The sale prices of both S-GSA and S-GSD go to the company account, which in the Articles is called immediate funds.

The company is responsible for all claims as a whole, with its assets (= immediate funds). There is no distinction whether the funds were obtained by selling S-GSA or S-GSD or if they were profits or losses.

If the claims exceed the immediate funds, S-GSA are wiped out and S-GSD need to pay up to 25 mil per share.

If the claims are more than this, the company pays only up to 25 mil * (number of S-GSD) and goes bankrupt.

General Surety IPO ongoing

Char_id 395 "GSIC" is the first insurance company in CK. In the beginning, it insures the negative M balances against failure to collect. The negative balances are a short-term feature anyway, which is needed at this stage of the game. It is intended that M will only be positive as all the rest are, when we have time to develop the system more.

Last night's partly erroneous overdraft interest collection was reversed completely and will not be recollected. This night is a new try. A negative balance is billed at 0.5% overnight rate (3.5% APR). Rules do not change, it is still forbidden to deliberately get yourself negative. The interest rate provides an incentive to get out of it, unlike previously.

Somewhere in the future, GSIC seeks to start the insurance of game items (such as buildings against fire, valuable suits against spoil, basically anything that has a small chance of something negative happening with large consequences). It will also experiment with exotic investment products, everything that the Bank cannot due based on their rules.

GSIC has 2 series of stock:

S-GSA is being offered @ 5.0 mil. It is the usual share that pays dividend and may go to zero value at max, if the company goes bankrupt.

S-GSD auction is going on in the stock market. You can buy several dummy shares that indicate interest of buying S-GSD at variable prices. It is priced at significantly lower (currently we are eyeing @ 1.5 mil) and has the same absolute dividend as the S-GSA. Because you get 3.33x the dividend income for the same money, there has to be a catch, and that is: underwriting of company insurance portfolio. If the company liabilities exceed its assets due to a black swan event, one S-GSD is liable to fund the company at max 25 mil. Despite this, buying them in small quantities is lucrative, because of the greatly increased return on investment, and if a terrible event happens, everyone else loses as well.

Jewelry Editor Delayed

I am sad to inform that Jewelry Editor is delayed because of my urgent business of designing other things. The Coronation event will be arranged in 1640 as far as writing history is concerned, but in real time it may be earliest after the Jewelry Editor is launched and functional to be able to create your coronets and other things needed for the coronation.

The carriages ordered, will be newed and billed in time as well.

The 2/2 gemstone allocation (coronation gift from the King of France) arrived, and will at the most part be distributed as gifts and prizes to the coronation guests. It was also used to set up market making for all royal jewels (diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz) so that the spread is 50% max. This enables better planning with your own jewelry, and having jewelry in coronation qualifies you for extra gemstones as well!

The design of the Crown is revealed

"Solid gold crown of 1,000 CKG, with four gold arches, 10*PEA each, enclosing the cover of 10*SFS, with 1*PEAZ on top where the arches meet. Band of RUBX, 2*EME, 2*RUB, 2*EME, 1*RUB encircling head symmetrically at 45° of each other, starting from front. Eight raised alternating gold fleur-de-lis and strawberry leaves on top of each stone on the band. The raised parts feature DIA5, 2*PEA, 2*DIA1, 2*PEA, 1*DIA1, starting from front. Very elaborate work, item level calculated automatically from editor."

At midprices of gold and the other items, the Crown is worth 810 mil as materials. If it is broken down or remodeled, only the IC cost (not known yet) is lost.

Hi proride! And welcome back!

The Town Council members with both the authority and means to help you, are (IRC nick, char_id, BCT username):

SirJacket, 31, djjacket (Mayor)
Roopatra, 17, roopatra
kronicblazer, 46, kronicblazer (speaks Chinese)
moneromooo, 88,


You need to get their attention so that you can first figure out what the problem is, and then solve it

General Surety est'd 1640 [approved by TC July 13, 1638]

Our late father had many projects on the table, related to the strengthening of the financial structure of the Kingdom. They are now coming to fruition with the establishing of General Surety Insurance Company (GS) and the Bank is starting to give loans via an automated interface.

The need for General Surety emerged from the unaddressed problem of semi-lawful negative M balances. As we know, item M is a claim to 0.000001 XMR in a depository operated by HH The Duke of Ramsey. The depository itself of course has risks, but since it is outside of the game, that risk management is not my primary concern.

What is my concern, however, is that the depository currently operates on a fractional reserve, albeit minimal (about 1-5%). This is because the current stage of game development requires strong money transfer (allowing the balance to go negative as a result). This is normally disabled, but enabled for money only, originally for the reason that the Town does not have a back-taxes management. Many operations in the game would be disintegrated if a command batch would transfer the item to A but bounce the crediting of B due to A's delinquency, resulting in no money to B and no record of the bounce. (Also Town has no time to collect their dues at this stage even if the system supported the recording of them).

From the part of Saddam's depository, the situation is awkward. They need to honor the withdrawals, yet do not have any control over how many positive instances of M are floating around, because when someone goes in overdraft, the amount of positive M rises, the total exists remaining constant of course.

