Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City)

[rpietila]

Hey Noble Palace, is anything happening on that side of the Square? We betcha you have more exclusive and probably more luxurious, but you just can't beat the size! 

OH yes, Your Majesty.  The Noble Palace is undergoing a redesign effort for producing a yet grander and luxurious accommodation suitable for foreign kings who may come to pay tribute to His Majesties glorious kingdom, and could provide either long term residential use, or even royal serve wedding parties for those foreign kingdoms that may come beseeching a mixture of royal bloodlines.  We also would offer to noble sponsors of their knights visiting for the joust competitions, only the best available in both spectator views and services.
Only the finest artisans and crafts people as may be found in all the lands are sought for this most magnificent location. 

Hmmm.... I understand that the Noble Palace has been on the drawing board for a long time, and the Grand Hotel is now ready, with all the features that we already listed and care not to elaborate again. The hotel should be ready in 4 years once the financing is raised. Now as you see the specifications, we are sure you can make even greater magnificence in select parts of the Noble Palace. (The floor plan of the lobby floor of the Grand Hotel will appear soon in the /DETAILED to give some idea).

At first we thought that the economy might not support 2 such magnificent buildings, but now we believe that the building effort alone adds such massive influx to the Services pool that the profitability might actually exceed the estimate. Also both will easily make it to the Esteemed buildings list, boosting the tourism from 20 to 30 million.

[rpietila]

So, please check the land auction. So much land in so good area is going for only 10 mil per quadrat. Premium land.

The gold auction is also showing a price of 0.12 / gold. If you think this is the right price, no problem. Just 2 weeks ago the right price was double this...

The IPO subscription list for the Grand Hotel is in the Character DB /CORP tab. You'll have to PM me but there you see how it works. I am quite interested in seeing the result of the bond auction, because this is now the first time to get risk-free (well, barring total loss of the game...) income for 25 days, denominated in XMR, for reasonable quantities. I was actually first willing to make it so that the whole 500 comes from one guy but this is probably better in establishing the interest rate.

The Grand Hotel is drawn in the Character DB /DETAILED tab (it does not exist, but that is the place where it will). Check it out, it is - if possible - an even more magnificent construct than the Town Hall. Different. But has same elements (in the Town hall, the arcades surround the building in 3 floors; in the Grand Hotel, they surround the high lobby in 3 floors inside the building, and the outer perimeter of the building is rooms).

Links to everything can be found in the OP.

[rpietila]

I'll take 100 shares please, the money should be in my account already.

Yes money is there, but since this is the Town Hall, a common enterprise for all the townspeople, only 30 shares per char are currently sold. Let's see if there is any left after the 48-hour deadline.

My mistake I misread your post, I will wait 48 hours for the other 70.

You missed that one, but the Grand Hotel is likely producing at least as much return on capital. (At least it should, because a higher % is in commercial activities...)

[David Latapie]

My own personal architect, Quentin Moon, is at your disposal for all your building need. Contact me for any inquiry.

[Piston Honda]

Wow some serious work here....good luck OP plans

[rpietila]

Housing program

Despite all the best wishes, even the majority of our citizens still lives in temporary conditions at best. This is damaging their participation in the labor pool, which means pure monetary loss every year.

What we, the King, have made as a solution, is to pre-build the Land grant area D1-D9 with small houses that are suitable for L4-L5 style living. The area is nicely designed as a totality, giving a tranquil environment with quite some green, 3 m room height, and the local tavern (North Gate Tavern by Dame Roopatra is child-friendly) is only a few steps away. The wide streets that connect to the North Gate and to the South and the Central square are paved to their total 10 m width. King's Park is open and near. The area is protected by a thick northern wall with battle platform all the way.

These gems of planned real estate development are in Land Grant, which means that the land is free and only the building needs to be paid for. The offer is open only for those who have not used their land grant yet.

We are able to offer it at an amazing value rate:
- 11 million for a 28-32 sqm L5 dwelling with 20% luxury (6 available)
- 8 million for a 18-20 sqm L4 dwelling with 20% luxury (3 available)

According to historical data, this purchase would give you the following IRR (payback time in parentheses):
- L5   6.2% (8 days)
- L4   4.2% (12 days)
- L3   2.8% (18 days).

And most important of all, the characters in the game would each have a house to live in!

