Either the frequency bonus in health challenge is no joke, or Martti is stealthily becoming old. He finished nearly all his quota in all 3 categories (food, drinks, wisdom), yet only ended up Moderate. That was a disappointment in otherwise a nice year.
The dragon quest should happen this year (because all the quests end in 1629). This will cause erratic updates for a few more days.
Business is going well. Nothing dramatic, but for instance: since last update, 22*MUS was sold to Martti at about 0.15 mil per gram. These have a chance to be re-sold at 0.25 mil, producing 2.2 mil profit.
Martti heard that the S-B22 conversion will last for 2 more years. Martti's finances only enabled to start 2 years ago, so the total of 4. Last year he sold quickly, needing to recycle the money, but this time there is no hurry. The price of shares in the markets is actually a little bit pressured (3.15 mil), which makes even buying them an option! The GM announced about this, so let us make a few calculations:
One chapelry is 15,000 sqm and they are for sale by the Town as raw land, for 1,000 mil. Because the traffic arrangements usually take about 1/3 of the area, we can estimate that solid land will not be available anywhere for less than 0.1 mil/sqm (1,000 mil / (15,000 sqm *2/3).
B-22 Corporation will have about 3,500 shares and own 9 chapelries. Doing the math (3,500 * 3.15 mil / 9 ) = 1,220 mil/chapelry. The cheapest land directly convertible is 25 sqm per share (3.15 mil / 25 sqm ) = 0.126 mil/sqm. And this will leave the shares, which have the rights to the profits from stone quarrying, and from selling the remaining lands.
Martti leaves flexible orders to his WAI, who is going to keep the house for the time the master is away. S-B22A may be both bought and sold according to what seems expedient. The borough is cleverly designed to be the new trendy area, with at least the Town itself moving the headquarters there, and also the Mayor is rumored to be collecting shares to buy up the mountain slope chapelry for his personal retreat and watchtower.
King is anxious to get to build his pet project in Versailles and is not publicly affiliated with B.22 (although holds quite many shares). Zechariah is believed to build a huge commercial palace to his new lot in Boulevard 14-24 (23-W, next to Old Town). Other dukes have insufficient palaces as well, but will probably need to wait before announcing their plans because the King has been hinting of nice haws (King's gift land which is not only free but also tax-free) in B.7 (Versailles).
sunnuntai 28. helmikuuta 2016
lauantai 27. helmikuuta 2016
November 1628 - Day 46-47
When you skip days, you lose the frequency bonus in health challenge. It is not a big deal if you have a lot of money (you can just consume better stuff) or if you are very old (you need to consume better stuff) but Martti feels the effect right away. Even the consume of 150*CAN did not get him better than Moderate and there is very little quota left.
The balance is almost 25 mil now as the excess suits got sold. When the Building module opens, this may allow for possibilities to speculate on them, or just build the dream house that will produce annual CUL+IC and be enough for the remaining years as a commoner. 25 mil is enough for approx 75 sqm house, and the lot is possible to convert from SCI->S-B22A conversion. The company had accepted "pity" from Gustaf Adolf, which means that the remaining years of conversion are limited, probably only 2 more after the current one, which Martti supplied with 24 SCI, being thus entitled to 3 shares.
The balance is almost 25 mil now as the excess suits got sold. When the Building module opens, this may allow for possibilities to speculate on them, or just build the dream house that will produce annual CUL+IC and be enough for the remaining years as a commoner. 25 mil is enough for approx 75 sqm house, and the lot is possible to convert from SCI->S-B22A conversion. The company had accepted "pity" from Gustaf Adolf, which means that the remaining years of conversion are limited, probably only 2 more after the current one, which Martti supplied with 24 SCI, being thus entitled to 3 shares.
torstai 25. helmikuuta 2016
July 1628 - Day 44-45
It all happened so quickly: Martti is now at L5 Expert, and enlisted to Sir Crichton's dragon slayer team. (Although it is not really required by the game mechanics,) Martti feels that a housekeeper is in order as he is now going to the south to assist The Margrave and the Prince Noms in their quest.
So, off we go to the labor market and buy 1*WAI (waitress) for 0.8 mil. Waitress is the starting NPC in Butler line, and after 8 promotions s/he becomes Butler-9, who is appraised 125 / 40 mil by the market.
Without the Skills and Items modules (adding playable content to the game later in 2016), there is not much Martti can do to prepare for his departure. So he leaves the household to the waiter, saddles his horse and takes only his sword and some bottles of wine from the trading stock and heads to Crichton Country Club where he thinks the taskforce is assembling.
During expeditions to other counties, the game can be played mostly as if the character was in town. Only some special situations such as politics and intrigue, are limited based on the location of the character. The character can be assassinated (for example) only based on where he is, so if he goes to his own army camp far away, it will be difficult to assassinate him, but probably easier to hide it. In town, it is easy to kill people, but once you do it, the justice is terrifying: the penalty for murder is death, and the only question is, how humiliating is the method.
And since we are talking about death - the dragon quest is by no means risk free either. Currently the heirs need not be assigned during your lifetime, the account remains usable 30 days after death. Martti sends a letter to his big brother who has been toiling in the contryside all the years Martti has made money in town. If he does not come back from the south, the brother can claim the estate, and the blog will continue, if there is enough interest.
So, off we go to the labor market and buy 1*WAI (waitress) for 0.8 mil. Waitress is the starting NPC in Butler line, and after 8 promotions s/he becomes Butler-9, who is appraised 125 / 40 mil by the market.
Without the Skills and Items modules (adding playable content to the game later in 2016), there is not much Martti can do to prepare for his departure. So he leaves the household to the waiter, saddles his horse and takes only his sword and some bottles of wine from the trading stock and heads to Crichton Country Club where he thinks the taskforce is assembling.
During expeditions to other counties, the game can be played mostly as if the character was in town. Only some special situations such as politics and intrigue, are limited based on the location of the character. The character can be assassinated (for example) only based on where he is, so if he goes to his own army camp far away, it will be difficult to assassinate him, but probably easier to hide it. In town, it is easy to kill people, but once you do it, the justice is terrifying: the penalty for murder is death, and the only question is, how humiliating is the method.
And since we are talking about death - the dragon quest is by no means risk free either. Currently the heirs need not be assigned during your lifetime, the account remains usable 30 days after death. Martti sends a letter to his big brother who has been toiling in the contryside all the years Martti has made money in town. If he does not come back from the south, the brother can claim the estate, and the blog will continue, if there is enough interest.
tiistai 23. helmikuuta 2016
March 1628 - Day 43
The promotions have come, and Martti was promoted Expert! With him, two other L4's were promoted to L5, and six were left unpromoted. Their turn will come in 3 years in most cases. The immediate benefits of being Expert are few - there are no automatic promotion gifts, and the salary increase of 0.35 mil/year is not a big deal for a young man whose expenses are closer to 3.5 mil... But higher levels get many indirect benefits, and (in Martti's case at least) are the end goal of his existence as well.
After this, Martti has as little as 3 promotions left until his goal of Earl is fulfilled. But that is not going to be easy. 26 Earls exist, but 25 of them are known depositors, something which Martti is not allowed to do. (The one, btw, is HE Princess Roopatra of Neverland, rumored to be the most skilled player in the markets.) In the ancient times, it was promised that anyone who buys 10,000 CKG will be created Earl, and a few got their promotion this way. Now, the minimum amount of gold is worth 7,500 mil (about $5k) and out-of-reach of casual players. The minimum to even be accepted to play, was 1,000 CKG until the ~1550s, which is the reason why the ancients are so rich.
Martti owns exactly 0 CKG, so needs to gain other merits.
Today's business was to find Sir Crichton, The Margrave of Plath. Luckily, since the near-abandonment of El Bulli (whose owner also died a year ago, so the place will come for sale soon), and the decline of the once classy eateries such as Grand Hotel, Bank, and Town Hall, everyone of any stature is eating or at least hanging out in Gilded Goose, and therefore easy to find.
Also Noble Palace is not the same after it was collapsed in the Earthquake of 1600, and only rebuilt a few years later - and its Premier now the Ambassador to Hans Kungliga Majestät Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. Even the Royal Palace was a venue of many a gathering but it burned down already 4 years ago.
Sir Crichton has bids in the red suits, and it is important to get to sell it before the moth comes (WOS-B1 has 20% spoil probability). After some haggling, Martti drops the price to 9.5 mil, and out of spark of thought starts to offer himself for service. Martti explains that he is an aspiring swordsman, has a horse and has Excellent health. Actually his one-year training in swords is graded perhaps halfway towards beginner, the horse (H1) is good for pulling carts only, before a promotion, and even his health was graded Good in the latest yearchange script, so good-bye teenage years...
Sir Crichton offered a place in the Dragon-Slaying team right away (yes, there is at least one dragon in White Cross, and a gold unicorn was also found there, the one that Prince Noms sold to the Prince Royal for 200 mil)! Now Martti needs to change strategy as confronting a dragon would certainly finish his merchant career prematurely. He enlists himself to be the "rear guard", which, however, fits the Margrave's plan as well. Not knowing what to expect, Martti needs to find someone to handle his household while he is away.
The finances allow such ventures easily. Martti's cash balance is 20 mil and the loans of about 35 mil will need to be paid in 12 years only. After much time of placing more bids in the markets, Martti reclines in his 24 sqm house in the poor area of the town, dreaming of dragons and unicorns...
After this, Martti has as little as 3 promotions left until his goal of Earl is fulfilled. But that is not going to be easy. 26 Earls exist, but 25 of them are known depositors, something which Martti is not allowed to do. (The one, btw, is HE Princess Roopatra of Neverland, rumored to be the most skilled player in the markets.) In the ancient times, it was promised that anyone who buys 10,000 CKG will be created Earl, and a few got their promotion this way. Now, the minimum amount of gold is worth 7,500 mil (about $5k) and out-of-reach of casual players. The minimum to even be accepted to play, was 1,000 CKG until the ~1550s, which is the reason why the ancients are so rich.
Martti owns exactly 0 CKG, so needs to gain other merits.
Today's business was to find Sir Crichton, The Margrave of Plath. Luckily, since the near-abandonment of El Bulli (whose owner also died a year ago, so the place will come for sale soon), and the decline of the once classy eateries such as Grand Hotel, Bank, and Town Hall, everyone of any stature is eating or at least hanging out in Gilded Goose, and therefore easy to find.
Also Noble Palace is not the same after it was collapsed in the Earthquake of 1600, and only rebuilt a few years later - and its Premier now the Ambassador to Hans Kungliga Majestät Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. Even the Royal Palace was a venue of many a gathering but it burned down already 4 years ago.
Sir Crichton has bids in the red suits, and it is important to get to sell it before the moth comes (WOS-B1 has 20% spoil probability). After some haggling, Martti drops the price to 9.5 mil, and out of spark of thought starts to offer himself for service. Martti explains that he is an aspiring swordsman, has a horse and has Excellent health. Actually his one-year training in swords is graded perhaps halfway towards beginner, the horse (H1) is good for pulling carts only, before a promotion, and even his health was graded Good in the latest yearchange script, so good-bye teenage years...
Sir Crichton offered a place in the Dragon-Slaying team right away (yes, there is at least one dragon in White Cross, and a gold unicorn was also found there, the one that Prince Noms sold to the Prince Royal for 200 mil)! Now Martti needs to change strategy as confronting a dragon would certainly finish his merchant career prematurely. He enlists himself to be the "rear guard", which, however, fits the Margrave's plan as well. Not knowing what to expect, Martti needs to find someone to handle his household while he is away.
The finances allow such ventures easily. Martti's cash balance is 20 mil and the loans of about 35 mil will need to be paid in 12 years only. After much time of placing more bids in the markets, Martti reclines in his 24 sqm house in the poor area of the town, dreaming of dragons and unicorns...
maanantai 22. helmikuuta 2016
January 1628 - Day 42
A messenger was sent for Martti: Lord Angus has come to town and can meet in Gilded Goose! From Martti's place in 4-NW, to Gilded Goose in 5-N, it is a long walk in CryptoTown standards:
- First 50 m to 4-N, which has some buildings by the Marquess of Grass, but is largely uninhabitable, mostly unbuilt and not significant.