There is currently no guarantor for abandoned negative balances. But should be. And this is the first job of the new company:

Articles

Whereas, the above concern is pressing and important to solve to further solidify the financial structure of the Game;

Whereas, the means for guaranteeing the balances mentioned, exist in the accounts of the players;

Whereas, the operation can be made commercially satisfactory due to the inherent opportunity of collecting interest from the overdrafts, more than offsetting the estimated amount of terminal delinquencies resulting in credit/insurance losses;

Whereas, the establishment of the company opens up unlimited other possibilities in the fields of insurance;

So, Therefore, let the Corporation of General Surety be established with the bylaws as follows:

1. The corporation seeks to be able to insure 25% of the total exists of M balances simultaneously at all times, and in addition have guarantees for all the other insurance that it may underwrite.

2. So that the above would be possible, the corporation maintains an immediate balance, but also has deep commitments from its partners to cover the black swan events. Also other forms of reinsurance are allowed but not in the plans for now.

3. The corporation has several asset classes:

S-GSA  -  A-class shares are tradable and their risk is limited to the immediate funds of the corporation (the balance in the corporation's account, ie they can at most go worthless). It is expected that normal operations of the corporation are profitable and the immediate funds are continuously enough to cover even large statistical events (the largest single semi-lawful negative balance is in the tune of -300 mil, and if a palace is insured for fire, it may result in -1000 mil insurance payment, both well within the planned amount of immediate funds [palace fire module comes after Clans, est 1660]).

S-GSB  -  Reserved
S-GSC  -  Reserved

S-GSD  -  D-class shares are allocated by a combination of a beauty contest and auction to wealthy and established characters. They have the same dividend as A-class shares, but if a massive liability is realised to the corporation, the following happens:
* S-GSA shares are annulled.
* S-GSD owners will immediately be charged from their M balances the full amount of the liability, prorated. This will cause the insured party to be refunded whole, and the negative balances transferred to the partners (the owners of S-GSD).
* The M account overdraft facility rate will be set to 10% APR (to ensure that the balances are covered by the partners rather sooner).
* The general meeting of GS will be called to decide the future (with only S-GSD present).
* S-GSA will be reissued to replenish the immediate funds.
* After 2 (game)years the earliest, if a partner still has a negative balance, the corporation may access the account to sell non-M assets according to its discretion but starting from the most liquid, to cover the overdraft.

Each D-class share underwrites 25 mil risk, so this is the maximum amount that may be forcibly withdrawn prior to the general meeting, and the meeting may not decide any more liability except to those who expressly allow it (in which case the Nay-votes and absent shares are annulled).

To be eligible to subscribe and own D-class shares, the owner needs to possess 100 mil worth of game assets (at unforced liquidation prices), per S-GSD. The corporation will monitor the situation and will give a 2-year notice to those whose wealth is not enough. If the situation persists, the excess S-GSD will be annulled at the corporation's discretion. (If they are perceived to have negative value given the circumstances, this may not happen).

Since S-GSD represents a liability as well as an asset, it cannot be consumed nor given.

S-GSE  -  Reserved
S-GSF  -  Reserved

The reserved share types are for the future if more tranches of risk participation are deemed needed.

4. The general meeting is called if 10% of all shares so demand from the CEO. The corporation selects a CEO with simple majority of all shares and decides the pay - initially at 20 mil/year. The CEO conducts all the operations of the company unless the general meeting expressly reserves some powers for themselves, or as stipulated in the Articles. The CEO decides the amount of dividend, which must be equal to all shares. It also operates a share buyback (bidding for its own shares), to ensure aftermarket.

Articles may be changed if there is a simple majority of all the asset classes, votes counted separately per class.

5. The parties currently in concern, give monopoly on the guaranteeing of negative M balances and right to collect annual interest on them, to the corporation. This may be revoked earliest 1700 by the Town. Initially the overdraft rate is set to 3.5% APR and it may be 10% maximum.

The Town will bear the (minor) costs on the development of the overdraft interest calculation. All other development costs related to the corporation's activities will be borne by the corporation. [Town approved the proposal]

6. The corporation will enforce all the guarantees arising from the ownership of unprivileged shares to the maximum, in the order specified in the Articles (if more than one class of guarantee-bearing shares are issued).

7. The IPO of S-GSA is up to 500 units @ 5.0 mil. [IPO is listed, maximum participation per character is limited to 50 shares]

The price of S-GSD is not known at the moment, but all (up to 500 units) will be sold at the same price and the proceeds go to immediate funds.

[currently are listed the shares:
S-GSD30
S-GSD25
S-GSD20
S-GSD15
S-GSD10
These represent the binding interest in acquiring S-GSD at prices 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, 1.5 and 1.0 mil per share, respectively. When you buy these shares, do not accumulate the amounts, rather if your preference is to get 20 shares if price is 2.5 and 40 if it is 2.0, buy 20+20. The actual amount you get, will depend also on your financial standing, the price will be the same for all the emission, and you will be credited the shares plus billed automatically.


