Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City)

[generalizethis]

I stroll through the south-east quadrant of the 4th borough, my feet tired from the long pilgrimage. I am told by villagers not to know what to expect. I am told by others of dark things: Demons--Spirits who rise from the bogs, who fester swamp gasses and boil the water to a putrid stench. I do not believe them. I have land to survey, a shop to build, things blessed by an industrious God. There are the lots friends own, their stakes freshly plotted, the land ready to be tilled, plowed, made and molded into a brighter future. Then, like the shock that crawls up your back a madman's scream. I do not pass.

[noms]

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!

I would like to be the first to put in my order for both a Blue and Red suit from North Face Tailors. Their quality has been rumored to be of the highest, and I need to see this firsthand. I will be away in foreign lands for the next 6 months or so, but I should be back by 1604, perhaps earlier. I will be sending messages via merchant ship, however. If you are able to sell some of these suits, please let the nearest merchant vessel know the price so I may make a decision on purchasing.

Regards,
Sir noms, Earl of White Cross.

[rpietila]

Income equality in the Kingdom

Matt 13:12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

The last year enabled some statistics to be collected from the incomes (which this year consisted of gold dividends, rental pool payouts and RWWC dividends) of the characters. The incomes of the corporations were not attributed to the owners, so only personal income was considered.

The total personal income was 4,756 mil. We construed a table about the income classes:

Code:

class	mil+	chars	typical
12	1000	1	King
11	500	1	
10	250	3	Wealthy Prince
9	125	3	
8	64	3	
7	32	7	Most Earls
6	16	10	
5	8	8	Poor Baron
4	4	13	Typical Master
3	2	15	L5-L6 minimum will be here
2	1	4	L4 minimum will be here
1	0	35	Some with no income; L3 minimum will be here

The wealthy Princes in the Kingdom are making almost half of what the King is making yearly. From V3.9U on, the commoners will have minimum income of 0.7-2.1 mil per year from labor pool. Commoners seldom make more than 10 mil/year (because income is one reason to be promoted "Baron" which originally meant "Rich man"). The landed aristocracy lives well with their 30-500 mil/year income.

[rpietila]

The search for RME has been completed. SUCCESS!


Shamefully the adventure did not interest competing teams, so the only team was deemed winner and they can tell the story themselves if they like

But they did receive a good payout for their efforts, as follows:

3,000 * RME "Methuselah" Rum
(product is not graded yet because only the King knows how it should taste)

The costs were as follows:
450 IC   for acquiring the merchandise, die decided that it was cheap!
480*W1600   since if you take wine with you to a voyage, for sure it is consumed
80 mil    for various costs and salaries
300 mil    for Town import tax

No more of this Rum will be able to be brought to the Kingdom.
(both the product and the costs have been added/subtracted to Earl noms account, who will distribute them according to the team contract)

* - *

Tavastia and his party had too many business going on with windows to make it to the year-long journey to strange lands. But he fulfilled his threat to go to Amsterdam and have a nice time there. So his result is:

1,000 RUM "Rum"

Costs:
135 mil, which is mostly tax

Tavastia is offering his teammates, Knight serje and Ale of Nassau, the option to redeem up to 300 bottles each at cost = 135,000/bottle.
Others including restaurants may purchase it at 200,000 for some time at least.
All the dignitaries of the town have been gifted 2 bottles, and the King and Town 10 bottles each.


Perhaps a more important discovery were some green herbs that Tavastia chewed there. They made him feel Ancient again, with clear and lucid thoughts. There is now a possibility for a new voyage that might bring the seeds of these plants to the Kingdom, which might result in a whole new consumable, potentially useful for all!

Adventure Subgame - In Search For The Perfect Rum


Welcome to start the Adventure, as soon as the main celebration tonight is over!

This is the final expedition party!

