Bounty System discussion

[Most Lee Harmless]

I've said my piece and given my reasons : I know banks and goldsmiths needs vast resources invested : I have already invested vast resources in them : they aint making the money to invest even more vast resources in them. So I shall stop and write it off to experience. I shall not grow a bank that can sustain loans or compete in credit exchanges and such : I shall not grow a goldsmiths that can supply the market for the supposed growing demand with new uses for gold bars : I shall not build ships to enable newer players to get a decent start in the game : I shall not gift ships to new players, nor drop coin in their purses, nor aid players in distress with well-time generosities : cos for all that, I need an income to pay for it.
I can survive with 3 fleets and make enough to cover my daily bills : maybe I'll make the occasional nice score in a raid. but my contribution to the game, a contribution which , I believe, has helped many players both new and old, will be minimalised : c'est la vie.

[Jim Hawkins]

Its not often I write on here but I am sorry that some players are not happy with the development of the game.

For my point I am very happy with the way the game is going and welcome the new features. I have devised a way to make 20 plus million a day. I do buy and sell ships and make to sell. I do produce gold and make a profit. I do get attacked and survive. I am developing my bank with profits and still have gold saved in all the banks.

As in real life you have to adapt to changes and develop new strategies. The bounties feature is new and will settle down as did the ship prices. Building an empire takes time


Jim Hawkoins

[Most Lee Harmless]

I think, Jim, that those who made their big pile before these changes will survive and prosper : those trying to make their pile now will be less successful. If I am struggling to make a level 13 GS pay its way,..what chance a new player starting one today? Same for banks. Do we then just write that off for anyone new to the game? Is it just a feature for those who already had a billion buried (and that was years of accumulated profits) when the hide-outs were created and introduced? It seems so, in which case, so be it, but I dont think its a good path for the game to be following.
You cant create a feature which demands massive resources and income to build.. then turn around and say another feature had to be nerfed because folk earned too much from it : where were they to get these massive resources from? Skirmishes?

[Roberts]

Question:

Currently there is a 100k Bounty on KarKar per Hostile Natives cast : So what happens If I cast Hostile Natives on him, then purify it with Serenity?... As I am not " cancelling " it... I'm purifying instead...

[Captain Jack]

I think that you are missing some key developments here.

Obviously, ship market, banks, goldsmiths, bounties and the rest of the features cannot be blamed for decrease in profit or limited avenues. Obviously all these count favorable towards this problem.

The only change out of all that counts against, is the captains requirement. It is tough, but it is part of the game now. It really does not deserve this much attention though and it cannot be blamed as when it was implemented, less than 10 people were above their limit. After all, expansion beyond 200 ships should be a hard task.

If you are really looking for something to blame here, then blame GOLD BARS. That's the KEY figure you are missing in your calculations. Some months ago, gold bars were selling for 3k gc a bar. When the price dropped to like 2.5k I think, it was pushed again to 2.9k as we wanted to help players get goldsmiths (not many grabbed the opportunity I must say - to be fair).

Now the gold bar price is around 2.3-2.4. This price pushes many not to operate their goldsmiths at all. This creates more profit for those operating them of course but most importantly, the flow of gold coins into the game economy is far less than it used to be. This will continue till the 3rd gold bar price revision, which will be the last. This revision will most probably take place once the gold bars price reach about 2k overall. This particular gold price update has been also announced through Avonmora Herald.

If things are otherwise, please let me know, I am here to hear you out and seek solutions.

[Captain Jack]

Question:

Currently there is a 100k Bounty on KarKar per Hostile Natives cast : So what happens If I cast Hostile Natives on him, then purify it with Serenity?... As I am not " cancelling " it... I'm purifying instead...

Do you really see a flaw there? Am I required to answer this? I thought that experienced players like you would already have the answer to this question. I hope some other player replies this to you, as it really would sound bad if I do.

[Roberts]

Question:

Currently there is a 100k Bounty on KarKar per Hostile Natives cast : So what happens If I cast Hostile Natives on him, then purify it with Serenity?... As I am not " cancelling " it... I'm purifying instead...

Do you really see a flaw there? Am I required to answer this? I thought that experienced players like you would already have the answer to this question. I hope some other player replies this to you, as it really would sound bad if I do.

All I ask for is a boat that sails...

I am not experienced, I am just a new player that likes fighting

[Stan Rogers]

If you are really looking for something to blame here, then blame GOLD BARS. That's the KEY figure you are missing in your calculations. Some months ago, gold bars were selling for 3k gc a bar. When the price dropped to like 2.5k I think, it was pushed again to 2.9k as we wanted to help players get goldsmiths (not many grabbed the opportunity I must say - to be fair).

Now the gold bar price is around 2.3-2.4. This price pushes many not to operate their goldsmiths at all. This creates more profit for those operating them of course but most importantly, the flow of gold coins into the game economy is far less than it used to be. This will continue till the 3rd gold bar price revision, which will be the last. This revision will most probably take place once the gold bars price reach about 2k overall. This particular gold price update has been also announced through Avonmora Herald.

If things are otherwise, please let me know, I am here to hear you out and seek solutions.

I think you are zeroing in on the problem ! It's a "catch 22" situation where the current gold producers are unable to produce or choose not to produce the needed GB to prompt an adjustment and the 2nd tier lvl 5-15 gold producers cannot earn enough profit vs. risk to develop any further.and make that jump over to profitability.

Hey Pinball, you demonstrated your mathematical abilities earlier... maybe you can do it but hard to make a profit that way !

[Yosarian]

If things are otherwise, please let me know, I am here to hear you out and seek solutions.

in my mind the question remains, where do I as an experienced merchant go from here - there are no current avenues available to me as I cannot raise the capital to get into banking or goldsmithing nor is there profit in it at this point anyway

earlier you reference: The pile sitting... An era where you will have need for loans and where each gold spending decision will be more important than before. An era where you will not be able to buy it all like before hideout. Where people simply were sinking billions of gold coins to create monstrous warehouses. I believe this new Era is far better and it will prove far more entertaining.

but the only thing that i have heard of this that is vaguely interesting is the academies, and even the focus on that is not for the merchant

the concern, as Danik has alluded to, is that all recent developments have either been neutral or anti-merchant and so what is there to make me believe future releases will be any different - bottom line is that there has been no discussion about a future enhancement that i can see as a benefit to me or an avenue I would want to pursue

[Hawk]

in my mind the question remains, where do I as an experienced merchant go from here - there are no current avenues available to me as I cannot raise the capital to get into banking or goldsmithing nor is there profit in it at this point anyway

earlier you reference: The pile sitting... An era where you will have need for loans and where each gold spending decision will be more important than before. An era where you will not be able to buy it all like before hideout. Where people simply were sinking billions of gold coins to create monstrous warehouses. I believe this new Era is far better and it will prove far more entertaining.

but the only thing that i have heard of this that is vaguely interesting is the academies, and even the focus on that is not for the merchant

the concern, as Danik has alluded to, is that all recent developments have either been neutral or anti-merchant and so what is there to make me believe future releases will be any different - bottom line is that there has been no discussion about a future enhancement that i can see as a benefit to me or an avenue I would want to pursue

What about nations and influence?