Crypto Kingdom - 1991 Retro Virtual World(City)

[paulsonnumismatics]

Question: Approximately how much XMR is being used to play this game?

This question gets asked with some regularity.
My first curiosity is:  Why the question?

It gives some indication of scale and relevance. Not a clear one certainly, as plenty of successful virtual products have been launched on a free-first model where revenue follows later, and likewise plenty have launched with great apparent success in financial terms only to fizzle out.

It has been stated that the game is going to be able to be played without initial spending. After all, freemium model is the present and future of games. This phase is a very experimental/alpha/ICO phase, obvious risks are involved (that noone likes our game) so it carries better rewards if succesful.
At least, thats my 2 moneritos.  

Baron Zechariah minted a medal weighing 50 gold, to commemorate his 50th anniversary of introduction to the Royal Court.
Only 10 were made, and they were gifted as follows:
Paulson - thanks for a nice land deal

Thanks a lot for such a magnificent and delicate present! Im proud to have shown worthiness of dealing with HM son. Your gift, as the ones received by HM your father, will rest on a special showcase on my residence for more glory of the Kingdom. 

[Quicken]

I am honored to be able to build my the Casino CryptoNight in the prestigious city center of the great Crypto Kingdom.  

Thank you everyone for supporting my work, thank you everyone for taking the time to vote and participate in this event, thank you to all the competitors that made this event exciting, and of course thank you to the generous HM King, Dame Roopatra and other admins that invested their time and effort to carry out this event.  I would not be able to see my idea come to fruition without everybody's involvement.  

With the great community and benevolent leaders, Crypto Kingdom will last through the ages    

Congratulations. I look forward to rolling a few dice in the gaming rooms. :-)

[David Latapie]

Our copists (now integrated in the nascent Company of Theophany) finished adding an entry to the Codex Cryptonica, Building efficiency.

I would like to seize the opportunity to renew my thanks and admiration for His Majesty and all the Ancient citizens, noble and commoners alike. Even though my multiple journeys to the Holy Land to secure the future of the Church as well as my duties as Royal Advisor and Royal Exchequer prevented me to be as present as I would have to, I keep a close view on the actions of each and any of you. I am pleased and I am certain the Almighty is. "Be fruitful and multiply" He saith.

Although the Church avoids focusing on earthly belongings and encourages believers to follow suit, we understand that citizens needs some time off to better fulfill the will of God later on. We are not opposed to the creation of the Casino because we place trust in its owner, kronicblazer and we know he will make sure the Casino won't disturb the spiritual well-being of the community. That being said, we also know that misshaps happen. Anger, excessive drinking and the like are facts of life here below and they may end up damaging the casino and its reputation.

Because we care for tranquillity, we propose to provide some Templars to ensure the good order of the casino. They will never interfere with the actual working on the casino but will provide a reassuring presence for the clientèle and may even escort back customers willing or needing to. kronicblazer, please contact me by sPecial eMvoy for the technicalities.

May the blessing of Our Lord be upon you!  

[rpietila]

Quick update: testing will happen later, the testing time of NOW, today, is cancelled. 

[paulsonnumismatics]

In preparation of the Jubilee festivities, the opening of the 2.0 version, the construction of my bookstore and residency, and my bid as a Baron, as i would really love to be ordenated as such on the Jubilee festivities, and hereby to show my comittment to the development of this incredible project, i announce the donation of a huge amount of pergamines, parchments, incunabulas and general use books to the University!

This donation will have the meaning in-game of a donation of 10,000,000 moneritos in my name to the University. May whoever can make the accountant movement do it so when possible.

After 2.0 release and things get some settled, i will make the inauguration of my store, will announce its name, and a meet & greet will be made in the property. All my most esteemed Most Ancients players, nobles, church representatives and upon all HM are invited to this event, and some gifts will be granted to mark this (at least for me) very important milestone in my development.

Thanks a lot!
Paulson, Esq.

[rpietila]

Quick update: testing will happen later, the testing time of NOW, today, is cancelled.  

