Creating a Community Funded Player Owned Town!

Sorry folks,​

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We had a long talk about this thread yesterday and have come to the conclusion that because lots within a player owned town cannot actually be delivered/transferred between accounts at this time, we (Portalarium) cannot support these types of postings in the Player Marketplace. Therefore this thread is being locked and will be archived next Monday. Any new, similar posts that request funds in this manner will be removed immediately, as they are in violation of our Player Marketplace policies.​

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Please note that we, Portalarium, are supportive of anyone wanting to sell an ENTIRE Player Owned Town in the Player Marketplace, because, similar to Pledges, an entire POT can be transferred between accounts.​

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Thank you for understanding.​

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~Lady FireLotus​

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We have 3 contributors and $294 out of $750 in the fund!​

(as of 12/21/2014)​

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Community City​

(If you wish to participate, please contribute directly using a gift from the SotA Add-on Store! I will provide my email address by way of Personal Messages (PM) on the forums. Please be aware that I am one person with a full time job and a young child. Please limit the PMs and be patient with me )

In the spirit of esteemed SotA forum members such as Lord Andernut and Prince Guni, who have provided a great service to the community with pledge transfers, I would like to contribute my time and planning to the community in a different way.

Do you want to own a Player-Owned-Town (PoT), but can't justify spending the hundreds, or even thousands of dollars necessary? Here is your opportunity to become part of a community of land owners. This will be as transparent of a process as possible, and will use secure transactions through the SotA Add-on Store. A tracking sheet, called the Community City Planning Document, will be available to all contributors via Google Docs. Contributions are not final until the town is purchased. If you change your mind, you will be refunded everything you contributed up until the town purchase is made. After that, all contributions will be final.

All contributions collected will be part of a combined fund and, at the end of the fundraiser, the largest PoT available will be purchased. Any remaining funds will be returned to the contributor, which could possibly exclude you from participating, as it will be first come, first serve.

Access to the Community City Planning Document will be based on the email address you select when contributing. When making a contribution, please send me a PM. Copy and paste this message and complete the fields so I can more easily track contributions:

Contribution Amount:
Forum Name:
Character Name to be the Land Owner:
Email Address:

Any changes to the submitted data must be made using the email address that you selected at the time of your contribution. This includes transferring your claim to another player.

Contribution Tiers
Portalarium has decided that every square meter of housing plot space equals approximately $0.06. This number was derived by dividing the available housing land space for each PoT type (in square meters) into the prices for each type. (Go ahead and do the math yourself. I'll wait here.) Based on that, a single 10x15 Row Lot would cost $9. But, Portalarium doesn't allow us to buy actual lots, only the deeds that claim lots. This is where the community-owned town comes in.

In order to guarantee yourself a spot that will always be yours, whether you choose to get a lot deed or not, I propose a community funded town. You are free to use the lot you purchased however you like, even if that means not building anything there, ever. It's your land, do with it what you want. Permissions will be set for each contributor for their own personal lot, based on his or her contribution to making the town a reality, by way of the keys that will be given to the Town Manager, me.

In order to be sure we not only 1) have enough room for all contributor's personal land, but that we also 2) make sure that our town is not too cluttered, I propose slightly raising the value of a square meter of land by a sliding scale, based on the size of lot you want to claim. The scale will be as follows:

Row Lots = $0.08 per m2
Village Lots = $0.07 per m2
Town Lots = $0.07 per m2
City Lots = $0.06 per m2

With this sliding scale, these are the plot values according to size:

Row = $12
Village = $42
Town = $84
City = $144

Disclaimer: These contribution tiers do not provide you with the lot deeds or house deeds required to utilize your reserved space. However, your contribution will guarantee you an available lot if you ever wish to use a deed on it. Funds are collected solely for purchase of the community town.

Contribution Deadline
We will begin with accepting contributions immediately and go until we can afford a Holdfast. If/Once we have enough for a Holdfast, a 3-week timer will begin. Before the 3-week timer ends, if we collect enough to purchase the next size up (Hamlet), the 3-week timer will reset. This process will continue until we reach Metropolis, the timer expires, or Portalarium creates their own deadline for PoT purchases, whichever occurs first.