Hey guys, I am offering you a 6.2% yearly profit, which is 12.4% daily. And what you need to do is to reply with the following magic words:

"One L5, please!"

Even if you don't care to refund the account after purchase, it does not matter since this generates so much more income (overdraft rate is 1%).

 

[paradigmflux]

"One L5, please!"

[rpietila]

"One L5, please!"

You are not yet in the game! 

[rpietila]

Land grab in full force

The auction of roadside places in the yet-totally-undeveloped West chapelry fetched barely the minimum 10 million per quadrat. One would think that the market is sluggish, but that was not the issue: When we listed the prime properties in the C chapelry for sale, it took no more than 30 minutes for a 750,000,000 moneretos deal. 10 quadrats of the best lands changed owner at the prime price, 75 million per quadrat, as opposed to 10 million only 100 meters away!

Meanwhile, the L lots' price has been lowered to 7 million per lot (the price of stone is temporarily down so this better corresponds the 50k stone).

The newest deal is that the King has given control of the central properties to the Town, which tries to sell them at a high price and spend the money in the online version development. 10% of the proceeds are raffled weekly among every character (the pot is currently 75 million!)

Check the many new "Buy Me Now" prices from the sheets. If you want to list your property for sale, just inform the administrator.

Now would finally be the time to have a building inspector apart from me, who could check the buildings, calculate the costs, update the various databases, and basically earn both as an architect and the inspector, because it's a one-stop-shop giving a distinct usability advantage.

[McHaggis]

I will donate 150k stone towards lots L37, 38 and 39

[rpietila]

Extraordinary announcement of Noble Promotion outside the normal schedule A.D. 1462

Karl Hungus is promoted Baron. "Lord Karl has taken a role of an economic engine in our growing city, and we raise him to nobility to acknowledge his position."

Mr. Luigi Romano is promoted Baron. "Lord Luigi's stone dealership has greatly helped in the smooth development, furthermore he made a daring and expensive land grab in the most central area of the town, purchasing the land facing the Town Hall over the New Liberty Street for 750 million."

Both were already awarded "King's Favor" Badge last year. Now they receive 100 gold + are entitled to a haw as well as other Nobles.

Lord Marquess Joseph of New Liberty has been Knighted in the Ancient Order of the King (AOK-K). This honor is given only to the most outstanding pillars of the gameplay, and has been awarded only once before (The (now) Bishop in A.D. 1434). The chain weighs 100 gold.

[rpietila]

The Services in the Town (and planning more of them)

The services pool has proliferated commerce. First came the rental rooms and taverns, later guesthouses, now the shops, restaurants, soon hotels, and later on also office space. Karl has had incity stables for travellers, which have also proven to increase his income (typically the countryside takes care of animals, but convenience is prized among travellers who don't have so much of it in this century..)

If you want to get involved to reap these rewards, let me introduce how to start offering services and how much of the Services pool they can milk:

Guesthouse

* (one star)

This is first, because the Services payout of 100% is defined as being a decent room for rent. In practice, "decent" means 9 sqm with a window, in anything but the most crappy locations (eg. back of the stables). If the location is nicer, more air, more light, larger room, etc. the percentage goes up, and also down if the contrary is true.

Note that the typical servants earn 100k per year and the Services payout has been about 85k. The servants do not therefore have the means to live on their own, so the rooms may be populated by multiple servants/visiting peasants/other NPCs. Having more of the entry-level accommodation would be beneficial to our economy because then the peasant/servant income that originally went 0% to the Services pool, and currently goes 50% to it, would gradually be more and more absorbed to our economy and the money kept in town.

** (two stars)

To qualify as a 2-stars guesthouse, the place must have 10%+ luxury level, minimum 3 rooms, and some kind of lobby or reception. Often these have a tavern that serves also as a lobby, but it is not mandatory. A two-star place gets 50% more income from the rooms, but typically needs to employ (at least) someone to take care of the business.

Hotel

*** (three stars)

Three stars is the entry level for a Hotel. The luxury level needs to be minimum 30% if the rooms are 3+ meters high. With 2 meter high rooms it needs to be 60%. The hotel needs to have a restaurant or tavern with kitchen, and be all-around suitable for its purpose. The license to operate a hotel is granted by the Town Council (for 2 mil), and it may be denied if the profitability is deemed too low, or the establishment is not proper.

The location of the hotel is important. To assess the desirability of rooms, realistic criteria are used, leading to on average 100% better price per sqm compared to one-star guesthouse.