The immediate funds may only be invested very conservatively so that they can instantly be liquidated (sold to the bid) if needed, and 50% of them must be as M at all times.

8. Only lawful activities are insurable. Hacks etc. are covered if the loss is final, and there was no fault in the depository's part. Depository is responsible for keeping the collateral (XMR) intact. Unlawful conduct by players is subject to competent ingame courts (King). Integrity of changelog is monitored and eventually arbitrated by GM (currently me). GM is selected by the Town Council. Town council is selected by the players who hold gold, for Who has the gold, makes the rules.

The First Decennial Pistol Shooting Contest

Year: 1640
Venue - Sharpshooter: House of Magnificence Garden, 2-N
Venue - Horseback: Jousting Ground in front of Citadel, 1-W
Venue - Half-Section: In the fields behind San Pietro

The Coronation guests and all the others may participate in the contest, if they have the equipment.

Sharpshooter
Required: Pistol

Each contestant has 3 tries to achieve the best single hit score. The intermediate results are given after each round, affecting the preparations for the next. The single hit result is calculated as follows:

+ Contestant age (1 point if between 15-100 years, 2 points (total) if 20-70 years, 3 points if 25-55 years, 4 points if 30-40 years, else 0 points)
+ Pistol item level (6-10 points)
+ Sharpshooter advance training (5, 10, 20, 50, 100 SCI give 1-5 points towards all 3 hits, must be spent latest 1639 with [Sharp])
+ Aiming for the hit (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 125, 250, 500, 1000 SCI give 1-10 points extra for 1 hit, respectively)
+ d20 roll

Therefore, HM The King is more than 100 years old (+0), has a K6 level standard pistol (+6), has consumed 100*SCI in advance with note [Sharp] (+5), aims for the hit with 64*SCI (+7), so has a base of 18.

Martti is 32 years old (+4), has a pearly_matter inlaid K8 pistol borrowed from Sir Crichton (+8), has consumed 20*SCI in preparation (+3), aim is worth 8*SCI (+4), so his base of 19 beats the King's.

The d20 roll is the deciding factor with 1-20 points added to the total, but small advantages in base points do stack towards the overall odds of winning because of many rounds.

1st Prize: DIA5


Horseback
Required: Horse
Required: 2 Pistols
Optional: Most Ancient Unique Suit
Optional: Wine

Rules of the Discipline: Contestants gallop around the Jousting Ground on horseback (one at a time). Galloping too fast will lead to fall and disqualification. This also has 50% chance of spoiling the suit. The horse is unaffected. When gallop is cleared, two pistols are fired during one flight to the target (effigy of Prince Boguslaw whose sin is to mistreat the peasants). Only hits count. 2 tries and higher one is evaluated.

+ Pistol item level (6-10 points)
+ Horse item level (1-9 points)
+ Suit item level (3-10 points)
+ Good Feeling (12, 24, 60, 120, 240, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000 bottles of Wine consumed (any unspoiled wine, total amount counts) give 1-10 points extra for 1 try, respectively - - the wine is consumed by the spectators of course!)
+ d20 roll determining success in gallop: set the speed you are aiming at (5-20). If d20<speed, you fall => disqualified, else 5-20 points according to speed
+ Firing pistols is [ max(0; d20-10) + max(0; d20-10) ] meaning that if you get at least 11 in the die roll, you start getting points from the hit with maximum points being 20/20 twice, yielding 20 points for shooting through both the eyes. If you don't get any points with either pistol, you are disqualified.

Total points of qualified results count, and only the better of the 2 tries is evaluated.

1st Prize: SAPX


Half-Section
Required: 1 Officer (LT-COL)
Required: 4 PTE...MSG (any)
Required: 5 Horses
Required: 4 Pistols
Optional: up to 4 additional pistols for the total of 8 maximum.

Half-Section must be forces that have been under your command since 1638 the latest, and the horses and pistols need to be part of their usual weaponry since the same year (this one). Each recognised Military Unit may participate (unlike in the other 2 where one player may only participate once).

Points are calculated as follows:
+ Forces according to level (officers 5-9, troops 1-4)
+ Horses according to level (1-9 each; no same horses as are used in other contest)
4-8 evaluations of [ max(0; d20-10) ] based on the # of pistols.

No disqualification is possible. 1 try, Highest result wins.

1st Prize: Ancient Battle Aquila (+20 command)


Prizes

The best 3 in every discipline win gems straight. In addition,
1. All participants enter into the Main raffle to win more.
2. Winners of disciplines get a ticket to the Diamond raffle, where a DIA10 is at stake.

The situation with the most valuable gems in the Kingdom is:

DIA20 Imperial Diamond. Raffled to HSH The Prince of Forte Spagnolo, who after learning that he had won it, has respectfully declined to sell it to the King's bid at 250,000,000. It is not known where it will be mounted.

DIA10 Diamond. Raffled to HH The Duke of New Liberty, who wanted to keep it. Will be mounted to the front top of the Duchy of New Liberty Coronet.

DIA10 Diamond. Given to HM the King by the King of France. Will be mounted to the (new) Sceptre.