The 3-Week timer is used to allow people more decision time, and is designed to end well before June 2015 (which is also the time Portalarium uses to calculate the end date for pledge payment plans). Please be aware that circumstances could cause that timer to be extended or shortened.

In the case of shortening the timer, that would likely be caused by Portalarium limiting the time for PoT purchase. Extending the timer would only occur as a result of a vote by the current contributors at the time.

Also, please be reminded that all funds in excess of the PoT price will be refunded to the contributor, possibly only giving access to a smaller lot size or even excluding you from being a land owner within the town altogether if we do not reach the next goal!

Voting Rights
Now for the meat and potatoes. There are many things that we will get to select for our town, such as name, biome, layout, NPC buildings, and approximate location on Novia. As new land owners and contributors to the creation of a town, we will use a voting system to do the will of the people during what will be called a Town Forum.

During a Town Forum, polls will be created or matters brought up using a Master List of Contributor Emails (that I will keep secure on my personal email) asking members to voice their preference on a wide range of topics. Votes will be accepted by email or SotA Forum PM. Because this is a community funded endeavor, it would only make sense that those with more invested will have more say. For each successive contribution tier, your vote holds more sway. This will be done by a Vote Multiplier which works as follows:

For every $12 you contribute, your Vote Multiplier will increase by 1.

Unless I am notified otherwise (and to also allow me to retain some shred of sanity!), the total value you contribute will always be used to purchase the largest possible lot, and any remaining value of your contribution will be applied to the next largest lot, and so on.

Contribution Examples: $12 gives one Row Lot and a Vote Multiplier of 1. $60 gives one Village Lot, one Row Lot and a Vote Multiplier of 5. $144 gives one City Lot and a Vote Multiplier of 12, and $168 gives one City Lot and two Row Lots with a Vote Multiplier of 14, etc...

Any additional funds you choose to contribute (between $1 and $11), that do not put the total contributions over the PoT price, will still be used for the town purchase. Doing this will make land ownership within the town more exclusive (as fewer people will be needed to fully fund the town), but be aware that your Vote Multiplier will not increase unless you reach the next $12 contribution tier.

There will be no Town Forums and no votes until the town purchase is made and the list of contributors is finalized on the Community City Planning Document. The only exception to that would be a vote to extend the Contribution Deadline Timer.

The sooner we finalize our town, the sooner we can begin work on the town layout!

Proposed Town Forum Topics
1st: Vote on the biome for the town
2nd: Vote for the quadrant on Novia
3rd: Vote on the 1st NPC building type for a Holdfast, along with NPC name and story competition.
4th: First Add-on Store House Lottery (comes as part of the PoT purchase). The winner will get to select the house they want from available Add-On Store houses.
5th: Town Name Nominee Entry.
6th: Vote on the entries for the Town Name.
7th and subsequent forums will be for additional NPC buildings, NPC names and stories, and lotteries for additional Add-On Store homes obtained from the larger PoT purchases.
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Finalized Town Layout and details will go here.

 

Great idea! Good luck!!!

 

I am so behind this!

 

right on man! you will make one fine mayor

 

Although I get what's trying to be achieved here...... what I really don't get is what the USP actually is and why anyone would donate.

As with all projects of this nature anyone who donates must be aware of the risks in the sense that if the project is successful, technically they will not own any right to anything. The ownership and control of the PoT will sit with the organiser; in addition the risk is stacked heavily towards those who donate. With the best will in the world, a stranger is asking other strangers to hand money over to them in return for what is in essence a loose promise.

This is in no way a trolling reply, it is just a genuine concern towards other players and that they need to think very carefully before parting with their money.

There are plenty of other options that are 'risk free' for other players in the sense the PoT has already been purchased and they don't have to part with any money. I would strongly recommend that players do plenty of research before committing and funds.

 

I would also point out here.. (and understand that I am assuming honest intensions and wish the endeavor the best of luck.. ).. that in going through paypal that can be converted to cash in hand. An alternative could be to gift the money through the SotA store. The total credit can then be applied towards the town and Portalarium gets the money regardless of success or failure.

Just my little suggestion.

 

Excellent suggestion. Updated OP. I just want to ensure consistent methods to contact people and ensure some level of security in an otherwise leap of faith. I want to be as forthcoming as possible. Thank you.