There have been talks of rum in faraway lands. This excited Earl Noms, and he quickly started talking to interested parties who may like to join him on an adventure! Here are the details of the expedition:

Team

• SirJacket will be the team leader. He will also bring along a 4-horse carriage and funds as well as IC. He has worked with Noms in the past and they have a good rapport.
• Noms will be coming along because of his vast knowledge of land and land aquisition. His keen business sense will help in the negotations of the purchase of any rum, if found. He will also bring both funds and IC to the team, as well as a 4-horse carriage and lots of wine.
• Mooo saw the expedition as a chance to get a taste of country life again. As a former cowherd, he is used to life in the fields. Mooo will contribute some moneritos to the expedition's funds, and will be sure to bring his natural history drawing books to capture some of the most striking animals to be found in the far lands.
• Noms will bring along some of his military - a Lieutenant and 3 Privates. This is mostly a security force to help out in case there is trouble along the way before/after rum has been acquired. He will also bring along 2 Assistant 1's to help with the organization of the rum and helping facilitating the buying/negotiations.
• cryptonic21 will be coming along on the expedition and bringing IC to help.
  
• Jeeves - Level 8 Butler [NPC]
• Jefferson - Level 1 Assistant [NPC]
• Butters - Level 1 Assistant [NPC]
• Dan - Lieutenant [NPC]
• Tom - Private [NPC]
• Jerry - Private [NPC]
• Jones - Private [NPC]

Budget

• The budget currently consists of 315.75M
  
  • noms: 100M
  • SirJacket: 165.75M
  • moneromooo: 50M
• The IC for purchasing rum currently sits at 1075 IC
  
  • noms: 350 IC
  • SirJacket: 500 IC
  • cryptonic: 25 IC
  • fluffypony: 200 IC

Supplies
 

• The 2 4-horse carriages will be used to get to/from the seashore.
• Noms will bring along 40 cases of 1600 Wine to help keep us in good health during the voyage.
• We will be exploring the oceans abroad using a Carrack. During his travels, Moneromoo met many people, including a merchant who was indebted to him for some work Moo did for him whilst he was abroad. He offered us the use of the Carrack for the expedition for a small payment of moneritos (10M rental).

The largest European sailing ship of the 15th century is the Spanish carrack, easily outdoing the caravel in tonnage (more than 1000 tons compared to an average of 250 for the caravel). The Carrack quickly became the standard vessel of Atlantic trade and exploration in mid-16th century Europe.

This is the final expedition party!

[Blawpaw]

This is a really good project!

I love rpg games and this is very promising.

Good luck and keep up the good work!

[djjacket]

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!

Jacket's North Face Textiles Produces 1st Clothing in the Kingdom

The rumors and whispers have been heard throughout the Kingdom for the past few years.  After over 50 years of research and experimentation with the production on textiles and clothing techniques, the craftsmen were finally confident enough in their skills and the 1st suits made in the Crypto Kingdom are now ready and available for sale!  Many years of labor cost and training went into the establishment of the Textile Production capabilities and we are now ready to accept new future custom orders for Suits!

The 1st suits were made from Noble Blue and Red imported ancient cloth from the year 1551.  There is limited availability on ancient cloth so the pricing on Ancient Suits differs from that of Suits constructed of newer material made in the Kingdom.

Wearing quality clothes is a must for anyone aspiring to advance in ranks and be successful in the Kingdom!

The Red and Blue Suit inventory is available at the following pricing:

Red Suit made from 1551 Ancient Cloth - 36M
Noble Blue Suit made from 1551 Ancient Cloth - 46M  (Similar imported Ancient Suits have sold for 5x this)

We are also ready and able to provide quotes on suit orders of various Precious Metal content woven into the designs.  
The pricing on these depends on the cloth type and amount of precious metals to include.

He is the base pricing (in M) for Ancient Suits (includes the material in the pricing):

Discounts are given if you provide the cloth for construction.

A-Green    -   13
A-White    -    19
A-Orange  -    28
A-Red      -    36
A-Blue      -    46

Here is the base pricing (in M) for new material Suits (includes the material in the pricing):

Green       -    10    
White        -    13
Orange      -    17
Red           -    21
Blue          -    26
Purple       -   52

Contact me via PM or IRC with your requests and I can provide you with an time estimate and cost quote!  
Looking forward to seeing some finely dressed citizens in our town!

[djjacket]

Jacket's North Face Textiles Produces 1st Clothing in the Kingdom

Wearing quality clothes is a must for anyone aspiring to advance in ranks and be successful in the Kingdom!

The Red and Blue Suit inventory is available at the following pricing:

Red Suit made from 1551 Ancient Cloth - 36M
Noble Blue Suit made from 1551 Ancient Cloth - 46M  (Similar imported Ancient Suits have sold for 5x this)

Also, just a reminder for all new nobles.  Only Nobles may order and wear the Blue color clothing and Purple is reserved for the King.  In fact, if you are a newly "made" noble, now is the time to claim you Noble Clothing. 