DIA10 Diamond. Given to HM the King by the King of France. Main Prize in the Coronation Diamond Raffle.

RUBX Large Ruby. Raffled to Wizard Developer PJ. Sold to the King at 100 mil. Front lower stone in the (new) Crown.

RUBX Large Ruby. Raffled to Wizard Developer PJ. For sale at 125 mil.

RUBX Large Ruby. Given to HM the King by the King of France. Will be given in the Coronation to a guest excelling in something, tba.

RUBX Large Ruby. Given to HM the King by the King of France. Will be given in the Coronation to a guest excelling in something, tba.

SAPX Large Sapphire. Raffled to King. Sold in the market to PJ for 48 mil. Now for sale by him at 80 mil.

SAPX Large Sapphire. Raffled to King. Will be mounted to the Sceptre.

SAPX Large Sapphire. Raffled to the Estate of superresistant, will (probably) be sold by the Town to finance construction projects.

SAPX Large Sapphire. Given to HM the King by the King of France. Will be given in the Coronation to a guest excelling in something, tba.

SAPX Large Sapphire. Given to HM the King by the King of France. Main Prize in Horseback Pistol Shooting.

PEAZ Huge Pearl. Gained by the King upon converting 1000*PEA. Everyone from now on will get 1*PEAZ if the #exists of PEA reaches the new thousand (next one is 2,000 since #exists is 1,338). There will therefore be one PEAZ in existence for every 1,000 PEA. It is undecided where this will go, King is not selling it however. The conversion price of PEA is up as a result: 4 IC/PEA (was: 3).


The King of France gem gift (2/2 part of initial gem allocation) is listed below:
2*DIA10
2*RUBX
2*SAPX

3*DIA5
4*EMEX
5*DIA2
7*DIA1
8*TOPX

20*RUB
30*SAP
40*EME
57*TOP

Specification of Jewelry Item Type Texts

These will be displayed on the right (or a suitable place) when the type is selected. They will guide the user to select a correct amount of suitable materials for his jewelry item. There are no system-enforced restrictions whatsoever, to keep it easy to develop.

1 Crown

Crown is worn only by the King and it is not allowed for the subjects to make them. Lawfully possessing a Crown is not a crime.

2 Sceptre

Sceptre is part of royal regalia and it is not allowed for the subjects to make them. Lawfully possessing a Sceptre is not a crime.

3 Coronet

Coronet is a metal headpiece worn by others than the King. It may be crown-style, or a metal band around the head. Making and wearing a coronet are both restricted to certain occasions, and now the occasion is the Coronation of HM rpietila II. Only nobles may use precious metals in the coronet (and are required to use them). A gold crown-like coronet needs to be 300-900 CKG and a silver one may be a less (due to gold's greater density). This style has (up to) 16 points for jewels or pearls, in different positions. Princes and Dukes may have 2 arches in their coronets, with 20 additional pearls. (The King has 4 arches with 40 pearls.) The most important are the front stones, which can be 2 on top of each other. If a band-like coronet is used, it can only have one stone in the front (or none at all) and up to 8 pearls. Band can be made from slightly less metal than crown-style. Peers are exhorted to wear crown-like with more jewels and minor nobles can have band-like. The choice of metal is individual preference. Coronet may not be backdated.

4 Tiara

Tiara is a metal headdress worn by ladies only (a treasury item). Female nobles may wear a tiara instead of a coronet in coronation, but they are allowed coronet as well. Tiara creation or backdating are not restricted. As little as 150 CKG or 75 CKS can make a good tiara especially with some pearls and possibly a gemstone. A tiara must be of precious metal and commoners may create and wear them if wished (main limitation is ladies only).

5 Baton

Baton is a richly-adorned handheld item that designates general or supreme command. The creation of Batons and public display of them is restricted to those with the command. Currently the only Baton in existence is the AOK-C (Commander in the Ancient Order of the King) Baton of Princess Roopatra (made 1583, of wood overlaid with 500 CKG). There is a plan to evaluate the existing Orders and military structure, with possibly the establishing of the Corps of Marshals of Crypto Kingdom, who would be entitled to a baton. The Supreme Commander of the RCA (King) is entitled to one but does not have it. Batons are used in the field, where also the King could have one. In court, the King has the Orb whereas the guests may have the batons.

6 Orb

Orb is a piece of jewellery, an often hollow sphere of gold or silver, pearls, and typically one gemstone on the cross (the part that protrudes upwards). Usually a royal object, in CK there is no prohibition against making and bearing orbs. They can even be made in miniature or large size as indicated by the metal content. The current Royal Orb from 1530 weighs (only) 100 CKG as it has a wood frame, so a new one will probably be commissioned. If CK follows the suit of other countries, the creation of orbs may stop, causing them to become rare.

7 Bracelet

Bracelet (wristband) can contain anything between 15-300 grams of metals depending on style, plus other things if wished.

