Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City)

[Wizard Developer P.J.]

Unfortunately, sometimes you shoot for the stars but fail miserably to dust.
Biggest mistake I made in this project is was allowing myself to be too optimistic and forgetting to count in risks in making estimates and promises.

This is exactly what happened with planned release and delay with migration to Ultima DB.

I apologise to each one of you for caused stress and nervous waiting launch and will do my best to prevent same thing happening again.
Thank you for your patience and I do my best to enable you to play it very very soon.

[saddambitcoin]

Don't be too hard on yourself, gentlemen. 

The past three weeks I have been spending all my time in and out of class learning how to be a developer (we are focusing on JS/MEAN stack).

One of the most important things I have learned is the value of taking a break when you are stuck.

Also, failure is not a bad thing, you sometimes have to fail hundreds of times before you get it right.

Accurate software estimation seems to be another science entirely, and you get better with experience.

I am looking forward to the new game era!

[neochiny]

hi. is this like rpg game or something? is this very good game? anyone have experience this already? any advice?

[generalizethis]

hi. is this like rpg game or something? is this very good game? anyone have experience this already? any advice?

MPORG in a sandbox with a real economy. It's kind of addicting once you realize that you are creating part of the world every time you make a trade or invest in some gold or buy a lot for development. And the interactions feel like real business deals which is something i can't say i've ever experienced in a game. It's kind of like monopoly, civilization and second life (from what I hear, tbh never played second life) rolled into one game with elements of social networking. Hope that helps.

[neochiny]

hi. is this like rpg game or something? is this very good game? anyone have experience this already? any advice?

MPORG in a sandbox with a real economy. It's kind of addicting once you realize that you are creating part of the world every time you make a trade or invest in some gold or buy a lot for development. And the interactions feel like real business deals which is something i can't say i've ever experienced in a game. It's kind of like monopoly, civilization and second life (from what I hear, tbh never played second life) rolled into one game with elements of social networking. Hope that helps.

yes thanks a lot... lets see. hope i will like this game also. but if it is like second life ...really. i think i cant play it. i feel dizzy when playing second life. well ill gonna try this... thanks a lot by the way.

[futureofbitcoin]

hi. is this like rpg game or something? is this very good game? anyone have experience this already? any advice?

MPORG in a sandbox with a real economy. It's kind of addicting once you realize that you are creating part of the world every time you make a trade or invest in some gold or buy a lot for development. And the interactions feel like real business deals which is something i can't say i've ever experienced in a game. It's kind of like monopoly, civilization and second life (from what I hear, tbh never played second life) rolled into one game with elements of social networking. Hope that helps.

yes thanks a lot... lets see. hope i will like this game also. but if it is like second life ...really. i think i cant play it. i feel dizzy when playing second life. well ill gonna try this... thanks a lot by the way.

If you feel dizzy with second life, you'll probably faint with this.

[neochiny]

hi. is this like rpg game or something? is this very good game? anyone have experience this already? any advice?

MPORG in a sandbox with a real economy. It's kind of addicting once you realize that you are creating part of the world every time you make a trade or invest in some gold or buy a lot for development. And the interactions feel like real business deals which is something i can't say i've ever experienced in a game. It's kind of like monopoly, civilization and second life (from what I hear, tbh never played second life) rolled into one game with elements of social networking. Hope that helps.

yes thanks a lot... lets see. hope i will like this game also. but if it is like second life ...really. i think i cant play it. i feel dizzy when playing second life. well ill gonna try this... thanks a lot by the way.

If you feel dizzy with second life, you'll probably faint with this.

 faint? and why is that? please dont discourage me...

[Karl Hungus]

The Prince of OZ is granted a new address; from now on he shall be called His Serene Highness (HSH) The Prince of OZ.

Serenity is granted to this most senior of all princes based on merit. It ranks higher than Excellency and lower than Highness (without Serene). The higher address than Highness is Royal Highness, which might be granted to L14 characters but not necessarily. (It makes them part of the Royal House.)

I am truly humbled by this honor, thank you HM!!

I also want to commend HM and the Wizard Developer for persisting with further development on the trading system prior to release of the Ultima version. A fully functioning trading platform for in-game assets is worth waiting for, and I feel very relieved to know that HM prefers to achieve a quality outcome in this instance rather than meeting a previously announced launch target. A user friendly trading platform will catapult CK a lot further than deadline punctuality! A good decision!!