One bolt of Noble Blue (1599) cloth and One bolt of Red (1595) cloth will be put into the work queue for this year.  Contact me with your custom order to be included if interested.

[rpietila]

We just submitted a proposal for 3 Royal Purple suits order.     /EDIT: which came back swiftly as accepted. These will probably be the first suits with silver in them, in the whole Kingdom!

Perhaps it is good to remind the newer citizens about the color codes and elaboratenesses of the suits:

According to the very ancient custom, cloth is produced in 6 colors (+2 non-colors), and these convey a meaning:

- Purple is very elaborate, and is reserved for Royal characters (the only one of such is currently the King, meaning that others may not order purple clothes for themselves, but may wear purple with royal permission)

- Blue is most elaborate, and is reserved for Noble characters (Jungherr/Knight and higher - it is considered a serious shame if nobles do not have any clothes (especially now as they are available) and somewhat of a shame if they do not possess and wear Noble clothes). Silver goes well with blue color so is expected to be a hit in the new season. It is completely fine to not have any ornaments in your blue - nobility is after all sometimes egalitarian for their members - but if you wear gold/silver, make sure to have a proper amount that suits your position, age and wealth.

- Red is most elaborate, and traditionally a color of merchants, because it is striking and expensive, and merchants have the reason to be both. It is considered proper to wear red if you have money, and if you don't, you can't wear red anyway. Rogue barons who are self-made men may wear red during workday as a sign of "still being in business" but for sure they have many blue suits as well for the King's parties and other Noble events. Ancient red suits carry some of the largest loads of gold in them.

- Orange is elaborate, and the festive color for all common people. Because suits will start to get worn based on their use, and an everyday use will reduce the suit to zero in about 10-15 years, the poorer folks want to have a separate better suit for festive occasions, and a more basic suit for everyday use. Using red is a signal that "I have the means to wear red every day" but orange is more the sign of "I don't have much income but I am wealthy enough to own a festive suit". And since these are not much used, they are inherited over generations. They are often heavily gilded with attached silver items as well. Nobles should never wear orange.

- White is elaborate, and historically the color of academics, "whose clothes do not get dirty from physical labor". New nobles who have been promoted based on their learning (and do not have too much money) are accepted to continue to wear white some time after ennobling. Artesans, merchants, laborers etc. should not buy and wear white, since it is not fitting. Gold/silver are most often small amounts, for the reason that academics tend to be not rich - if they were learned and rich, they would be merchants and soon nobles, and not wear white any more.

- Green is not elaborate, and is rather cheap to produce en masse. It cannot be embellished with metals, and is an all-purpose suit for many trades, and all commoner levels from as early as you can afford, all the way to Master. (Wizards have the eccentricity to wear whatever they like, save purple/blue.)

- Grey is the uniform for heavy duty and is not elaborate. It is much favored among NPCs, soldiers, stonemasons, King's and other servants, poor people who cannot afford even green, etc. Unless your work especially demands to wear grey, you should try to buy a green or higher suit as soon as possible. Then the next aim should be an orange suit for occasional use.

- Brown "suit" is a collection of clothes made in the countryside and not dyed etc. While it may serve the purposes there, in the city it is considered woefully inadequate and immediately reveals your poor situation. Even peasants commonly have orange suits for visiting CryptoTown (it is rumored that the one going to visit will even rent one if needed). Only the lower level church people use brown, to show their piety or something. (Brown is not even considered a suit in the health etc. calculations)


The North Face company has the monopoly on dyes. Grey is not considered a dye, so the import of grey suits to clothe the most urgent needs is possible, and the Town has organized a stream of grey suits to be sold to the most needy. At 1.2 mil each, they are not competing with the North Face Spring Collection 1603, and are rumored to have shoddy workmanship which makes them last less than the NF Brand Quality Produce. Wearing them while waiting your order to fill in NF is still better than not having any clothes at all!

TL;DR: If you do not have a suit, and do not plan to order yours from Jacket NF Company very quickly, you should spend the token amount of 1.2 mil to buy your gray suit (GREY10, col "QI" in /F_OWN) latest when Ultima opens. This is a good way to try out the Agora Market exchange functionality!

