Dec 1st, 2015, 08:46 PM
MCP Economic Reconstructions
Hi everyone, before I begin I'd like to state that I've put a good amount of thought into these ideas and opinions and I would appreciate various constructive feedback from all that feel welcome to do so. I would also like to say that most of these ideas require radical reconstructions and more advanced and lengthy coding projects but are still all viable options to fix the problem(s) that will be stated. I will not provide a TL;DR for the follow reasons: it will ruin the main idea if I condense it to a smaller version, there are many facts and details that must be addressed.
Let's begin.
Economic Problems in Mainstream Prison Servers
A prison server is designed to have players work in various sections of a prison to make money, eventually ranking up to their freedom. Almost all of the prison server's I've observed and played in, it can be assumed that the vast majority generates in game money from the server and hands it out into the player's economy. This dooms prison economy's to inflation. (economic inflation: inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services.)
As a result of constantly adding money into player's wallets, the economy will inflate, as seen before. An extreme example of this is when MCP had players owning upwards of twenty million dollars from the abuse of taking money from the server. Currently, MCP only has limited ways to recollect money from players to slow down inflation. Such ways include renting cells, buying from the shops, purchasing plots, etc. Beside that, the economy will continue to inflate until it gets to an extreme point again. Suggestions below will explain different ways to fix this problem in interesting, seemingly never-done-before ways.
*Addition ? As the server economy inflates, the cost for player ranks must follow in order to equal the prices out. As seen now, five thousand isn't much and can literally be spent and regained in less than a minute. However, increasing the cost for ranking up is unfair for prisoners, for they do not have the resources to gain a lot of money compared to Free+ players. This is the problem.
First Option:
Taxes
Taxes on general things such as plots, faction land, etc, will definitely contribute to the reduction of inflation on the economy. It will do this by annually taking money from player's wallets, allowing less money to be circulated in the economy. This will keep prices at a reasonable price. However, this will not do all justice and is only a small factor to reducing economic inflation. If taxes are taking massive amounts of money from people, it will be extremely undesirable and unfair to players, so it must be kept as a reasonable amount. This reasonable amount will not control inflation, so there are other options to stack or choose.
Second Option:
Astral's Inflation Block
All credit to Astral, for in his words, ?another idea I've suggested is that the price of items changes based on the frequency of the sale. for instance, if someone sells a stack of cobble, the price falls to $0.99 per stone instead of a dollar. This would have to slowly rise back up again, but it would do two things: slow down the inflation of the currency, and add another element to the economy. People would 100% hold off on selling their emeralds in the hopes of getting a better price, and this would keep money in items instead of in the currency and, by extension, the more accessible economy.? In other words, he suggests adding a way to balance ways to gaining money. It is quite obvious that emeralds are a huge source of income on MCP. With this method of inflation control, it will be impossible to do the degree of emerald farming that is happening now, because the more people sell emeralds, the more prices will drop. This forces players to constantly find and explore new ways to make money on the server. This is a very unique feature that I believe will be a huge benefit.
An example of this method on the server would work as such: If MCP only sold stone for 10$ a piece, dirt for 10$ a piece, and coal for 20$ a piece, the plan could work as follows. For every thousand dirt/stone blocks sold, it drops 0.1$ in value. For every 100 coal sold, it drops 0.1$ in value. If all players start selling coal like crazy, with a total of 10,000 coal sold, coal would be worth only 10 dollars, making it fair game with stone and dirt. If you desire, other items in the market could raise slightly in price, say, 0.01 value for every x amount sold elsewhere. Now, it is apparent that players should not sell coal that often as other items, making it impossible to gain profit off of one area indefinitely.
Third Option:
Server Balance
This is an idea I've created, which I think is a cool way to control economic inflation?and profit from it. I propose the server has a budget of it's own. Say the server just opened, it has 10,000,000$ in it's bank. Players will work in prison, getting money from the money in stock. Every time they get money from the server, it takes away from the 10,000,000$. Eventually, the server may run out if players get all the money from it. When a player tried to sell something, text appears in their chat saying the server is out of money. This is a horrible idea by itself, but it has a part two that makes it profitable and brilliant. Money can be put back into the server's budget by buying items from the server, such as regular shop items, plots, cells, taxes, etc. Unfortunately, this will not be enough to sustain the prison's balance to make it consistent for everyone.
