting how to quarry a certain piece of land are provided by the peasants). At the recent prices this income is up to 60 mil, which surpasses the combined service businesses of the wealthiest noble merchant currently. Shrewd operation in the supply side and selling at the top monero are keys to unparalleled financial success, and if the secret code can be unciphered, it almost equals a license to print money!

The relevant tab(s) in Character DB will show the components what the quarry may build/employ/purchase. The buildings required for administration and many of the phases of work are standard (need not be designed) and built instantly (need not be set on the detailed map, no BI, although they are implemented on the land "properly" when it reverts to town or if the town decides to not redeem it).

So in game mechanics, the quarrying is based on a formula that is set in stone and takes as inputs the details of the operation and the properties of the land (which are given, but not explained in the secret code). Employing certain kind of professionals in the operation grants time to chat with HM and perhaps valuable insights, which cannot be given to those who do not employ these people. As usual, all employment contracts are permanent and require the dissolution of the company to be terminated. One company can, however, take another quarrying site when the previous one is about to close (subject to availability), and transfer the experienced workers there.

HM or any of his wealth-mgmt clients can not participate in the quarry business as manager, as that would be unfair. If the companies are set free-trading, they might buy shares in the companies that they deem successful, though, which provides important market information.

New building calculator

The new building calculator starts to work from 1521, which will be 2014-12-9, 21:00 GMT. Before that the old calculator works. It is advisable to build according to old rules if possible, as the model building I tried with, the new rules lead to 11.8-13.5% higher total cost.

On the other hand, the new one is much streamlined, the arch rules do not change, but the calculation of them is much easier as all low-arches and ha-2 are included in price, and building above a high arch is also included (this was very difficult to calculate). Also doors need not be calculated at all, only if they are at least Grand.

The main change to the costing is that floorcount affects the price. If a building is 1-level, there is no change. If 2-levels, the price without luxuries is multiplied by 110%, and the multiplier is 10% higher for every additional floor.

If actual high-rise buildings are sought, the height limit is increased to 30 m, making a more diverse landscape possible. Also if the floor area on the highest floor is max 50% of the previous one, it does not count. The rest can be a terrace or a roof garden. For example, a building with 200+200+100+50 sqm floors is counted as a 2-story building. Similarly, mezzanine floors are ignored if they consist of max 50% of the area of the level of the elevation of their floor. Since luxuries are not penalized, building high luxury buildings in many levels is proportionally less costly, it is the 5-6 floor NPC residentials we want to get rid of.

Our masons have learned to make a new high arch-5 which only consumes 1 m of height in the ends. This is in practice a very important innovation, leading to the eventual low arch-5. This type of high-arch-5 does not support a wall on top of it, but means that 5 m wide rooms can be built if the room height is 3 m or more, making a more diverse and less stone-consuming architecture possible. 

On the money flow side, 60% of the luxuries are now domestic (55%). Labor goes 40-60 to PC:s and NPC:s (60-40). NPC's work goes 70% to the Services pool (60%). Players' share goes to 50-50 in Labor and Services pool (60-40). The changes underline the proliferation of Services in town, the NPC's ever-increasing role in doing stuff and the better capture of NPC's income to the local economy.

Also the direct Servant salaries in T_MON will go to Services pool 70% (50%).

Hopefully the poor servants can soon find affordable homes The services pool is continuously paying out so much that the flipside of the coin is that many of our servants live in incredibly cramper conditions, or not in town at all.

Internalization of windows production

In line with the mercantilist principles, importing windows is a needless waste of money. But we cannot make windows! This skill was never developed since we have been so busy with other things. In the coming Villa Rotunda, which we have been thinking to rename School of Applied Sciences, we are thinking of starting to learn this trade. No breakthroughs are expected in a decade at least, but if the nobles also support scientists and engineers, eventually the secrets of windowmaking can be unlocked and Royal Monopoly granted to some industrialist who was active in the research phase. (Currently the average annual consumption of imported windows is 55 mil, which could indeed benefit the local economy also).

The enterprises of the Bishop in beermaking, Sir Riccardo with his vineyards (although the climate is too cold, we don't suggest this to anyone) and Karl with his medical services (it is mainly quackery anyway in this century, and the PC's do not get sick or die so it can only serve visitors), are important when the Royal Licenses game starts in earnest in the coming decades. If you have something other you want to experiment with, do not expect it to generate any revenue at this point, except crumbles from Services pool. Your reward will come later.

The bond auction will run until the end of 1520 (about 2 days).

Current situation:

0 @ 85  Buy Me Now!* (0.20% APR)
1 @ 72  HM The King (0.41% APR)
1 @ 70  Lord Saddam
1 @ 70  Dr. Choo
1 @ 69  HM The King
1 @ 66  HM The King
4 @ 64  The Marquess of OZ
1 @ 63  HM The King (0.58% APR)
--------------------------------------------
1 @ 60  HM The King (0.64% APR)

=> 10 units @ 62 mil


Every subscriber is given a Trust in Economy gold medal weighing 16 grams.