**** (four stars)

A four-star Hotel rooms need to be at least 3 m high, and 60% luxury. Otherwise the requirements are the same as in the three-star level. The license is a little more expensive (4 mil) and even more care is exercised to give the charter only to hotels that are glory to the city (outside finishing, lobby and restaurant quality (Restaurant, not Tavern), ...). The price is on average 200% better than one-star, but varies greatly based on many factors.

***** (five stars)

A five-star Hotel rooms need to be at least 4 m high, with 100% luxury, or 3-meter high with 150% luxury (this much luxury is hard to get). The building must feature impressive public areas, indoor toilets, even bathrooms, lots of and big windows with actual views, etc. The license costs 10 mil and is very hard to get, since only a few such establishments are deemed necessary in the city. The price is on average 300% better than one-star, and is surprisingly less dependent on random events than that of a 4-star, since the rich always have money.

Four- and especially five star hotels require a breathtaking number of staff. Due to not having hotels until now, it is likely that when the first ones are opened, at least in the beginning they will be full.

Tavern w/o Kitchen (Bar)

A tavern can be had in almost any place that would otherwise be a shop locale. Taverns require some staff, and have a specific formula that determines their income, based mainly on location. All the groups (commoners, nobles, servants, army, tourists, visiting nobles) are considered. It is impossible to know exactly in advance, how well a particular tavern would perform. It also changes over time: new places are frequented by chic people, and worn places by the not-so-chic but nevertheless profitable ones. Taverns have been very profitable and this is expected to continue until there are too many of them.

Tavern with Kitchen

With Kitchen, the tavern can derive extra income from food. A separate kitchen room and more staff are needed, but until now, it has been a profitable investment.

Restaurant

Restaurant is defined as a fine-dining place where meat, even foie gras is served. We currently have the Monero House and Town Hall restaurants in town, and compared to their significant costs, they are not doing as well as they would as taverns. The fine dining culture in our town is not well-rooted yet, since the Earls and higher all have their own kitchens in their Palaces, and the Experts and lower eat rather in Taverns. There have not been that many high-ranking visitors yet, since there are no hotels. Having a restaurant increases the prestige of the whole area, though, therefore large developments should consider having one to boost the income of the other units.

Rental House/Apartment

The idea that characters could directly rent from other characters, has been abolished, and it will not be implemented in the online version until Economy. Via this pool it is possible, though. Any apartments that are larger than what could be classified "rooms", are given a rating based on their market rent. Per sqm this is the lowest profit, but it does not entail costs or problems.

Basement Shop

As monetary economy progresses (we only started using moneretos 32 years ago!) the peasants are bringing goods to the market, so are the merchants. Artesans need workrooms and shops. These are in great need in our city, and the area where people are looking for them is now convincingly the Town Hall, where they appeared first. The Liberty Street side is the current shopping arcade of the city, and people coming from the west gate and the Citadel are also searching for shops (in vain, sadly) on their way to the centre. After the Town bureaucracy took over the offices in the 1st floor in the Town Hall, and the warrior monks took the side chambers of the Cathedral (which had been serving as souvenir stores), the dearth of commercial space is great and the rewards for providing it commensurately good.

Meeting/Conference Hall

Large halls in prestigious locations are something that everyone just wants to have. Their utility rate, however is quite low, and the return on investment is not that high. But otoh, you cannot call a building Great if it does not have a hall, can you? The actual business hotel with small shared conference rooms is waiting for itself for another 500 years or so...

Special

If you have special services to provide to the town economy, such as Karl has his horse tending complex beside the tavern, these will be evaluated based on their suitability and the need.

Your own businesses

It is proper to have a shopfront office if you do anything at all in the city, like the King's Coinshop does.

[luigi1111]

Extraordinary announcement of Noble Promotion outside the normal schedule A.D. 1462

Karl Hungus is promoted Baron. "Lord Karl has taken a role of an economic engine in our growing city, and we raise him to nobility to acknowledge his position."

Mr. Luigi Romano is promoted Baron. "Lord Luigi's stone dealership has greatly helped in the smooth development, furthermore he made a daring and expensive land grab in the most central area of the town, purchasing the land facing the Town Hall over the New Liberty Street for 750 million."

Both were already awarded "King's Favor" Badge last year. Now they receive 100 gold + are entitled to a haw as well as other Nobles.

