Village Attempt

[Lothaudus]

Well this is what I intend on doing.

1. Found a Village
2. Make it huge (have different districts and everything, some timber houses, or cabins, or mansions, or mixed)
3. Make sure my village has access to all the resources (i.e Metal, Wood, Food)
4. Create Jobs
5. Create Salary for Jobs
6. Use the Coins as they are meant for, Currency.

Nothing wrong with your intentions.

Note: I understand I will need people to keep my Village intact, and before that even happens I will first make sure my village is completely built the way I intend on having it, with the housing and all. Then I intend on inviting newcomers, or hermits, or anyone for that matter to what I will call "The Probation District". This is where newcomers to the village will reside until they are able to pay for their own home of their choice inside our first line of walls in a resident section (District 1, District Alpha, or whatever). I plan on having at least 5 different resident districts with each having a difference or offering more such as, an Oven, a Yard, a Tree, Furnished, etc...

Bad idea. Right now, I can start an alt, find my own piece of land that's as large as I like and build whatever housing / Mansion / farming / oven / tree combination I want. We have massive 40 x 40 sqm plots at Codexia and we still have a few people living outside the City Walls because they wanted more land or didn't want to be constrained by "the plan". It's too cheap and easy to build things in-game like planting trees and what-not. People can do that stuff and get that stuff themselves very easily. I can go on a tree-planting crusade and cover my plot with trees in a day just as soon as I've got the clay, which also isn't hard to find.

You're better off changing your "This house here has a tree so it costs more!" into different sized plots. Have an area where there are just houses where people start off. Provide a bed, some cupboards and a chest. Maybe even a cellar. Stock them with tools so it's a nice starting home to get them off their feet.

Then have different districts with different sized plots. 20x20, 25x25, 30x30, 35x35, 40x40 whatever. Larger plots "cost more" of course but they should be allowed to do whatever they want in that plot to make it their own. When a villager leaves, it's easy now to organise a demolition crew to come in and knock everything down for the next person (or wait for their stuff to decay).

Now of course I would be the "Mayor" in a sense and make sure everything is going well, Farmers, Hoarders, Cooks, Builders, etc... make sure all these tasks are being done regularly and each job task will have its salary in coins.

We have farmers with mining alts. Miners with farming alts. Cooks who Hunt, Hunters who Sew... There's no skill specialisation as such. We do have someone who has "the best farming" skill in Town and we do hassle them for better Q shit, like-wise we have someone with the highest Smithing who we hassle when we want good Q metal shit but for the most part, people do their own thing as they choose (or will make stuff for someone if asked). And they mix it up when they get bored. People are willing to help you out as long as they're satisfied that you're doing something in return. Be that paving a road, providing food, mapping, finding resources, helping them when they ask in return, whatever.

Trying to lock people into specific professions is A Bad Idea™.

1. How will you keep other people from making coins?
Simple, Metal is not for sale, and I am in charge of Mining.

I'm going to come into your town with a chest full of coins from our own mine and ruin your economy.

... and you're going to need help with the mining. You'll be making chests, metal tools, Wrought and Steel all day and all night long if you try and do it all yourself. Let alone coins. And it still won't be enough.

Also, you skipped question 3.

6. What is "The Probation District"? How is it different?
Probation District is meant to analyze new members of the village and their integrity. Your homes will not have a gate, they will not be
furnished, and will have access to the Main Village on certain times

Sounds more like a concentration camp. I'm going to setup just outside your city and mooch off your people.

7. What about the time difference? How do you know I have completed my job?
I am aware of time difference and that is part of the Probational Period. I will assign people in charge of making sure you have done your
job, I will be one of those people.

This Is Not A Fun Job™. You really need to have a "if they don't do, they don't do it" attitude and if they really just mooch off everyone and do nothing in return, then consider ostracising them from the community and kicking their ass out. We're lucky in that we're a pretty chill group who help each other out and can all work together to get shit done when it's needed. If I had to monitor that and needed people making sure other people were doing their "jobs", it becomes less like fun in a game and more like work. You'll lose most of your villagers that way.

People are generally willing to help provided they understand the benefit it will bring. And those that help more than others are better respected.

9. So what if no one buys anything? how will currency keep revolving?
I will issue a call for spending if the time ever comes where the Village "has no more funds"

Power is given by the people. If your people hate you, you won't survive long.

what do you guys think of this?

You're trying to manage it too much. The trick to successful management is to create an environment where people want to do the work. If you add threats behind that, you're generating a negative atmosphere that only pisses people off and pushes them away, or makes them give a key to the local raiders.