- Then 100 m to 4-C, with a few big apartment houses but services mostly unconstructed.
- Continuing south, in 4-S some more apartment buildings but nothing of beauty or significance.
- And then the road, 400 m long and 10 m wide in the newly opened but completely unbuilt B.11, takes you to
- 1-N "Old Town North", the area with highest land values, is right next to the place with the crappiest ones (the one where Martti lives). Here it is possible to take left, or take right, both streets (Earls' St and King's Park St) lead to
- 1-C, the centre of the town. Between the Town Hall and Lucky Lion, you get to the 1-S, currently having a large open space which the Marquess (now: Duke) of New Liberty bought 100 years ago. Directly to the south is the Barbican, which serves as the south gate of the old town wall.
- Out of the wall, is finally a good street: King's Esplanade is 34 m wide with the recent widening, and goes all the way to 3-N and 400 m from the Barbican is Gilded Goose to the right. (It is not actually gilded, only Theatre, House of Magnificence and Cathedral of San Pietro are.)
So 15 minutes was almost enough for Martti to get himself to hear Lord Angus' offer - and that was great: he said the suit is listed at 15 mil, and Martti could just take it at that price! What luck! There was not more than 16.5 mil in the account, anddespite because of being strongly leveraged, Martti does not have liquid assets to get even a few mil in cash without difficulty.
So the business was over in less time than it took to get from house to GG. The purchase is very easy, because literally across the street from Gilded Goose is the New Department Store, the place where Agora Marketplace is located (check the link and find, which side)!
So now for a brief time (hope...) we have a 20-year old with 2 red suits, etc., wishing for a promotion, and then (hope...) getting to his senses and either earn much more money, or scale down the costs to match the income. 20 years is a difficult age - it is much better that people start their life at 14-15 as in this game, and continue to grow in wisdom throughout their life.
(The "normal" red suit listed for sale.)
- First 50 m to 4-N, which has some buildings by the Marquess of Grass, but is largely uninhabitable, mostly unbuilt and not significant.
- Then 100 m to 4-C, with a few big apartment houses but services mostly unconstructed.
- Continuing south, in 4-S some more apartment buildings but nothing of beauty or significance.
- And then the road, 400 m long and 10 m wide in the newly opened but completely unbuilt B.11, takes you to
- 1-N "Old Town North", the area with highest land values, is right next to the place with the crappiest ones (the one where Martti lives). Here it is possible to take left, or take right, both streets (Earls' St and King's Park St) lead to
- 1-C, the centre of the town. Between the Town Hall and Lucky Lion, you get to the 1-S, currently having a large open space which the Marquess (now: Duke) of New Liberty bought 100 years ago. Directly to the south is the Barbican, which serves as the south gate of the old town wall.
- Out of the wall, is finally a good street: King's Esplanade is 34 m wide with the recent widening, and goes all the way to 3-N and 400 m from the Barbican is Gilded Goose to the right. (It is not actually gilded, only Theatre, House of Magnificence and Cathedral of San Pietro are.)
So 15 minutes was almost enough for Martti to get himself to hear Lord Angus' offer - and that was great: he said the suit is listed at 15 mil, and Martti could just take it at that price! What luck! There was not more than 16.5 mil in the account, and
So the business was over in less time than it took to get from house to GG. The purchase is very easy, because literally across the street from Gilded Goose is the New Department Store, the place where Agora Marketplace is located (check the link and find, which side)!
So now for a brief time (hope...) we have a 20-year old with 2 red suits, etc., wishing for a promotion, and then (hope...) getting to his senses and either earn much more money, or scale down the costs to match the income. 20 years is a difficult age - it is much better that people start their life at 14-15 as in this game, and continue to grow in wisdom throughout their life.
(The "normal" red suit listed for sale.)
sunnuntai 21. helmikuuta 2016
December 1627 - Day 41
The day dawns with slaughter. No, nothing more terrible than the usual Christmas slaughter of animals. Martti has eaten, drunk and consumed wisdom substances so well this year that the final consume of 30*MEAT takes his health challenge to Insignificant. This is how it should be, from now on.
With large enough capital, several approaches to trading are possible. It is possible to try to increase trade size in liquid markets (eg. buying and selling CON, always at the top of the stack, netting hopefully the 0.4 mil spread each day, and if the trade goes long, CON pays dividend 0.1 mil per year anyway. The other end of the spectrum is very illiquid things such as certain collectibles, where stuff does not have intrinsic value, and may be sold at 10x the purchase price, but usually does not get sold at all. SFS already started to suffer this fate as a dump brought the price to 25,000.
Many luxuries are in a very large spread situation. Wisdom was recently implemented, but people had already grown accustomed to the health values of things. So eg. COH cigars are 1.7 / 0.3 in the markets.
In the coming year, Martti will make a strategy on how to buy and sell himself to riches, with borrowed money. Right now let's see what happens with the promotion, which he first wanted, then dismissed as unrealistic, then started to desire after all, then was regarding as deserved, and finally paid lavishly to get and couldn't thing of anything else.
With large enough capital, several approaches to trading are possible. It is possible to try to increase trade size in liquid markets (eg. buying and selling CON, always at the top of the stack, netting hopefully the 0.4 mil spread each day, and if the trade goes long, CON pays dividend 0.1 mil per year anyway. The other end of the spectrum is very illiquid things such as certain collectibles, where stuff does not have intrinsic value, and may be sold at 10x the purchase price, but usually does not get sold at all. SFS already started to suffer this fate as a dump brought the price to 25,000.
Many luxuries are in a very large spread situation. Wisdom was recently implemented, but people had already grown accustomed to the health values of things. So eg. COH cigars are 1.7 / 0.3 in the markets.
In the coming year, Martti will make a strategy on how to buy and sell himself to riches, with borrowed money. Right now let's see what happens with the promotion, which he first wanted, then dismissed as unrealistic, then started to desire after all, then was regarding as deserved, and finally paid lavishly to get and couldn't thing of anything else.
lauantai 20. helmikuuta 2016
November 1627 - Day 40
18 mil of borrowed money in the account is burning Martti, but Lord Angus is nowhere to be found with his red suit. What Martti is calculating to do and why he is suddenly willing to purchase an ancient suit worth several years' wages - this can be understood by looking up the Suit Spoil table values in the Game DB (go to tab "NPCtypes"):
The new suits are not as good quality as the (remaining) Ancient ones. Martti has a 20% chance every 3 years that a great moth eats his suit. The old red one has only 7% chance. Since modern red suits cost about 10 mil apiece (it is the most expensive non-unique suit both to buy and especially to upkeep), it makes sense to pay up to 25-30 mil for the ancient one, based on the durability. It is very rare and potentially valuable yes of course, if it survives multiple additional rounds of great moth. But Martti's scheming is based on lifecycle value (expected annual upkeep cost), pure and simple.
It behooves the mind that the country boy who came to the town with only 500*CAN in a brown bag, is already the owner of 2 houses and one land, considers buying a suit worth more than the houses and lands combined, has 10 pieces of Ming China, a powerful sword, and - a horse!
The horse upkeep already happened for next year, so Martti decided to maximize his chances of getting the L5 promotion by buying the horse now.
The new suits are not as good quality as the (remaining) Ancient ones. Martti has a 20% chance every 3 years that a great moth eats his suit. The old red one has only 7% chance. Since modern red suits cost about 10 mil apiece (it is the most expensive non-unique suit both to buy and especially to upkeep), it makes sense to pay up to 25-30 mil for the ancient one, based on the durability. It is very rare and potentially valuable yes of course, if it survives multiple additional rounds of great moth. But Martti's scheming is based on lifecycle value (expected annual upkeep cost), pure and simple.
It behooves the mind that the country boy who came to the town with only 500*CAN in a brown bag, is already the owner of 2 houses and one land, considers buying a suit worth more than the houses and lands combined, has 10 pieces of Ming China, a powerful sword, and - a horse!
The horse upkeep already happened for next year, so Martti decided to maximize his chances of getting the L5 promotion by buying the horse now.
perjantai 19. helmikuuta 2016
September 1627 - Day 39
Martti is a player. After realizing he could as well use his red suit, he has been using it every day in business. In 5 short years, he has stealthily become what he openly strived for - a merchant. With this experience, it would actually feel strange, unnatural, to remain Novice for 3 more years. Martti's feeling is that he is on the verge of becoming Expert.
Martti's Wisdom has also gone up. It was 4/20 when the module was announced. Now it is 5/20. When the value reaches 11/20, Martti gains the right to use the title "The Wise". Long before he has been promoted to Wizard or Doctor, however. Culture will be similarly evaluated soon, with a 20-step ranking with exponentially more difficult to advance steps.
But the reason why Martti is a player, is that he is visiting the Gilded Goose as any merchant would do, with the excuse that perhaps Lord Angus would like to consider trading his Most Ancient 1498 red suit for a new red suit - Martti offered 15 million in trade. Lord Angus was nowhere to be seen, but Martti mentioned (in freenode IRC, ##crypto-kingdom) that he does not have the 15 million but has 3 unmortgaged pigs, etc.
The Marquess of Rome (sneak peek reveals that this noble owns more than 10% of CryptoTown outstanding debt, probably only the King is a bigger creditor, he also had 800 mil in cash, 2,000+ bottles of wine and countless other things) overheard the conversation and promised to lend the money: 15 mil for 15 years at 1.5% interest. When Martti asked if the loan was conditional to the suit deal, the Marquess waved his hand: "No, you seem like a trustworthy guy".
Now to get all these loans (2 so far, and more in planning), it needs to be asked whether it matters that the controller is known to be the lead designer or would they give loans to an anon after a month of activity: "hehe - most likely - after a cursory examination - (or rather my impression of them after 1 month, if I have one)" So after a reasonable time of a few weeks of daily play, it is possible to get unsecured loans. I am not advocating taking out the $5 and quitting the game, thus defrauding the creditor. But it is good to know that unsecured is unsecured, and they also know it. If you honestly go bankrupt, they have neither the right nor the means to gouge the money out of you. So up to a certain extent, the money flows quite freely in town, and the merchant route is just about to start in a serious way.
Martti had been checking the Macrolocation coefficients of the new boroughs and came to the conclusion that 22-NE is the key place with a 65% generic bonus (the bonus even goes up with certain building types!) and no quarrying but immediate zoning. The glance to the pricing, however, reveals that no matter how cheap the lots are, it is still difficult to find anything below 0.2 mil/sqm. So a decent 300 sqm lot is 60 mil, or 100 mil, and out of question. But time flies and Martti sees that some day he is buying and selling them like he is now taking 15 mil loans, or used to buy and sell pigs, or before that even less-valued items.
So land speculation is ruled out (and the rumors of lots being for sale for 100 years do have their effect as well). Next time, we will concentrate on finding out a new major business: what to do with this newfound wealth?
Martti's Wisdom has also gone up. It was 4/20 when the module was announced. Now it is 5/20. When the value reaches 11/20, Martti gains the right to use the title "The Wise". Long before he has been promoted to Wizard or Doctor, however. Culture will be similarly evaluated soon, with a 20-step ranking with exponentially more difficult to advance steps.
But the reason why Martti is a player, is that he is visiting the Gilded Goose as any merchant would do, with the excuse that perhaps Lord Angus would like to consider trading his Most Ancient 1498 red suit for a new red suit - Martti offered 15 million in trade. Lord Angus was nowhere to be seen, but Martti mentioned (in freenode IRC, ##crypto-kingdom) that he does not have the 15 million but has 3 unmortgaged pigs, etc.
The Marquess of Rome (sneak peek reveals that this noble owns more than 10% of CryptoTown outstanding debt, probably only the King is a bigger creditor, he also had 800 mil in cash, 2,000+ bottles of wine and countless other things) overheard the conversation and promised to lend the money: 15 mil for 15 years at 1.5% interest. When Martti asked if the loan was conditional to the suit deal, the Marquess waved his hand: "No, you seem like a trustworthy guy".
