Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City)

[rpietila]

New NPCC Quest starts for 5 years!

Thank you all the controllers of the previous NPCC Quest! I am very grateful for you all, because this thing you are doing is not just a competitive quest with small prizes, but a really important part of the game economy. It is a chicken and egg question, we need to have a functioning economy before we get more interested players, but we need the players to create the economy! Many games 1,000 times as big as we, have a lame economy, and we have a functioning one, and it is because of you, more than anyone else!

What is NPCC

Non-Player Character Consumer account was created to be the greatest sink of consumables (mainly VEG, MEAT, MEAD, BEER, CAN) so that the farms, manors and counties could be set up to produce them. Now in the NPCC2 Quest, the role is enlarged to be a provider of new items to the game as well. We have previously had auctions and direct sales when new items are introduced, but they have been centralised and not functioned optimally from the market standpoint. Now new items (eg. SFS) can be given to the NPCC who have the right incentives for disposing of them in the most market-efficient manner:
- NPCC do not benefit of the items themselves
- They benefit the more, the more money they get off them
- They operate in the markets in a competitive way anyway
- Their planning horizon is 5 years, allowing enough time for getting the best possible price

NPCC Rules

NPCC accounts are system accounts, so they are owned by the Town and their main objective is to generate the markets. For the controllers, this is set up as a 5-year quest, to get the most points from consumes, for which it is needed to sell the items given for sale, buy the consumables, and consume them at the right schedule.

Points formula is as much as possible identical with the previous quest. Most points are gotten from eating every day, but also drinking and suits are important pillars that cannot be ignored. Suits are not consumed but their number is giving points every year, with 10x points in the last year to account for the residual value of the remaining stock (which is in 100s of millions). Also luxury items give points, so all in all this is an optimisation game - just collect the most points! You will need to make choices all the time because these are NPCs, they have money but it is not unlimited and cannot be deposited more.

The trial round that just ended gave rise to questions about what kind of market conduct is allowed. Then the rules were left lax, to see what needs to be clarified. So the clarifications that take effect now are as follows:

- The NPCC is an independent account, to be managed for its own benefit. It must not give or squander its assets in a way that is obviously counterproductive from its own pov. Any action that cannot possibly increase the NPCC points is therefore forbidden. (Luckily there was not even a hint of this so far but important to state anyhow.)

- The NPCC quest is not "who has the most money" quest, so giving stuff to the NPCC account from your other accounts is forbidden as well.

- To make it easier to enforce, the NPCC are only allowed to have market trades via the Agora market system, so all OTC gifting and even trading is forbidden categorically and both ways.

- The market should be competitive, and especially now since we will be re-enabling the chained orders: It is allowed to place orders from one account (eg Farm) and execute them from the other (NPCC), and there is no delay or other requirement. The manors and farm owners are liable to give such orders to the management that this will not lead to embezzlement, and if it does, it is their duty to fire such managers.

- When items are given to the NPCC for sale, if they are of a new type with markets only developing, there is a 1 hour delay after such new items are put for sale, before the controller can act as a buyer of the order he placed from the NPCC. This applies to the items that the NPCC are selling for profit only, it does not apply for items that the NPCC can consume (eg. it does not apply to MUS, where everyone should handle their bids so that selling "too cheaply" cannot occur).

- NPCC can freely buy, sell and hold all the items in their consume list and M. The other items, lots, CKG, CON etc. they are not allowed to buy and they may only sell those items that are given to them for selling. This selling must be completed before the quest ends.

- Negative M balance in the end will be penalised fairly so that it does not make sense to cause it on purpose but does not wreck the game for those who accidentally ended up so. Positive M balance will not yield any points, and no item balance will yield any points in the end except that of suits.

- This list may be amended today if something is missing.

Practicalities and Schedule

The quest runs 1630-1634 (5 years) and is evaluated after the close of the final year.

7 accounts are available and the existing controllers have the first right. Possibly vacancies will open so please sign up!

The NPCC budget is nominally 18 mil per month (realday) - in addition they automatically get many consumables - but if items are given in excess of the normal amounts, it will reduce the monthly allowance, possibly for several future months, so having something in reserve might be good.

The quest starts tomorrow, so that the starting allowance is a stock of suits and 54 mil of cash. It is possible to consume the first 3 months at once.