Lord Marquess Joseph of New Liberty has been Knighted in the Ancient Order of the King (AOK-K). This honor is given only to the most outstanding pillars of the gameplay, and has been awarded only once before (The (now) Bishop in A.D. 1434). The chain weighs 100 gold.

Lord Luigi is most grateful for HM's gracious promotion!

Edit: Lord Luigi is also extremely impressed with how much land Lord K.H. has managed to acquire!

[rpietila]

The Grand Hotel Corporation is about to be founded today, but surprisingly lacks funding!  

The advanced financial concept of loan auction is perhaps too early at this point of the game. What has recently made a breakthrough is land valuation, and this will come when it is time. The valuation of land is so high that the Grand Hotel is actually going for the price of its land alone - and all that the town gets for the land, is the 20 soldiers that the hotel will upkeep in its secret areas, who also serve as guards and ushers in the hotel.

We will amend the rules somewhat by removing the auction part and making the interest rate a fixed 0.6% APR, which means that every bond of 10 million is paying back 13 million at maturity (25 days). All bids of this and better have been converted to the new fixed-price deal. All subscriptions to the IPO so far will be honored.

Now, the King has placed his bets as well. When the IPO+loan round are fully subscribed, this magnificent project can start. The latest calculations are promising about 2.4% return-on-equity, which is comparable to the 2.7% of Monero House (if built now).

See the original post below and think for yourself, if a slice of this magnificent building with its treasures, in the central land, would be nice to have


OH YES - The Town Hall had its first dividends today. I gave 10% which was an accident, could have done 15%! The buildings are real good

Proposal - The Grand Hotel (& Corporation)

I have a dream.

A dream of a building matching even the Royal Palace in room area, though not in its royalness. The Grand Hotel would be a massive 4-story building in lot A2, in similar style as the Marquess' Palace, but 3x3 instead of 2x2. We should take advantage of the original zoning principle of building "commercial palaces" to these prized lots, as long as they are available.

Ground floor

2 taverns/classy shops with direct access from the central square
6 shops with direct access from outside
5 m wide open-air staircase leading to the 1st floor and main entrance

First floor

Lobby with greatest length 19m, width 11m, height 14m(!)
The most high-end restaurant in town, with chef from France, the land of Cognac far away
Multi-purpose Hall of 62+52 sqm "conference"
Grander staircase than anything seen so far in the city (19 sqm of space used to ascend 5 m)

Second-third floors

The Grand Hotel, featuring:
1 ducal suite of 126 sqm with 2 bedrooms and bathrooms
3 suites of 48-56 sqm, with or without baths
7 rooms of 18-33 sqm
4 rooms of 8 sqm
All rooms' doors open to the inner arcade
All facilities and others well planned

Army section

This building takes responsibility of defending the east gate next to it
Barracks for 20 soldiers, do double duty as guards and janitors in the Hotel
Wall strengthened with 20 inside-wall battle stations in 4 floors, with arrowslits facing east
790 sqm flat roof at e=19 m usable for ballistas and whatever defence is needed
Fully separate entrances so as to not disturb the hotel guests but access to hotel area via hidden passages

Luxury level

 Luxury level will be 130%, among the most magnificent in the city.
- Monero House 80%
- Earl Riccardo's residence 100%
------------> The Grand Hotel 130% <----------
- Town Hall 140%
- The Marquess of New Liberty's Palace 150%
- Royal Palace 200%.

Overall comparison

The building has bigger footprint than anything except the Royal Palace.
It has a larger room area than any other building.
The roof of 790 sqm at 19 m is the largest paved space after the central square.
The Ducal Suite of 126 sqm compares in size and opulence with the entrance floor of the Royal Palace.
Only the 3 buildings above are more luxurious.
The lobby has the highest room height in the central oculus, of all buildings in the town, beating the Cathedral with 2 m, and its length and width are also commendable.
The restaurant is the best in town, beating those of the Town Hall and the Monero House, and the private catering of the King and the Marquess.
The 20 soldiers in single command are also the most potent force in town (King has 15 and Bishop 10 soldiers).  

How to proceed?


Since the Town Hall IPO was a success, and also because that company was clearly founded on the principle of conservative housekeeping and 14-yearly dividends, we establish a new company with a more aggressive and growth/profit-oriented approach.