Now to get all these loans (2 so far, and more in planning), it needs to be asked whether it matters that the controller is known to be the lead designer or would they give loans to an anon after a month of activity: "hehe - most likely - after a cursory examination - (or rather my impression of them after 1 month, if I have one)" So after a reasonable time of a few weeks of daily play, it is possible to get unsecured loans. I am not advocating taking out the $5 and quitting the game, thus defrauding the creditor. But it is good to know that unsecured is unsecured, and they also know it. If you honestly go bankrupt, they have neither the right nor the means to gouge the money out of you. So up to a certain extent, the money flows quite freely in town, and the merchant route is just about to start in a serious way.
Martti had been checking the Macrolocation coefficients of the new boroughs and came to the conclusion that 22-NE is the key place with a 65% generic bonus (the bonus even goes up with certain building types!) and no quarrying but immediate zoning. The glance to the pricing, however, reveals that no matter how cheap the lots are, it is still difficult to find anything below 0.2 mil/sqm. So a decent 300 sqm lot is 60 mil, or 100 mil, and out of question. But time flies and Martti sees that some day he is buying and selling them like he is now taking 15 mil loans, or used to buy and sell pigs, or before that even less-valued items.
So land speculation is ruled out (and the rumors of lots being for sale for 100 years do have their effect as well). Next time, we will concentrate on finding out a new major business: what to do with this newfound wealth?
torstai 18. helmikuuta 2016
July 1627 - Day 38
The conversion of SFS (Squirrel Pelts) to fashionable clothing was announced, and Martti's stock was immediately bought. But price did not zoom up, so now there is the opportunity to either sell the remainder, or convert some items. SFS is a restricted quantity item (good!), and the products made of it are fungible (good!) yet may have a low spoilage per year (bad! - yet does not really matter with restricted quantity items..).
Upon checking the possibilities and Martti's stock (10 pelts), he opts for a fashionable cap (cost=5) and two pouches for gold coins (hey, if you don't have a single gold coin, you still need a reserve pouch -- well you don't, so 1 pouch is enough as their resale value is certainly pressured the first 25 years...)
The commands to be used in this are explained in the announcement, so:
CONSUME SFS 6 [cap+pouch]
GIVE M 180000 Labor [SFS]
And the rest are put to sale at 1 m below lowest ask, in the wishes to get them sold quickly:
SELL SFS 4 69999
As for making some money while doing the S-B22 conversion (alarming news came that the King of Sweden, Gustaf Adolf, is willing to help us in the advance, cutting short the time of doing this profitable speculation!) - Martti checks the suits, first time for a while. It appears that he still owns the red one, bought for resale! This kind of thing should not be forgotten, but, well, it's valued at about the price of his 2 houses and just lay there...
Since it did not go at the lower price, let's list it higher instead. In L5, Martti is going to need it anyway. And since the suit is there, why not buy the horse as well. Let's check if there is possibility to save a buck or buy outright:
The ask/bid for H1 was 2.0/1.0 mil and horse upkeep is 0.5 per year, and soon coming (it is unsure if Martti gets a turn after the upkeep and before the promotions). A fair bid of 1.4 mil is placed and might entice someone to sell. If not, 2.0 mil will be paid soon. The H2 was checked and was 5.0/3.0 mil, H3 was 10.0/8.0 mil etc, up to H9 (gold unicorn) 350/30 mil, with one recently traded at 200 mil. Prince Noms, The Margrave of White Cross, etc., sold the one found in the marches, to Archduke Zechariah, The Prince Royal, M of Tavastia, etc. Horses promote quite readily, though, so keeping horses is one possibility to make money and cash out when the war comes again.
Martti decided that for this year, getting 3*S-B22 is enough, so decided to spend the 24*SCI to get them, so that it would not accidentally be forgotten. The SCI conversion deadline is Saturday, which is causing constant issues so at least we are good now...
CONSUME SCI 24 [S-B22]
It was wished that the new farms inside CryptoTown perimeter wall (yet to be built though) would have made the "superveg" (first produce of vegetables) cheaper. This was not the case so Martti grudgingly paid 4,250 m per unit for what was missing from his 50 units. Another thing to start minding is Wisdom - while health can be kept by eating and drinking, wisdom does not go up if you don't consume CAN. Many wish that it would do so, but the ones who consume, know how the others don't know and don't know that they don't know. So bids to amass some CAN have been placed as well.
Upon checking the possibilities and Martti's stock (10 pelts), he opts for a fashionable cap (cost=5) and two pouches for gold coins (hey, if you don't have a single gold coin, you still need a reserve pouch -- well you don't, so 1 pouch is enough as their resale value is certainly pressured the first 25 years...)
The commands to be used in this are explained in the announcement, so:
CONSUME SFS 6 [cap+pouch]
GIVE M 180000 Labor [SFS]
And the rest are put to sale at 1 m below lowest ask, in the wishes to get them sold quickly:
SELL SFS 4 69999
As for making some money while doing the S-B22 conversion (alarming news came that the King of Sweden, Gustaf Adolf, is willing to help us in the advance, cutting short the time of doing this profitable speculation!) - Martti checks the suits, first time for a while. It appears that he still owns the red one, bought for resale! This kind of thing should not be forgotten, but, well, it's valued at about the price of his 2 houses and just lay there...
Since it did not go at the lower price, let's list it higher instead. In L5, Martti is going to need it anyway. And since the suit is there, why not buy the horse as well. Let's check if there is possibility to save a buck or buy outright:
The ask/bid for H1 was 2.0/1.0 mil and horse upkeep is 0.5 per year, and soon coming (it is unsure if Martti gets a turn after the upkeep and before the promotions). A fair bid of 1.4 mil is placed and might entice someone to sell. If not, 2.0 mil will be paid soon. The H2 was checked and was 5.0/3.0 mil, H3 was 10.0/8.0 mil etc, up to H9 (gold unicorn) 350/30 mil, with one recently traded at 200 mil. Prince Noms, The Margrave of White Cross, etc., sold the one found in the marches, to Archduke Zechariah, The Prince Royal, M of Tavastia, etc. Horses promote quite readily, though, so keeping horses is one possibility to make money and cash out when the war comes again.
Martti decided that for this year, getting 3*S-B22 is enough, so decided to spend the 24*SCI to get them, so that it would not accidentally be forgotten. The SCI conversion deadline is Saturday, which is causing constant issues so at least we are good now...
CONSUME SCI 24 [S-B22]
It was wished that the new farms inside CryptoTown perimeter wall (yet to be built though) would have made the "superveg" (first produce of vegetables) cheaper. This was not the case so Martti grudgingly paid 4,250 m per unit for what was missing from his 50 units. Another thing to start minding is Wisdom - while health can be kept by eating and drinking, wisdom does not go up if you don't consume CAN. Many wish that it would do so, but the ones who consume, know how the others don't know and don't know that they don't know. So bids to amass some CAN have been placed as well.
keskiviikko 17. helmikuuta 2016
May 1627 - Day 37
These are Martti's items and this is his new sword.
There is no 'Manual on how to live your life'. Martti likewise, cannot plan in advance, what exactly he needs to do to realize his goals. In the age of 20, the life does not only present choices, it also closes the ones that were not tapped into, when it was the opportune time.
The above are possibly not the typical thoughts of a 20-year old who has just got his first sword worth 2 years' wages, but the thoughts serve well the purpose of the blog. Martti is still young enough to start fencing and riding, but the latter requires a horse. And a horse requires 0.5 mil worth of feed per year. And it may die. Or promote to a higher level. And it costs money to buy in the first place. (Luckily, it does not cause trouble: care in the public stables is included in the 0.5 mil, and also no gear is required, unlike carriage that needs 2*H3 in addition.)
Romance, marriage and children are planned into the game, in connection or after Skills, which in turn comes after Building, which is coming in less than "2 weeks". Since they are not yet there in an official way, Martti may practice them in the free time. This is a general gameplay principle. Just because we do not have "carts" implemented, does not mean they were not available. Things are moving, so obviously there are carts.
The new building module does not have interior walls (or - horror of horrors for the ones who treasured the previous voxel-builder - even exterior walls :o ). Yet, they are there. Also in few cases the narrative has mentioned physical relaxation - in one case in the 1440s, the King threatened to make a certain lot 'a public latrine' if nobody would appreciate it enough to buy it for 50 mil. (Now, the owner is about to change for the first time since then - 600 mil has been offered for the lot). Just that people don't talk about needing to leak, does not mean they don't do it. It means they are adults.
But the introduction was for Martti's next 5-year plan. It already feels there needs to be something more to life:
- Decent house in a good address is a natural goal, the fundamentality does not reduce its importance.
- Two high nobles have a Quest concerning slaying a dragon. Martti is ineligible for a quest yet (L6 required), and too young to probably be of much help in the team. (This will be easier to assess when the Skills module comes.) Martti is not so much into roleplay, so developing rare skills feels distant, not only as a thought but also in time (skills can only be rare if developing them is a long and large effort that does not pay back quickly - this produces rare skills).
- Becoming a manager of some company or other effort is desirable in the longer run, and these pay well. The King and NewCorp just yesterday appointed 2 farm managers who are calculated to earn ~10 mil per year in commissions. Starting a company of Martti's own is a possibility mainly in the advanced age. Companies require lots of capital.
But since each of those require money and social standing - going back to the grinding is what is needed now. So back to checking all bids, all asks, and (just a little) loitering to taverns to find out if new opportunities present themselves...
There is no 'Manual on how to live your life'. Martti likewise, cannot plan in advance, what exactly he needs to do to realize his goals. In the age of 20, the life does not only present choices, it also closes the ones that were not tapped into, when it was the opportune time.
The above are possibly not the typical thoughts of a 20-year old who has just got his first sword worth 2 years' wages, but the thoughts serve well the purpose of the blog. Martti is still young enough to start fencing and riding, but the latter requires a horse. And a horse requires 0.5 mil worth of feed per year. And it may die. Or promote to a higher level. And it costs money to buy in the first place. (Luckily, it does not cause trouble: care in the public stables is included in the 0.5 mil, and also no gear is required, unlike carriage that needs 2*H3 in addition.)
Romance, marriage and children are planned into the game, in connection or after Skills, which in turn comes after Building, which is coming in less than "2 weeks". Since they are not yet there in an official way, Martti may practice them in the free time. This is a general gameplay principle. Just because we do not have "carts" implemented, does not mean they were not available. Things are moving, so obviously there are carts.
The new building module does not have interior walls (or - horror of horrors for the ones who treasured the previous voxel-builder - even exterior walls :o ). Yet, they are there. Also in few cases the narrative has mentioned physical relaxation - in one case in the 1440s, the King threatened to make a certain lot 'a public latrine' if nobody would appreciate it enough to buy it for 50 mil. (Now, the owner is about to change for the first time since then - 600 mil has been offered for the lot). Just that people don't talk about needing to leak, does not mean they don't do it. It means they are adults.
But the introduction was for Martti's next 5-year plan. It already feels there needs to be something more to life:
- Decent house in a good address is a natural goal, the fundamentality does not reduce its importance.
- Two high nobles have a Quest concerning slaying a dragon. Martti is ineligible for a quest yet (L6 required), and too young to probably be of much help in the team. (This will be easier to assess when the Skills module comes.) Martti is not so much into roleplay, so developing rare skills feels distant, not only as a thought but also in time (skills can only be rare if developing them is a long and large effort that does not pay back quickly - this produces rare skills).
- Becoming a manager of some company or other effort is desirable in the longer run, and these pay well. The King and NewCorp just yesterday appointed 2 farm managers who are calculated to earn ~10 mil per year in commissions. Starting a company of Martti's own is a possibility mainly in the advanced age. Companies require lots of capital.
But since each of those require money and social standing - going back to the grinding is what is needed now. So back to checking all bids, all asks, and (just a little) loitering to taverns to find out if new opportunities present themselves...
tiistai 16. helmikuuta 2016
March 1627 - Day 36
Martti had noticed the improvements in the game economy, which is starting to look pretty much complete. Crypto Kingdom prides itself of being the world's most advanced resource-based economic simulation game (that is actually playable). The foods, drinks and wisdom substances that the player characters and NPC's (who are also played but in batches of 200 per controller) consume annually to keep themselves in good shape, are provided by farms, merchants, homegrown and -distilled, breweries, etc. These are owned by rich players and must compete in an open marketplace with each other and the NPC, whose controllers also have utility functions and incentives to play nimbly.