[noms]

The Quest For Rum




The party was just waking up from a long-deserved slumber when they sailed into the harbor after their long journey across the ocean.  Sir noms was nursing a slight headache from the celebrations that had become a regular occurrance on the boat after finding their cache of rum.  The Mathuselah rum expedition netted the adventurers 3000 bottles and a very interesting story as well...

In the 1400's, a sailor named Joseph Cook shipwrecked upon a Caribbean island and made his way into the town. He met a sugar cane grower named Master Jim and found his daughter to be of incredible beauty. It was love at first sight, and that moment he stopped looking for passage off the island. After just 6 months, he was married to the daughter.  

One day, the unimaginable happened. An incredible hurricane hit the island and the house that the Master was living in, and he was killed! Cook and his wife were left to pick up the pieces.  Together with Cook's mother-in-law (who dabbled in magic and witchcraft), they created a new rum that was meant to ward off the bad luck that had befallen the Master.

Year after year, the rum grew in popularity. It spread through the Caribbean, and then through faraway lands. Many claimed that this special rum held "magical powers", which caused the pirates and merchants to fight over and trade it rabidly.  Through the years, Cook and his wife grew old and had a happy life. They were unable to continue making the rum, and simply lived out their life in peace. Cook's wife eventually passed away, and Cook followed soon after. Rumor has it that he died of a broken heart.  

Upon reading their will, it was found that they had a special cache of rum left, and they had hidden it somewhere on the island.  For years the people in the town looked for it, as they wanted to experience this magical rum again.

Unfortunately, it was never found...

Fast-forwarding to Noms, SirJacket, and Cryptonic in 1603: they had just pulled into the bay to rest their sea legs. It had been nearly 9 months at sea, and they had found land after searching for a very long time since their last land sighting. SirJacket had spotted something gleaming from inside a cave on the way in. They docked the vessel and decided that after a nice meal and a clean bed, they would go investigate the gleaming object they had seen.    

The next morning, they put together their expedition party and went for a hike to the cave.  Noms spotted the gleaming plaque on the wall that read: Rulers Under Monero. Why would this be inside a cave, and what was this "Monero?"  As SirJacket and Noms sat there puzzled, Cryptonic realized it was an anagram for RUM!  They realized that this could be exactly where it was hidden! After an exhausting day searching, SirJacket threw down his shovel in disgust and heard a *clink*.  He brushed off the metal object and saw it was a door! After digging out the door and prying it open, they found THREE THOUSAND BOTTLES OF RUM! This was the rum that had been hidden that no person had ever found.

Glad to have finally found it at last, they put every bottle into the ship, except a few which they toasted their find with on the spot. They sailed back, victorious!

[rpietila]

Oh, that is a very interesting story.

The tasting of the rum reveals for certain that we are talking about the same stuff. Had 15 RME for starters and bought a few more. The quality is quite uneven - some bottles are (only) good, others quite excellent. This is the reason for the wide grading, 14-18 (will be focused more if it happens that the first bottles were not representative of the whole lot.

Sir noms has listed some bottles for sale at 0.380 mil each. Of course this is no CLXII in quality, but the price is also much lower. As the first of its kind (rum), fine addition to anyone's liquor stash.

We hope that this drink would be distributed widely and actively. As a first of its kind, its enjoyment goes to waste if there is no opportunity to acquire it for everybody!

[rpietila]

The Red and Blue Suit inventory is available at the following pricing:

Red Suit made from 1551 Ancient Cloth - 36M
Noble Blue Suit made from 1551 Ancient Cloth - 46M  (Similar imported Ancient Suits have sold for 5x this)

We are also ready and able to provide quotes on suit orders of various Precious Metal content woven into the designs.  
The pricing on these depends on the cloth type and amount of precious metals to include.

He is the base pricing (in M) for Ancient Suits (includes the material in the pricing):

Discounts are given if you provide the cloth for construction.

A-Green    -   13
A-White    -    19
A-Orange  -    28
A-Red      -    36
A-Blue      -    46

Here is the base pricing (in M) for new material Suits (includes the material in the pricing):

Green       -    10    
White        -    13
Orange      -    17
Red           -    21
Blue          -    26
Purple       -   52

Contact me via PM or IRC with your requests and I can provide you with an time estimate and cost quote!  
Looking forward to seeing some finely dressed citizens in our town!