The release time of 12:00 GMT is also delayed. I am waiting for communication from Riccardo and sXpher any minute now. I make decision about what is released and at what schedule, just need to have the information from them to make the decision

ADD: I got contact with them and the situation is as follows: The database is ready, and the 4 required interface views as well, but they are not streamlined for ease of gameplay yet, and many data (such as facades of the buildings) are not there yet. Also financial procedures like formulas for distribution of pools need to be added still.

I still have not seen the product, and do not have knowledge of how many hours of work it still needs before being ready to be used as part of the gameplay (large part will always be outside that system still). I am sad that the matter was not communicated to me when I still could have baked it in the flow of the game, and that I must make this announcement without seeing the state of the game with my own eyes, as was promised. Little delays end up being big deals when they try to be hidden instead of communicated openly.

The gameplay resumes at 12:00 GMT in the google DB version, which is unfrozen and may be used by admins normally from that point.

- The year is already 1504, which will last until Monday.
- The Most Ancient era has ended and things done now are only Ancient.
- It is currently not possible to become a new character. This is a situation that we will fix soon.
- XMR deposits still work by David, and you can use your existing payment ID given by David.

Long time ago, the quantity of land inside our City Walls was locked in anticipation of the barbarians and the Version 2. I promised that no new land will be released until 1504. Well, now is the year 1504, and the land offering was in my pipeline. Our Royal Majesty considered the matter and decided to accept a potentially huge loss and open the land sale now regardless, even though the online version is not usable and the confidence has taken a large hit, since it was just Friday when it was announced, and now immediately failed, in a way fitting for the other coins but not for Monero products. 

The next post will tell about the intricacies of the last land grab in the old town.

[David Latapie]

In order to ease the wait for everyone,

I, d'Armagnac, Earl, Bishop, Town councillor, King Advisor, Royal Exchequer, hereby invite all citizens, strangers and serfs of Crypto-Kingdom to a celebration at the central square, around the Obelisk. Tempus fugit, Domini manet - Time flies, the Lord stays

Various beers brewed by the Fellowship of Benedict will be available for everyone to taste, with friars available to answer any question about our many beers, their production, taste and which food they would go best with. Strangers, citizens and serfs alike willing to join the Church or to know more about it will have an opportunity to do so by meeting me as well as the elders of the Ecclesiastical Orders (Pious Order of the Supplicants, Fellowship of Benedict, Knights of the Temple and Company of Theophany).

During the whole festivity, a central attraction will be the constitution of the First Acknowledged Query, a draft of which will be available for consultation, correction and submission of new entries.

Later in the event, a private party for the nobility will be organised at the Priory Hotel. This will be an opportunity to visit our four-star hotel at the crossroad of many high noble haws with a magnificent view and many land opportunities for the Era to come. True to our name, every guest will be served several armagnacs, which as you all know, is akin to cognac in luxury.

Food will be available for both events but won't be produced by the Church. Should anyone wishes to promote his own food, please send your Personal eMvoy to me.
As announced, the said draft of the First Acknowledged Query. After deliberations, the Chuch will write it down to Codex Cryptonica and will offer free copy to any requester.

1. What is CryptoKingdom? Is there any relation to some ancient game?
Crypto-Kindgom is the first hybrid Faucet/MMO
It is a game, so its primary goal is to provide fun. It intents to targets several audiences:
- Free-riders can get some XMR just by hanging around. Having some actual conversation does help.
- Casual gamers can just come and play various games and earn more XMR
- More dedicated gamers can go much beyond that: gain prestige and title, invest and speculate, set up business of almost any kind, enter into politics...

Several games inspired Crypto-Kindgom but as far as we know, it is the only of its kind. In no particular order:
- Civilization I for the "economy" aspect and the 90's graphics
- Ultima Online for the retro online/community flavour
- PrimeDice for the "game of chance with fun" aspect
- Habbo Hotel for the graphical appearance
- Probably some others. The main creator of the game, Risto Pietilä, has several years of experience in game-design.

2. What's the user-interface?
Until December, it was only forum-based with some Google Docs (v1.x, "Ancients")
Starting from v2, the interface is graphical

3. What's the content of the game?
In just one word: everything!
Truly, Crypto-Kingdom is a sandbox so the content will be whatever you, as a player, want it to be. That being said, it will strongly tend toward economy and life simulation. Buying lands, building commerces, organising networks or information, playing the game of thrones, exploring... Again, take a look at EVE Online to get some ideas of what is possible when players are given free rein. Burn Jita!