At present, the town has 1,500 inhabitants (countryside lives their own life separately) who consume, for instance, more than 200,000 kilos of vegetables and 70,000 liters of beer every year.
Martti's checking of the markets shows that the price of the IC point has plummeted. There has not been interesting things to convert to since Ming China, and that was in 1621, after which many things have happened and IC has accumulated to the owners with no buyers. This is a good time to spend what has been accumulated then! The sword is awaiting! With 24*IC, Martti gets an Imported, Powerful shortsword, backdated to 1621 when Martti was 14. (The player can decide what the story is if backdating items; backdating price is 3% per year).
Foods are expensive this time of the year. As has happened before, the March consume quota is filled with beer, since breweries produce now and beer generally enjoys a stable price. Everything else is so high that it makes more sense to try to sell them and buy back in the autumn.
The main business, accumulation of SCI (science points) to be converted to S-B22 (shares in the new borough between Old Town and San Pietro) is going on as planned. Martti now has 20 points, and the optimum consumes are 24 or 40 points, with declining marginal utility (40 points gives only 4 shares whereas you already get 3 with 24 points).
It is not good to overextend - the shares need to be sold as well, and there is no guarantee on the price - so Martti hopes to get the missing 4 points from the market at bid, but is planned to buy them at ask if necessary.
At present, the town has 1,500 inhabitants (countryside lives their own life separately) who consume, for instance, more than 200,000 kilos of vegetables and 70,000 liters of beer every year.
Martti's checking of the markets shows that the price of the IC point has plummeted. There has not been interesting things to convert to since Ming China, and that was in 1621, after which many things have happened and IC has accumulated to the owners with no buyers. This is a good time to spend what has been accumulated then! The sword is awaiting! With 24*IC, Martti gets an Imported, Powerful shortsword, backdated to 1621 when Martti was 14. (The player can decide what the story is if backdating items; backdating price is 3% per year).
Foods are expensive this time of the year. As has happened before, the March consume quota is filled with beer, since breweries produce now and beer generally enjoys a stable price. Everything else is so high that it makes more sense to try to sell them and buy back in the autumn.
The main business, accumulation of SCI (science points) to be converted to S-B22 (shares in the new borough between Old Town and San Pietro) is going on as planned. Martti now has 20 points, and the optimum consumes are 24 or 40 points, with declining marginal utility (40 points gives only 4 shares whereas you already get 3 with 24 points).
It is not good to overextend - the shares need to be sold as well, and there is no guarantee on the price - so Martti hopes to get the missing 4 points from the market at bid, but is planned to buy them at ask if necessary.
maanantai 15. helmikuuta 2016
January 1627 - Day 35
Martti, now 20, sees his balance slightly negative and that he had not (as rumored been happening to some) been promoted L5. A nimble market action of selling CKGE at higher than its NAV (because the ETF pricing is not following the underlying automatically) returns the balance to 2.1 mil. Another asset whose value is based on gold is CT1625, so that one is also promptly sold.
The Health is after the recent reduction still Excellent, although not for long. It will likely drop to Good any year now, and then hopefully stay there until the 40s or 50s. Getting the challenge to finish Insignificant instead of Moderate is starting to be the priority now.
The buying-selling business with IC and SCI continues, with the hopes of being able to convert the sword by the end of the year, and get as many as possible SCI to be converted to S-B22A (the deadline for this is November).
So, work is keeping Martti busy now :)
The Health is after the recent reduction still Excellent, although not for long. It will likely drop to Good any year now, and then hopefully stay there until the 40s or 50s. Getting the challenge to finish Insignificant instead of Moderate is starting to be the priority now.
The buying-selling business with IC and SCI continues, with the hopes of being able to convert the sword by the end of the year, and get as many as possible SCI to be converted to S-B22A (the deadline for this is November).
So, work is keeping Martti busy now :)
sunnuntai 14. helmikuuta 2016
December 1626 - Day 34
The time is flying and Martti is getting richer. And wiser, because the wisdom module also came the same year. It is already 3 years since the Royal Palace burnt, and ardent preparations are being made to enable the rebuilding (which will mean a new game module, scheduled after Wisdom, which did come out as scheduled!)
Starting next year and next blogtext, Martti will be 20. He has secured the critical early years healthwise, and not neglected health challenges when funds were pressing. Now an easier time is starting, with 1-2 mil per year providing all that he needs for 20 years to come. The town salary for characters in the 20-40 year bracket ranges is 1.05-1.75 mil (L4-L6), so being able to spend everything that the others make per month, for food, drink and smoke - yes, it allows quite some indulgence (in non-noble standards of course).
Martti has not thought about the level promotion much. The next one is in 1 year, and Martti barely fulfills the (currently unofficial) minimum age of 20. Trying to optimise for the promotion conditions specifically feels gamey, and the promotion is all but a certainty after 3 more years anyway with the progress Martti is making:
He would still be 2 years "ahead of schedule" (23 vs 25) and if he manages Master in the normal time (9 years), he would be 32 and still have time to make Baron on time. The advancing among commoners does not depend too much on money, but becoming Baron it does. It is very unlikely that Martti gains massive funds much before 40, so he does not stand too much chance to become Baron either. Trying to sub-optimise getting Master asap, just to see the Baron train (tendency that it is easier to become a L13 Baron below age 40, after which Masters will instead be promoted to commoner bonus levels, mainly L7 Wizard) leave the station without a ticket, is not heartwarming. A good life is definitely planned for the commoners, but Martti's plan is to become a noble!
The CKG-ETF shares came back. Now Martti tries to sell them to get as much SCI is possible. The price of S-B22 in the market has zoomed, after the release of the apparently very positive, varied and interesting zoning plans. This means that more capital can be used in the triangle trade from money -> SCI -> S-B22 -> money.
After scouring money where it is possible (getting harder as in 5 years, Martti has already developed a tendency to buy household items such as 8 pieces (!!) of Ming China), Martti has just enough that he could convert the sword from IC and have it dated 1626. At the last moment he remembers that backdating is possible as well, at a cost of 3% per year. So instead of rushing to buy it, backdating it a few years is a very reasonable option, especially for commoners. The nobles might not want to spend 3% per year too often, because they can seldom make that kind of return with their operations. The sword will probably come next year, a few years backdated and with a nice story added.
The health challenge ended Moderate, for the 5th time now, with health still Excellent. Some CAN quota was left, but even the decision to buy 100@2900 was controversial, and the health would never have justified it. CAN is predominantly a wisdom product, and this has almost doubled its ask price in a year, despite massive stocks and the fact that it does not spoil.
Starting next year and next blogtext, Martti will be 20. He has secured the critical early years healthwise, and not neglected health challenges when funds were pressing. Now an easier time is starting, with 1-2 mil per year providing all that he needs for 20 years to come. The town salary for characters in the 20-40 year bracket ranges is 1.05-1.75 mil (L4-L6), so being able to spend everything that the others make per month, for food, drink and smoke - yes, it allows quite some indulgence (in non-noble standards of course).
Martti has not thought about the level promotion much. The next one is in 1 year, and Martti barely fulfills the (currently unofficial) minimum age of 20. Trying to optimise for the promotion conditions specifically feels gamey, and the promotion is all but a certainty after 3 more years anyway with the progress Martti is making:
He would still be 2 years "ahead of schedule" (23 vs 25) and if he manages Master in the normal time (9 years), he would be 32 and still have time to make Baron on time. The advancing among commoners does not depend too much on money, but becoming Baron it does. It is very unlikely that Martti gains massive funds much before 40, so he does not stand too much chance to become Baron either. Trying to sub-optimise getting Master asap, just to see the Baron train (tendency that it is easier to become a L13 Baron below age 40, after which Masters will instead be promoted to commoner bonus levels, mainly L7 Wizard) leave the station without a ticket, is not heartwarming. A good life is definitely planned for the commoners, but Martti's plan is to become a noble!
The CKG-ETF shares came back. Now Martti tries to sell them to get as much SCI is possible. The price of S-B22 in the market has zoomed, after the release of the apparently very positive, varied and interesting zoning plans. This means that more capital can be used in the triangle trade from money -> SCI -> S-B22 -> money.
After scouring money where it is possible (getting harder as in 5 years, Martti has already developed a tendency to buy household items such as 8 pieces (!!) of Ming China), Martti has just enough that he could convert the sword from IC and have it dated 1626. At the last moment he remembers that backdating is possible as well, at a cost of 3% per year. So instead of rushing to buy it, backdating it a few years is a very reasonable option, especially for commoners. The nobles might not want to spend 3% per year too often, because they can seldom make that kind of return with their operations. The sword will probably come next year, a few years backdated and with a nice story added.
The health challenge ended Moderate, for the 5th time now, with health still Excellent. Some CAN quota was left, but even the decision to buy 100@2900 was controversial, and the health would never have justified it. CAN is predominantly a wisdom product, and this has almost doubled its ask price in a year, despite massive stocks and the fact that it does not spoil.
perjantai 12. helmikuuta 2016
November 1626 - Day 33
Now Martti can hardly contain himself: previously he had mentioned that the B-22 share conversion would be almost guaranteed free money, if 10 mil starting capital could be acquired. While in the process of building the balance, Martti sees that the rules change, and instead of 50*SCI minimum to get your skin in the game, only 4*SCI is needed for the minimum conversion, and 40*SCI yields the same that 50*SCI used to!! Even the Bank joins in with batch-processed mortgages costing about 1.5% APR.
The meat had flown off the shelves so the balance was positive again. It is time to make a thorough business calculation about the B-22, the "ticket toriches middle class":
The price per new share (1:4 of old share) is 3.5 mil at highest bid. SCI costs 0.22 mil at lowest ask. The new SCI->S-B22 conversion table shows that it is a wash to convert 4 shares, so Martti aims to be able to convert 3 shares (24*SCI for 5.3 mil), and sell them for 10.5 mil. The profit, 5.2 mil per year is simply mind-boggling considering what the humble beginnings were.
If the shares could be sold at ask (5 mil) and SCI bought at bid (0.2 mil), 6 shares could be converted instead of 3, for 84*SCI (16.8 mil) and the shares sold at 30 mil, for the profit of 13.2 mil. If the conversion continues for a few more years, Martti can possibly crank up enough profits that allow 16.8 mil working capital (instead of the 5.3, which is obtainable now).
The map of the area is also very beautiful. What is interesting in the development is that the project started in 1617: 9 years ago! It is 529/1000 completed now, so this would take additional 8 years (shortened to 5-6 years with the more affordable conversion and higher share price allowing more conversion to happen). But in addition, some of the land, 4/9 of it, will be quarried, taking 10-15 years planned! 1/9 will be retained for likely quarrying after the 4/9 have finished quarrying. Only 4/9 is available for building once the scientific project is ready, about 15 years from when it started!
The conversion of S-B22 shares to lots in the area, also allows business opportunities. At present, more than 50 characters have shares, and the lots are priced in shares. The largest holder takes one lot first, costing up to his # of shares, then the second largest, etc. It is likely that many of the small ones try to gain only one lot, as big and nice as possible (many are also variable size so that you can finish the shares easily). But if not all shares were used, the second round means that the then largest holder takes one of the remaining lots, etc., until almost all the lots are taken (there are some extras).
For people with modest means, the comparison between the profitability of large and small lots is academic (large lots cost 100s of millions), but Martti is somewhat on the opinion that the 15x15 m corner lots eg. the ones in 23-S lining the "piazza", offer incredible value. If it must be ready for building now, instead of in 7-10 years after the quarry has finished (not actually the case with Martti who has a house and not anyway much money), then the place to be is to the east of the King's Esplanade near the Barbican, which was just rezoned to have a lane behind the parade street buildings, with 150 sqm lots both sides of the lane, good for both stone and wood construction, up to 150 sqm floor area with e=1. With land, it often makes sense to buy the best, which in this project is reserved for larger buildings though.