To keep the prison's balance out of bankruptcy, there will be other ways to insert money into the system. This method will not prevent inflation, but it will accept the fact inflation is present, and will profit from it. Ways to insert money into the server's budget includes voting and donating. *Imagine?being a C prisoner and not being able to sell your items. But suddenly, you see a message: ?The prison is out of money, but vote here to put more money into it!? The C blocker, who wants to sell his damn items, will quickly vote. This will always make sure that people are voting, because if they don't, they won't be able to make money. Donating to put money into the prison obviously has it's own separate benefits, ranging from personal benefit to server investment.
Fourth Option:
Block Keepers
This is an idea I think I've mentioned before. Block Keepers are a totally different way of running a prison server. The idea: Each block has it's own section, and 'keepers' (NPC Villagers) giving instructions. A blacksmith NPC may ask for five stacks of coal and ten stacks of stone, or a lumberjack may ask for ten stacks of logs. When a prisoner completes these instructions, they are not rewarded with money, but instead, a certificate that will not leave their inventory until they rank up. Per each block, certain certificates will be needed to rank up. For example, to pass C block you will need a Blacksmith certificate MkI and a Lumberjack certificate MkI. To pass B block you might need A Crop Certificate MkI, a Lumberjack certificate MkII, and a Blacksmith certificate MkI and MkII. (The Mk's represent different blacksmiths, for they will give different tasks. The need to go back to previous blocks to complete certificates will encourage traffic in the prison.) Free+ will not be able to get certificates, but instead will be able to work for the NPC's for money, in which other systems to prevent inflation will be implemented. This system is an incredible idea, considering it protects prisoners from the economy inflation, making it impossible for other players to pay prisoners out of the prison. This idea removes the economy out of the reach of prisoners, making the prison experience forever to be unaltered by inflation.
*NOTE?It is easy to implement this system without radical building change to the prison. It is simple to put NPC's in smelting rooms, shop rooms, etc. Coding the project is the task at hand.
In a conclusion, MCP's economy is doomed to inflation unless it is reacted to. The options listed above are those that come to mind when thinking of a solution, and should be considered if they are possible to make. A stable economy keeps the prison experience 'real' and is an important part of a prison server. Thank you for reading and considering. I may have left some parts out, if you have any questions I will be sure to answer them in the comments below.
*NOTE?Please leave constructive feedback, I believe these ideas are valid and can be used to fix future problems that will entail.
*NOTE?I wrote this rather quickly, so don't be a grammar Nazi
Good-Bye!
Hi everyone, before I begin I'd like to state that I've put a good amount of thought into these ideas and opinions and I would appreciate various constructive feedback from all that feel welcome to do so. I would also like to say that most of these ideas require radical reconstructions and more advanced and lengthy coding projects but are still all viable options to fix the problem(s) that will be stated. I will not provide a TL;DR for the follow reasons: it will ruin the main idea if I condense it to a smaller version, there are many facts and details that must be addressed.
Let's begin.
Economic Problems in Mainstream Prison Servers
A prison server is designed to have players work in various sections of a prison to make money, eventually ranking up to their freedom. Almost all of the prison server's I've observed and played in, it can be assumed that the vast majority generates in game money from the server and hands it out into the player's economy. This dooms prison economy's to inflation. (economic inflation: inflation is a sustained increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. When the price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services.)
As a result of constantly adding money into player's wallets, the economy will inflate, as seen before. An extreme example of this is when MCP had players owning upwards of twenty million dollars from the abuse of taking money from the server. Currently, MCP only has limited ways to recollect money from players to slow down inflation. Such ways include renting cells, buying from the shops, purchasing plots, etc. Beside that, the economy will continue to inflate until it gets to an extreme point again. Suggestions below will explain different ways to fix this problem in interesting, seemingly never-done-before ways.
*Addition ? As the server economy inflates, the cost for player ranks must follow in order to equal the prices out. As seen now, five thousand isn't much and can literally be spent and regained in less than a minute. However, increasing the cost for ranking up is unfair for prisoners, for they do not have the resources to gain a lot of money compared to Free+ players. This is the problem.
First Option:
Taxes
Taxes on general things such as plots, faction land, etc, will definitely contribute to the reduction of inflation on the economy. It will do this by annually taking money from player's wallets, allowing less money to be circulated in the economy. This will keep prices at a reasonable price. However, this will not do all justice and is only a small factor to reducing economic inflation. If taxes are taking massive amounts of money from people, it will be extremely undesirable and unfair to players, so it must be kept as a reasonable amount. This reasonable amount will not control inflation, so there are other options to stack or choose.