Later on, the deferred consumption is allowed for 1 month. This is a new rule to allow more flexible account management, but it is likely that everyday login is still preferable due to slippage. The following exceptions apply:

- Suits yearly closing balance is to be calculated latest on early Monday, so that if the previous year had Moth (1631), there is 24 hours after the moth before that year is scored.
- SuperVEG gives extra points, so consuming VEG for Thursday needs to be done on Thursday. Friday it is not possible to consume any VEG for Thursday, even "normal" VEG. Also Wednesday VEG needs to be the pre-spoil VEG so consuming double SuperVEG does not count even for 1 point.
- When the quest ends, all consumes must happen before the week ends UTC. Since it is the Moth year, we keep the suspense by applying the Moth in the end after the quest is finished, so you cannot exactly know the 10x suit results after this statistical event. (It is graded in 1 point precision so rounding error will not decide the winner.)

Prizes

Of the 7 NPCC accounts,
- best score gives 100 mil + DOLM to the controller,
- 2nd best, 100 mil
- 3rd, 80 mil
- 4th, 60 mil
- 5th, 40 mil
- 6th, 20 mil
- 7th, surprise

Note: Prizes are much higher than in the trial round! This is important and we want zealous players to take the challenge! In addition to the sums above, we reserve the right to give additional prizes for players who managed well despite having not so good a starting position (eg. non-Councillor, non-Farm manager, non-Admin, non-existing-NPCC-controller )

[1714648930]

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[1714648930]

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[1714648930]

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[djjacket]

Thank you Sir MoneroMooo!

This is the culmination of a years-long research project! Finally everyone, rich and poor alike and corporations as well, gets to live together in this new borough with excellent stats for suitability for building

Town Headquarters planned for B22!

With the opening of B22, the Mayor would like to announce the intention of the Town to purchase lot B1 for the purpose of its Headquarters. 

B22 will be the People's Borough^TM with all the opportunities for everyone and the town would like to establish a nice presence in the Square.

Since the town does not need any shares in the B22 Corporation, The Town will purchase the lot from the B22 Corporation for money to secure the location.  This will provide the corporation with a nice seed funding to help the quarry operations get started.

[rpietila]

All Hail the Town!

The headquarters of the Town was initially (1432) in the hall below the Throne Room in the Royal Palace. When the Town Hall Annex was built in 1476, the Council and other activities moved there, and the previous room was made a Royal Chapel. Since that, several other Town buildings have been constructed, most notable of them the Hall of Justice in 2-C (1532).

Is 1632 again the year for Town to have its new headquarters, this time in B-22, the People's Borough(TM)?

[MoneroMooo]

A clarification note about B22 share conversion:

When picking a lot in B22, the S-B22A shares used for the conversion are turned into S-B22B, which are shares of the B22 corporation without the land ownership title attached.

All S-B22A must be converted at the end of the conversion period. If you do not wish to acquire a lot, the S-B22A shares can be freely sold (and bought) on the open market, even while this round is taking place.

When nobody wants to acquire a lot anymore, any S-B22A shares left over will be turned to S-B22B, thereby losing their right to land. S-B22B will entitle the holder to profits from the B22 corporation, in a way that is yet to be decided (ie, stone dividends, M dividends from stone sales, or M windfall at the end of quarrying are all possibilities).

[MoneroMooo]

Reminder:

His Majesty the King has decreed that the sight of naked townspeople is not to his liking, and has instituted a system of fines to ensure that people wear clothes fitting for their station.

The list of clothing related so-called misdameanors follows:

G. A penalty for not having proper clothing introduced. With these changes to make it easier for everyone to have proper clothes, it can no longer be tolerated that people walk around dressed in rags. Therefore, let the following misdemeanors be fined as follows:

Class 1 criminal: Peers [L14-L20]

If a Peer is found without a Noble Blue suit in his possession, let him be fined 10 mil and be scorned by his peers.

Class 2 criminal: Minor Nobles [L10-L13]

If a Minor Noble is found without a Noble Blue suit (unless he is a known academic who has always worn white, or a soldier who indicates this by not possessing other colors but grey), let him be fined 5 mil.
For a Noble to be completely without clothes, or only having Brown, it is an abomination: let him be fined 10 mil.