[cryptonic21]

Software development, especially the agile one is indeed very complicated to estimate the exact timing.
Little delays in complex tasks are absolutely common. If you are accurate in 95% of the estimations it's some kind of miracle. We can do better with experience but there are always some risks difficult to take into account in advance: the addition of the extra features on the fly, the human factors etc.

Everything is gonna be just great!

[kazuki49]

Don't be too hard on yourself, gentlemen. 

The past three weeks I have been spending all my time in and out of class learning how to be a developer (we are focusing on JS/MEAN stack).

One of the most important things I have learned is the value of taking a break when you are stuck.

Also, failure is not a bad thing, you sometimes have to fail hundreds of times before you get it right.

Accurate software estimation seems to be another science entirely, and you get better with experience.

I am looking forward to the new game era!

+1

Monero et al. is one of the few interesting things still happening on cryptoland.

[Ombc]

Hey i can't do anyting is this normaly?
its verry rare and i don't know what i must do and i can't do anything
i can see the map and thats it

Ps Im logged in...

[rpietila]

Hey i can't do anyting is this normaly?
its verry rare and i don't know what i must do and i can't do anything
i can see the map and thats it

Ps Im logged in...

It is not released Wait until announcement. We are sorry for the delay, but it will mean that the product is better!

[rpietila]

Hello!

After reassessing the progress with Ultima, I have decided that year change to 1603 happens in the old DB. So we will get the dividends and they will be added to the T_MON balances here.

The current estimate is Wed 2015-9-2 for the release which contains the items exchange and new player login and tutorial.

[rpietila]

Hypothecary Bank is taking Ordinary Deposits (soon)

Now we have experimented with the different financial instruments and found that it is possible to lower the lending rates even more, by starting to raise the capital from depositors' current accounts. The current accounts would be small-denomination Bank bonds (coupon size eg. 1 mil) that pay interest annually, yet never expire. They could be sold back to the Bank with only a minimum loss (such as 1% or less).

A possibility would also be that the whole of the interest payable in one year would be raffled among the bondholders and given to the winner. Thus if the APR = 1% and there are 5,000 mil outstanding, the interest of 50 mil would be given to one depositor of 1 mil, adding a lottery factor.

[rpietila]

The year is 1603 now.

Migration Announcement

The Google DB goes on pause effective immediately. Do not make any changes to the tabs there!

The schedule is that today, in about 4 hours, the Google DB will be prepared for data transfer (by me).

We hope to be able to open the Ultima platform for the players tomorrow, using the procedure described in the earlier message.

After this, Google DB may only be used for external actions, the results of which must be imported to the Ultima DB.

Hello all, flipping the google DB in and out of pause has become a sport (this is a third time now since November that it has been prepared for data migration and the next one will be fourth).  

I nominate Google DB to be the candidate in the legendary vote.

I will have to open it somewhat for the end_of_year actions. So during the next few hours,
* the dividends (gold, rental) will be distributed
* RWWC, NC, and The North Face Tailors will produce their goods
* character health will be taken care by drinking various stuff roughly according to the plan
* new health will be calculated but kept secret <-- a random element will be added to this as soon as it is possible for me to not know the exact state of every character's well-being.

Let's say I don't open it for general use yet, but if you want to do something, petition me in here, in IRC or in Ultima Royal Palace. I will find a way to get the changes recorded.

[rpietila]

Health in Ultima

Health is a delicate issue and one of the more closely guarded secrets, as is Promotion. Therefore, this revelation that we have received concerning how the greater forces decide about the matters of life and death, should be very well studied and meditated upon, to prolong your life and avoid untimely death, while accepting the fact that the Grim Reaper can unlikely be avoided, and the end of the rich and the poor is the same.

Upon entry to the Kingdom, the character's health is determined.

The health changes upon time. The character does not know the exact value but will receive verbal hints.

The health will affect physical capabilities, when they become relevant in the subgames.

The main direction of the health is down, towards 0. The usual mechanism that degrades health is the HealthChallenge -subroutine. Its mission is to "present a threat to take X units away of the character's health if not remedied until Y". For instance the effect of bad drinking water might present an annual HealthChallenge, which can be wholly or partially remedied by consuming healthy and refreshing drinks in sufficient quality, quantity and variance. The HealthChallenges present feedback about how well the character is treating them, but this is intentionally vague.