Crypto-Kingdom will be (purposefully) limited by its game engine so that it won't have any immersive 3D like a FPS. Combat is highly unprobable (except if someone creates an arena, maybe) with the exception of large-scale fights (sieges).

4. How do I play the game? It's a multiplayer game, right?
Yes, this is a multiplayer game, a MMORPG. So you'll need an internet connection. The game will be usable on both mobile and desktop.
During the Ancient era (forum-based) there was a first period when you had to buy 1000 gold with XMR - it was a sort of paid public beta. Then came a second period where, whilst still forum-based, playing was for free - still, actually doing something was difficult without cashing in, since it is mostly land grab.
Very soon, you will just have to go to a web address and create a PC. Some tutorial/"first steps" might get implemented.

5. How are moneroj and gameplay linked? Can I play the game without (having) XMR?
The open agenda of Crypto-Kingdom is to boost the visibility of Monero. This is the reason why Crypto-Kingdom only allows Monero (XMR) as a paiment method. If you don't have XMR, you may either acquire some with BTC (or XUSD, or DOGE) or just play for free and get some by playing inside games or even just waiting for faucets and rains.

6. Who is behind the game? Company? Group of players? Investor(s)?
Risto Pietilä is the lead designer. Some members of the Monero Core Team are helping behind-the-scene and actively playing. Of course, a lot of members of the Monero community are heavily invested. The automated version of the game is funded by crowdsourcing - crowdsourcing here being part of the game itself, since buying land from the king is how the game is being crowdsourced.
Inside the game, architect designs, for example, are royalty-free so if a theatre you designed is copied and built a thousand times all over, your joy of contributing to success is your reward. Still, you can be payed for designing (and this is already the case, we have several paid architects), this is just that the ensuing design is royalty-free.
Ultimately, investors are the players, the game is "owned" by itself - meaning that the "shares" of the game ("company" if you wish) named gold (CKG) pay their dividends ingame. So if you buy gold and the game becomes a success, you will get periodical rewards to your game accounts. The early players were required to buy gold (to keep the number of players small and dedicated) but now that requirement is no more.

7. What's the license of the game?
The game uses a proprietary licence and there is no plan to open-source it.

8. Why should I be interested in playing this particular game?
Because you want to help increasing the visibility of Monero. Because you like sandbox games rewarding the creativity and empowerment of players. Because you think that a game is a great addition to the cryptocurrency community. Because you like experimentation. Because you like socializing. Because you want money. Because it is fun.

9. Is there some website (or so) set up for the game?
Not yet. Presently, the forum version of the game is located at https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=819073

10. What's the overall goal? Will the game be updated over time? Can I win something?
What is the goal of life? Yes the game will be updated over time. A tentative and non-binding roadmap is available here: http://cryptokingdom.wikia.com/wiki/Crypto_Kingdom_Wiki#Eras

11. Why the name 'CryptoKingdom'?
It is is medieval setting, with a King at its head, hence Kingdom. And it is based on cryptocurrency, hence Crypto.

12. Are there any score lists online? Can achievements or missions or equipment be shared/traded/lost/damaged/renewed during the game?
The forum-era database (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tgIzgMza7NQsTpMO9pHke1ZVXYH7l5Sj5bHdZHItivo/edit?usp=sharing) is a kind of score list, but soon it will be obsolete with the automated version. Score lists, like most things such as missions, will be available if players decide to do it. Trading goods and services is already possible - it is pretty free-form for the moment, but will be refined as needs arises. Achievement are already available and more and more achievement wil be possible in the future, both game-initiated and player-initiated.

13. Is it necessary to continuously play the game? Can I save and load?
This is an MMO, so there is no "save" or "load". When you're not online, the game continues without you. Please follow medical advices to prevent MMO addiction (some links: Overcome a MMORPG Addiction, Video game addiction - Wikipedia, Computer game addiction - these are not medical advices).

