Cities And Housing Archive

Message Edited by LexxYovel on 01-28-2005 05:44 PM

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LexxYovel wrote:

As a master politician, guild leader, and future squad leader, I ponder what to do next with my city nestled next to the Imperial Oasis on Tatooine. Shuttle, Cantina, Imperial Base, and so on, we got all that, but I sort of wish being a politician had more excitement.

Right now the only reward is self-esteem, you feel responsible, and you get a good feeling of being somones mentor as they ask for help, or city requests. A great reward, but there's always much more you can do for us mayors. We need more structures, excitement, etc. So here are my ideas- some seem like they are possible, some are just going to stay dreams. But I dont have much else to do, so here they are

Also note there may be some ideas that blend into guild ideas, but I will try to stop myself if I start straying too much into guilds. They are all inter-linked, but be sure to go to the PA Forums later to see my ideas on those.

Government Structures- Alright, this is a must. We need choices, dictatorships, democracies, communism, etc. Right now we have a crude democratic system. We need to be able to choose our government structure. This doesn't mean that if you choose a dictatorship your invulnerable to being pulled out of office... maybe overthrown? But each structure would have their pros and cons. Here they are.

Democracy: Right now I geuss you could say we have a democratic system for cities... but you could also call it a dictatorship. I say if you want to choose a democratic structure, it should be done like the following. Democracy's do not involve just one guy who controls the entire city. Although there can be somone like the "president," who is the true mayor. But if you choose a democratic system, you should be required to appoint at least 3 people who act as semi-mayors. These semi-mayors would have rights such as zoning abilities, tax management, city-specialization, etc. However, everything such as tax changes or city-specialization should go through a vote if the mayor accepts the idea or "vetos," it. My ideas are a tad scetchy, so I want to hear your ideas on this. As for the pros and cons.... Pros: Somone can serve as a backup if your gone, and democracy's are a little more sturdy... Cons: Any changes you want to take place may not occure. Although to speeden the voting process, everytime theres a vote, citizens should get a small window that says, yes, no. Also note that the same voting system should apply for elections. People should also be able to vote for officials and what not.

Dictatorship: Dictatorships are a rule by one person. Dictators normally have absoulute power, and most certainly dont have elections (although if they do, it's normally rigged). Dictatorships should sort of work like they are now. One person takes care of the city, and all tax changes or city-specializations can take place to your bidding. Instead of voting somone else, I geuss you could reword it as "overthrow mayor." Becuase lets be fair now, wont everyone become a dictatorship if you can never be voted out? Pros: Dictators can make any decision for the city they like, such as tax changes, etc... Cons: There's no backup if your gone, and many people may not like not having apart in voting for tax decisions, and may leave the city.

Communism: Any ideas on this one? Would like to hear from you guys.

Mayor Bounties- Okay, let's face it, Bounty Hunters may want more things to kill besides Jedi. Wouldn't it be exciting if angry citizens could place a bounty on the mayor? Bounties could accept the mission from a terminal for a certain ammount of money, and if he kills the mayor, he gets the money, and you got a smiling unloyal citizen. Most mayors cant fight back, so why not allow Militia members protect the mayor if there is a bounty on his head? I think this would add to a more RP element, and corrupt mayors may not always have an easy time being mayor. Again, my ideas are rather sketchy, so your welcome to expand on my ideas.

Mayor Salaries: Running a city costs money. Don't tell me that mayors should be in poverty. Aren't they rather rich? Some mayors pay out of their own pockets to run a city, at least pay mayors for their work. If there is worry about inflation, at least give mayors a weekly salary in city salary in "city script." Credits or points that can only be used for the city.

City Mission- Is it just me? Or didn't JustG say somthing about adding city missions months ago? I dont have any solid ideas for this, but city or politician missions would be nice.

Militia Members = Pointless- Okay, as it stands, militia members are just good for banning and granting. Militia members need more power, and while I do agree city warn can be used for greifing, can't there be a better replacement?