Class 3 criminal: Senior Commoners [L6-L9]

If a Senior Commoner does not have a Green, White, Orange or Red suit according to his trade, yet has something, let him be fined 1 mil.
If found without any clothes, fine is 5 mil.

Class 4 criminal: Junior Commoners [L1-L5]

If found without any clothes, fine is 1 mil.

It is not allowed to fine for the same offence more than once per year.

Additionally, fines for possession of items reserved for commoners, such as PIGs and DIStillery equipment is also subject to fines:

PIG:

Maximum pigs allowed per character: 4*PIG. Nobles may not farm pigs (misdemeanor, fine 1 mil if caught, same as for exceeding the quota of 4; excess pigs will also be confiscated).

DIS:

Mead-making may be done by commoners only. Maximum quantity of DIS equipment per character is 5. Misdemeanor fine 1 mil if caught with too many units, or if a Noble is caught.

S-VE1:

A plot in the common gardens in the vicinity of CryptoTown. Only one per person allowed (excl system accounts).

Nobles are also allowed 1 S-VE1. Manors are allowed to have several S-VE1 given to them by the King/Town.

Let it be known that after a grace period of a couple days, spot checks will be performed, and fines levied. M fines will be kept by the bailliff, and excess/disallowed items will be dumped at the market, or destroyed if no bids exist at the time.


tl;dr: make sure you have appropriate clothing, and that you are allowed to possess any restricted item you might have. Note that if you were promoted noble recently, you might have restricted items you need to get rid of.

[rpietila]

Borough 7 - Versailles Haw Allocation Finished - Commercial Lots Sale Starts

See Map in Game DB /B7.



The Borough Versailles is now zoned. It consists of 9 chapelries - as they all do - and the three in the evening sun side (7-NW, 7-W, 7-SW) are a private park open only to the ones with Residence in Versailles Borough (and their guests). The ones in the middle (7-N, 7-C and 7-S) are the site for the coming Royal Château of Versailles, which will become the Royal Palace since the previous one in 1-C burned down 7 years ago. The 7-E is the end point of the Avenue de Champs-Élysées, which is a 40 m wide straight esplanade starting from the steps of San Pietro in B.5 and ending in the King's Entrance to the Versailles in the Marble Square (the marble is not yet procured).

The residential area of Versailles, which is given to the Nobles, consists of 15 Palaces, whose lots are now allocated.

Dukes' Circle in 7-NE
All the 4 Dukes take residence here, except Saddam of Ramsey is not yet confirmed but hopefully he will also take the haw allocated for him

Princes' Circle in 7-SE
All the 5 Princes take residence here.

Marquesses' Circle in 7-S/7-SE
Six other nobles who applied a haw will get it here.

In addition, two Embassies will be built or at least the lots are reserved and one is reserved for King's office building.

Seven lots are for sale, and the prices are really affordable, especially considering that the area is a haw, and no property taxes will be collected (before the revolution of 1789 if ever). These lots (as well as the haws) come with a requirement to build at least e=1.00 in 5 years since the building opens. This means in practice that a 4-story building will leave half of the land for yard. Denser building is allowed.

Since the lots are so cheap, there is a beauty contest in selecting the buyers.
- First the nobles who did not come early enough in the primary haw allocation
- Second the corporations who want a HQ
- Third the others
- One per character.

In total, the area will have about 50,000 sqm of quite posh new buildings built in 5 years (main palace perhaps a little longer to finish). Some practical hints:
- Prepare for the building by buying the BLD, stone and windows now. There are many projects in need of those, and at least BLD nobody is producing atm. Minimum approximate need is 1300*STO1, 0.25*windows, 20*BLD per sqm of haw (which you already know by checking)
- Missing the deadline will cause you to be fined for delay or even lose the haw (I am serious, this is the last project of HM The King on earth).
- This massive mass of buildings will cause need for services, it is ok to build shopfront in the palaces, but especially good for this are the streetside lots that are now for sale. In 1640 with the new grading, this might be the center of the town! (Yes, many other boroughs aim to the same )

Happy planning!

[rpietila]

Note to Manors

Please pay the second installment of your lease (until 1629) which is overdue. And post me the payment id.