14. How much does it cost? Any costs involved?
The game is free. It is a non-profit initiative and we expect enough money to be generated to cover development and maintenance costs. That being said, injecting some actual cash (in the form of XMR) will probably give you an edge, but first remember there is no winning condition and second that with enough dedication, you can achieve everything without spending a single piconero (or monereto, that's the same thing). As Risto Pietilä stated, "there will be the odd case who makes it all the way to Prince without paying ever." Time is money, and money is just a replacement for dedication.

[williamevanl]

This is the strangest forum post I've ever seen. I'm not even sure what I'm seeing. Is this a game completely composed of forum posts and excel spreadsheets?

[paulsonnumismatics]

This is the strangest forum post I've ever seen. I'm not even sure what I'm seeing. Is this a game completely composed of forum posts and excel spreadsheets?

Hi! You have the comprehensive FAQ just in the last post above yours :-) Feel free to ask whatever or join us as well on Freenode's ##crypto-kingdom :-)

[David Latapie]

One building can now be nominated Most Esteemed, for extra tourist income. Please vote among the following:
- Obelisk
- Cathedral
- Royal Palace
- Town Hall.

I suppose this is over and, if it is not, I cannot vote for the Cathedral that the Marquess of New Liberty loves so much?

The Church is gifted with golden items manufactured for this occasion, worth 500 gold (or more, let's see).
The Church is gifted with 250,000 stone, for constructing apartments for the poor, as they decreed.
Bishop David is gifted with a golden cup weighing 75 gold.

The stone will be put to good use in the newly available lands eastward. The golden cup will be my sole recipient for any beer or armagnac I will drink during the Tempus fugit reception. Golden items will be put to good use, use which will be... let's see.

[rpietila]

6.
Ultimately, investors are the players, the game is "owned" by itself - meaning that the "shares" of the game ("company" if you wish) named gold (CKG) pay their dividends ingame. So if you buy gold and the game becomes a success, you will get periodical rewards to your game accounts. The early players were required to buy gold (to keep the number of players small and dedicated) but now that requirement is no more.

what kind of dividends?

Gold dividends will be paid from Version 4 on, from the town council surplus (tax income minus costs). They will be paid in the game currency (moneretos).

There are many other loops operating in the game economy that give sort of dividends:

- Gold ownership currently gives dividends in stone.
- Being an Earl or higher will give dividends of food resources from V.4 onwards
- Owning any kind of service (rental room, hotel, bar, restaurant, brewery, shop) gives Services pool dividends (moneretos).

[rpietila]

Land Grab Starts Again

The much-awaited year 1504 is here. The online version is officially delayed due to self-inflicted feature creep by the developers. It is lamentable that such happened despite all the precautions all of the project managers tried to take. Well - we do what we must: give more time for development, and continue playing what works. The worst consequence of the delay is that the wealth gap between a most ancient and ancient character grows alarmingly as the Old Town lands will practically all go to the ownership of the most ancients. And they are the ones that have the highest leverage for sure, in the scenario that the game goes to the moon.

All 500 quadrats of land left in the Old Town are now implemented and zoned. There are 4 ways to gain land now:

(1) Buy 1-SE-V lands that have an added tax burden of 100,000 m/real-day. Due to this, they are cheaper than other lands. SE-V is planned to be a village with many commoner PC's living there and self-sufficient in basic services, around the central village square. These lands are sold as dutch auction (last time used in connection with University lands). The price starts at 100% and goes down 10%-units every day, until the property is bought or the seller (town - who needs to finance one more week of game development) withdraws it from market.

(2) Buy 1-E-E lands. They do not have an extra tax and are located very centrally, and are sold in 1 q increments. These also are in dutch auction, meaning that there are deals every day, but waiting may also mean that others take the lands

(3) Buy 1-E-T lands. The best lots around the new, prestigious Culture Square are spacious, with lots of sides open to the square and the streets. They are sold at fixed price, but the pricing is active and checked according to the changes in the market daily, at the same time as the dutch auctions are updated.

(4) Apply for the haws. If you are a Baron or higher, and do not have a haw, you are entitled to one. The ones offered are located in 1-NE. Haw does not have any tax, even the normal property tax.

Land Discount Coupons (LDC)

His Majesty has given land discount coupons worth 1,000,000,000+ to his subjects. They can be used for payment of any land, or part of it. The balance of every character shows in the Character DB /CHAR tab.