City Ignore: Say you got some distraught person just entering your city, insulting people, using bad language... well, you *could* city-ban him, but what would he say? "Oooh I am city-banned, now I can't use the bank," is normally the average response from a person like that. I say city-ignore would be a*very* effective tool. Right now you can tell citizens to put the guy on ignore, but many of you know that citizens may be caught in the heat of the moment and want to continue arguing with the guy. So add a /cityignore which forcefully puts that certain person on everyones ignore list, ONLY withen city limits, and ONLY works on citizens of that certain city. This prevents unhealthy arguments between citizens or factional enemies for example, which often can stretch on for minutes. I know from personal experience it's not as simple as telling your citizen, "Just ignore him."

City Probation: Come on now, surely citizens can get out of hand too... right? Right now you can't do much to them- can't revoke citizenship, can't city-ban. So add a City Probation. City Probation would act like a city-ban, although it's only effective for 24 hours, and that certain citizen can still enter the city hall (So mayors cant /cityprobation everyone right before an election). City-Ignore should also work on citizens only withen 24 hours maybe?

Taxes- Okay... taxes are pretty good, only if they weren't bugged. The only taxes which aren't bugged in any weird way are garage and income. I geuss we can all safely say we want those fixed. Also, I feel the need to make one minor change to the Income Tax- See below. I also have an idea for a new tax.

Income Tax- 2k a week is sort of a minor ammount. Allow the maximum to be around 3k.

Mission Tax- Allow the mayor to set a percentage of the mission payout (only credits), to be donated to the treasury. The maximum percentage should be 20-30% perhaps?

Also, add a tea tax, stamp tax... err, well lets not go overbored I suppose...

New Structures- I'm happy with the structures we have more, but theres room for more, a lot more. Below are some ideas. My hands are sort of tired, so I wont have time to describe each one, but I think they are pretty self-explanatory. I also got some ideas from other people on these boards, I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I posted them here. I also have inovations for some structures, going to describe those.

Inovations

Shuttle: Metropolis' have no benefit whatsoever other than 50 meters more of land and higher maintenance costs. Allow Metropolis' to place two shuttle ports. I understand that if server stabability is a problem, that the devs can't go about this.

Theater: Now we *really* got to make this more useful. Right now the Theater is just a watse of space which is a maze to get into and has three big slides and theater seats. Give Theaters more of a purpose. Let furniture be able to be placed on the stage!

New Structures

Mall What would be the benifits of a mall? how would it look and why would we want to move vendors from what we use for malls now into the "mall" you propose

Image Design Tent

Vault What is the purpose & function of the Valut? Would it be similar to a bank where safety deposit boxes are kept instead of a bank or would it serve a different function?

Permanent Ranger Camp What purpose would having a perminant ranger camp in the city serve?

Taverns Isnt the Cantina the same thing as a Tavern?

Zoo I think this would be fun to show off the Different animals ingame. Possably make this a place where CH's can "store" animals where people can view them, allowing the Creature Handlers to hold an additional 50-75 animals but the animals stored in the Zoo would show in cages.

Militia Station what would this do?

Hotel Isnt the Cantina the same thing as a Hotel?

Some Little Things- The little things tend to be the funnest and most important, here are some ideas on those.

SpecOps NPC: We*need*SpecOps NPC's. Allow these to be placed like ordinary trainers.

NPC's in cities: You know why player-cities look like ghost towns? There's no artificial life. There has to be droids or NPC's walking around town to at least give some feeling of a city.

Streets: Allow mayors to pave streets. Dont have it cost any money, then it just gets plain annoying.

Street Signs: Many people use lamp posts or those little statues as street signs. Why not add a real one?

Sounds: You often can't hear it, but if you turn up the volume in NPC cities you can often here mumbling of NPC's or many diverse sounds. The only sounds whatsoever I hear in a player cityis theshuttle port humming.

City Maps:Make a city map in one of those rooms in the City Hall. The City Map would basically be an exact picture from above the city placed in a smaller model. This may be hard to implement, so I doubt it will ever exist.