You will get 1630 production for free because prices dropped during the lease time with no fault on your side.

I will try to get enough time to put this matter on a more permanent footing before the year's end

[CatholicChurch]

On this clear mid-july morning, a large bell started tolling from the top of the San Pietro cathedral in a slow, grave litany. People from all over Cryptotown looked up in the direction of the unexpected sound, carried by the wind to bring its message to the people.

Here and there, a few hastened to the cathedral, perplexed by the tolling, some with a feeling of unexplained dread.

[MoneroMooo]

Let it be known that after a grace period of a couple days, spot checks will be performed, and fines levied. M fines will be kept by the bailliff, and excess/disallowed items will be dumped at the market, or destroyed if no bids exist at the time.

Remember to ensure you are not breaking any of the Town regulations listed above before the bailliff goes round tomorrow. See the quoted post for the rules.

[CK_Zephyrus]

  The San Pietro bells come to a halt as people gather around the cathedral, where Zephyrus, Deacon of the Church, stands up the steps, at the massive ornate doors.
 



 
My friends, sons and daughters in faith,
 
It pains me to have to announce the death of His Grace the Prince-Bishop David d'Armagnac. God has seen fit to call him to his side, and we thank him for allowing us to be led by this wonderful man, who not only led our divide mission on Earth, but also worked with His Majesty the King to help make Crypto Kingdom the success it is today.
 
The Prince Bishop was a co founder of Cryptotown, along with the King, and the many properties in his name bear witness to his influence on the early development of this city where you now all live.
 
The Bishop's health suffered a sharp decline years ago, shortly after he moved to Rome to work closely with the Pope, and we are sad that he could not fulfill his wish to visit Cryptotown again before his ascencion to Paradise.
 
We all pray for the Bishop's soul, and trust he will find his rightful place in God's company. As per his wishes, his earthly possessions will be held in trust by a newly created corporation, the Gospel of David, until such a time as the Bishop's successor takes possession of them, upon which time the GoD will be dissolved.
 
A funeral ceremony will be held tomorrow at the cathedral.
 
 
  The bells start tolling again as the gathered townspeople stare at each other, stunned by the news.

[noms]

The Church account is new, so I will repost the image so it shows up in the thread.

[MoneroMooo]

The first round in the B22 allocation is nearing the end, only a few people remaining to pick a lot or pass:

Next set of people to pick their lot:

2       DreamOn (216)
3       Rental (75)
4       Bank (52)
4       FSpagnolo (176)
4       Haruki (32)
4       José (232)

José now needs to pick a lot.

Once these people have made their choice, I will tally the new S-B22A ownership, and we go for another round - with less people this time.

If you want to pick another lot, now is the time to buy shares if you want to choose early.

Note for Rental and DreamOn: the smaller lots are 4 shares, so you'll need to buy up to 4, pass, or you can just sell your shares on the market, assuming you still have the same amount as in the tally above.

[Karl Hungus]

HSH The Duke of OZ is exceptionally pleased to announce two more completed art 'masterpieces'.

Many thanks to Lord Syksy for his exceptional work!

give ic 100 138 [for ART creations]

Long name: A Banquet of Joy - 'An Ode to OZ'