8 Signet Ring

Signet Ring is a typically large ring that can be used for sealing documents. Due to its affordable price and availability, Jade (JADN) has emerged as a popular material for the engraving, but pure gold and other gemstones are usable as well. A large ring can weigh over 50 grams (of gold, silver is half the weight).

9 Ring

Ring is worn in a finger and may feature gemstones. There are many rings existing in sizes 3-25 CKS and 5-50 CKG.

10 Necklace

Necklace is defined as being a piece of jewellery worn by ladies only. They are therefore treasury items for most players. Necklaces may feature anything hanging from them, and can be of quite many thicknesses - and weights - as well.

11 Chain

Chain means a wide and heavy necklace that can be worn by men also. While they are often made to designate something special, such as a position, chains are not restricted items and can be made by anyone. In AOK, 100 CKG Chain is the first token, the second one is 250 CKG Bracelet (Chain is first because it is more visible even with less gold). Third is Baton.

12 Pistol

It is possible to tailor your pistol, and this adds not only to its level, but also to its value in the shooting contest. The item remains a pistol, just unique and much cooler.

13 Custom item

It is possible to make any items of course. Even all the items already listed are in the same type.

Jewelry Editor Edited in May 6; additions in blue


Jewelry is an upcoming game concept to absorb the gold, silver and gemstones. Jewelry items are in principle unique, but it is possible to create several similar items if this is done at once. Jewelry can be broken into its constituent pieces with no loss of materials. Therefore they are a good and liquid store of value as if they don't sell whole (even with item history), they can be sold as parts upon need.

Jewelry editor is a GUI Main Menu item, easing the creation of jewelry.

The following fields are prompted from user:

Type of Jewelry Item (this goes to item Description; all jewelry belongs to same item type (JEW) - is this reasonable??)
1-13 Crown (King only)
2 Sceptre (King only)
3 Coronet (headdress, restricted creation period for coronation only, no backdating)
4 Tiara (unrestricted headdress, worn by ladies only but makes a good treasury item)
5 Baton (upon permission only)
6 Orb (round piece of heavy metal with typically one gemstone on the cross, unrestricted for now)
7 Bracelet (wristband; men and ladies alike depends on style)
8 Signet Ring (required for displaying a Large stone)
9 Ring (with or without gemstone)
10 Necklace (worn by ladies only but makes a good treasury item)
11 Chain (a sash made of gold, or a heavy male necklace)
12 Pistol (modified for appearance)
13 Custom item

Name

(name of the item as text box)

Amount of Metals

Gold: (fill in)
Silver: (fill in)

Constituent Parts

(the items are listed so that user can type the amount to the fields he wants and leave the rest empty; these are the usual items)
list tba

Other items to be added

(box prompting any item_id and amount next to it and note "do not add CKG/CKS items here, amounts will not be credited")

Description

(text box for user description of the item, only that, no stories - the item:description will be populated from "jewelry item type text" (it is not an actual item type - all belong to new item type JEW), a list of Constituent Parts, Other items to be added and "user description", so no need for repetition)

History

(text box for user storytelling)

Backdating

Year is asked in [1600, current] with current as default. Each year in the past increases the IC cost by 3%, no other effects.

Payments of metals

CKG is paid via text box + amount similar to the one in Other items to be added.

CKS is paid via text box + amount similar to the one in Other items to be added.It is also possible to consume IC, which will be counted as 2*CKS/IC (normal rate).

Preview Item

Calculates the IC cost and the level of item. Backdating does not affect level.

Create Item!

All Constituent Parts, Other items, Payment of metals and IC cost will be consumed and item created.

No excess validations needed, just let the items be created if the price is paid, it is up to the players if they create funny items.

Some item parameters need to be set at defaults such as repair=1, let's see.

Bank Automated Mortgaging

The Hypothecary Bank in CT has sought this opportunity for a long time, and now the development is finally possible so that they can commission a house-developed, 3rd-party paid module of Lot Mortgaging, Automatic Loans.

New Main Menu item: Loans

Will list the lots that the character owns, and their mortgage value
Next to each lot, a button showing Free/Mortgaged, pressing it toggles the state

On top, listing of the stats (explanation for spex only):

- Maximum mortgage value (total mortgage value of all owned lots)
- Mortgage value used (mortgage value that is mortgaged to the HB)
- Outstanding loan amount (how much the player owes to HB)
- Loan percentage of collateral (outstanding loan amount / mortgage value used)
- Limit (when loan percentage reaches this value, HB may take any of the mortgaged properties to possession, auction it, and credit the money less fees towards decreasing the outstanding loan amount)
- APR (annual percentage rate of interest, which is added automatically weekly to the outstanding loan amount, variable)

Limit is 120%. Demortgaging (flipping a Mortgaged property to Free with the button) is possible only so that the Loan percentage of collateral after the change is 80% max.

DB changes and scripts:

New global variable Base_rate (will be used as basis for all HB variable rate lending)
New field lot:mortgagevalue (HB will populate from googleDB dump "when needed" approx once in 5-10 years)
New changelog-type table loan_transactions (or a "Loan" item with negative intrinsic value, which for this reason cannot be gifted nor consumed)
Script count_char_maximum_mortgage_value
Script count_char_mortgage_value_used
Script
Script determine_char_loan_premium (secret formula)

The total APR is calculated as: Base_rate+Char_loan_premium

Bank admin interface

At minimum, possibility to dump the balances and other relevant data of current debtors to googlesheet for monitoring.