I ran out of ideas, but any constructive criticism is welcome.

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Nice Ideas Lexx! I'll post some things I really liked and expand:

Governments- Best idea here. Under ANY government you should be able to vote for 'overthrow government' rather than a candidate. This would be how you usher in new orders and what not. Remember democracies can be overthrown too ;-). As for communism here is what webster has to say:

Main Entry: com·mu·nism
Pronunciation: 'käm-y&-"ni-z&m
Function: noun
Etymology: French communisme, from commun common
1 a : a theory advocating elimination of private property b : a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed
2 capitalized a : a doctrine based on revolutionary Marxian socialism and Marxism-Leninism that was the official ideology of the U.S.S.R. b : a totalitarian system of government in which a single authoritarian party controls state-owned means of production c : a final stage of society in Marxist theory in which the state has withered away and economic goods are distributed equitably d : communist systems collectively

Communism was a form of government, said to be the ideal government, thought up by Karl Marx. The idea of communism, is that everyone is equal in profit as a community. In communism the government controls the means of production. The said problem with communism is that the government has too much power, thus leading to corrupt leaders (ex: Stalin). You cannot be an entrepenuer in communism; communism is an idealistic system that is based on the principle that many contribute equally and recieve equally. The only way there can be a communistic regime in SWG is by distributing all resources and revenue for artisans amonst everyone equally. With the nature of buisness in swg, it is doubtful that this government could work, stripping aspiring buisnessman from their dreams of making it big . As for democracy you should be able to appoint several types of officers (parallels of secretary of state, attorney general, etc...) that have certain abilities they perform. Citizens should have the opportunity to vote on important decisions, or appoint representatives to vote on their behalf (senators). Your dictatorship ideas are good, not a very deep government hehe (although their are different types if you want to get into that).


Mayoral Bounties- I love this idea too. When a bounty is place on the mayor, Their should be a warning email sent to all militia members. You could perform a lock down in the cityhall with militia members guarding the mayor. This would add an interesting assination possibility in cities.

Mayor salaries- I also agree this doesn't need to be implemented - not anymore anyways. The devs just gave you all of your politician sps back so you can make money the same way as other people. We don't need people to pick up mayor just for the added steady income to their already existant buisness.

Militia members- I think it would be neat to have the militia members also act like the mayoral guards (as stated in the mayoral bounties section).

Trade- There needs to be more relations between player cities. You should be able to arrange trade deals with other cities. You should be able to trade resources easily obtainable for your city with other cities (perhaps a new terminal that sends a certain percent collected to that city in exchange for their part of the deal?).

New Structures:
vault- I want there to be a walk-in bank/vault.
hotel- like lexx said, hotels are vary different. Go visit one and gamble
ID tent/ zoo: /agree
Museum- I <3 museums. I think their should be an actual building for them- make it possible to have signs & cases for artifacts (signs have descriptions and facts when examined).
The other ones you listed I don't think are needed.

/agree with all things in the 'little things' section that would make a big difference.

Theres my two cents.

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LexxYovel wrote:

Government Structures- Alright, this is a must. We need choices, dictatorships, democracies, communism, etc. Right now we have a crude democratic system. We need to be able to choose our government structure. This doesn't mean that if you choose a dictatorship your invulnerable to being pulled out of office... maybe overthrown? But each structure would have their pros and cons. Here they are.

Democracy: Right now I geuss you could say we have a democratic system for cities... but you could also call it a dictatorship. I say if you want to choose a democratic structure, it should be done like the following. Democracy's do not involve just one guy who controls the entire city. Although there can be somone like the "president," who is the true mayor. But if you choose a democratic system, you should be required to appoint at least 3 people who act as semi-mayors. These semi-mayors would have rights such as zoning abilities, tax management, city-specialization, etc. However, everything such as tax changes or city-specialization should go through a vote if the mayor accepts the idea or "vetos," it. My ideas are a tad scetchy, so I want to hear your ideas on this. As for the pros and cons.... Pros: Somone can serve as a backup if your gone, and democracy's are a little more sturdy... Cons: Any changes you want to take place may not occure. Although to speeden the voting process, everytime theres a vote, citizens should get a small window that says, yes, no. Also note that the same voting system should apply for elections. People should also be able to vote for officials and what not.