In Martti's case, if ever anything is converted to a lot, it would probably be listed for sale right away. Here a warning is in order though: some lots in 1-E and 1-NE have been on the market for up to 100 years, so do not ever buy land expecting to make a quick buck, for it may happen, but it is up to the buyer and not up to you.
Funny thing in the markets is that some NPC's had finished all the mead that was listed at really high prices, and meanwhile beer is available cheaply! The situation reminds some cities where water with taste added is more expensive than beer and certainly less healthy as well...
Also, when trying to sell/list all the possessions to raise working capital for the B-23 operation, Martti was lamenting the need to take a 10% hit vs. the CKG value, when selling the CT1600C freebie gold coin. Now the CKG ETF comes to rescue, with more explanation in the next piece!
The meat had flown off the shelves so the balance was positive again. It is time to make a thorough business calculation about the B-22, the "ticket to
The price per new share (1:4 of old share) is 3.5 mil at highest bid. SCI costs 0.22 mil at lowest ask. The new SCI->S-B22 conversion table shows that it is a wash to convert 4 shares, so Martti aims to be able to convert 3 shares (24*SCI for 5.3 mil), and sell them for 10.5 mil. The profit, 5.2 mil per year is simply mind-boggling considering what the humble beginnings were.
If the shares could be sold at ask (5 mil) and SCI bought at bid (0.2 mil), 6 shares could be converted instead of 3, for 84*SCI (16.8 mil) and the shares sold at 30 mil, for the profit of 13.2 mil. If the conversion continues for a few more years, Martti can possibly crank up enough profits that allow 16.8 mil working capital (instead of the 5.3, which is obtainable now).
The map of the area is also very beautiful. What is interesting in the development is that the project started in 1617: 9 years ago! It is 529/1000 completed now, so this would take additional 8 years (shortened to 5-6 years with the more affordable conversion and higher share price allowing more conversion to happen). But in addition, some of the land, 4/9 of it, will be quarried, taking 10-15 years planned! 1/9 will be retained for likely quarrying after the 4/9 have finished quarrying. Only 4/9 is available for building once the scientific project is ready, about 15 years from when it started!
The conversion of S-B22 shares to lots in the area, also allows business opportunities. At present, more than 50 characters have shares, and the lots are priced in shares. The largest holder takes one lot first, costing up to his # of shares, then the second largest, etc. It is likely that many of the small ones try to gain only one lot, as big and nice as possible (many are also variable size so that you can finish the shares easily). But if not all shares were used, the second round means that the then largest holder takes one of the remaining lots, etc., until almost all the lots are taken (there are some extras).
For people with modest means, the comparison between the profitability of large and small lots is academic (large lots cost 100s of millions), but Martti is somewhat on the opinion that the 15x15 m corner lots eg. the ones in 23-S lining the "piazza", offer incredible value. If it must be ready for building now, instead of in 7-10 years after the quarry has finished (not actually the case with Martti who has a house and not anyway much money), then the place to be is to the east of the King's Esplanade near the Barbican, which was just rezoned to have a lane behind the parade street buildings, with 150 sqm lots both sides of the lane, good for both stone and wood construction, up to 150 sqm floor area with e=1. With land, it often makes sense to buy the best, which in this project is reserved for larger buildings though.
In Martti's case, if ever anything is converted to a lot, it would probably be listed for sale right away. Here a warning is in order though: some lots in 1-E and 1-NE have been on the market for up to 100 years, so do not ever buy land expecting to make a quick buck, for it may happen, but it is up to the buyer and not up to you.
Funny thing in the markets is that some NPC's had finished all the mead that was listed at really high prices, and meanwhile beer is available cheaply! The situation reminds some cities where water with taste added is more expensive than beer and certainly less healthy as well...
Also, when trying to sell/list all the possessions to raise working capital for the B-23 operation, Martti was lamenting the need to take a 10% hit vs. the CKG value, when selling the CT1600C freebie gold coin. Now the CKG ETF comes to rescue, with more explanation in the next piece!
September 1626 - Day 32
Another day with gamemaster busy with massive developments to the game but not yet for today...
Martti finds himself deeply in the red. Some very lucrative meat bids were suddenly fulfilled. The main urgent issue from being negative is no possibility to buy anything, except vegetables that he needs. So he drinks beer instead, and lists everything for sale just in front of current asks, hoping tomorrow would enable eating, because that is not really voluntary, and only 2 days are left to fix the situation :)
Martti finds himself deeply in the red. Some very lucrative meat bids were suddenly fulfilled. The main urgent issue from being negative is no possibility to buy anything, except vegetables that he needs. So he drinks beer instead, and lists everything for sale just in front of current asks, hoping tomorrow would enable eating, because that is not really voluntary, and only 2 days are left to fix the situation :)
torstai 11. helmikuuta 2016
July 1626 - Day 31
This was an uneventful day, busy with other things. What was realized that the daily consume - and therefore the frequency bonus - had been missed for 2 days already, making it more expensive to finish the health challenge properly. Since it is the "superveg" day and vegetables cost no more than 3,000, Martti bought 25 in addition to his own production (25) and ate them all.
keskiviikko 10. helmikuuta 2016
May 1626 - Day 30
What was prophesied in the last day report, became true right after - Martti sees a 1.3 mil negative balance after being more than 5 mil on the black. The culprit is the very nice price WOS-B1 Merchant Red suit, which Martti almost decides to keep.
The next spoil round is in 3 years, and the probability for a suit spoiling is 10% per year max (so 30%), and probably a little less for a red which is not used in hard work. Although the suit either spoils or not - and so far Martti has been lucky - we can multiply the spoil probability by the suit price (the "GM list price" which the market is not obligated to follow) and arrive at the average cost-of-carry, which in the case is almost 1 mil/year, more than Martti spends on all consumables combined, and more than double the worth of his house incomes.
Merchant red is a very nice suit, and designed to be expensive to maintain, to differentiate merchants (who have 1 mil per year extra) from artesans (even Master level salary is 1.75 mil/year). But this one will be listed right away at a high price, the merchant knows what is merchandise. The Changelog gives no other recent trades for the suit so almost a quick double can be had at 11 mil ask. There are 2 other suits offered for cheaper though.
The pigs and DIS have been restocked by the seller. Some time ago Martti speculated what would happen to pigs, and the rule (max 4) stayed in force, and more are for sale now at 3 mil/piece. Good side: Martti can revise up the value of his existing pigs. Bad side: cornering the market did not work. Also MUS, CAN, BEER and MEAD production just came, which concerns Martti with his multiple mead production items and the herb garden.
With balance negative, no bids can be placed, and nothing is so lucrative to sell that Martti would want to do it. So let's play risky and hope some cash flow emerges from the asks. If only cancelling bids is functional, the business grinds to a halt very soon.
Meanwhile massive developments are happening in the game mechanics. There is even a revised map of CryptoTown, showing all the 225 chapelries and the planned fortifications around the town, gates, and major roads. There is no time like this to be a real estate baron, Martti thinks, counting his 1 gold coin and occasionally delving into LotRaffle if the location is known beforehand.
The new Wisdom & Culture module does not concern too much; the only difference to a commoner is that it makes sense to always consume the full amount of CAN, unless destitute.
The commoner promotion rounds are now scheduled to happen every 3 years only, with the expectation that:
- L4 could be got 3 years from L3- L5 could be got 6 years from L4
- L6 could be got 9 years from L5
Getting them before would be possible but difficult. So the promotion round coming up in 1.5 years is very interesting. With some luck and foolhardy play (going into debt, keeping the red suit, donating to good causes, gaining the copper collector badge, buying a sword and a horse, etc.etc) it is doable. Whether it pays off, is another thing, because the next level has its own set of criteria...
The next spoil round is in 3 years, and the probability for a suit spoiling is 10% per year max (so 30%), and probably a little less for a red which is not used in hard work. Although the suit either spoils or not - and so far Martti has been lucky - we can multiply the spoil probability by the suit price (the "GM list price" which the market is not obligated to follow) and arrive at the average cost-of-carry, which in the case is almost 1 mil/year, more than Martti spends on all consumables combined, and more than double the worth of his house incomes.
Merchant red is a very nice suit, and designed to be expensive to maintain, to differentiate merchants (who have 1 mil per year extra) from artesans (even Master level salary is 1.75 mil/year). But this one will be listed right away at a high price, the merchant knows what is merchandise. The Changelog gives no other recent trades for the suit so almost a quick double can be had at 11 mil ask. There are 2 other suits offered for cheaper though.
The pigs and DIS have been restocked by the seller. Some time ago Martti speculated what would happen to pigs, and the rule (max 4) stayed in force, and more are for sale now at 3 mil/piece. Good side: Martti can revise up the value of his existing pigs. Bad side: cornering the market did not work. Also MUS, CAN, BEER and MEAD production just came, which concerns Martti with his multiple mead production items and the herb garden.
With balance negative, no bids can be placed, and nothing is so lucrative to sell that Martti would want to do it. So let's play risky and hope some cash flow emerges from the asks. If only cancelling bids is functional, the business grinds to a halt very soon.
Meanwhile massive developments are happening in the game mechanics. There is even a revised map of CryptoTown, showing all the 225 chapelries and the planned fortifications around the town, gates, and major roads. There is no time like this to be a real estate baron, Martti thinks, counting his 1 gold coin and occasionally delving into LotRaffle if the location is known beforehand.
The new Wisdom & Culture module does not concern too much; the only difference to a commoner is that it makes sense to always consume the full amount of CAN, unless destitute.
The commoner promotion rounds are now scheduled to happen every 3 years only, with the expectation that:
- L4 could be got 3 years from L3- L5 could be got 6 years from L4
- L6 could be got 9 years from L5
Getting them before would be possible but difficult. So the promotion round coming up in 1.5 years is very interesting. With some luck and foolhardy play (going into debt, keeping the red suit, donating to good causes, gaining the copper collector badge, buying a sword and a horse, etc.etc) it is doable. Whether it pays off, is another thing, because the next level has its own set of criteria...
tiistai 9. helmikuuta 2016
March 1626 - Day 29
Good morning! Early bird catches the worm, and unlike his controller, Martti does not mind bad weather so much. A new post has come to the Game Thread, worth reading by everyone! So much new is coming, and is here already! For the part that the new things concern Martti, they will be introduced here of course.
The day is started with checking all active orders - or - because this functionality is not available in the GUI, canceling them and building anew: CANCELALL ALLXXX. The parameter "allxxx" is like "*.*" in the DOS era and should be used with caution especially with CONSUME and the like, which may or may not be online.
Any resource to check the thing from (eg. the game Wiki), might be outdated, because the development style just does not care about documentation so much, and the players who would write guides are still so few (and obviously not as equipped to be comprehensive as the dev and designer). Well I am writing this blog at least, and after nearly a month, it is still almost completely current in what it is dealing with.
To prolong the life of the blog, I have the plan to revise the early days with a different colored comments, as the editors also comment other important text such as the Bible and Sun Tzu's Art of War. In those times, it would take centuries or millennia to completely revise the comments. In Martti's era, he will live to see 3 sets of comments in 50 years, even if the game time is 50 times faster than the time where the other works mentioned were written...
Updating the market bids (mainly, and not much asks, because nearly all Martti's possessions have sold out, which of course is the modus operandi if business capital is limited) took some time. Martti's strategy is to seek things which are in both demand and supply, and have a high spread, and can thus flip quickly, producing a nice percentage gain. Until now, the acceptable profit for one trade has been as low as 0.01 mil, but as the working capital grows, larger trades are sought to yield profits in the high 6-figure to millions range (as both pigs and suits have already done).
Bids have been placed in food, small drinks, some wines, many spirits (they are not often sold to the bid so need more hooks to get one fish..), Ming China (cheaper items), suits and NPC. What was left outside of the scope is silver and tokens (too erratic for now), horses (too expensive and cost to maintain), gold (too expensive), and lots (too expensive). These will become tradable as the capital grows, which it has been doing by leaps and bounds so far:
Success Tracker
Age: 19
Level: 4/14
Wealth: 36/1000
A closing note is that the system allows unlimited total number of bids as long as each individual bid is below the amount of current balance. The intended function is that if a marketwide dump occurs, erasing the balance, all remaining bids would be cancelled when the first uncovered bid is hit. This, however, does not currently work, and may cause overdraft (negative m balance). The bailiff may collect the overdrafts without advance warning nor the character's permission, and charge 5 mil for her services. Since Martti plays daily, the risk of bailiff coming is so small that it is accepted. Overdraft may also incur penalty interest based on the amount.