The Grand Hotel Corporation is about to start with a share capital of 500 million, which is divided to 500 shares, as was the case with the Town Hall. These can be subscribed without limit for the next 48 hours, and in case of oversubscription, the amounts will be cut in a fair way.

Since the building of 1,656 sqm takes almost a billion to construct, we loan the rest of the money to gain leverage. To determine the creditworthiness of this most ancient institution that has the largest building in the town as guarantee (in case of default, the creditors replace the shareholders as usual) is an intriguing task, and we therefore make a loan auction as follows:

- We are seeking a 50-year (25-day) bullet loan of 500 million. The loan consists of 50 bonds, 10 million each.
- Reserve bid is 1.00% APR (this is the overdraft facility interest rate and the King feels OK to offer it for all 50 bonds)
- Minimum "raise" (lowering) is 0.05% and 0.05% increments
- Indicate how many you want at that price  
- Everyone gets the same rate, which is the rate of the highest winning bid

Here is the table for the payback if you decide to offer a certain rate:

1.00%: 10 million => 15 million
0.95%: 10 million => 14.75 million ("minimum" = maximum bid)
0.90%: 10 million => 14.5 million
...
0.80%: 10 million => 14 million
0.60%: 10 million => 13 million
0.40%: 10 million => 12 million
0.20%: 10 million => 11 million
0.05%: 10 million => 10.25 million.

We want to be realistic. The calculations show that the return on capital invested is currently 1.15% per year. Since half of it is loan, the shares will get 2.3%-loan_rate and the loan will get loan_rate. The volatility is totally on the shareholders, but the creditors should be covered since it is unlikely that the building's value as a cash flow instrument would go to less than half of the building cost, understanding that it is in a prime location and the land was received for free.

Now you can tailor your risk percentage to exactly what you want, by buying both the shares and the loan in varying proportions.

If 48 real-hours pass so that the total participation to the IPO and the loan does not exceed 500 million, the offer will be cancelled so that the lot remains empty and no money is taken from anyone.

The town does not remain as a participant - if the participation is more than 500 million but less than 1 billion, the King / Jungherr Zechariah will take the remaining.

Totally new avenues open as the King is bound to give a haw for anyone who has at least 10 soldiers, and this includes this corporation. We think.. We can spend the profits from the Hotel to develop the haw, and other prime properties. It's glorious. The shareholders may vote for the dividends always, but if they do not, the expansion is the way to go

Hey Noble Palace, is anything happening on that side of the Square? We betcha you have more exclusive and probably more luxurious, but you just can't beat the size!  

[Quicken]

50 mil for Grand Hotel shares please.

[djjacket]

Looks like the Grand Hotel has now been funded!  

Would love to see the full design in the CK Building Editor!!!

Will all the detailed multi-level plans for city structures be available to see?

[rpietila]

50 mil for Grand Hotel shares please.

This was the last subscription, and then...

Looks like the Grand Hotel has now been funded!  

Would love to see the full design in the CK Building Editor!!!

Will all the detailed multi-level plans for city structures be available to see?

Yes, the Grand Hotel is established and built in 1464  We are able to do quite marvellous things seemingly... What is next - a bigger Cathedral?

The designs are stored whereever the Building Registry says. The "HM/build" is a laarge excelsheet with 2000 rows, which contains all my buildings and dozens of cost calculations.

The multi-level plans should come in online version 4-6 sometime next year. Before that, this is what we've got.

Grand Hotel Corp. is now the first stock with secondary market. You can buy them at 1.15 and sell at 0.95 now

[saddambitcoin]

Pardon my absence, I have just realized I am *naked* - please can someone furnish a suit for me? 

A simple green artesan suit will suffice for 3,000,000 moneretos.

[rpietila]

Pardon my absence, I have just realized I am *naked* - please can someone furnish a suit for me?  

A simple green artesan suit will suffice for 3,000,000 moneretos.

Welcome back!

Sorry to say that the tailors left 14 years ago, come back in 36 year and nobody ordered reserves...  

...except the King, and just a few (in Character/trade clothes tab). Hopefully you find a suitable one!

(no you are not naked, you are dressing in a grey servant or brown peasant suit, with the style they wore in the 1300s)

[binaryFate]

(no you are not naked, you are dressing in a grey servant or brown peasant suit, with the style they wore in the 1300s)

Ah, that puts a name on the weird looking guy we were all laughing at since few years