It does not make sense to import something as heavy as furniture from something as far as Italia, unless it is seriously awesome.

The last time a major new set of house necessities/luxuries was introduced, is already 17 years ago (Ming China). The Italian Furniture is similar in the way that:
- in total ~20 different items, each fungible (there are up to 800 instances of some Ming items)
- different items in the series fit together well
- convertible from IC in unlimited amounts but for limited time only, no future production of the same items
- is the icebreaker/flagship series of an item type that will have less prestigious alternatives in the future

Ming China is expected to have a small spoil every once in a while, because porcelain has a tendency to break or crack. The items there started from 1 IC to allow anyone to buy (and a typical service was 30 or more items). When they were convertible, IC price was 300-400 k.

Now we enjoy much lowered IC prices in the 80 k range. The furniture comes in two flavors, Most Elaborate and Very Elaborate, with some small pieces but mostly extravagant sets.

RNG results approved.

^-for more info



Coronation Details

Year: 1640
Venue: The Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, 7-C

Invited: All the Heads of the Noble Houses in the peerages of Crypto Kingdom and the counties claimed, all the Barons, Baronets and Knights in the peerage of Crypto Kingdom (heads of clans only), foreign dignitaries near and far, small quota for distinguished commoners.

R.S.V.P. to the thread or as ingame message directly to Char_id = 1 (Crown) no later than March 1640, and have everything ready by May 1640.


1. Carriage, Suits

Contact HH of North Face directly for best quality suits. It is possible to show up in plain blue, if you cannot afford better.

RWWC will soon list a few carriages for latecomers. The buying round has ended and the ones who purchased, will get theirs promptly as well.


2. Pistol shooting contest

Gemstones will be awarded for the best pistol shooters. The shooting is subdivided to 2 disciplines:
- Horseback on gallop with 2 pistols (likens to jousting but with dummy targets)
- Standing sharpshooter with 1 pistol.

In Horseback, the results are based on:
- quality of horse
- experience with horse & age (canceling out, so every age is at equal footing)
- SCI spend (training)
The contestant needs to have his own horse + 2 pistols.

In Sharpshooter, the results are based on:
- age (after about 50, the vision gives a slight disadvantage)
- SCI spend (training)

Results will give:
- prizes (gems)
- points towards Marksmanship skill
- titles, honors, military promotions, etc.


3. Coronet

Collect the materials and gems needed for your coronet asap! The feature for converting them to coronet will be opened to Ultima platform. Coronets are part of the Treasury of every noble house, but they can be liquidated (broken into constituent pieces and sold if needed) easily. The "risk" in making a coronet is limited to the IC cost of labor, typically just 20-100 IC!

A princely/ducal coronet is 8-16 royal gemstones (the ones in existence including pearl, excluding jade and amber), and 250-750 CKG.

A knightly coronet is 0-1 gemstones, pearls, possibly jade and amber, and 150-750 CKS.

Any other noble coronet is somewhere in between, based on rank and wealth.

As soon as the big stone auction is over (a few hours), King will show at least the plans of his Crown, to show the example.


4. Coronation present wishlist

Our Royal Majesty has everything, but due to the constraints of time and artistic talent (the latter of which our esteemed father had, the former even less) the treasuries of the Royal House are void of valuables. Jewelry and pieces of Art are most appreciated. It is already possible to give presents and in fact, due to so many things happening around the coronation itself, we appreciate giving them in connection with the R.S.V.P.

Syksy is available to convert from IC, contact him via IRC or ingame message.


5. Battle Aquilae can again be had!!!

COA-x items are Battle Aquilas, given to distinguished military units. The last time there was possibility to get them was in 1599. During coronation, owing to our excellent prowess in destroying the army of "the boy-king" Prince Boguslaw in Plath and Ironlock (he knows them with different names), everyone who fulfills the requirements will get a Battle Aquila dated 1640. The requirements are:

- Army unit in question must consist of at least 2 officers, 2 NCOs and 6 PTEs.
- It needs to have at least 4 weapons (CANN, MKT, PIS)
- It needs minimum 2*H2 or better
- The unit must have existed continuously since 1630, or if not, will have to exist until 1650 (for the total of 10 years anyway)
- Existing units that already have Aquilas, will be excluded unless they are large, in what case extra Aquilas may be given at my discretion
- 5 mil cost per eagle will be billed to cover the manufacturing cost of IC and CKG
- 1640 model Aquila gives +10 points to Command, and the bonus is permanent and unencumbered and stacks with all other bonuses.