Level: 9

Description:
This is a painting of the newly introduced Duke of OZ in 1607, at his promotion celebration later in the evening when bottles have already been opened and the formal ceremonies are over with. While many promotion ceremonies and their accompanying celebrations are highly rigid and stern in etiquette even later in the evening, this promotion is obviously a banquet of joy. Even His Majesty, who sits by the newly promoted Duke, has loosened a part of the royal social strictness and expresses a rarely seen wide smile while toasting to the fresh Duke. The Duke's suit is in mint condition, but the velvet vest can be pictured to be bouncing with laughter, and relief. It is not too common even for a Duke to be in such a relaxed mood when sitting down with His Majesty, and definitely this perfects the evening for the newly introduced Duke. Wine is being poured left and right, and one with expertise in social hierarchical structures could point out many boundaries of political etiquette stretched. It does not seem to matter though, for there is something in the air that has leveled the minds of the participants and brought them together in this particular celebration, regardless of possible quarrels or social differences beneath it all.
A close friend to the Duke, the samurai Hokusai, has just performed a single-time musical piece of his own for the Duke, which he called 'An Ode to OZ'. Due to the special occasion, it is possible that this piece was to be heard only once in the history of the universe, at this very place and time. The samurai Hokusai performed the piece using a shakuhachi flute, and many visitors are intrigued by this exotic warrior and his performance. For a special occasion, special performances are required - and Hokusai was ready to compose this piece on his own to be performed just once in all eternity for the sake of the peculiar occasion for his friend, and deducing from the reception by the audience he could be just as good as a musician as a warrior. The celebration had started at the Hall of Magnificence earlier that day, but the jolly celebration group has taken carriages to the Duke's place: the North African Palace. The exotic interiors of the African Palace highlight also the variety of different types of people present. There are poets shouting short elegant praises and bohemian artists outmaneuvering etiquettes, awkwardly confused aristocrats, and all sorts of nobles that are trying to keep their expensive noble blue suits apart from wine stains but failing to do so. Some of nobles are shocked and some amused at the sudden cacophony, and are clearly not used to being in such a diverse company, but apparently the most important people present at the celebration are having a good time and impressed by the African Palace's exquisite atmosphere. Women and men, young and old, are both engaged in having a good time, and having a large quantity of close friends and family members certainly has lightened the mood far past of what is typical for the royal and noble audiences in such occasions. This is a good place and moment to be in, and a memory to be cherished.

Material: Oil on Canvas

Note: This exquisite painting was ordered by the Duke of OZ, to cherish this precious moment.

https://cryptokingdom.me/marketplace/item/art-36

Long name: Portrait of Hokusai the Samurai

Level: 10

Description:
This is quite a special painting in the sense, that the artist has experimentally created a depth-perspective to the portrait in question; that is, if one views the painting from either side, the person in the portrait stands out in layers from the background and creates realistic shadows to the otherwise tan-colored ambient background. The unknown painter has also clearly used different fundamental types of paints and coating in the different layers, which causes light to reflect differently from the background or special emphasized focal points in the portrait, such as the armor or the swords of the samurai in the portrait. The person in question is the mysterious warrior Hokusai, who is exceptionally painted in a European artistic fashion despite his known samurai past. Possibly due to innovative depth-perspective of the painting, no matter from which direction the viewer looks at the portrait, it feels like Hokusai's eyes are always looking directly into the viewer eye-to-eye. His sight is piercing, and it is said that a person who has broken a vow or otherwise conducted a highly immoral and unnoble act may feel their heart pierced by the stinging gaze of the enigmatic samurai. It is probably due to this rumor that some people find it hard to be even in the same building where the painting is known to be at.
Nevertheless, the light warrior-suit wielded by Hokusai is curious for many locals, as most soldiers are accustomed to very heavy metal plating and it is unclear to what degree this decorated, tanned red suit provides actual protection or if it is more of ceremonial purpose. Typical for a samurai, Hokusai is seen holding his highly elaborate Katana, along with its 'little brother', the o-Wakizashi, that has a slightly shorter blade. Both of the blades are carefully holstered, and Hokusai does not appear to pay any special attention to the two swords in his posture. They are a natural part of him and of his body, suit and presence - like biological an extension or a vital organ one might say - and he is inseparable from them. Typical to oriental tradition, he has long dark hair, but it is tightly tied into a knot at the back of his head with several pin-like metal extensions extending from the knot. Even if one completely ignores the ominous superstitious speculations about the painting, one has to admit that the painting has something special to it. It is beautifully simplistic yet experimental at the same time. The color palette mainly consists of shades of red and light yellow, but the hues stand out exceptionally well. The person is lifelike, as if he was being looked at through a hazy tan-colouring window at close distance. Some argue that a part of a man's soul is captured if he is painted by an exceptionally capable artist - if that was the case, something extraordinary was definitely captured at the time Hokusai was painted here.

Material: Exceptional oil and coating

Note: The painting was sponsored by the Duke of OZ, a close friend of Hokusai.

https://cryptokingdom.me/marketplace/item/art-37

[MoneroMooo]

The first allocation round is done, with 1390 shares remaining from the original 3400.
Another round is starting, with SirJacket as the foremost holder of S-B22A.
See the quoted post for all the details.