The script that gives HealthChallenges and adjusts their severity is made such that the forecasts of the average length of the characters' lifespan become true. The antemycetians receive both good and bad news - the current condition of their physique will be evaluated based on the "physical age" concept, as if they did not age at all during their entry to the Kingdom and A.D. 1600 (because it certainly felt like that!). But then the "physical age" will be scrapped and the characters will have to assume their listed age and live according to the constricted principles regulating the conduct of the older-than-typical people. Of course the quality of drinking is paramount, but there may be more.

The character dies when his health reaches 0, even temporarily. We do not know mechanism to reverse death and no resurrections have happened in the Kingdom time yet.

ADD: As part of a joint marketing campaign, all the restaurants (the "recipients" of VOH when it was "found") have renamed the spirit "Spring Water" since the (slight) majority of the contents is just that. Because this name was so catchy, the wine of the great barrel found from the Arco basement next to the warehoused ancient doors (W1603A), was also renamed "Spring Wine". The learned men have expressed opinions that consuming the water of the two springs was strongly connected to the extraordinary health and longevity (up to the point of delayed mortality) of the inhabitants of CryptoTown.

[generalizethis]

Health in Ultima

Health is a delicate issue and one of the more closely guarded secrets, as is Promotion. Therefore, this revelation that we have received concerning how the greater forces decide about the matters of life and death, should be very well studied and meditated upon, to prolong your life and avoid untimely death, while accepting the fact that the Grim Reaper can unlikely be avoided, and the end of the rich and the poor is the same.

Upon entry to the Kingdom, the character's health is determined.

The health changes upon time. The character does not know the exact value but will receive verbal hints.

The health will affect physical capabilities, when they become relevant in the subgames.

The main direction of the health is down, towards 0. The usual mechanism that degrades health is the HealthChallenge -subroutine. Its mission is to "present a threat to take X units away of the character's health if not remedied until Y". For instance the effect of bad drinking water might present an annual HealthChallenge, which can be wholly or partially remedied by consuming healthy and refreshing drinks in sufficient quality, quantity and variance. The HealthChallenges present feedback about how well the character is treating them, but this is intentionally vague.

The script that gives HealthChallenges and adjusts their severity is made such that the forecasts of the average length of the characters' lifespan become true. The antemycetians receive both good and bad news - the current condition of their physique will be evaluated based on the "physical age" concept, as if they did not age at all during their entry to the Kingdom and A.D. 1600 (because it certainly felt like that!). But then the "physical age" will be scrapped and the characters will have to assume their listed age and live according to the constricted principles regulating the conduct of the older-than-typical people. Of course the quality of drinking is paramount, but there may be more.

The character dies when his health reaches 0, even temporarily. We do not know mechanism to reverse death and no resurrections have happened in the Kingdom time yet.

Was wondering about this. What is the average age? How will wills be taken care of? Can we will our assets to our next character?

[Febo]

Yes I also wonder what happens after you die? I guess we will see soon some that started accounts but not/will not playing them.

Does age right now influence on your current state of health. Is someone who is 40 years old healthier then someone that is 240 years old?  Or since we were not able to influence on our health in past we all start from same point?

[rpietila]

Was wondering about this. What is the average age? How will wills be taken care of? Can we will our assets to our next character?

Depending on living conditions, you can expect to live between 35-70 years. Main determinants of living conditions are quite realistic, with the storytelling emphasis on remedying the unhealthy water with drinking heavily-taxed alcohol.

It will be possible to will all your assets to an heir by just specifying the heir. Dying does not endanger your assets except a tax may be levied but it will be 10% max. The only way to lose your assets is if you do not take possession of your account until December, no matter how hard we have tried to reach you in the meantime.

Yes I also wonder what happens after you die? I guess we will see soon some that started accounts but not/will not playing them.

Accounts that are not claimed will be played by wealth managers until December. It does not matter whether they are live or dead at that point, they will be swept by the town. Before that, the owner may claim them by activating the account with the password sent to his BCT account or other account that had been used to access the game when it was still in google.

At present only about 1-1.5% of the CKG is in accounts that may be abandoned and we don't know before trying to reach them. Since we try to reach them by all means during the coming months, it is likely that the final number of swept accounts represents an insignificant percentage of gold, and in absence of knowing the will of those people, my best guess is that they would have liked the money to be used for marketing of the game, and that is what will happen.

