Carbineer Archive

Last night the PA of the city I am in announced the final size of the city would only be3 because that was the only way they could retain 100% control of the city. They then announced they wanted to establissh price controls and other opressive anti-business stances for that city.

We started looking into other cities and found different versions of the same thing. Cities have become extentions of PA's, the sole purpose is for a single Mayor or PA to have 100% control of the city. Those arent living cities, those are jokes, they are nothing but extended PA's..

My small ( only 7 people ) PA aproached me last night with an idea. They want me to do it right. Now I am not going to announce what server, what planet or even my characters real name ( it isnt Dayln ). As I dont want a large PA to step in and turning it into the same stupid thing.

We are going to start a city on a remote planet, we are going to invite mostly non-afliated ( non-PA ) people into the city. I am going to found it, fund it ( in the begining ) and be the start-up mayor. We are going to quietly enlist as many independent people as we can on our planet/server.

Once we get it to size 3 or 4 I will retire as Mayor and throw the city open. A real city, a living city, where politics are real, and Mayors change. no opressive government controls, not a stupidextention of a PA.

The hard part will be the early days, keeping it independent, but after that all we need is a Mayor that has the guts and foresight to resign ..... I can do that.

Tell me what you think about it as an idea.

Dayin,

I wish you luck in your endeavor, and wish there were more cities like this. However, with the costs of getting this going and the planning invovled you won't see much of it. The big cities that survive are going to be PA run. Here is why

1. The tax structure will not allow sufficient revenue to be generated to cover city costs. To have a good city you will need to be subsidized. PA members are willing to subsidize their city. Will non-affiliated people be as willing to part with credits?

2. City structures are big and expensive. In PA cities the PA architect usually just donates the structures, since someone probably donates the resources. Will a non-affiliated city be able to afford the bigger city structures?

If you have people donate and do things to get the city up and running, do you think they will really be willing to give up control to some newbie? There is a sense of ownership that comes to things when you donate 100k credits, or a cantina or shuttleport. Technically speaking civic structures are not owned, but when someone has to build them and pay for them, people feel like they own it.

I think the idea of totally public cities is a great idea, I just don't see them getting off the ground.

I can get it off the ground myself, My own income is currently close to a million cr a week. That isnt the issue, once the town becomes of sufficient size then I institute taxation enough to make it self susficient.

We need one open city, all we have to do is cover the grould with indipendents so there is little room for a PA to move in.

I may fail, but I am going to give it a good try.

Right now, I can see why there is a need to be selective. We all just started as Politician and there is only one way to get XP and that is by votes. We all want to have Shuttle Ports, Cloning Fac, Banks, Hospital, and Cantinas.

I hope that is what my city can do later on. right now I am the Politician and I need the XP

I should also add I am a Master architect and will be building the city structures myself so the will be at-cost, which is pretty cheap as I pull all my own resources.

Dayin,

I know you can get the city up and running, but have you worked out an economic model that will make it self sustaining? Plus, if you have low taxes the first few weeks, then all of a sudden spring up heavy taxes will the city survive?

I already have a city along those lines. We started it out with two equal sized PAs. The power was split by the forming of a city council. The mayor and the architect are not the same people and are in different guilds. Things are organized and buildings are in streets with street names. We even have a city square where my structure factory is holding the spot for the large garden that will go there once it can be placed. This was planned out weeks in advanced. There is no price fixing or exclusion of who can do what. The PA are military and PvP though, not crafters, so not too many crafters are bumping heads.

I haven't seen too many other cities, been too busy moving, building and doing that 6.5k travel out to our city. Our two neighboring towns are a mess. Houses are scattered all over the place and don't even match. Randomly placed tat, naboo and generics do not look good together. Not sure if there is a better city in the galaxy, but there sure are worse.

We currently have 27 citizens in that first 150m. We'll have the 35 as soon as it grows on thrusday. Level 3 is already done for the next week. From there we'll need to enlist more people and already have a couple of guys not in either PA move in.

These PA cities are not cities, they are just PAs. Down the road, that is really going to show. And yes you can play for your city with simple taxes if you don't go crazy. You don't need one of every type of trainer in the game. You don't need 30 parks or 20 mission terminals. If you are smart about it you can keep costs low while having taxes covering everything.

My plan is t spread taxes out when the time comes. A little increased pay mantenance on structures, a 75cr surcharge on the shuttleport ( no one will even notice that one ) a small sales tax, a small citicizenship tax ( the only one they will notice much ). Donations from the weathy

I think it can be done, at least I am willing to try.

You do know that every dictator started out saying he was "temporarily" seizing power while the nation was stabilized, right?

All Glory to Chairman Dayln!

> I think the idea of totally public cities is a great idea, I just don't see them getting off the ground.

I'm not in a guild, yet I'm the mayor of a settlement with over 30 citizens inside of the first radius and approximately 15 outside of the first radius. The population is drawn from a combination of non-affiliated individuals and three small guilds.

Still, I'm not calling our city a totally public city. I'm maintaining strong control over building rights until the shuttleport is placed. I've promised no taxes until we reach rank IV. At that point the taxes will be established based on a vote and in a way that doesn't cripple the local crafters. I expect a major budget shortfall but one that can be reduced via donations. I have the cash to run the city for some time on my own if that doesn't happen.

I think these types of things ARE happening on each server... they're just not the typical situation.