S-B22A trading is free, though the priority order for this round is now fixed.

SirJacket to select a lot next, and the first post will be updated to reflect the second round too.

[rpietila]

In Memoriam

His Eminence David Cardinal Latapie, The Prince-Bishop d’Armagnac, Bishop of CryptoTown, 1362-1630


We were both in the best strength of our early manhood when I met this strange man when wandering the barren grounds that later became the site of CryptoTown. It was autumn and we decided to have some fun with Wine, Cognac, Foie Gras and Caviar - indeed - decided to consume nothing but them for two years, in search of wisdom and what not. The invention Monero was at its infancy and we decided it needs a definite push towards mass adoption.

We were no mass, just the two of us, but he claimed the title Earl of Armagnac and I became the King, after all being the son of the Old Duke, in an area unclaimed by any of the Powers, it counts as a kingdom, does it not? The peasants had agreed to supply us with 1,000 kilos of gold, which at the time (and up to a hundred years after), was not much appreciated. Our kingdom was open to anyone, noble or commoner, who agreed to buy at least a kilo of this gold. The Earl got 10,000 CKG, the very first gold, as a gift, and later we both gave it on lavishly

The first subjects enrolled in 1418, of whom 8 are still alive. In 1430 we together built the first Wall, from the stone that had been received as gold dividend. In 1432, the Earl constructed the Notre Dame d'Armagnac, but then disappeared mysteriously for a decade. When he came back, he was a different man. He had been in Rome and received ordination, and the church was named Cathedral, in which Armagnac was the Bishop for the rest of the Ancient era.

His other interests included poliorcetics, he was a keen supporter of Warrior monks, he built the Church structures - many from his own funds - in the Church haw in 1-S. He was one of only 3 owners of a Manuscript Bible, which cost 50 AIC (equivalent to 107*TS140 silver coins at conversion) and his copy is the oldest in existence.

Our views on the most holy faith were seldom conflicting openly. In his (as well as mine) final years, the international relations almost got to the point that might have made the 2 old friends enemies, but luckily the d20 never opened the gap so wide that a reformation civil war would have occurred. The Bishop's death makes this even more unlikely, so we can proceed to the new construction phase of the town unhindered by disagreements over our one and only God, and one mediator between God and man, our Savior Jesus Christ.

In his final years, the Bishop received earthly glories from various rulers (because of his Wisdom - being one of only 4 characters surpassing even the King in this regard): his county was first promoted Marquessate, and he was later made Prince-Bishop. There were pleas to the Pope to elevate CryptoTown to an archbishopric as well, but they were never answered, not even after the construction of San Pietro in 1599, which was made Cathedral soon after.

Then the man of mysteries disappeared again, and was rumored to have only occasional contact, and only in matters of the Church. Just a few years ago the Pope appointed him Cardinal, in which position he never saw CryptoTown again. We are sending a letter that if his wishes were to be embalmed in Rome (or in his birthplace Armagnac), at least his heart would be deposited in the crypt of San Pietro, to be an eternal memorial for the second Founder of the Game.

(David, PM me for practicalities that this naturally causes.)

[sapost]

Hi
I need some help, lots of discussion seems to be going on in IRC #cryptokingdom. I find it and when I try to log into Chat Room #crypto-kingdom I get into an empty page that has only link to IRC smileys on top and nothing else. I have tried several times from different computers but always get same answer...can anyone help? Thank you

[papa_lazzarou]

Hi
I need some help, lots of discussion seems to be going on in IRC #cryptokingdom. I find it and when I try to log into Chat Room #crypto-kingdom I get into an empty page that has only link to IRC smileys on top and nothing else. I have tried several times from different computers but always get same answer...can anyone help? Thank you

The right channel is ##crypto-kingdom

[sapost]

Forgot to write the second # here, the link that I followed to nowhere has two...

[generalizethis]

Forgot to write the second # here, the link that I followed to nowhere has two...

Not sure what the problem is, but what's your nickname on IRC? I can invite you and that should work.

[djjacket]

Forgot to write the second # here, the link that I followed to nowhere has two...

Which link are you referring to?

This one should work - just put a nickname in and click Connect:
http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=%23%23crypto-kingdom&uio=d4