It is worth repeating that the death of the character does not matter as regards wealth.

Does age right now influence on your current state of health. Is someone who is 40 years old healthier then someone that is 240 years old?  Or since we were not able to influence on our health in past we all start from same point?

The starting health will be calculated based on your "physical age", which is the [age at start + 3].

The continuous health demands in the game will be based on your "age", which is calculated as [1603 - year at start + age at start]. For everyone who is 100 years old or more, the demands are very strict, including copious consumption of the top-shelf bottles, to avoid wrecking your health.

The peerage will be calculated from the year of the granting of Earldom. The heirs of the Earls+ will have their peerage calculated from the start of the dynasty, and will in general inherit the father's junior title at the coming of age, and the main title upon the father's death. Eg. Jungherr Paul, 17yo, L8, is expected to inherit his father's, The Prince of Soul's, junior title, the Earl of Gangnam, upon coming of age (21y) or thereabout. When the Prince dies, the Earl will be evaluated if he is fit to inherit the senior title. He will then be promoted to the 2nd Marquess of Soul or 2nd Prince of Soul, depending on the circumstances. The heir will always inherit the wealth of the deceased. Whether he inherits the titles and fiefs is upon the King's discretion. (Revoking a fief when a person lives is embarrassing, so past misdeeds will be paid after death.)

[rpietila]

1603 year has been turned; happenings and rules


Drinks have been consumed, totals as follows:
MEAD   7,560
BEER    4,460
W1600  1,506
W1601B   847
W1603A   427
other W    203
VOH        80
CVS         30
CLXII       14

Drinking is designed to be about 20% of the character's consumption budget (and the most cost-effective way to uphold health). This year the consumption was about 320 mil at going prices. The dividends to the characters totalled 5,467 mil, so we are currently not even close to the target. The reason is the large percentage of very wealthy characters.

The newest changes in the grading of wines have been recorded based on the latest tastings and developments. Most notable:

W1602 has come to market. It is purchasable only with IC1602 (also the other wines require the same or older year IC from now on!). The wine is nothing special. In a quite long time it is expected to reach 13-15. The price is cheap though, 12 bottles for 1 IC inclusive tax.

W1603A, the wine from the giant barrel, has been graded by nearly all the townspeople (427 bottles consumed). It has been found almost perfect, exactly the way the wine tasted in the golden days. Because it is already so good, it cannot reasonably get better by aging, so will more likely start to get worse in a few years. When the memory-refreshing taste is combined with the intriguing history, the springwater content, likely health effects, and distribution among all the townspeople, this has become a very interesting wine and a sure candidate for the new Agora Market to show how trading works in Ultima! (Currently no bid/ask but feel free to enter them in /F_OWN still!)

W1602F, a very small batch artesan wine from the Forte Spagnolo vineyards in 1-S, was originally graded poorly. Upon a year of cellaring, the Prince had 5 bottles tasted by the best oenologists (including 2 for himself), and the new judgement is quite a lot better. It is now comparable to the Friar Maximus in taste, but possibly reaches even higher peak grade (in a much longer period as well). The new vintage was destroyed, the same way as 1600 and 1601. It is unlikely that FS can produce more wine until the global warming starts.


RWWC has produced 3,500*WIRS windows and due to the hassle of marketing is letting them (first 2,000) go at a nice price of 350,000/sqm. Now might be a good time to acquire the windows since they are available in bulk! Historical buildings listed will still get them at 140,000/sqm.

NC has produced 16.8 million stone. Stone is currently not tradable though, which puts the company in search for temp financing (the partners will provide it of course).

North Face Tailors have made 4 red and 4 blue suits from the coveted Ancient 1551 fabric. The last time suits were made in the Kingdom was in 1498 so this is a fine opportunity to enlarge your collection with the firstfruits of the new monopoly company! The suits are WOS-101...108. NF is rumored to post to the thread about the pricing soon! Next year the tailors work at double efficiency so it is expected that more suits will enter the market, in all colors, ornaments (CKG/CKS), from both ancient and modern cloth!


Google DB has been activated once again. No building projects/stone trading. Yes for lot trading, lot partitioning, unique and fungible items trading, using IC for converting to silver, wine and unique items; repair projects that involve only win/lux updates and storytelling!