The day is started with checking all active orders - or - because this functionality is not available in the GUI, canceling them and building anew: CANCELALL ALLXXX. The parameter "allxxx" is like "*.*" in the DOS era and should be used with caution especially with CONSUME and the like, which may or may not be online.
Any resource to check the thing from (eg. the game Wiki), might be outdated, because the development style just does not care about documentation so much, and the players who would write guides are still so few (and obviously not as equipped to be comprehensive as the dev and designer). Well I am writing this blog at least, and after nearly a month, it is still almost completely current in what it is dealing with.
To prolong the life of the blog, I have the plan to revise the early days with a different colored comments, as the editors also comment other important text such as the Bible and Sun Tzu's Art of War. In those times, it would take centuries or millennia to completely revise the comments. In Martti's era, he will live to see 3 sets of comments in 50 years, even if the game time is 50 times faster than the time where the other works mentioned were written...
Updating the market bids (mainly, and not much asks, because nearly all Martti's possessions have sold out, which of course is the modus operandi if business capital is limited) took some time. Martti's strategy is to seek things which are in both demand and supply, and have a high spread, and can thus flip quickly, producing a nice percentage gain. Until now, the acceptable profit for one trade has been as low as 0.01 mil, but as the working capital grows, larger trades are sought to yield profits in the high 6-figure to millions range (as both pigs and suits have already done).
Bids have been placed in food, small drinks, some wines, many spirits (they are not often sold to the bid so need more hooks to get one fish..), Ming China (cheaper items), suits and NPC. What was left outside of the scope is silver and tokens (too erratic for now), horses (too expensive and cost to maintain), gold (too expensive), and lots (too expensive). These will become tradable as the capital grows, which it has been doing by leaps and bounds so far:
Success Tracker
Age: 19
Level: 4/14
Wealth: 36/1000
A closing note is that the system allows unlimited total number of bids as long as each individual bid is below the amount of current balance. The intended function is that if a marketwide dump occurs, erasing the balance, all remaining bids would be cancelled when the first uncovered bid is hit. This, however, does not currently work, and may cause overdraft (negative m balance). The bailiff may collect the overdrafts without advance warning nor the character's permission, and charge 5 mil for her services. Since Martti plays daily, the risk of bailiff coming is so small that it is accepted. Overdraft may also incur penalty interest based on the amount.
maanantai 8. helmikuuta 2016
January 1626 - Day 28
New year, new day! Martti is now 19 and all is good!
Before anything, let's get to the new LotRaffle, which has just opened. So that the players would have something to do, and a chance (about 1%) to win a gold coins and (0.01%) to win some life-changing prizes that the nobles have donated, there is now a tab on the top of the game screen, urging to explore a lot. When it is found, there is a slot machine granting a prize. It reloads every 5 minutes, to a different lot of course.
Martti's first try to locate a place in 4-N did not work out (even taxi drivers do not always find the right address from more than 800 existing), but the second one in 1-SE-E1 (East Alley 1), granted a W1612, an average quality old wine! The next try gave a M, worth, well 1 m... Let's wait for 5 minutes for one more.. This is the only way for CR-A 1 CKG gold coins to come to circulation so despite being only 1 CKG, worth about 0.9 mil by gold value, it is expected they fetch 3 mil in the aftermarket because of the collectors (a new one comes every year, keeping the mintage low)...
Nah, that one revealed 1*CAN, so perhaps Martti's luck is over for today. Without much ado, he will play this subgame a few times every day and report only when the gold coin or something spectacular is gained. The Lot Raffle is a nice and fun way to build up your balance if you don't have any, which luckily is not the case any more for Martti, who now tends to his business:
The slaughter was late, but pigs were therefore bigger. Martti has decided to add meat to his staple, so CONSUME MEAT 50 is a largish (and often not really needed) investment for a normal 19-year-old, but Martti's ambition to become Earl requires long life and good health. The plan is to consume MEAD, BEER and CAN during the rest of the spring according to the market situation, and save the final push to the VEG for when they become affordable again in the autumn time.
Because of the double year dividends, perhaps, the IC price has been pressured and Martti is already 13/20 towards the sword, patiently waiting for dumps in the market and the slow accumulation from his 24 sqm stone house, 100% purchased with debt).
Other than the sword project, Martti has also started to accumulate towards 50*SCI (cost: about 10 mil) to convert to S-B22 shares. Once the initial capital is accumulated, the shares should turn about 3 mil profit when converted and sold. If this can be made happen every year (the project has a limited duration), it would be the first big time business for the aspiring Merchant, and soon worth a red suit as well.
Before anything, let's get to the new LotRaffle, which has just opened. So that the players would have something to do, and a chance (about 1%) to win a gold coins and (0.01%) to win some life-changing prizes that the nobles have donated, there is now a tab on the top of the game screen, urging to explore a lot. When it is found, there is a slot machine granting a prize. It reloads every 5 minutes, to a different lot of course.
Martti's first try to locate a place in 4-N did not work out (even taxi drivers do not always find the right address from more than 800 existing), but the second one in 1-SE-E1 (East Alley 1), granted a W1612, an average quality old wine! The next try gave a M, worth, well 1 m... Let's wait for 5 minutes for one more.. This is the only way for CR-A 1 CKG gold coins to come to circulation so despite being only 1 CKG, worth about 0.9 mil by gold value, it is expected they fetch 3 mil in the aftermarket because of the collectors (a new one comes every year, keeping the mintage low)...
Nah, that one revealed 1*CAN, so perhaps Martti's luck is over for today. Without much ado, he will play this subgame a few times every day and report only when the gold coin or something spectacular is gained. The Lot Raffle is a nice and fun way to build up your balance if you don't have any, which luckily is not the case any more for Martti, who now tends to his business:
The slaughter was late, but pigs were therefore bigger. Martti has decided to add meat to his staple, so CONSUME MEAT 50 is a largish (and often not really needed) investment for a normal 19-year-old, but Martti's ambition to become Earl requires long life and good health. The plan is to consume MEAD, BEER and CAN during the rest of the spring according to the market situation, and save the final push to the VEG for when they become affordable again in the autumn time.
Because of the double year dividends, perhaps, the IC price has been pressured and Martti is already 13/20 towards the sword, patiently waiting for dumps in the market and the slow accumulation from his 24 sqm stone house, 100% purchased with debt).
Other than the sword project, Martti has also started to accumulate towards 50*SCI (cost: about 10 mil) to convert to S-B22 shares. Once the initial capital is accumulated, the shares should turn about 3 mil profit when converted and sold. If this can be made happen every year (the project has a limited duration), it would be the first big time business for the aspiring Merchant, and soon worth a red suit as well.
sunnuntai 7. helmikuuta 2016
December 1625 - Day 27
The slaughter has not come yet, on the contrary, Martti's balance is surprisingly low, at 3.3 mil. Upon investigation, it seems that a green suit bid was fulfilled, so Martti now has a spare. The suit spoil round also happened, and Martti was lucky to not have his suit spoiled "eaten by the Great Moth".
So the other minimums for promotion to L5 Expert have been fulfilled, except the actual experience. The minimum age is 20 and typical is more like 25 for such promotion. The sword project is also very promising - Martti has already 11*IC (of the 20 needed), because his home is also producing IC now, and the year change this time was double (because the last one was delayed so much that it was merged to this one, for the benefit of Martti).
Occasionally new game concepts come and first comers typically get a benefit. Often new products come to the market via some kind of initial offering. Because the offering is already an auction, it is more difficult to say how the price will develop afterwards. Many products have enjoyed continuous value appreciation, but others have also cratered after the initial fad. W1600 initially cost about 25k and at its peak only a couple of years later was selling for 200k. COH cubanos started at a lofty 50 million per box of 25, and now their ask is 1.4 mil and bid 0.3 mil.
The latest offer is SFS "Siberian Flying Squirrel Pelts" and the flagship item to be fashioned of them is a full-length fur mantel, fit for a king (literally!), for which 200*SFS are needed. After careful consideration, Martti places a lowball bid because the first few years after the auction there is typically little liquidity anyway. So better get them cheap, or not at all!
The next interesting category of assets is NPC, since now Martti's finances allow the training process of lower-level ones to high ones, who produce millions worth of CUL, IC, SCI per year - and take decades to train, but Martti is young :) Also hopefully the slaughtered meat has come by next time, and the Lot Raffle feature ready for exploring!
The health challenge Martti finishes Moderate, as always. Until now, he has only fully consumed the food quota, and just tasted mead, beer and can, to get the variety bonuses. For 20 more years, the health challenge is rather easy to handle with veg, meat, mead, beer and can, just with a slight emphasis to meat and beer when the challenge is more difficult, and veg, mead (or even nothing) when it is easy. On the other hand, these coming years are the ones when it is cost-effective to try to lose as little health as possible, getting the challenge to Insignificant. When the years start to weigh in and the consuming of more potent stuff becomes a pressing need, the costs mount significantly. [This is to limit the lifespan of a character to a realistic average.]
So the other minimums for promotion to L5 Expert have been fulfilled, except the actual experience. The minimum age is 20 and typical is more like 25 for such promotion. The sword project is also very promising - Martti has already 11*IC (of the 20 needed), because his home is also producing IC now, and the year change this time was double (because the last one was delayed so much that it was merged to this one, for the benefit of Martti).
Occasionally new game concepts come and first comers typically get a benefit. Often new products come to the market via some kind of initial offering. Because the offering is already an auction, it is more difficult to say how the price will develop afterwards. Many products have enjoyed continuous value appreciation, but others have also cratered after the initial fad. W1600 initially cost about 25k and at its peak only a couple of years later was selling for 200k. COH cubanos started at a lofty 50 million per box of 25, and now their ask is 1.4 mil and bid 0.3 mil.
The latest offer is SFS "Siberian Flying Squirrel Pelts" and the flagship item to be fashioned of them is a full-length fur mantel, fit for a king (literally!), for which 200*SFS are needed. After careful consideration, Martti places a lowball bid because the first few years after the auction there is typically little liquidity anyway. So better get them cheap, or not at all!
The next interesting category of assets is NPC, since now Martti's finances allow the training process of lower-level ones to high ones, who produce millions worth of CUL, IC, SCI per year - and take decades to train, but Martti is young :) Also hopefully the slaughtered meat has come by next time, and the Lot Raffle feature ready for exploring!
The health challenge Martti finishes Moderate, as always. Until now, he has only fully consumed the food quota, and just tasted mead, beer and can, to get the variety bonuses. For 20 more years, the health challenge is rather easy to handle with veg, meat, mead, beer and can, just with a slight emphasis to meat and beer when the challenge is more difficult, and veg, mead (or even nothing) when it is easy. On the other hand, these coming years are the ones when it is cost-effective to try to lose as little health as possible, getting the challenge to Insignificant. When the years start to weigh in and the consuming of more potent stuff becomes a pressing need, the costs mount significantly. [This is to limit the lifespan of a character to a realistic average.]
November 1625 - Day 26
Martti quickly logs in to check if some new features have come, and to prime the bids for the coming slaughter season. The m balance has swollen to 7.6 mil, prompting the need to invest in "something". 2*DIS are bought at 1.1 mil each (estimated 9% IRR). There is also the top bid on PIG, as the quota is only 3/4 units fulfilled.
After consuming all the food quota and most of the drinks and some CAN, the health challenge is still Significant. This is not good as it requires using up the other quotas, which have lower "health return on money invested" than Foods.
In addition to money, Martti is rich in gold and silver: Upon promotion to L4, Town gave him a CT1600C gold coin (3 grams of gold, out of the ~1,000,000 existing in the whole game!). For now, Martti holds on to the gold and also the silver the Town Hall gave earlier. Balances of gold and silver provide cushion and a "fallback fund", and might be helpful towards promotions, and it has even been hinted that just possessing silver could be beneficial towards health as well.
