Economy & Trade

[Detomah]

How do I sell my goods once I make them?
Selling goods happens in many ways. As a player you can choose to make a personal trade with someone much in the same manner as every other MMO game on the market. You are free to make this trade as you see fit. The trade system in Athiria takes the idea a step further by allowing you to establish a formal business in your city of citizenship. That business can be used as an outlet to sell goods. From the business management screens in the game, you will be able to set prices for all of your inventory items and your hired NPC merchants can act on your behalf to sell those items regardless of your connection status. This means that NPCs can sell items for you while you sleep.

Why not have NPCs work for you all the time then?
There are a couple of answers to this. First and foremost, NPCs require a salary to continue working for you. This translates into overhead cost that eats into your profit margins. The second reason is related to the first in that it often does not make sense to hire more employees that your current sales figures can support. Many players will prefer to sell items themselves because it helps them reduce costs and be more profitable. A third reason for not hiring a complete NPC work force to sell your goods would have to do with the intangible value of talking with a real person when buying a good from your inventory. Buyers tend to like to know that their purchase is attached to a PC and it can be an effective customer management strategy to sell your goods personally.

Where are the markets?
Most markets can be found within the borders of major towns and cities, however it may be possible to find a player created makeshift market set up almost anywhere.

What makes up the world economy?
The world economy is made up of all the players that are making goods, scribing spells, and performing services. In addition to this NPCs will have their actions completely integrated into the economy and will respond to local market fluctuations and normal supply and demand mechanics. Our goal is to have currency mean something while preventing massive amounts of inflation from destroying the economy as it has done in so many other games.

Can I directly affect the world economy?
Each character, through his/her actions will directly affect the economic status of the world. Guilds, player-run cities, and PC hirelings will also present an avenue for players to effect the economy of the world. Every time a sales transaction occurs, it is recorded by the game. Our backend technology allows the NPC merchants to use this knowledge to keep their prices inline with the practices of the PC market. From this standpoint, every time you purchase or sell an item, you shift the actual state of the economy in a small way. NPCs can query those transactions by date, region, race, citizenship, citizen level, and a host of other identifiers to ensure that the prices they present to you are representative of their costs of inventory and the current demand for those items. Just this mechanic alone, will make the world economy a dynamic and interesting system to use.

How will the world economy make an impact on my character?
You will find that merchants across the land respond to supply and demand mechanics. Multiple forms of currency will add a level to the trade system that has not been present in previous games. Your success will largely be determined by how well you are able to keep up with market trends and demands by using your hirelings and your own person as a vehicle for gaining wealth. It is entirely possible for a player to never enter combat and become a very seasoned player. Of course you won’t be able to battle the Ogre that comes to your doorstep demanding your caravan, but that is what money is for isn’t it? Hire your own Ogres and see to it that your goods are safe.

Will there be storage for me to store my money and equipment?
Yes, but not in the traditional sense of the word as it applies to an MMO game. Centralized banks will exist and serve many functions. Warehouses for your goods will exist as well, though a rental charge will be charged to keep items safely locked away from thieves. Established businesses will be able to purchase various types of buildings and merchant wagons to setup their operations. Each of these buildings and merchant wagons have the ability to store the business inventory for use by its employees.

Will banks exist in the game?
Being able to run a bank as a business is being considered by the development team at this point. The concept of lending money brings up many other issues along with it. Contract enforcability, credit worthiness ( A form of PvP) and payback scenarios are but a few of the details that would need to be worked out to make this happen. If banks are added to the game, it will be announced in a future newsletter and detailed then.

How does a government manage the trade in its cities?
Governments have the ability to approve new registered businesses. All owners of registered businesses gain a merchant level that is assigned by the government leaders of your city. Your merchant level determines the tax bracket that your business can be assessed by. All profits from your business activities are taxed if your government chooses to setup merchant income taxes. In addition to these taxes governments have the ability to influence trade by adding a sales tax to every item that is traded within its borders. Governments also have taxes in the form of Excises and Tariffs that can be placed on trade transactions as well. Using these taxing methods the government can encourage different types of trade patterns.

Can I avoid paying taxes?
You can avoid paying taxes in a trade by not being aligned with a city. Of course you will not get the benefit of protection for your business, nor will you be able to purchase merchant buildings and setup a permanent shop with employees. You will be able to trade items that you own without fear of income taxes, though sales taxes might apply to your buyer because you performed the transaction within region of influence of a city.

What is region of influence?
Simply put the region of influence is described as the border line that surrounds the city. Any trade transactions that take place within the borders of a city are taxed according to the tax configurations for that city. All tax laws are available on the web site and in game, at the center of the city for players to review before trading.

What if I do not have enough money to pay the taxes on a transaction?
It will be up to the merchant to accept the trade, but in all cases, the tax amount will be paid first before the seller is given any money from the transaction. If you do not have enough to cover the taxes on the sale, then the trade will be forbidden by the game.

Can I give items to a friend?
Giving of gifts is both a necessary game function and a serious loophole to any taxation structure. Since governments rely heavily on tax revenues to function, we had to rethink our approach to giving gifts. Gift giving can occur. Governments have the ability to set a percentage called the "Gift Contribution Percentage". This percentage can be set by merchant and citizenship level where the higher percentage is always actual percentage used when determining if a person has given too much away in an effort to avoid taxes. Over time each character will have an average inventory value maintained by the game. Their Gift Contribution Percentage will determine the total value of items that can be given away as gifts. This value resets itself every in-game year allowing characters to continue giving as they earn more. If your total gifts value surpasses your percentage allowance, then your character is flagged as a potential tax-evader. Player leaders of your government have the ability to dispense justice on you if they can catch you. Once the punishment is served your flag is cleared. This should allow players to still give items away, should control twinking somewhat, and should allow cities to rightfully collect tax revenue on trades within its borders or by it citizens.

What kind of punishments are available for tax evasion?
At this time, the available punishments for this crime have not been released.