 

Indeed.. best of luck to you!

 

Crowdfunding is already happened with the Vanguard Republic.

While it is acknowledged as a cool idea, the take up has been somewhat muted. There has been over $300 of contributions so far. That doesn't include the Holdfast which was gifted, nor the two other towns which have joined forces. Nor does that include my own seed investment of $2000. Funding has been open for months and is optional but clearly more funds helps us to grow.

I say this because it is tough going. Asking people to trust you takes time. Many people who have messaged me have commented on the content of my forum posts and said that was a big factor in wanting to join my project. I've built up more than a thousand posts since the KS launch. Again, the long-term history on the forums with a fairly public presence helps.

Before any fund raising took place I gave options for how to proceed. I suggested kickstarter, paypal, and donating via the add-on store. There was a split between KS and the add-on store but I think most preferred the add-on store. The great thing about KS is that no one is charged until the target is met. The downside is the time-limit (but there are obvious ways around that). However, in the end I opted for the add-on store. People like to know that Portalarium has the money. I can't withdraw that money and buy myself a watch. All money donated has to go towards the game, so granted I could use that money to buy stuff in the add-on store my options are pretty limited and it also restricts me to playing the game if I wanted to maliciously benefit from the donated money. I think this makes it pretty clear why the add-on store is ultimately favoured: risk minimization.

All of which are barriers and that's before we consider that many towns are offering free lots to live in too. My attempt to make pledging attractive was to offer 'power' such as votes, which I see is happening in the OP too, but I don't think 'power' is enough. There needs to be a hook / angle, as Envy hinted at, to draw players in and make it worthwhile to live there. It is also worth considering what happens to the additional money when lots / power if you sell beyond the break-even price: $0.10 m^2 is twice the break-even rate. If pledgers are going to pay twice then they will want to know that it is worthwhile: what happens to the money / extra lots?

I also have all the design details listed in my thread too: these have been open / accessible to everyone since the beginning. That wasn't really planned but it just happened that way. I realised that having a transparent design / discussion thread also helped to build trust. There is a lot to consider.

 

Excellent idea and was wondering why this was going through an external payment provider. Just use gifted store coupons so there's a record of it on Portalarium's end.

 

Using the SotA Store was included, as recommended by Bowen Bloodgood. I've highlighted that information to be more visible.

 

I took the opportunity to check out your crowd-funding, and it is quite extensive, and well thought out. This endeavor would definitely be considered a grassroots movement compared to the Vanguard I want to keep this small and personal, with the only goal to provide players who might want to have a town, but can't afford one, a place to call theirs.

If there was a way for me to work directly through Portalarium so that contributors would have a guarantee from them that the money they donate would go toward actual land, and not just a deed like from the Add-On store, that would be perfect. But, I suspect that might have some legal ramifications for them, so I will try to advertise as best I can to find people like me who only want a small section of a town to call theirs (for a MUCH smaller price tag, I might add).

Edit: I've lowered the pricing scale as it makes sense that buy-in prices should be lower, giving a contributor the option to give more if they want. This lower price is at the expense of having less wiggle room with the amount of usable land when the layout is created.

 

It isn't bad idea to make some mock designs too. Nothing would be binding of course. Send it past current backers, or other people who have expressed interest. People like to see pictures. That was one of the first things that got people hooked on my idea (although I waited months for opening the funding). Moreover, you could add a premium to water-front lots or those that open out on to the town square. That way people can get more bang for their buck if they want it.

It is also worth considering what angle you want to have. I'm not sure that a crowdfunded town is enough of an angle. Currently, players can 'buy' lots in a few towns while others are giving away land for free. Pheonix Republic is giving away lots for free (not the lot deeds, of course) and I believe they will allow all citizens to vote. That cuts fairly close to home. That's not to say that you can't build a town too, or that you shouldn't, but rather you may need an extra edge to get people excited. There will always be an overlap with other towns, but you can still be part of a smaller more niche group. I think being an all encompassing town that offers everything will be tricky. Some of the metros have a chance to offer this since they will have a lot of players, although I'm not convinced that all of them can.