Cashback

The land is meant for building on it! If in 10 years you build something on the land you bought, you are entitled to a cashback of 10% of the purchase price of the land. If you build something with e=50% or more (the floor area is at least 50 sqm per quadrat), the cashback is 20%. Finally, with e=100%, the cashback is 30% of the purchase price!

If the owner of the land changes, the 10 years do not start over. It is always from the initial sale by the town.

[rpietila]

Roopatra would like to apply to haw#4 if it please His Majesty.

With pleasure, granted. Please try to update all the DB's with
- the introduction of new land
- perimeter (city) wall
- your haw wall
- KH theatre can also be built now to its dignified place.

When I wake up, Zechariah will slowly and surely start buying land. This character is played by me and is a businessman, trying to do things as efficiently as possible. Zechariah does not get privileges: he has started from 10,000 gold and now has 15 mil/year income.

[David Latapie]

The reception at the Prioré Hotel is in full swing. While nobles are conversing, the vicar asked for silence. d'Armagnac has something to say.

"Dear friends, fellows, correligionists and compatriots,

I hope you appreciate this reception at least as much as I appreciated preparing it. As you know, I love to build for long-term, to build something that will transcend my mere life."
As he notices some suppressed smiles, he hurries to add, on the tone of confidence, "Sometimes it is so long-term that it is not started yet!" The gathering laughed heartily, as anyone knows d'Armagnac may be the one citizen with the most vacant areas.
The Earl continues:
"If I invited you all at Prioré Hotel, this is not only because I wanted you to taste our armagnac and have some pleasant time. This is also to say farewell."

The silence after he spoke was short. People started to whisper. The Bishop, leaving the city?

"Yes, dear guests, farewell. Years ago, I built this hotel, Priory Hotel, because I wanted to possess a place to impress people with everytime they would pass by the city. It was a success, but I was vain and naive. This hotel, these hangings and woodword, they hid from me what really matters. I've been blessed with temporal power and I was wasting it on trinkets.
So this is a farewell. Not a farewell to you. But a farewell to Priory Hotel. Once this reception has ended, I will hand over the Priory Hotel to the Church.

Then the Bishop turned to the Vicar.

"I completely trust my assistant (and my friend) Callixtus, to make the best use of the Priory Hotel. Our Church needs a location to welcome dignitaries visiting us and I hope my late gift will make up for years of wandering."

The Bishop radiant, turned to the audience.

"Now, my sons, let's make a toast. To the Church."

[pa]

Rhadamanthus thanks His Majesty for his recent elevation and would be honored if His Majesty would consider his application for Haw #2. Rhadamanthus also asks whether His Majesty has any more blue suits His Majesty would be willing to part with.

[djjacket]

Lord Jacket would like to request Haw #3.

[saddambitcoin]

Saddam would like to request Haw #1.

[rpietila]

Saddam would like to request Haw #1.

It appears that Zechariah's haw can hardly be found in the Old Town then, since all the ones available are quickly gone to the other Barons.

Roopatra, you may build the basic walls, do it in the order of requesting the haws (the order determines on whose side the walls is built on).

[rpietila]

Rhadamanthus thanks His Majesty for his recent elevation and would be honored if His Majesty would consider his application for Haw #2. Rhadamanthus also asks whether His Majesty has any more blue suits His Majesty would be willing to part with.

HM does not have extra suits. The clothes merchant in town is Lord Jacket, who bought the excess stock of HM (containing no blue, though). Also Karl, the Marquess, ordered several noble suits as part of the most recent round and might have done it for business, I don't know...

[rpietila]

I will hand over the Priory Hotel to the Church.

Our Church needs a location to welcome dignitaries visiting us and I hope my late gift will make up for years of wandering."

1. Excellent decision. Now the Church financed are balanced as well as yours, Bishop.

2. Please, as Architect of the unforgiving Church Offices building let me introduce, its current shape contains a rooftop apartment for a visiting dignitary bishop, with 114 sqm floor area and 5 m average height, with the additional 72 sqm for his servants, all windows facing your palace, Bishop. This was the reason that you sold all your Noble Palace shares. (Not the building cost I mean, but the fact that there is less use for it now since you have your own).

When Prioré is added to the mix, the Church is becoming a prominent owner of developed land.