6. Campaign Medal inaugurated

To placate the ones who support our glorious Army, Campaign Medal is started. It is a copper token that is awarded in 5 classes:

5 Commander Heroic Merit
4 Commander Special Merit
3 Commander Bravery
2 Special Merit
1 Bravery

The numbers are of course inverse (Commander Heroic Merit is the highest class), but they tell the number of tokens to be awarded. Each military campaign, backdated to the Campaign on the River in 1623, will yield medals directly to the commanders and also to soldiers (deposited to their owners). The tokens are all fungible, ensuring collectibility value in the future with a million military enthusiast players. Highest class conveys the attribute Heroic to the player character.

At present we have 1 ongoing campaign, lead by Sir Crichton with troops from the RCA, his own, and the Marquess of Grass. The objective (afaik) is to liberate Ironlock based on the locals' request.

Action in the north and FS siege without declaration of war, casualties nor even shots fired, do not count as campaigns.

XMR is 2 years old, so it is unbelievable that it still has any value; when are the bagholders going to grasp the futility of the project, going against such odds after such a long time ??

Answer: in absence of better, the best will [have to] do.

It was initialised by deciding that the number of events with player preparations is 5, and that these are solved in the following order:

1. What to do with the Imperial Roman Envoy, who is in CryptoTown demanding surrender of Forte Spagnolo.

2. The 1 Rgmt of RCA is in Plath, subordinated to Sir Crichton. There are many ways how to use it.

3. How the situation in Forte Spagnolo resolves itself militarily.

4. What happens with the sandwich plan to crush the marauders in Tavastia on their way back to east (when pushed from the west).

5. If it can be ascertained that Louhi is dead, and any additional information and loot her goods of course.


1. There was no good idea to do anything with this, as giving a negative answer would have been pointless, and ceding Forte Spagnolo was not fitting for the glory of CK. So the envoy was just entertained in the town with no royal answer to the demands.

2. In the beginning, the strength of the forces in Plath was 300-400 BV from the RCA1, plus Crichton's forces of 100+ BV. Also Grass had sent their main contingent to join in, but that arrived too late to be part of the action yet.

Sir Crichton took the pleadings of the oppressed peasants seriously and invaded the territory claimed by the Boy-King (Prince Boguslaw, and in addition claimed by HH SirJacket, possibly others as well). Soon he met the Boy-King's army and entered into negotiations about the administration style in the county. The negotiating Army Major gave answer that peasants will be brutally treated if they do not submit. This was casus belli enough for Crichton to order the negotiators killed (resulting in one wounded in our side, who returned to service). Their army was estimated 120 BV with 4 cannons and no horses and was in battle array nearby. It was attacked and destroyed immediately with a general charge with superior mobility. Only a few enemies fled, 3 men and 4 cannons were captured, and own losses were 2*PTE.

3. Forte Spagnolo had been under siege for more than 6 months when the defenders sent a squad via the tunnels to the village. Their job was to find out about the local military situation and possible alternatives to continue. To their surprise, the siege had just been lifted with the forces just gone away without telling. Also the envoy had disappeared at about the same time when the events were later synchronised with the calendar. (Apparently the action was not backed by real willingness to do what it takes to conquer FS, but if we had given up the hope and the title, they would have accepted it with gladness.)

4. The intelligence about the geography was gathered in the beginning. Traversable paths between Tavastia and Petrichor are not too many, and the chased can not mingle with the civilians in an area that does not have any. The HofM Shock Cavalry was waiting in the borderlands, and many large forces mopped up the Tavastian region and pushed the troublemakers to the east. The plan worked perfectly and none that we know escaped. The horses, weapons and loot that they had gained from civilians, were confiscated. Most of the enemies were killed in ambush, but a few survived and set eastward on foot with adequate provisions to tell their friends about the experience.

5. In North Face, everyone is on their own. Or rather, on their own tribe. The region does not support large concentrations of people, and therefore the treasure/information hunt was also divided to many bands, lead by different leaders. In total, 10 groups from NF, Stonehaven, Tavastia and Petrichor participated. Whether they found out loot, is public in Changelog (a few artefact coins and at least one TOPX was gained), whether information - that remains to them alone, or if they want to tell anyone.

SCI was used as currency to boost the odds in die rolls.

Today at about 20 UTC: County conflict solver real-time IRC session.

To announce your county plans and preparations, edit the announcements in Main Menu -> Counties -> Name_of_your_County

Coming soon: Navy. A SCI-intensive preparation, building of a Shipdock in Riga, getting the best timber and CAN (in the 1600s, hemp was a larger part by value than wood in ships), stocking the vessels with trade goods, wine, cannons, and setting them sail to the 7 seas. Or use yours as coastal merchantman, mobile gun platform, for establishing trade outposts, for piracy - the possibilities are endless!

Sure, just wait

It is very definitely the time to start BuildCO's now. Soon the building repair and lux update module will be released, and buildings will need a repair% and lux%, both higher than 25%, to eliminate the risk of collapse or vandalism. Many of our existing buildings do not meet the minimums. Both structural repair and addition of lux, are very BLD-intensive jobs (100% and 50% of costs is BLD, respectively). Very large amounts of BLD are needed even to match the minimum needs, and this cannot wait because there is a definite penalty (collapse/vandalism).

- This year's Labor quota of relevant personnel was sold out already.