After consuming all the food quota and most of the drinks and some CAN, the health challenge is still Significant. This is not good as it requires using up the other quotas, which have lower "health return on money invested" than Foods.
In addition to money, Martti is rich in gold and silver: Upon promotion to L4, Town gave him a CT1600C gold coin (3 grams of gold, out of the ~1,000,000 existing in the whole game!). For now, Martti holds on to the gold and also the silver the Town Hall gave earlier. Balances of gold and silver provide cushion and a "fallback fund", and might be helpful towards promotions, and it has even been hinted that just possessing silver could be beneficial towards health as well.
perjantai 5. helmikuuta 2016
September 1625 - Day 25
Gilded Goose is a magnificent place, somewhat reminiscent of the House of Magnificence actually, but with the difference that below the dome, two equally high floors exist. The upper one is Restaurant and the below is a Caviar and Vodka bar. The game has 2 brands of vodka, domestic before-earthquake VOH (more than 25 years old by now), and newer VOD. The former is 3 times as healthy and 4 times as expensive, therefore a good option for those who have both the money and a ravenous health challenge.
Martti does not have either, and will not for a long time, since health challenges get worse until 90 years, then they stay the same. A new mechanic, sickness, is being experimented in the game, starting from those who are 200+ years. It requires not only the choicest of drinks, but also other exercise, and even then, it may not be possible to avoid some loss of health. (Avoiding all loss is possible in ordinary health challenges, just the last 6 feet tend to double the total cost.)
But the visit turned out to be way more rewarding than Martti had even dreamed. He suddenly owns not one, but even two houses! How did that come to be?? The owner of the place, Prince Noms, the Margrave of White Cross, Councillor, CEO of Palazzo, etc(x2) was sitting there alone in one table sipping clear liquor and concentrated on his work. Martti decided to approach him with the question whether house buying from Church (they sell small stone huts 6 mil apiece) is possible even for those who own land but no house already.
He said that he is not even involved with the church, but knows the rules that new characters can buy up to 2 such houses. Martti knew that Bank can help in the financing, but only up to 50% of the price. So he asked the Prince if he could give a private loan, with 3x the interest rate that CON pays (1.8% APR vs. 0.6% of CON). To his surprise, the Prince gave the full 12 mil for 15 years under such conditions, with the properties mortgaged to be the guarantee!!
Martti was so stunned of the developments that he perhaps made a slightly non-optimal choice: 4-NW-D4 and 4-NW-D5. They are near The Marquess of Grass' Kronic Research Center, and have 20 meters roadside, but are also near the impassable swamps that are believed to be unhealthy. Taking the very NW corner of the chapelry would have given 20 m roadside but facing south, instead of north, and nearer to parks and further away from swamps, at a cost of 100 more paces to the center of B.4.
Oh well, only the players decide if the market value of these or those is better in a few decades. Right now Martti is entitled to live in one of them (as residence, it produces 1*CUL, 1*IC per year - designating a building "residence" has historically been a privilege compared to rental, because of the high value of IC compared to m) and the other one is a rental, giving about 2.7% after-tax profit. Compared to the 1.8% loan, this leverage should slightly be profitable even in cash-flow basis, and the increase in value of the land would be the real deal: when the free lots and cheap houses are doled out and their owners enriched themselves (with 100-200 players, this game is in an extremely early adopter mode still!), one such lot would be worth manifold.
Checking the possessions, it immediately struck that the balance was 8.5 mil! Quick check revealed that one pig was sold at the ask. The political situation with pigs is that some nobles don't want too many pigs in town because they give a "countryside feeling", also they hurt the manor lords' businesses with meat (who wants people to be self-sufficient, if they can profit off of them not being such?) When the 50 pigs ran out, no new ones have been added, and Martti knows the fair price of a pig is only 2 mil. It is possible that:
a) new pigs come but only at higher than 2 mil
b) new pigs come at 2 mil
c) new pigs don't come and only the existing ones are allowed to stay
d) a regulation comes to disallow keeping even 4 pigs (200*MEAT per year - it is actually in the works to limit this to 50*MEAT when Wood Building major game module comes but that one has been in planning for 15 years already...)
e) whatever.
Because future is uncertain, but meat is good, Martti makes a replenishment bid at 2,000,001 m. This gives any of the existing holders the incentive to cash out at a psychological profit and if new pigs come at 2 mil, buys one of them immediately before others have a chance to scoop them up.
To celebrate the victory of becoming a real estate mogul, Martti uncorked one of the W1608 the King had given (to all characters in L4 and higher in the Jubilee) and headed to the Palazzo Casino in the historical Casino building in 1-C. This detour caused the loss of all except one of the CT1625 (total loss about 0.5 mil) and the resolve that Martti will never again gamble just for fun. The only reason from now on is the utility function (trying to increase the cash position over a certain beneficial threshold to gain some advantage, while accepting the expected loss, because without playing, the cash would not be enough to take advantage of the situation anyway so a small monetary -EV can be justified by a +EV in the utility function.
Martti does not have either, and will not for a long time, since health challenges get worse until 90 years, then they stay the same. A new mechanic, sickness, is being experimented in the game, starting from those who are 200+ years. It requires not only the choicest of drinks, but also other exercise, and even then, it may not be possible to avoid some loss of health. (Avoiding all loss is possible in ordinary health challenges, just the last 6 feet tend to double the total cost.)
But the visit turned out to be way more rewarding than Martti had even dreamed. He suddenly owns not one, but even two houses! How did that come to be?? The owner of the place, Prince Noms, the Margrave of White Cross, Councillor, CEO of Palazzo, etc(x2) was sitting there alone in one table sipping clear liquor and concentrated on his work. Martti decided to approach him with the question whether house buying from Church (they sell small stone huts 6 mil apiece) is possible even for those who own land but no house already.
He said that he is not even involved with the church, but knows the rules that new characters can buy up to 2 such houses. Martti knew that Bank can help in the financing, but only up to 50% of the price. So he asked the Prince if he could give a private loan, with 3x the interest rate that CON pays (1.8% APR vs. 0.6% of CON). To his surprise, the Prince gave the full 12 mil for 15 years under such conditions, with the properties mortgaged to be the guarantee!!
Martti was so stunned of the developments that he perhaps made a slightly non-optimal choice: 4-NW-D4 and 4-NW-D5. They are near The Marquess of Grass' Kronic Research Center, and have 20 meters roadside, but are also near the impassable swamps that are believed to be unhealthy. Taking the very NW corner of the chapelry would have given 20 m roadside but facing south, instead of north, and nearer to parks and further away from swamps, at a cost of 100 more paces to the center of B.4.
Oh well, only the players decide if the market value of these or those is better in a few decades. Right now Martti is entitled to live in one of them (as residence, it produces 1*CUL, 1*IC per year - designating a building "residence" has historically been a privilege compared to rental, because of the high value of IC compared to m) and the other one is a rental, giving about 2.7% after-tax profit. Compared to the 1.8% loan, this leverage should slightly be profitable even in cash-flow basis, and the increase in value of the land would be the real deal: when the free lots and cheap houses are doled out and their owners enriched themselves (with 100-200 players, this game is in an extremely early adopter mode still!), one such lot would be worth manifold.
Checking the possessions, it immediately struck that the balance was 8.5 mil! Quick check revealed that one pig was sold at the ask. The political situation with pigs is that some nobles don't want too many pigs in town because they give a "countryside feeling", also they hurt the manor lords' businesses with meat (who wants people to be self-sufficient, if they can profit off of them not being such?) When the 50 pigs ran out, no new ones have been added, and Martti knows the fair price of a pig is only 2 mil. It is possible that:
a) new pigs come but only at higher than 2 mil
b) new pigs come at 2 mil
c) new pigs don't come and only the existing ones are allowed to stay
d) a regulation comes to disallow keeping even 4 pigs (200*MEAT per year - it is actually in the works to limit this to 50*MEAT when Wood Building major game module comes but that one has been in planning for 15 years already...)
e) whatever.
Because future is uncertain, but meat is good, Martti makes a replenishment bid at 2,000,001 m. This gives any of the existing holders the incentive to cash out at a psychological profit and if new pigs come at 2 mil, buys one of them immediately before others have a chance to scoop them up.
To celebrate the victory of becoming a real estate mogul, Martti uncorked one of the W1608 the King had given (to all characters in L4 and higher in the Jubilee) and headed to the Palazzo Casino in the historical Casino building in 1-C. This detour caused the loss of all except one of the CT1625 (total loss about 0.5 mil) and the resolve that Martti will never again gamble just for fun. The only reason from now on is the utility function (trying to increase the cash position over a certain beneficial threshold to gain some advantage, while accepting the expected loss, because without playing, the cash would not be enough to take advantage of the situation anyway so a small monetary -EV can be justified by a +EV in the utility function.
torstai 4. helmikuuta 2016
July 1625 - Day 24
The actual Celebration of the Jubilee happened in midsummer, and it totally blew Martti away! The venue selected was the House of Magnificence, a royal exhibition hall built almost 100 years ago to watch over the TIE Square in 2-C, one of the 3 oldest and finest squares in the town (Central Square and Culture Square are in the Old Town).
The House of Magnificence features a 12-25 m high, 576-sqm exhibition hall, which upon construction was 7 times as large a hall (by volume) than anything before. It continued to hold the record for the largest hall (both by area and volume) in the town for 69 years, until San Pietro (later: Cathedral of) surpassed it in 1599, in both. These 2 buildings have remarkable similarities in that they feature a crypt and the piano nobile (main floor) is on top, and is very high, with mainly no additional floors above. Both also have a gilded dome, 1,000s of CKG hammered to thin sheet and pounded to stick to wood plates, attached to framing, which is on top of the stone-arch dome, set on massive pillars. Such a dome would cost 500-1,000 mil to make these days, mainly due to the gold remodel charge of 10% of the gold's value (leaf gold and gold thread in suits have the highest charge - minting remodel charge is 0.1%).
The town had only 4 buildings with gilded roof, and after the destruction of the Royal Palace in the fire of 1623, only 3 remain. The 3rd is the Centenary Jubilee Theatre by HSH The Duke of OZ, one of the richest men in town. The last link can only be opened if you are logged in, but it shows the wealth of the Duke, including 68 lots of urban land, several palaces, and 300 lines of other items - what caught the eye was 188*MIR (Venetian Mirrors, sqm). These items alone have a midprice of 1.8 mil and they cost even more to import!
Going back to his own items, Martti is not doing that badly, but it clearly seems that the market for lowball bids has dried at least for now. Nothing has been acquired. Perhaps it was just an opportune time to first be able to buy cheaply and then they were bought from Martti's asks, at double price in many cases.
But if that is going to end, Martti needs new strategies for wealth increase. Filling up the maximum allowed quota of DIS items becomes a priority. So the bid is increased and closer to the dividend season he might buy at ask, even. In addition a careful ironing of the green suit, and off to the Gilded Goose, where all the nobles meet, and might provide hints for further business...
The House of Magnificence features a 12-25 m high, 576-sqm exhibition hall, which upon construction was 7 times as large a hall (by volume) than anything before. It continued to hold the record for the largest hall (both by area and volume) in the town for 69 years, until San Pietro (later: Cathedral of) surpassed it in 1599, in both. These 2 buildings have remarkable similarities in that they feature a crypt and the piano nobile (main floor) is on top, and is very high, with mainly no additional floors above. Both also have a gilded dome, 1,000s of CKG hammered to thin sheet and pounded to stick to wood plates, attached to framing, which is on top of the stone-arch dome, set on massive pillars. Such a dome would cost 500-1,000 mil to make these days, mainly due to the gold remodel charge of 10% of the gold's value (leaf gold and gold thread in suits have the highest charge - minting remodel charge is 0.1%).
The town had only 4 buildings with gilded roof, and after the destruction of the Royal Palace in the fire of 1623, only 3 remain. The 3rd is the Centenary Jubilee Theatre by HSH The Duke of OZ, one of the richest men in town. The last link can only be opened if you are logged in, but it shows the wealth of the Duke, including 68 lots of urban land, several palaces, and 300 lines of other items - what caught the eye was 188*MIR (Venetian Mirrors, sqm). These items alone have a midprice of 1.8 mil and they cost even more to import!
