Guilds, Player Run Cities & Community

[Detomah]

Will there be guilds in the game?
Yes. Guilds will be available to enable large groups of people to formally organize.

How does one form a guild?
The exact number of people required to form a guild has not been decided upon at this time. However, the player that enters the command to form the guild will be asked to provide a name for the guild and will be allowed to setup the initial guild configuration. A cost is associated with forming a guild and mechanisms in the game will facilitate the collection of this cost from the initial founding group of players.

What types of configuration options are available to a guild?
There are many things that can help leaders operate a guild. Guilds have user-definable membership levels and multiple communication channels available to them. Access to those channels can be controlled on a membership level basis. Commands exist to facilitate the acceptance of new members, management of the guild vault, and commanding of the guilds NPC hired resources. As with communication channels, each guild command can be set on a membership level basis. In addition to this, guilds will be able to give out quests and assign titles to their members for accomplishing tasks.

Explain how a guild assigns titles to its members.
Guilds can create a number of titles that can be assigned to its members as it sees fit. Titles such as Heroic Warrior, Craftsman of the Month, Spiritual Leader and many others that we couldn't hope to think up can be created by the leadership of the guild and granted to a member of the guild. If the member accepts the title, it will be added to his/her list of titles that are possible to display. If the member declines the title it simply will not be available to them for display. Created titles fall under the same naming and wording guidelines of our naming policy.

Can a guild own buildings and land?
Yes. Guilds will be able to purchase land and place a guildhouse on it. It is then the responsibility of the guild to keep the maintenance of the guildhouse and the land current. Owning land and houses will have maintenance costs associated with them.

So guilds can collect dues. Is it voluntary or involuntary?
Dues can be collected either way. This is another configuration option, and can be set on a membership level basis. Not only can you collect them involuntarily, but you can also make dues either a set amount per period, or a percentage. Complete reporting of dues activity will be available to the guild’s leaders to help them track their income (i.e. who is paid what, when, running balances for all members) and plan for future growth.

Will guild information be available on the web as with cities?
Yes. When a guild is created, web space will be created on the My.AgesOfAthiria.com portal to facilitate its operation. Most every configuration option will be available on the web for leaders to control. Guilds will be able to publish a charter, code of conduct, and admission requirements to the web site for public viewing. Founders, officers and members will be listed on the web as well. In addition to web space, guilds will be given their own private and public forums that can be accessed over the web and from within the game client itself. It should be possible for a prospective member to research the available guilds on the web before petitioning a guild for admission.

What about secret societies that do not wish to be known?
There will be an option on the guilds web page to make that page private. Only accounts of active guild members can access the page. This should facilitate a host of secret societies and other guilds that would like to organize yet remain mysterious.

What types of guildhouses are available in the game?
At this time, the exact number of guildhouses available in the game is not known. Each guild house will have a vault, and will be customizable with a guild crest and interior decorations of their choosing. Larger guildhouses will be able to facilitate more NPCs, will contain larger vaults, and will provide space for larger guild meetings. The maintenance cost for the structure is determined by the size of the guildhouse.

Will a guild be able to protect its guildhouse and vault?
Guilds can hire NPC guards to protect their guildhouse. Guards and other NPCs hired by the guild earn a wage for their services and this wage will be required to be paid by the guild. Guards are limited in number, partly based upon the number of inns (for lodging) in the immediate vicinity of the guild house. Their salary demands will rise according to the laws of supply and demand. As players open inns in the nearby vicinity of a guild, additional guards will become available for employment by the guild.

Can guilds go to war with each other?
Guilds can wage war against other guilds and entire cities. Cities have a decided advantage in this consensual war with the formation of units, military, siege weapons and other related game-play mechanics. It would be wise for a guild to have many allies if they want to stand a fighting chance against the might of a city. Declaring war against another guild allows those two guilds or all participating guilds to kill each other in PvP at will with complete looting rights. An option exists to restrict looting rights, for guilds that would like to "spar" against each other with no loss of equipment. This option can be set when declaring war with the other guild.

Can I disband my guild?
Yes you can. Hired NPCs will leave and become immediately available for hire by others. The registered faction for the guild never goes away, though there is now nothing anyone can do to effect their rating with that faction. NPCs that were employed previously will remember that faction and react to it in an appropriate manner regardless of their new employment arrangements. More details about factions will be released at a later date. Leaders of all allied guilds and cities will be notified of the disbanding of your guild as well. Methods for distribution of the guild’s assets have not yet been finalized.

Can we align with other guilds?
You can align with other guilds. A special communication channel is available to guilds that allow for all allies to talk together. When one of your allies declares war on another guild, leaders involved in the alliance will be notified of the event. Information will be available on the web pertaining to alliances, though this information may be specifically hidden from public view by a guilds leadership.

What other things make guilds distinct in Athiria?
We currently have plans to allow guilds to build their own quests for its members. This should allow the guilds to have specific membership quests, or promotion quests for members to perform. The guild questing interface will serve as a major way for guilds to get its goals accomplished. More details will be published at a later time when the entire questing engine is discussed in another newsletter.