- The Duty Paid IC Shop (new feature not even properly announced) has ASS-1 and MGR-1 convertible from IC at 100 IC. Sounds like a bit steep, but the promotion is coming next year so please consider. WOR-1 is 20 IC.

- The NPCC will be allocated some ASS-1 and MGR-1 for disposal to the market. This will, however, only happen after the promotion round, so it pays off to scour as many as possible before the promotion, if anyone is wishing to sell.


County usage for WP

County administration (Work Points in a county) goes towards PRE until it reaches 100 PRE. After this, the administration will be counted double:
- Both towards keeping the county in good standing and
- For quarrying stone or making BLD (both localised in the county, and can be used when the town is inaugurated). Formula is the same, except quarry formula assumes all cracked stone (the best stone type) with no topsoil. This bonus is available only to the first counties to reach this stage, it will be changed later.

If the administration is "missing or clearly insufficient" to handle the county affairs, this will cause additional problems there. Missing administration or enemy occupation in the county will also start to reduce the PRE accumulated.

I am also in 20 years without watching club, 16 years without owning.

...even a few years' difference in "time without TV" correlates massively with astuteness.

Time to start BuildCO's

Every time Building module is opened, there needs to be a limiting factor that delays the initial rush. If this were not the case, all the pent-up demand for building would be consumed in 1-2 weeks, causing a few negative consequences:
- The town is reformed at the instant, making the realism go out of the window
- The dividend pools will swell with money, which will then slowly dwindle, making the progress and the economy choppy
- The players will have waited for months to do it, and when it is done, they don't have anything to do again for months.

In the past, the availability of land, the requirement to design buildings to a high precision, and (in the 1600s), the availablity of windows was the limiting factor, and the window price shot up to 550k (system price 140-160k).

Now there was not planned any specific factor that would run out, but it clearly seems that it has been found: Building Labor (BLD).

The economics of BLD are such that it is local work, so it cannot be imported. It requires a BuildCO to produce it with a production formula involving WP (consisting of WOR-x, MGR-x and ASS-x in known proportions). The availability of the workers is decided by Labor, but even if it is possible to source the entry-level guys (WOR-1, MGR-1, ASS-1), the payout is quite meager - higher skill is sorely needed, and that comes with time: several years of time.

Only those who have forgotten to sell their workforce, or who have a county, or a factory, or a quarry, or an existing BuildCO (none last year; RWWC and NewCorp starting this year), have these NPC, because they do not have a regular payout. The cost money every year, but produce only when assigned to a job.

There exists 684,000 BLD, and the simulations show that 10-60 are needed per sqm of building. This means that the stocks are enough for 11k-68k sqm . Compared to STO1 whose consumption is known exactly (1,300 per sqm), the stocks last more than 100k sqm. Or windows, of which the historical average (0.25 window ratio) would mean that even the current stocks last for 140k sqm. And their production is not a bottleneck.

Luckily, anyone can make building labor at home by using the following formula:
 
ONLY things that are needed are WOR-x, MGR-x and ASS-x

NW = Number of WOR-x
PW = Points of WOR-x ("x" tells the points per item)
NM = Number of MGR-x
PM = Points of MGR-x ("x" tells the points per item)
PA = Points of ASS-x ("x" tells the points per item)

Formula for BLD production is to check the following in order:
PA >= NM+ceiling(NW/5)
PM >= ceiling(NW/5)

Production = 120 * PW. (BLD)

Goes without proof that the highest level NPC should be used in preference to lower ones if the ASS or MGR capacity becomes the limit. Since the promotion round is soon, having the lower level guys in reserve might be good. The first promotion probabilities are quite nice:
MGR-1 => MGR-2 (24%)
ASS-1 => ASS-2 (18%)
WOR-1 => WOR-2 (18%)

There is no salary round before the Benefits->Retire->Promote->Salary at the end of year.

MGR-1 and ASS-1 may be converted from IC as well as from Labor sales. WOR-1 have been plentiful so far.

King and Rakshasa and all their wm's will not be able to buy from Labor, any MGR-x, ASS-x, WOR-x, for a full year starting now. Anything else they may freely do. We have such a numbercrunching behind us that allowing us to buy would just result in nobody else getting any, which is not the point. NewCorp will not remove its existing asks, the market needs to be served.

The evaluation of the production of BuildCO happens automatically. All you need to do is to inform Rakshasa of the char_id whose MGR/ASS/WOR will be used towards this (use ingame message: the letter icon top-right). You cannot split half/half, so if you need some of them for another purpose, make a corporation. King will raffle bonus prizes to the good characters who help in this effort (in connection with the evaluation).

King has reduced the building efficiency requirement in Versailles to 0.9 (was: 1.0). This still means that the palaces are 1,000-3,000 sqm in size, and the current stock of BLD is not even enough to finish them by the deadline when the land grant is revoked (end-41).

Having the palace built by the coronation (summer-40) is very good for two reasons:
- King's favor and greater allocation of batch-2 gems
- increases Versailles' macrolocation in the decennial calculation for the benefit of all.