The add-on store is perfect imo. You can refund quite easily by sending the pledgers gift coins. It is money that would be spent on the game anyway. It also saves two rounds of PayPal (double fees I might add too). Port will then have full details of who sent what. Just make sure your disclaimers are clear enough, at the moment they seem to be.

 

Ehh... shifted from Steam forums to this.

So let me get this strait, what are the benefits to getting a plot of land?
This Town... is where? or from what lvl ranges, or near the closests most accessable usage from crating materials?

Im abit confused what lots are even for, considering was astonished by the amount of locations with an assortment of owned lots with a strange array of unique takes of what they consist of, from conventional, to hedgemazes, to lighthouses, all the way up to massive stone castles with cellar floors completely empty 6 flights down. (don't Ask)

Now i am proposed to join a player owned town to join a clan, guild, syndicate, group... or like minded individuals that have not partied with?

Considering i have no idea why you say there are free plots to do with in unknown towns... idk why not just venture to obtain one, yet now i need a deed?
So, maybe if knew when the game would be rolled back to a clean slate id return, yet as of late its in alpha and i know that it will be rolled back while houses will be preserved yet im imagine progress would be reverted back or am i wrong?

And if were in Alpha what apparent trend is there with not just getting a plot or joining a town that i have no idea if the individuals will even be around?
Its those sorta things, i can not see the merits to joining a player-owned town, as the stability is rather shakey, all the while can get towards something without a plot of land besides imo vanity.

Well, i rambled yet sorry i just had to mention what conclusion i came up with as idk how anyone else sees this as something they are interested in.

 

The plot of land is only part of the equation, but it is a place that will always be reserved for you, whether you use a lot deed to officially claim it or not.

None of those questions can be answered by Town Owners yet, because Portalarium has the final say on where the towns get placed within the world. But ultimately, a vote amongst the town's contributors will define the general parameters such as the terrain type and NPC buildings (smithy, tavern, tailor, etc.)

The lot is only the bare land, with nothing on it. The type of structure placed is separate, and completely up to the owner to decide.

Your level of interaction with other land owners would be completely up to you. You would receive an email or PM about certain matters needing input, but it is your choice how much you want to participate.

If I understand your point, it is important to mention that the game will require a Plot Deed to claim any land and build a house. If that plot deed is not one of the tax-free deeds given by the high level pledges (ancestor and above), you will have to pay a monthly fee, in gold, to the game to keep it. In Community City, the plot is already yours. You don't have to use a Lot Deed to claim the plot, because the plot will be held for you by the Town Manager. Until you use a Lot Deed, you never have to pay any in-game tax fees.

This is an investment. None of the Player Owned Towns that have already been purchased have been created yet. Community City is an attempt to make Town Ownership more accessible, and also to promote an interactive community.

That would be the exact same scenario with any Lot you eventually claim, unless you and the people you know manage to claim Lots next to each other in an NPC town. Paying real money for virtual land is not for everyone. If you are uncomfortable about it, no one will be upset if you don't want to particiapte.

I'm not sure what you mean by stability is rather shakey. Player Owned Towns are a real thing provided by the game, and require real money given to the developers to create. As for plots of land, player housing is a large part of the game play. If you don't enjoy it, then this is definitely not something you would be interested in.

To each, their own, sir.

 

As you know the game is in pre-alpha. Anything that happens now will be reset.

As this game is crowdfunded via Kickstarter then there are various pledge levels which grant different rewards to players once the game has launched. Pledging is still possible via the main website. The more you pledge, the more rewards you get. From $275 and upwards you will be able to own a tax-free deed and house.

Right now we all play the game (pre-alphas) in the same way and don't have access the rewards that we pledged for. As of R14 (I think), we will be able to test out the rewards that we get from our pledges. However, as there will be a rest then anything we do now will not be remembered. Once the game is launched then we will start with the rewards of our pledge levels and the pre-alphas will be completely forgotten.

The exception are the pre-alpha Tour Guide hats. These hats are rewards for taking part in the pre-alphas. They are the only exception to what I said.

Land is limited in SotA. Both in the pre-alpha version of the game and in the final launched version of the game. Which is to say that we expect land to have real value. It is expected that demand will be greater than supply. It also gives you a place to decorate and store your loot. A house is the structure you see (e.g. a wooden 2 floored building), which requires a lot deed in order to be placed. If you can find an empty lot then you would claim it with your deed and then put a house on to this land. If you don't have a deed then you can't claim an empty lot.