Second Option:
Astral's Inflation Block
All credit to Astral, for in his words, ?another idea I've suggested is that the price of items changes based on the frequency of the sale. for instance, if someone sells a stack of cobble, the price falls to $0.99 per stone instead of a dollar. This would have to slowly rise back up again, but it would do two things: slow down the inflation of the currency, and add another element to the economy. People would 100% hold off on selling their emeralds in the hopes of getting a better price, and this would keep money in items instead of in the currency and, by extension, the more accessible economy.? In other words, he suggests adding a way to balance ways to gaining money. It is quite obvious that emeralds are a huge source of income on MCP. With this method of inflation control, it will be impossible to do the degree of emerald farming that is happening now, because the more people sell emeralds, the more prices will drop. This forces players to constantly find and explore new ways to make money on the server. This is a very unique feature that I believe will be a huge benefit.
An example of this method on the server would work as such: If MCP only sold stone for 10$ a piece, dirt for 10$ a piece, and coal for 20$ a piece, the plan could work as follows. For every thousand dirt/stone blocks sold, it drops 0.1$ in value. For every 100 coal sold, it drops 0.1$ in value. If all players start selling coal like crazy, with a total of 10,000 coal sold, coal would be worth only 10 dollars, making it fair game with stone and dirt. If you desire, other items in the market could raise slightly in price, say, 0.01 value for every x amount sold elsewhere. Now, it is apparent that players should not sell coal that often as other items, making it impossible to gain profit off of one area indefinitely.
Third Option:
Server Balance
This is an idea I've created, which I think is a cool way to control economic inflation?and profit from it. I propose the server has a budget of it's own. Say the server just opened, it has 10,000,000$ in it's bank. Players will work in prison, getting money from the money in stock. Every time they get money from the server, it takes away from the 10,000,000$. Eventually, the server may run out if players get all the money from it. When a player tried to sell something, text appears in their chat saying the server is out of money. This is a horrible idea by itself, but it has a part two that makes it profitable and brilliant. Money can be put back into the server's budget by buying items from the server, such as regular shop items, plots, cells, taxes, etc. Unfortunately, this will not be enough to sustain the prison's balance to make it consistent for everyone.
To keep the prison's balance out of bankruptcy, there will be other ways to insert money into the system. This method will not prevent inflation, but it will accept the fact inflation is present, and will profit from it. Ways to insert money into the server's budget includes voting and donating. *Imagine?being a C prisoner and not being able to sell your items. But suddenly, you see a message: ?The prison is out of money, but vote here to put more money into it!? The C blocker, who wants to sell his damn items, will quickly vote. This will always make sure that people are voting, because if they don't, they won't be able to make money. Donating to put money into the prison obviously has it's own separate benefits, ranging from personal benefit to server investment.
Fourth Option:
Block Keepers
This is an idea I think I've mentioned before. Block Keepers are a totally different way of running a prison server. The idea: Each block has it's own section, and 'keepers' (NPC Villagers) giving instructions. A blacksmith NPC may ask for five stacks of coal and ten stacks of stone, or a lumberjack may ask for ten stacks of logs. When a prisoner completes these instructions, they are not rewarded with money, but instead, a certificate that will not leave their inventory until they rank up. Per each block, certain certificates will be needed to rank up. For example, to pass C block you will need a Blacksmith certificate MkI and a Lumberjack certificate MkI. To pass B block you might need A Crop Certificate MkI, a Lumberjack certificate MkII, and a Blacksmith certificate MkI and MkII. (The Mk's represent different blacksmiths, for they will give different tasks. The need to go back to previous blocks to complete certificates will encourage traffic in the prison.) Free+ will not be able to get certificates, but instead will be able to work for the NPC's for money, in which other systems to prevent inflation will be implemented. This system is an incredible idea, considering it protects prisoners from the economy inflation, making it impossible for other players to pay prisoners out of the prison. This idea removes the economy out of the reach of prisoners, making the prison experience forever to be unaltered by inflation.
*NOTE?It is easy to implement this system without radical building change to the prison. It is simple to put NPC's in smelting rooms, shop rooms, etc. Coding the project is the task at hand.
In a conclusion, MCP's economy is doomed to inflation unless it is reacted to. The options listed above are those that come to mind when thinking of a solution, and should be considered if they are possible to make. A stable economy keeps the prison experience 'real' and is an important part of a prison server. Thank you for reading and considering. I may have left some parts out, if you have any questions I will be sure to answer them in the comments below.
*NOTE?Please leave constructive feedback, I believe these ideas are valid and can be used to fix future problems that will entail.
*NOTE?I wrote this rather quickly, so don't be a grammar Nazi
Good-Bye!
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