If you limit coins, the simple truth is your villagers will trade with each other. Someone makes a batch of Deer Dogs? Well, they'll trade those with someone else for whatever it is they need and they'll forget about coins. You're better off sticking to designing the village (which will mean paving it out), giving away plots and letting people help each other naturally. Then focus your attention on ensuring the village is planned in a way that it has everything it needs (like say, by not making the mistake Brodgar made and forgetting about plots designated for tree plantations), then acting as the town leader and "problem solver". Let people raise complaints about members who they think aren't pulling their fair share and deal with them appropriately (which unfortunately, a lot of villages at the moment seem to be on the "KILL THEM! ZOMG THEY TOOK WHEAT SEEDS" side of things).

[DatOneGuy]

I must say, I'm wondering why everyone is so worried about whether it'll turn into something socialist, communist, or elsewise.

I had tried something similar, including giving people pots, wasn't so worried about a setup.

I'm going to tell you that you will run into a lot of problems getting it setup if you want it big enough for all of this, without protection you'll have to start huge, because expansion will be a pain in the ass having to break your palisade/brick walls, to expand for new members.

Having to start off so big will be a huge defence problem early on, not to mention obtaining what's necessary in metal for a brickwall ( bone glue is easy if you're doing palisades though).

If you do this and it works out though, help me out, should work out nicely.

[stryfe1986]

Well this is what I intend on doing.

1. Found a Village
2. Make it huge (have different districts and everything, some timber houses, or cabins, or mansions, or mixed)
3. Make sure my village has access to all the resources (i.e Metal, Wood, Food)
4. Create Jobs
5. Create Salary for Jobs
6. Use the Coins as they are meant for, Currency.

Nothing wrong with your intentions.

Note: I understand I will need people to keep my Village intact, and before that even happens I will first make sure my village is completely built the way I intend on having it, with the housing and all. Then I intend on inviting newcomers, or hermits, or anyone for that matter to what I will call "The Probation District". This is where newcomers to the village will reside until they are able to pay for their own home of their choice inside our first line of walls in a resident section (District 1, District Alpha, or whatever). I plan on having at least 5 different resident districts with each having a difference or offering more such as, an Oven, a Yard, a Tree, Furnished, etc...

Bad idea. Right now, I can start an alt, find my own piece of land that's as large as I like and build whatever housing / Mansion / farming / oven / tree combination I want. We have massive 40 x 40 sqm plots at Codexia and we still have a few people living outside the City Walls because they wanted more land or didn't want to be constrained by "the plan". It's too cheap and easy to build things in-game like planting trees and what-not. People can do that stuff and get that stuff themselves very easily. I can go on a tree-planting crusade and cover my plot with trees in a day just as soon as I've got the clay, which also isn't hard to find.

You're better off changing your "This house here has a tree so it costs more!" into different sized plots. Have an area where there are just houses where people start off. Provide a bed, some cupboards and a chest. Maybe even a cellar. Stock them with tools so it's a nice starting home to get them off their feet.

Then have different districts with different sized plots. 20x20, 25x25, 30x30, 35x35, 40x40 whatever. Larger plots "cost more" of course but they should be allowed to do whatever they want in that plot to make it their own. When a villager leaves, it's easy now to organise a demolition crew to come in and knock everything down for the next person (or wait for their stuff to decay).

Now of course I would be the "Mayor" in a sense and make sure everything is going well, Farmers, Hoarders, Cooks, Builders, etc... make sure all these tasks are being done regularly and each job task will have its salary in coins.

We have farmers with mining alts. Miners with farming alts. Cooks who Hunt, Hunters who Sew... There's no skill specialisation as such. We do have someone who has "the best farming" skill in Town and we do hassle them for better Q shit, like-wise we have someone with the highest Smithing who we hassle when we want good Q metal shit but for the most part, people do their own thing as they choose (or will make stuff for someone if asked). And they mix it up when they get bored. People are willing to help you out as long as they're satisfied that you're doing something in return. Be that paving a road, providing food, mapping, finding resources, helping them when they ask in return, whatever.

Trying to lock people into specific professions is A Bad Idea™.

1. How will you keep other people from making coins?
Simple, Metal is not for sale, and I am in charge of Mining.

I'm going to come into your town with a chest full of coins from our own mine and ruin your economy.

... and you're going to need help with the mining. You'll be making chests, metal tools, Wrought and Steel all day and all night long if you try and do it all yourself. Let alone coins. And it still won't be enough.