What happens when we declare ourselves as a village?
Villages will be world recognized and will also be registered as a "faction" with the world. Now a player that murders someone will not only get a faction hit with that guild, but also with that village as well. When the village is formed, its leaders will have the ability to issue quests, organize a hierarchy to run the village, and assign functions to officers to manage the citizens. It will be possible to establish numerous types of government. As villages grow they become towns, and then they become cities or castles, and eventually they can grow to be sprawling kingdoms.

What types of government are offered?
The current design contains Democracy, Republic, Socialist, and Monarchy as its primary government forms. Variations from these base types will be possible giving a wealth of city management options available to the players.

What kind of taxes can governments collect from its citizens?
There are five seperate taxes that a city can use if they feel it necessary.
Income Taxes: Tax on the seller profits.
Sales Taxes: Tax assessed to the buyer in a purchase.
Export Taxes: Tax assessed by the seller city to the seller on goods sold in another city.
Import Taxes: Tax assessed by the buyer city to the buyer for purchasing items from a foreign vendor.
Land Taxes: A portion of maintenance costs assessed because you own land.
Governments can choose to use these taxes or not use them. It remains to be seen to what degree each will be effective.

What are the benefits of becoming a large city?
New gameplay is introduced with the formation of cities in the form of public works. Cities have the ability to build roads, build government buildings, construct walls, finance siege weapon creation, and hire a military. As with guilds, reporting and other management tools will be provided to the leaders of these cities to help them effectively manage the city. Player-run cities are what make Athiria a revolutionary game versus just an evolutionary one. Player-run cities are what gives purpose to many players lives in the virtual world of Athiria.

How will communication work in game and out of game?
There will be several in-game channels for players to communicate back and forth with each other. Through the My.AgesOfAthiria.com website, we will offer players that are not in game the ability to communicate with players that are in Athiria from the outside world. An initial version of the My.AgesOfAthiria.com is available today.

How can I read about news that happens in game?
Many towns and cities have places where players can go to read about in game news and events. My.AgesOfAthiria.com will also be filled with news both past and present, and both in and out of game. Thousands of books will be available online, some player crafted, others Caluvian crafted. Players will be able to find out about old news there as well.

What will be on the My.AgesOfAthiria.com website?
The My.AgesOfAthiria.com website will act as a community focal point for the players of the game to interact with each other. The exact features of the website will be revealed over time. You can view what has been released to date by heading over to the site and registering for a free account.

What types of governments are available to cities?
Currently, there are four types of governments designed for players to use when running a city.

Democracy - This system of government is built around elected leaders. The citizens of the city are directly responsible for voting on all matters that concern the city and officials cannot act without a citizen vote.
Republic - The republic is a compromise between a centrally run government and the freedom of a democracy. Republics introduce an elected body of representatives that in turn elect the main leaders of the city on behalf of their citizens. From that point on, the representatives and leaders of the city act on behalf of the citizens in matters concerning the city.
Communism - Under communistic leadership, all property is centrally owned by the government. Citizens give up the freedoms granted in the republic and democracy in hopes that a centrally planned marketplace and government structure will lead to greater prosperity and longevity. Leaders in this city type are appointed from a central leader and then all of the leaders collaborate to run the government.
Monarchy - This is your typical dictatorship. A single leader is appointed a the time of the city's creation. This leader is responsible for all decisions that are made on behalf of the city and his or her rule is final.


Will diffrent materials be able to be used make buildings so that you can make buildings look diffrent than the rest?
Yes. Part of our knowledge tree system is specifically related to carpentry. This skill and others will allow houses to have a customized look. Obviously this is subject to limitations on the graphics platform that ends up being targeted for release.

Is upkeep going to be so high that only the super guilds can have truely functional towns?
There will be maintenance fees but they are undetermined at this time. But rest assured they won't be so high that it requires a super-sized guild/city to maintain (unless of course you are talking about a super-sized city). Fee amounts will vary, of course, by the size of your settlement and other accompanying factors. We firmly believe that you shouldn't have to view a game as a job that requires you to "farm" (hunt or craft just to gather coin) incessantly. Large cities are assumed to have a large number of citizens to support it. If you end up feeling like you are paying too much, perhaps you have too large of a construction, or too few people to support it.

Will city construction follow realistically the act of settling an area? Will it be like in other games where you can't put streets/paths etc.. in or will it be more customizable so that its not only functional but looks appealing?
Yes, our goal is to allow a realistic settlement of an area. Resources will be critical for doing so. We firmly believe players should be able to build (almost) anywhere, instead of stuffing all player housing in virtual space or completely separate zones. However, we will have measures in place to control "urban sprawl" so that housing and village/city development doesn't get out of hand. With these controls we will also be able to facilitate construction of streets within your village/city, as well as roads between different villages/cities. Building roads will be a huge factor in travel and viable trade routes (thus getting goods to your place).

How large do you expect cities to be in Athiria?
The guidelines we use when designing game-play elements is that there will be a few large cities in Athiria that are 2000 - 3000+ citizens in size. One of our goals is to prove that larger communities can be made to work well in an MMO setting. The majority of cities will typically be between 200 and 500 people and many smaller villages might exist as well.