Suits are Items with a level (K3-K10). The most basic suits have K3, a blue suit with no metals is K6, and the magical golden suit which no one has seen but the rumors abound that the King is wearing it in his private tea ceremonies, is K10.

In Ultima, having a proper suit fitting for your status is good for health, for social interaction, and for promotion.

The suits will last for 10+ years of daily use, degrading slowly. Suit expenses are designed to be 20% of character expenses (20% food, 20% drink, 20% clothes, 20% house+horse, 20% others).

Everybody should aim to get as good a suit as possible, due to the various benefits it gives. If the costs arising from the using of an expensive suit daily terrify you, consider buying a cheaper gray suit (for those whose better suit is green), green suit (for those whose it is white/orange), or a suit with less gold and silver (for those whose better suit is red/blue with loads of metals decorating it).

Suits degrade slower if at all when they are not used! (You will be able to toggle on the suit you are currently wearing in the later version in Ultima, as well as boots and hat - it might be a good time to start acquiring these as unique items btw, to get the best collection!)

The price range for suits is approximately as follows:
1000 mil this much it would cost to recreate WOS-1 (purple, 1000 CKG), which is btw from 1450 and we only use it in the Throne Room
300 mil a suit with much metals regardless of color; highest aftermarket sale
100 mil a very nice custom made suit with some metals
50 mil a purple suit, or ancient cloth blue suit, without metals
10-40 mil different fabrics, colors and anciety
1.2 mil a grey suit


Some King's WM clients' suit wishes:
(when items become available we are seeking to buy these)

Tavastia has acquired the first modern suit (WOS-101), red in 1551 Ancient cloth, as well as WOS-105, ancient cut blue suit (this purchase is very satisfying) + a grey suit just in case. Who knows when the suits are again in a short supply...

Sarajas has been waiting patiently that suits become available and bought a 1551-blue. Since he owns 9,000 CKG, there is no need to show off and no metals is completely OK. This does not mean it would stay at one, though.

Master nikke1 we will meet tomorrow, we will see whether he aims for white (due to being learned), orange (because he is an artist), red (because of being a businessman) or green (due to being jovial) clothes. Probably new rather than ancient.

Lord Thud will place an order for clothes fitting for a Councillor soon.

Dr. HS-S would like to have a white or two for daily use, and is seeking to buy a collectible suit as well, preferably orange. Please contact if a suitable one comes up!

Dr. SS needs a white or two, but no trinkets.

Jungherr Paul is seeking a slim blue suit, for everyday use.

A couple of greens are also requested by the newer entrants, and the cost is a concern. They have heard that a green used to cost 3-4 mil in the ancient times... All have bought a grey suit as well, as soon as they became available.

[rpietila]

The list of Royal Monopolies, other granted Monopolies, and Corporations in Monopoly Market Position

...and the Call to Establish New Such Ones!


The Ultima development project has the end state of Ultima Version (V.U). It is a very fundamental way of economic implementation of the world, and has the following principles:

- Each character has Time, which he can convert to Labor (which is Time accompanied with Skill)
- Production requires Labor to be used, as well as (some or all of) Materials, Buildings, and Tools
- Production is defined such as new Items are created or existing ones change form to more refined ones

- Characters require food, drinks, clothes, etc. to sustain their life and therefore Labor-producing capacity
- These items are consumed in the process (food, drinks) or deteriorate over time (clothes, buildings)

- Money is a means of facilitating exchange, and can directly buy needed items as they are imported, but this will become less and less wanted as the domestic production takes over. This is a resource-based economy, with money relegated to its proper roles as a unit of account and means of exchange, where the store of value role is dependent on the character's wishes but CKG, M, UB and land being possibilities among others.

BUT

We are still far from the situation where all the production chain from wandering in the forest shooting pheasants until the finished hat is sold to the noblewoman, is properly mapped, implemented and balanced.

To bridge this gap, Monopolies are started to produce the needed items and conduct research that will lead to their dissolution.

RWWC has successfully started the making of windows, and will greatly expand its selection in the following years.

NewCorp is a cartel formed by landowners to produce stone, although anyone can start to compete with it once 1605 brings the new land available yet again.

North Face Cloth Industries has the grant to make suits in green, white, orange, red, blue and purple traditional colors. They have conducted research how to make them the best.

