Increase in taxes ruins my plans

Discussion in 'Player Owned Towns' started by Cianna, May 1, 2016.

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  1. WrathPhoenix

    WrathPhoenix Avatar

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    We should always understand that the first iteration of anything, and that includes taxes, will always change. Taxes will probably increase more for that matter after the economic balance pass.
     
  2. Vox Aquila

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    Add "Vox Aquila", I will commit the paying the rent/taxes for 1 row house indefinitely. You can expect this commitment to increase when my business is up and running post release.
     
  3. Cianna

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    I so appreciate your gesture of support. It's very kind of you. I will friend you in game, and we can talk once the final wipe is over and make sure it's something you still want to do. I do honestly appreciate the offer. Thank you.
     
  4. Josh Randall

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    I find it interesting and disturbing at the same time that a game makes itself more like RL than a game.

    I understand the concept of course, but IMO charging taxes and the amounts are completely out of hand.

    I would dread owning a POT and applaud those of you who do - if there weren't such things as tax free deeds (which thankfully I own one) I wouldn't have stayed to see the next wipe.

    Hopefully, the tax amount will be reconsidered (lowered) to be more fun rather making the ability to own a house a full/part time job.

    Personally, I see the tax rate as another nail in the coffin - but wait to see what transpires as "go live" approaches. Not holding my breath though.
     
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  5. Deides

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    I think it should either be higher or in real life dollars for non backers. you guys are forgetting that they need to generate a revenue stream for the game not to fail. its nice to want to play for free but that means portalarium gets shut down......
     
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  6. Josh Randall

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    How does that help the profitability of portalarium? In game gold, doesn't help their bottom line.

    Your idea about real money however does, and as far as I can tell - we already purchased the items.

    Are you suggesting that instead of purchasing the deeds we have only leased them and more real money will be needed to keep them?

    If so, I can't get behind that :(
     
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  7. Cypher Black

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    I either read or heard somewhere that a plan with tax rates was to have them scale with the amount of time you are playing. An example would be if you play a few hours a day, you would be taxed at the max rate of 200 per day, but if you were only an occasional gamer, 1-2 hours a week, then your tax rate would be considerably lower. I do not know if this will ever see the light of day, but I did read/hear about it not that long ago. Of course, a player with two accounts or more could certainly 'cheat' the system by putting all the taxed lots onto accounts that are virtually inactive.

    Cypher Black
     
  8. Josh Randall

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    That's an interesting concept.

    Not sure I would get behind that, but I can see the merit and fairness of it. Some kind of in game message would seem appropriate for this since it would be based on game time I'm assuming?

    Not sure what the ratio is of game time to real time, but let's say for example 2 hours real time = 24 hours game time.

    The problem I have with this is who taxes daily real time days? Wouldn't it be more "realistic" or game oriented if it were done by game weeks played or months played (in game time of course), rather than by real life days?

    The current tax system looks more and more like a full time job to me. Not all of us can play every day nor do we have the incentive to give up a piece of our daily lives just to maintain having pixel real estate in a game.

    Some of us have jobs, family etc. we also paid for our ticket to be in game just as those who play 8 or more hours a day - there's no difference in those play styles aside from free personal time.
     
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  9. Gideon Thrax

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    If players are to be taxed more for spending more time in game... after paying a premium for deeds and after creating game content and land opportunities by buying POTs... haha, all I can say is I hope resale stays strong in EP1.
     
  10. Waxillium

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    Wouldn't we just put taxed property on a basic alt account and co-own our main accounts?
     
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  11. Beaumaris

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    I think you are right, in principle.

    Most folks would not buy train sets for kids to have fun at home if we knew the train set would be taken back when not used and fed. Housing in SOTA is somewhat of a virtual train set.

    I see the 'problem' SOTA is trying to solve with taxes though: Avoiding unused lots from being persistent forever and totally stagnating the housing game for newcomers who can never get one.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2016
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  12. Beaumaris

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    So a tax break for the less active? That's interesting.

    That might be a nice feature for someone on short work, sick, family, or military leave.

    Maybe that would create issues longer term though. The lot might still need to expire due to inactivity.
     
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  13. Spoon

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    Hmm. Cypher, that is based on a misunderstanding.
    Chris went through in detail that the hours they talked about was how many mean hours of income they would have the taxes set to. (As in how much coin the average player earns in an hour times the amount of hours per size of lot).
    So that is independent if you are logged in more hours or fewer hours than the average player.
     
  14. Josh Randall

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    I understand the difficulty - it's the same in ever other MMO - stagnant/unused housing purchased and set up that on one uses or abandons and remains setup and intrusive.

    Honestly, IMO I think there are some mechanics that simply can not be handled in game fairly and this is one of them.

    Examples as above noted:
    • Military players on assignment unable to play or login for months at a time but would still like to have a place to come back to when their duty is over
    • Someone or a family member turns ill and needs care but wants to return afterwards
    • Out of work or looking and no time to play
    • Dozens of reasons players leave for short duration
    Should the mechanic to identify an issue really be "coded" - or would a simple email to the account holder inquiring "You have a property in blah blah, currently in need of repair. Click here to repair your property now".

    Simple, easy to do for most people even when away for short or long term duration - the only ones unable to respond could get their pixel real estate removed but "stored" and able to be placed upon return. They could even set aside a small area that these "stored" pixel real estates can be placed and used once the owner returned.


    I wasn't trying to suggest that the amount go up for play time since I think it is unreasonable as it is. In fact I would prefer NO tax at all
    and I agree that would be an insane, unfair mechanic to tax someone just because they play more.

    And what about the several cities already in game that want to offer free housing/rooms to players - how is fair to those POT owners?

    It's not

    They need to remove this tax, period. It's not fair to those with large deeds nor is it fair to those with no tax free deed.
     
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  15. Selene

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    Which would be unfair to the people that actually paid for tax-free deeds.
     
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  16. Josh Randall

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    I have one - I wouldn't mind it actually. In fact I would buy another deed if there were no tax

    Perhaps those that bought the really expensive ones would mind, but can't you cash these in the store ?
     
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  17. Xenar

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    Taxing lots with in game gold might function in overall economy as a gold sink, but does not provide game financing. In fact, I think more lots would be sold if rent was not present, assuming any revenue was coming from lot and add on deco sales.

    Pledging with tax free lots definitely aided my over-pledging, as I am a casual player.

    I feel that 'vacant' houses, from an absent player could be managed without rent payments, especially in PoTs, where a PoT owner can set eviction rules based on anything, like game activity.

    I know that the rent and rent free concept has been present all along, but the PoT concept came later, and I never understood why those lots were being taxed.
     
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  18. Stryker Sparhawk

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    One of the recent standup corners already mentions work towards using crowns to pay tax. This option for crowns to be used would directly supplement Portalarium sustaining the game and adds another use for crowns.

    I still think the primary way to pay the tax will be through in game gold.
     
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  19. Rufus D`Asperdi

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    I've literally spent thousands of dollars for accounts with Tax Free Deeds to be used to provide services for the residents of my town without the onus of financial maintenance of the dedicated lots. How would removing the lot taxes be fair to me? How would you propose compensating me for my considerable expense should lot taxes be removed?
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2016
  20. Elfenwahn

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    I will earn my lot ingame and will pay the taxes.

    I could buy a house via pledges, but why should I then go on adventure or sell crafted goods, if I already have everything I need?
    Taxes are there to give you a reason to go for hunt or to sell your crafted goods.
    Pledging is like minecraft creative mode instead of survival mode.

    I support taxes.
     
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