Going back to his own items, Martti is not doing that badly, but it clearly seems that the market for lowball bids has dried at least for now. Nothing has been acquired. Perhaps it was just an opportune time to first be able to buy cheaply and then they were bought from Martti's asks, at double price in many cases.
But if that is going to end, Martti needs new strategies for wealth increase. Filling up the maximum allowed quota of DIS items becomes a priority. So the bid is increased and closer to the dividend season he might buy at ask, even. In addition a careful ironing of the green suit, and off to the Gilded Goose, where all the nobles meet, and might provide hints for further business...
keskiviikko 3. helmikuuta 2016
May 1625 - Day 23
The Jubilee is on! The items list shows King's gifts of 10*CT1625 (Gaming Token), 12*W1608 (official wine of the Jubilee), and QJB - Quasquibicentenary Jubilee Badge - which is also the first Decoration Martti has received.
Let's talk about them first. Decorations are the blanket term for:
- Badges
- Medals
- Titles
- Honors
- Orders (of chivalry).
Apart from Badges, all the rest tend to accrue to the same people, nobles, who compete with the number and prestige (wear order) of their Decorations. The Title field (which until now has shown simply "Martti"), can now be properly updated to "Novice Martti, QJB", so this is done right away. The Full name remains Martti, because the custom is to add the level title only when L6 Master is reached, so then he would become "Master Martti". Shortname remains the same except in exceptional circumstances, eg. when the King dies, the new one may assume the shortname "King" and the old one will revert to his personal name "rpietila" (seldom used in the game and never as shortname). Shortnames must be unique, not start with a number, and be no more than 12 characters in length.
The commercial side of the Jubilee - much awaited - turned, at least so far, to be a little below expectations. The value of King's gifts is 1.4 mil at bid, so of course it is nice (being more than the annual salary) but honestly, a little skimpy even. The ones who were invited to the Throne Room (not that Martti could even conceive such an honor), got a drink package worth 4 mil, the higher levels got more gaming tokens, the people 225 years old or more (jealousy is strong here, as Martti is 18 himself, having been born in the 1600s, instead of the 1300s as the ones spoken of) got pieces of art worth the minimum of 20 mil, etc. etc. - the King is truly taking care of his people, it's just that everyone gets according to his status. [And the King adds that he gave 225*RAF-1 tickets to all for the Jubilee already before Martti was even in the game; this gift alone was worth 4.5 mil]
Because market and health did not pose special challenges (Martti's cash balance is almost 5 mil due to low bids not hitting the same way as in the "year of trouble 1623" (when we had a war and the palace burned down)) it is time to think about the sword. Current conversion rules for new swords show that Martti's most realistic option is an Imported Powerful smallsword (K6), which normally would cost 50 IC (about 9 mil) but since Martti has never owned a sword before, a full-point discount to 20 IC (3.6 mil) is available. It is a large investment for sure, but Martti makes a resolve to start buying IC slowly at bid and will convert once he reaches the needed amount, 20 IC.
Let's talk about them first. Decorations are the blanket term for:
- Badges
- Medals
- Titles
- Honors
- Orders (of chivalry).
Apart from Badges, all the rest tend to accrue to the same people, nobles, who compete with the number and prestige (wear order) of their Decorations. The Title field (which until now has shown simply "Martti"), can now be properly updated to "Novice Martti, QJB", so this is done right away. The Full name remains Martti, because the custom is to add the level title only when L6 Master is reached, so then he would become "Master Martti". Shortname remains the same except in exceptional circumstances, eg. when the King dies, the new one may assume the shortname "King" and the old one will revert to his personal name "rpietila" (seldom used in the game and never as shortname). Shortnames must be unique, not start with a number, and be no more than 12 characters in length.
The commercial side of the Jubilee - much awaited - turned, at least so far, to be a little below expectations. The value of King's gifts is 1.4 mil at bid, so of course it is nice (being more than the annual salary) but honestly, a little skimpy even. The ones who were invited to the Throne Room (not that Martti could even conceive such an honor), got a drink package worth 4 mil, the higher levels got more gaming tokens, the people 225 years old or more (jealousy is strong here, as Martti is 18 himself, having been born in the 1600s, instead of the 1300s as the ones spoken of) got pieces of art worth the minimum of 20 mil, etc. etc. - the King is truly taking care of his people, it's just that everyone gets according to his status. [And the King adds that he gave 225*RAF-1 tickets to all for the Jubilee already before Martti was even in the game; this gift alone was worth 4.5 mil]
Because market and health did not pose special challenges (Martti's cash balance is almost 5 mil due to low bids not hitting the same way as in the "year of trouble 1623" (when we had a war and the palace burned down)) it is time to think about the sword. Current conversion rules for new swords show that Martti's most realistic option is an Imported Powerful smallsword (K6), which normally would cost 50 IC (about 9 mil) but since Martti has never owned a sword before, a full-point discount to 20 IC (3.6 mil) is available. It is a large investment for sure, but Martti makes a resolve to start buying IC slowly at bid and will convert once he reaches the needed amount, 20 IC.
tiistai 2. helmikuuta 2016
March 1625 - Day 21-22
Martti did not have time to login at all yesterday, but that is completely fine. The game is designed so that it is mandatory to login only once per every calendar week, to do the health challenge all at once, and lose some bonus for doing it, but no spectacular penalty. (In fact, Martti is the only one of the about 10 GM-played characters at the moment, who actually consumes every day.)
If the game interests you, but even a weekly commitment does not feel right, it is possible to start a Foreign Owned Corporation (FOC). This is a standalone corporation account (not owned by anything ingame, so only owned and controlled by the one who has the access to the account. The advantage is to never need to do health, disadvantage is to miss most of the bonuses that are usually aimed towards PC only. But it is good for investing and betting for the game's success because it is easy to setup and may earliest expire after 350 years of inactivity. The UI, controls and commands are completely same as with player characters. This account type has a 50 XMR flat setup fee. If interested, contact admins for deposit.
Now, the much-awaited thing happened: Martti's character Level shows: L4.
This was completely planned and expected, but still feels good of course! The next promotion has more achievement required: Martti needs to have a house and suitable experience. Also the minimum age is 20 and the target age for Expert L5 is 25 years. So it is expected that it will take 2-7 years, but can take even longer, to reach this level.
Getting there by 20 is probably difficult and requires tying up all the money to house in an early age. But waiting too long is not good either. The Baron promotion happens from Master and closes latest in the age of 45. After that, Masters will promote Wizards L7, which is of course good, but getting to Baron and Earl (Martti's lifetime goal), is very difficult anymore.
So recursively engineering from there, the promotion to Baron L13 should happen about 40, which means that Master L6 needs to be about 30, and therefore it fits neatly in place if Expert L5 could be got at 22 years, in 4 years. That should be doable since Martti is actually quite wealthy already, having lived his first years in opportune times.
The "4-year plan" will therefore consist on:
1. Buy/build a house that at minimum meets the level promotion criteria.
2. Always wear a green suit, never get caught in poor peoples' clothes (or without clothes, which happens if the Moth ate your suit, and after 1 year the bailiff will fine you for indecency if new ones are not bought meantime).
3. Buy a sword. There are many personal things that can be bought, and Martti would like a horse, a service of Ming China, collection of coins, red suit, boots, etc. But all costs money and/or IC, and is either behind deposit or hard work. Since Martti has decided on the latter, he must first work hard, and the betterment of living standard will probably be possible in the later years, God willing.
4. Gain experience and explore all possibilities to enhance bankroll, taking even large risks if the expected value is good.
Why Sword is a priority is that Martti is young and in a good physical shape. Training in swordsmanship may give him the possibility to join the army, which will (depending on the situation) allow gains of loot and in social standing (in the ancient times, every PC was Knighted on the spot, now only based on valor in battle), or an untimely disability or death. When Skills game module comes (which will happen while Martti is still in battleworthy age), those who have had a sword for some years gain a nice starting value to the skill. The international situation is troubled and anything may come up.
This is the Quasquibicentenary (225th) Jubilee year, so because so many interesting things are going on, the health challenge and petty market making are not reported. Only interesting things are.
Success Tracker
Age: 18/60? (at present, it looks possible to live to be 60, since diseases are not implemented yet, and Martti has good wealth base to keep himself nourished with the usual foodstuffs even in times of a tough health challenge and/or disrupted market ("famine"))
Level: 4/14 (only 4 actual promotions are needed though, if following normal schedule, since L6 promotes to L13 often)
Wealth: 25/1000 (9.2% annual gain in wealth is needed for 42 years to get to the target, so while the start exceeded expectations, it will get difficult very soon because the "unlimited" earning opportunities return only 0.2-5%, compared to the "limited" ones at 10-15%. Martti has maxxed out his limited ones already.)
If the game interests you, but even a weekly commitment does not feel right, it is possible to start a Foreign Owned Corporation (FOC). This is a standalone corporation account (not owned by anything ingame, so only owned and controlled by the one who has the access to the account. The advantage is to never need to do health, disadvantage is to miss most of the bonuses that are usually aimed towards PC only. But it is good for investing and betting for the game's success because it is easy to setup and may earliest expire after 350 years of inactivity. The UI, controls and commands are completely same as with player characters. This account type has a 50 XMR flat setup fee. If interested, contact admins for deposit.
Now, the much-awaited thing happened: Martti's character Level shows: L4.
This was completely planned and expected, but still feels good of course! The next promotion has more achievement required: Martti needs to have a house and suitable experience. Also the minimum age is 20 and the target age for Expert L5 is 25 years. So it is expected that it will take 2-7 years, but can take even longer, to reach this level.
Getting there by 20 is probably difficult and requires tying up all the money to house in an early age. But waiting too long is not good either. The Baron promotion happens from Master and closes latest in the age of 45. After that, Masters will promote Wizards L7, which is of course good, but getting to Baron and Earl (Martti's lifetime goal), is very difficult anymore.
So recursively engineering from there, the promotion to Baron L13 should happen about 40, which means that Master L6 needs to be about 30, and therefore it fits neatly in place if Expert L5 could be got at 22 years, in 4 years. That should be doable since Martti is actually quite wealthy already, having lived his first years in opportune times.
The "4-year plan" will therefore consist on:
1. Buy/build a house that at minimum meets the level promotion criteria.
2. Always wear a green suit, never get caught in poor peoples' clothes (or without clothes, which happens if the Moth ate your suit, and after 1 year the bailiff will fine you for indecency if new ones are not bought meantime).
3. Buy a sword. There are many personal things that can be bought, and Martti would like a horse, a service of Ming China, collection of coins, red suit, boots, etc. But all costs money and/or IC, and is either behind deposit or hard work. Since Martti has decided on the latter, he must first work hard, and the betterment of living standard will probably be possible in the later years, God willing.
4. Gain experience and explore all possibilities to enhance bankroll, taking even large risks if the expected value is good.
Why Sword is a priority is that Martti is young and in a good physical shape. Training in swordsmanship may give him the possibility to join the army, which will (depending on the situation) allow gains of loot and in social standing (in the ancient times, every PC was Knighted on the spot, now only based on valor in battle), or an untimely disability or death. When Skills game module comes (which will happen while Martti is still in battleworthy age), those who have had a sword for some years gain a nice starting value to the skill. The international situation is troubled and anything may come up.
This is the Quasquibicentenary (225th) Jubilee year, so because so many interesting things are going on, the health challenge and petty market making are not reported. Only interesting things are.
Success Tracker
Age: 18/60? (at present, it looks possible to live to be 60, since diseases are not implemented yet, and Martti has good wealth base to keep himself nourished with the usual foodstuffs even in times of a tough health challenge and/or disrupted market ("famine"))
Level: 4/14 (only 4 actual promotions are needed though, if following normal schedule, since L6 promotes to L13 often)
Wealth: 25/1000 (9.2% annual gain in wealth is needed for 42 years to get to the target, so while the start exceeded expectations, it will get difficult very soon because the "unlimited" earning opportunities return only 0.2-5%, compared to the "limited" ones at 10-15%. Martti has maxxed out his limited ones already.)
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