Royal Mint completed the itemization of the Kingdom's gold a year ago, and will be the only place to mint new coins, and round objects of existing gold, silver and other metals.

Church is tasked to make beer available to all and they get the tax revenue, which income is used for the poor.

The Town is in somewhat of a monopoly position regarding mead and strong drinks, because their price is mainly town tax, and imports regulated.


In the Villa Rotonda, we the staff have pondered over the needs of the people, and once V3.9U is soon here, and we have first time the option to enlarge the number of items ordinary people have, there are many needs:

- Printing Press. This would be a great and expensive purchase, but would enable making books and other prints in large runs, so that the per-unit cost is insignificant. The marketing is important because not everyone can read and the Kingdom is small. Probably many of the products will sell badly for decades even, until the latecomers realize their collectible value and the reward is gained after patient waiting.

- Hat and Boots manufacturing. It is time to get the latest fashions from the other countries to here as well, with both modest and magnificent head and footwear.

- Horse breeding and sales. Most nobles don't have the skill to "make" good horses but nevertheless demand them.

- Carriage manufacturing. These most important and expensive items need a maker, who can process and fulfill orders. There is a new 6-horse type technically available but it requires very trained horses and skilled carriage makers, artesans and artists to decorate the wonderful piece of wealth.

- Sword and other PPG manufacturing. It is about time to get our prowess to the level of the other countries, otherwise what is the possibility of subduing the countryside?!

- Wood items. The population of commoners that is flocking to the town soon, needs basic living stuff for their houses.


Proposals about how to handle these are received in the Villa Rotonda registry. SCI points spend is in many cases required.

[rpietila]

Since Edification is Supremely Important, We The King have a Strong Desire to start the Printing Press in the Town A.S.A.P.


This Institution would be in our thinking best organized as a joint-stock company, but take the name of Literary Society or something.

To get this new technology started, a spend of 10,000 SCI is approximated.

Also we need to have the press, which is not that much space really, but a wonderful opportunity to make a new Grand Building in town, with public gardens and a library. We have a location in mind in the University borough. All the books should have a few copies in the Library, which makes it possible for all to access the knowledge. (The Game Wiki will be available to be read for free.)

The Members of the Society would receive their books with a standing order. This makes it effortless to grow your own library, allowing the meditation over knowledge in the peace of your palace. Single copies would be sold in the bookshop as long as the print run lasts, and in aftermarket afterwards.

All books printed would be durable quality cloth paper (not pulp paper, which came centuries later to destroy the durability of the books). The Press would be available for private orders as well, allowing anyone to print their titles against a payment.

We repeat that it is possible that this cultural achievement is unlikely to result in monetary profit any time soon, but the cultural profit will be all the higher, and has proven itself over the years to be of much delight as well.

Please present your thoughts!

[Karl Hungus]

Since Edification is Supremely Important, We The King have a Strong Desire to start the Printing Press in the Town A.S.A.P.

HSH The Prince of OZ wishes to announce that he is most eager to contribute towards the Town Printing Press & associated Literary Society and can contribute 5,000 SCI towards making these noble goals a reality!

[djjacket]

Jacket's North Face Textiles Produces 1st Clothing in the Kingdom

We would like to announce that after a year of production, the Kingdom's interest in the new clothing has showed us that clothing does matter!  We are hiring more tailors and artisans to expand operations into B-2.  We now have production facilities in both Old Town and New Town!  In addition, after the additional training and expansion has allowed us to the costs of the Modern Suits for the Green and White Suits!  

The following is now the pricing for Modern Green and White Suits:

Green       -    8  
White        -    11

We hope that this new breakthrough in productivity will help all break away from the drab Grey clothing.

Edit:

Also - New Order Quotes can be requested with the following form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GHRtcuJ14Q2WzBRzefLbyRMu3T1G5MqCpLlT5YC3vwM/viewform?usp=send_form

[rpietila]

The following is now the pricing for Modern Green and White Suits:

Green       -    8   
White        -    11

We hope that this new breakthrough in productivity will help all break away from the drab Grey clothing.

Yes, we hope that even the non-depositing new players can soon break away from the inadequate quality Grey clothing. On the other hand, the developments add the welcome distinction even to Green, which now compares favorably to the lower (non-)colors. It also has to be noted that the NF produce lasts twice as long as the emergency clothing provided by the Town!