Also, you skipped question 3.

6. What is "The Probation District"? How is it different?
Probation District is meant to analyze new members of the village and their integrity. Your homes will not have a gate, they will not be
furnished, and will have access to the Main Village on certain times

Sounds more like a concentration camp. I'm going to setup just outside your city and mooch off your people.

7. What about the time difference? How do you know I have completed my job?
I am aware of time difference and that is part of the Probational Period. I will assign people in charge of making sure you have done your
job, I will be one of those people.

This Is Not A Fun Job™. You really need to have a "if they don't do, they don't do it" attitude and if they really just mooch off everyone and do nothing in return, then consider ostracising them from the community and kicking their ass out. We're lucky in that we're a pretty chill group who help each other out and can all work together to get shit done when it's needed. If I had to monitor that and needed people making sure other people were doing their "jobs", it becomes less like fun in a game and more like work. You'll lose most of your villagers that way.

People are generally willing to help provided they understand the benefit it will bring. And those that help more than others are better respected.

9. So what if no one buys anything? how will currency keep revolving?
I will issue a call for spending if the time ever comes where the Village "has no more funds"

Power is given by the people. If your people hate you, you won't survive long.

what do you guys think of this?

You're trying to manage it too much. The trick to successful management is to create an environment where people want to do the work. If you add threats behind that, you're generating a negative atmosphere that only pisses people off and pushes them away, or makes them give a key to the local raiders.

If you limit coins, the simple truth is your villagers will trade with each other. Someone makes a batch of Deer Dogs? Well, they'll trade those with someone else for whatever it is they need and they'll forget about coins. You're better off sticking to designing the village (which will mean paving it out), giving away plots and letting people help each other naturally. Then focus your attention on ensuring the village is planned in a way that it has everything it needs (like say, by not making the mistake Brodgar made and forgetting about plots designated for tree plantations), then acting as the town leader and "problem solver". Let people raise complaints about members who they think aren't pulling their fair share and deal with them appropriately (which unfortunately, a lot of villages at the moment seem to be on the "KILL THEM! ZOMG THEY TOOK WHEAT SEEDS" side of things).

This exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for, thanks a whole lot this was very helpful. I mean I knew for a fact I had some holes in the idea, and the whole plots thing was something I was considering. I also know that I would get people who will have a high proficiency in more than one skill. I had planed to have sections in the village where people were free to work on any skill they would desire, having a loom, ovens, thinks of that sort.

Far as military, I did want to have certain people including myself be the "Security", or any villager for that matter, because in my thought everything inside the village was a product of the villagers hard work.

But I also think this idea is too big for the size of our community. I am no expert in this game just yet, I am still learning new things almost every time I log in I do intend on giving this a shot but it will be a long time coming, but with all this advice and suggestions as well as feedback in general its great, now I can go back to the drawing board.

[stryfe1986]

Who controls the prizes? You alone/the government?

No, This is what the website i was speaking about is for.

Yes I will have an established pricing already but it is with the villagers ideals where this can fluctuate, to accommodate a "supply and demand" but villager satisfaction as cliche as that sounds

[Zamte]

I think largely the reason people don't see it is because... it's very well, forced. It's like you're trying to shoehorn a currency system in for the sake of doing so. I understand this is what you stated, but I also don't think you quite understand what's going to happen.

Stalls are going to sell very little, even if you have a bunch of good stuff, because nobody wants to come out to the middle of nowhere to visit a town in hopes they have something worthwhile. You will either need to do this in a spot with a lot of neighboring villages or neighboring claims, or hope you're really really really lucky. What will occur is, people will trade services and goods, except you're giving them jobs, and giving them currency. The currency then becomes nothing more but a trade lubricant. Rather than just say "Hey Mr. Cook, would you like some wheat? I have too much!" and having him be gracious and return the favor with some bread, I now have to sell it to him, then buy the bread, and to enable me to do so, I have to meet your expectations by doing a job.

The thing is that when we do work around our villages, we do it for the fun of it, the betterment of it, the excitement of eventually meeting our goals, and because we want to. As soon as you make it a requirement it immediately becomes a task and a chore, and something that's not in the control of the individual, and then it becomes stressful and unwanted. This would work if it was in a system where it was actually beneficial, where they gained something by doing it. However if all that is going to occur is the same coins are going to cycle around inside of your town, then they serve no purpose and the stress is unneeded. People will realize this and they will leave, because they would rather play the same game for fun with people who just do favors for each other and support each other, with no strings attached.