In SotA some of the towns will be player-owned, as you see in this thread, this means that a player (or group of players) will have a large input to its design. What is being 'sold' in this thread are empty lots. Essentially locations that you can claim. These empty lots do not come with a deed or a house: you need to buy those separately. One reason to do this is to secure a location for your house. When the game is launched there will be land rush to claim the best spots in the NPC towns. The NPC towns are towns which have been designed by the developers, they are not controlled by the players. The player-owned towns will not be part of the land rush (at least I don't think so). Therefore, you could buy a location within a player-owned town (POT) in order to avoid the land rush or to have a place near your friends.

I don't want to yet make things more confusing by mentioning player-run towns which neither a POT nor NPC town but somewhere in between.

 

I wouldnt be interrested in this as i wouldnt own a pot, i would help YOU to own a pot. There are plenty of pots Who let you live There for free.

If the pot was payd for and you were selling lots i could understand it, but now you just sound like somone Who want others to pay for your pot.

I wish you good luck, though!

 

Thank you, and that is a reasonable veiwpoint, although not accurate. Those other PoTs can fill up, excluding you from living there, and they don't offer a say in how they are operated. As Portalarium currently requires a single person to purchase the towns, this is the best method (imo) to bring the price of town ownership down to a reasonable level for the average person. I understand some may feel uncomfortable with the idea, and that is perfectly normal. But the concept would never have a chance to succeed if I never tried.

I am an open book (as much as I can be while remaining safe on the interwebz).

 

Solstar - please don’t be dissuaded by some of these posts. Are there Risks? Of course there are. Do we as adults need to be reminded by anyone that there are risks? Absolutely not. But as I see it, we are all at risk today if we have pledged any amounts to SotA (some more than others). There are no guarantees that the game will ever be a true reality. That’s sort of the concept behind ‘crowdfunding’ – you are taking a leap of faith on someone’s idea. And it’s a personal decision to participate or not….no need for others to tell us what to do or expound upon the risks involved.

To me, this is a very fascinating and intriguing way for POT’s to exist. I am sure there are quite a few people who have pledged money to SotA who have looked at the possibility of owning a POT and just the sheer magnitude of the responsibility (designing the town, determining the governance, deciding on a name and where the town should exist, etc.) is not something they would like to take on since many have ‘other lives’ besides playing video games. And not everyone wants to be a Czar.

With this arrangement, rather than one owner of the town, there would be several. I see this as an advantage since the duties needed in a POT can then be divided among the Town Owners and allows the opportunity to play to each owner’s strengths. In my experience, collaboration is a very successful process and this is a great way to truly share the responsibility of a fun project along with sharing the financial investment (i.e more than one person actually has ‘skin in the game’).

I like the vote multiplier idea as well. To me, that’s the ‘extra edge’ on this concept. If you want more of a say then anti up more money – in other words invest more in your investment and get more out of it. If all you are looking for is a plot of land where you don’t have to be a part of the dreaded ‘land rush’ when the game goes live then this is a perfect solution as well (much like joining the other POT’s). These are great options from which to choose.

I don’t see the need for someone, however, to create a potential design of the town right away since it would more than likely be thrown away since this concept is of a Group Ownership and Group Decisions.. Until there are more Town Owners involved creating a temporary design seems to be a waste of someone's time since it would seem to me that the Town Owners who are interested in that portion of the project could / would present several options to the other town owners when it’s time to design the town. But that’s just my opinion.

I also wonder if there isn't a better place for your post to get more visibility since quite honestly I happened upon it completely by chance (and I mean completely by chance). Maybe moving it to 'Player Owned Towns' category would be a good idea since it appears that others go there to ask questions about POTs. This way they could easily see what options are available to them in this area.

I applaud your creativity and ingenuity and strongly support these types of initiatives. After all who says there is only one way to own a POT?

 

You definitely took the time to read the thread. Thank you.

I'm trying to do want I can to mitigate people's (natural) suspicions, and in light of that, I am removing the mention of PayPal from the OP, since that seems to be the main issue raised. It will still be an option, but not advertised.

Thank you for your support.