[rpietila]

!!! !!! Boroughs 6, 8 and 9 open !!! !!!

in years 1605, 1606 and 1607, respectively

The town size is regulated by the following rule: 10% of the area of the town should be all the time for sale by the Town as complete chapelry-sized lots. When more land is bought by the characters so that this does not hold any more, the Town will buy more land from the King and offer it for sale.

The price for an unburdened (Normal tax) chapelry is 1,000 mil. When new chapelries are sold, the price starts at 2,000 mil and drops incrementally to 1,000 mil over the same year, so that there is a practical Dutch auction allowing the quarry companies and other interested buyers to snatch the chapelry before the competitors, at a price they still deem profitable for their operations.

The geology for the new boroughs regarding quarrying has been assessed and can be seen in /QUARRY3.

As we remember, the 1-SE "Village" chapelry is burdened by 7,000 m/sqm/year extra land tax. The Borough 9 will similarly be burdened with extra tax, although the rate will be only 10% of this: 700 m/sqm/year. Because of this, the price of the land there is not floored to 1,000 mil but goes all the way down until taken by a buyer.

If these new lands are bought such quickly that 10% does not remain in the Town ownership, more land will be offered in Borough 10 onwards, in a new circle further from the Old Town, with similar terms and procedures, one borough per year (unless this is clearly not enough).

There are also plans to tighten the population density in the centre and open the somewhat hilly "Borough 22" in between Old Town and San Pietro, and the plain "Borough 23" in between Old Town and University. Before these can be done, great advances in Science are necessary, and this valuable land will probably be given to the contributors towards these advances or some other special arrangement. We do not see it happening just yet, or in a short time.

[rpietila]

Buy your stone at a discount!

After some experiments with the stone piles in people's front yards, everybody had found the idea stupid. So the stone was carried back to borough-wide depositories where it can be redeemed by showing a deposit card. This also facilitates trade better than before.

NewCorp has produced a record amount of stone, but the buyers are not there because building is paused. We remain committed to provide the stone to all the building needs, and want to offer a 3.3% per year discount for buyers. Buy your stone for the next year project now and get it at 145 instead of 150, the normal price! Thanks to NewCorp, the price of stone has been brought from 180-200 to 150!


NewCorp seeks financing from its members

NewCorp nominal share capital is 22.8 bil. We are seeking new financing for the quarries and purchasing of new land. Only the Members are eligible to give new money. The valuation is 111 mil/share, same that King used in his last capital injection to get the salaries paid last year. We need ~5 bil now. If there is too much or too little interest, the valuation will be adjusted.

The Members of NewCorp are:
King
HH of NF
Soul
Tavastia
Thud

[rpietila]

Town ask prices for lots have been updated!

In awaiting of the opening of new boroughs and the flocking in of new players, the Town has reduced the ask prices for the remaining lots in B:s 1, 2 and 5, where the Town has lots on offer.

Many of the Town lots are premium that the private realtors cannot offer, such as 2-E-I2, small lot surrounded by streets and built-up area from every side, and the lots around San Pietro Square and the beginning of Champs-Élysées.

[rpietila]

Version 3.9U release schedule updated

Version 3.9U Reconstruction will be released for existing players on Sunday, 2015-9-6.


Hopefully I am not the only one who is waiting the new software like a child is waiting for Christmas...  

The project started with a very intense 18/7 bootcamp in the lush grounds of the Royal Palace of Malla. Now it has been a little disappointment that stuff is not happening as fast as there, even though it is rather obvious that 60 hours per week is not the same as 120 hours.

I am sorry for not updating the progress estimates to reflect reality sooner. Fact remains that the new software needs to be more functional than google DB before the migration is useful, and the versatility of google DB is hard to beat. The command line is an attempt to enable power use.

The daily sneak peek to the new features:
- Town Map shows all the 9 boroughs, and each chapelry by the number of lots in that chapelry.
- Chapelry Map shows graphically the lots inside the chapelry (as we remember, lots are not confined to quadrats any more, but may be any size and shape). It has 3 layers, of which you can select Land Usage (street, park, unbuilt, built, ...), Building Density (greyscale) or Lot Division (emphasizing the different lots).




Stone has been re-added to Items, so the next post will enable building once again, for the rest of the year. The year will change to 1604 a bit ahead of schedule already on Saturday.