Dictatorship: Dictatorships are a rule by one person. Dictators normally have absoulute power, and most certainly dont have elections (although if they do, it's normally rigged). Dictatorships should sort of work like they are now. One person takes care of the city, and all tax changes or city-specializations can take place to your bidding. Instead of voting somone else, I geuss you could reword it as "overthrow mayor." Becuase lets be fair now, wont everyone become a dictatorship if you can never be voted out? Pros: Dictators can make any decision for the city they like, such as tax changes, etc... Cons: There's no backup if your gone, and many people may not like not having apart in voting for tax decisions, and may leave the city.

Communism: Any ideas on this one? Would like to hear from you guys.

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Communism is actually not a governmental structure but refer to the economicpolitics of the structure.

Dictatorship and Democracy is good definitionsfor structures. Then the government's decision actually define what kind of politics is being used. If you have high taxes and use the money to build the city you could call it socialism or communism. If you have low taxes to stimulate theeconomic growth (making it easier on crafters), then you'd be running a capitalistic government.

The democracy/dictatorship thing is also introduced in the game, although it is up to the players. I have a real example of this. I was a member of a guild called JaegerTroops on chimaera, over a year ago. We had a guildleader, and a separate Mayor.

When the Mayor defected, this other guy said "I could be the new mayor, vote for me". There were no discussions. All voted for this guy. When the guild leader defected, he handed out the leadership to this hologrinding guy, without asking the guild.

What happend to the guild was that it split in two. JaegerTroops then dissolved, and the city is no longer. It was a typical dictatorship.

Remember, that a dictatorship can never be ruled by one, unless he has support from the rich/strong anyway. If people are unhappy with a dictatorship they can just leave the guild/city.

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LexxYovel wrote:

Government Structures- Ah ha, now that's something that should be implanted in the game! Good thinking!

Mayor Bounties- Why not the Mayor's Hunters? Like in the following statements you said Lexx, some players can get off hand quite easily. So what?The mayorwill make them regret it by sending a mission tohis trustworthybounty hunter palto eliminate that player. The mayor can pay any sum of credits he wants to get the job done, unless the BH demands more credits, hehe.

Militia Members = Pointless- I agree that the Militia Members are pointless, because theyare onlyused to give zoning rights and banning players. They need more power! The City Ignore / Probation is just the things that Militia members would use often (Like me =P )

New Structures- Inovations

Shuttle: Should add a Starship terminal, because I'm tired of wasting 500 credits over and over just to go to my home town and then to the IO on Talus, vice-versa.

Theater: It could be changed, like the one in Coronet (Check north on the map, in the "dead-zone"), with 10-15 rows of seats and enough space to put up a real show.

New Structures

Malls, don't know yet.

Image Design Tent, a need in player cities!

Vault, couldbe a500-750 item-limitedhouse with a bank inside.

Permanent Ranger Camp,

Taverns, we got the cantinas already, or if you wanna make it in a Smuggler-looking way...

Zoo, don't know what to say, I'm not an animal person.

Militia Station, could be like those small towers in the Imperial Outpost on Talus.

Hotel, or a cantina with a 2nd floor.

Some Little Things-

NPC's in cities:

Streets: Best. Idea. Ever.

Street Signs: A must-need for the streets, helping new players out or making the city more organised.

Sounds: Sounds good.

City Maps:Ctrl+m does the same job.

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in addition to what I said on mayoral bounties- if the bh should lose, the employer should be announced to the mayor.

Another idea- Why not make a tool that can level ground? cmon if we have the technology to make spaceships, we can make a tool to make unbuilldable ground level.