Politician Archive
Thread: This Week in Politics 1/26/04
Reporting in from Tal'Alderaan, on Talus, on the Intrepid server.
As far as my personal advancement goes I have reached the title of Warmaster and placed a couple of Rebel mission terminals. I will likely be going for the Research city specialization next based on some of the posts I have read on the usefulness for the expenditure in tax money.
As usual the Politician skills really take a back seat to the day to day role of Mayor. Last week was spent integrating an offshoot PA founded after the disbanding of a nearby player city. That assisted our city's expansion to no end. We gained about a dozen citizens with the introduction of these players and a few more besides, and should at the time of this writing have expanded to a Rank 4 City. The best part is that the majority of players added are hard core SWG fanatics - an essential element for having a thriving city and not a ghost town. And finally I get to place that freaking shuttle port and never, EVER, have to hear that question again.
With the ups must come a few downs though. A different neighboring player city, Blood Fortress, has raised the ire of a large and well respected Rebel PA consortium, including one PA in particular that our town has enjoyed good relationships with almost since the game was launched. As the maturity of the leadership of Blood Fortress was already being called into question by our own residents (they were well known for griefing Imperial players, and all role playing aside we like to encourage our Imperial counterparts to play their part in the GCW and try to remember there are real people behind our advesaries), we elected to stop supplying reinforcements to these players. That and other similar acts by additional Rebel PAs and cities across the server have recently brought this guild to the table to resolve these issues. With any luck we will be able to remain outside of the matter and let things naturally diffuse themselves.
We held two events this weekend, one being a hunt on Dathomir that was open to our citizens, and the other being a PvP tournament that was hosted by one of the guilds of the city, much to the delight of the citizens watching the event. There were some great loot items in the former event, and city crafters donated great prizes in the latter event. Interest in the city has never been higher, and things are going well.
- Acroyear
City: Brenn, Naboo, Shadowfire
Pop: 130, metropolis
We had a fairly uneventful week in the city. We gained a couple citizens overall and continued to add shops to our commercial area (now over 80 shops).
Since day one, our city has been in an indirect "competition" with Mos Krayt on Tatooine for the largest city on the server. It was revealed this week that the mayor of that city had quit the game a couple weeks ago and the account was being run by his PA mates. Overnight, they went from a neutral/no-PvP city to having Imperial scanner and bases in the city... mass exodous began quickly. Even though they realized their mistake after a few days and officially went back to neutral... I think the damage has been done and I fear the city will never be the same.
Back to Brenn - since the #1 thing citizens of a city fear is a letter from their mayor asking them to relocated, one thing I have been trying to do is improve the layout for the city through natural attrition. When the city started, I never imagined the commercial area would grow to the size it has - and it is still growing, needless to say, the current layout is not ideal for expansion. In one instance though, we were able to clear out a space to put an extra garden and the city's third bank in, and at the same time open up the area as a nice little lane - so that was nice to see and it should help that small area of the city. But those instances are rare, and it takes a lot of patience and adaptable thinking to find good opportunities for improvements.
Being primarily a merchant city, one of the things we struggle with week in and week out is the high level of competition and business sharks that either work in the city, or do a lot of business there. We have quickly gotten the reputation on our server of having high prices and being "greedy". The truth is though, that if our merchants do offer good deals, enterprising merchants will just raid our stores and take the goods somewhere else more profitable to sell - this in fact does happen every day and is inevitable to some degree. Over time, this has just caused our merchants to price goods on the high side out of necessity - and despite some debate, I remain adamantly against any sort of price fixing as do most of the citizens. Interestingly enough, this "greedy" reputation that has been the subject of a few 100+ post threads on the server boards actually does wonders for attracting new merchants and crafters to the city... ie. the "Greed is good" philosophy. That is not to say though, that many, many merchants and crafters have come to the city with the intention of setting up a "fairly" priced shop - and it usually works for a day or two until people learn where it is.. then the sharks move in and strip the vendors bare as soon as they get restocked to resell them elsewhere We have tried to discourge the "reselling" tactic within the town and have done that fairly successfully, but it still remains a problem for outsiders coming in (some even setup just on the city border and resell).
Ooh, one thing I forgot that I wanted to mention. We had a referendum this week about whether or not to setup faction mission terminals in the city. We are neutral, so I am considering putting one of each in. Overwhelmingly the response has been NO - they do not want factioned mission terminals in the city at all, they don't want to deal with the TEF problems, and they want the city to remain strictly neutral and apart from the GCW. Many of these people are covert and even overt, they just want to keep their home in a non-war zone.
This honestly kind of suprised me, I figured there would be quite a few people voting for terminals for greater convenience.
There has been very little activity within the city the past week. I have placed both Imperial and Rebel Faction terminals to please all aligned citizens. In spirit of the cities' beliefs that all creatures within the city should live in harmony, the terminals were placed side by side at the city shuttle.
The city no longer has anymore available spaces for decorations. I recieved notification that we have reached our maximum. Sadly the city still seems bare, and I hope we can soon make it to Rank 5 for the additional 10 slots.
There has been a few complaints lately, on the way the city determines where homes will be placed. For the most part only one citizen has made it clear that she is 100% against it. I have not yet determined if it is a result of her complaints, but a makeshift "street" was built just outside of the city limit. All the homes have her name on it. Myself and the SOS council have decided not to trouble ourselves worrying about it. The Street is outside the city limit and there is therefore nothing we can do about it. It is also unlikely that we will develop that area in the immediate future should the city ever expand.
I am debating selling back all my Musician skill points. I have already sold back just enough, so I have enough to finish Master Politician, however I have noticed there is very little use for Musician anymore considering the rapid increase of AFK entertainers in recent months (The concept of tipping your entertainers is a thing of the past now. Pity). So right now I have two skill trees that pay absolutely nothing. If it wasn't for Image Design I would be broke.
Very cool, creative stuff going on in your town. Thanks for the update.
Laeren wrote:
Rauha, Naboo - Starsider Galaxy (2km north of Keren, shuttle transportation also available)
This week Rauha announced the opening ofthe Rauha Hotel & Restaurant (more flourishy name forthcoming). This large 3-story structure isdesigned for guests to relax and enjoy the comfortable furnishings while partaking of the culinary delights of our local chef, Swarriorx. Featured meals include ryshcate, teltier noodles,and his newest acquisition, glucose pate for dessert. Features of the hotel include luxurious bedroom accomodations, a gorgeous view of the countryside and city from the balcony adjacent to the dining room, and even an indoor swimming pool. Guests should contact July Appletree for reservations.
We've also established a college campus, the University of Rauha, Naboo, which is doing well, gaining a steady trickle of students signing up for classes. The University is an RP-intensive environment where RPrs can go and expect to be immersed in RP-related activities. The rest of the town is RP where and when you like it to be, but when on the University grounds, RP is expected from everyone within its environs.
We also recently established an Animal Menagerie (read: Zoo), and there are plans for our theater to become a prominent feature soon as well.
As a college town our city seems to fluctuate with activity. Sometimes there will be a flurry of people running to and fro and sometimes it'll be so quiet you can hear distant kaadu mewling mating calls. Our town features two well-known crafters (Kane the weaponsmith and Syma the armorsmith/tailor) so we see a steady stream of customers, and some of the newer crafters in town have seen growing business as well.
(note yet a mayor, but ...)
Dark Legion (former Sith Legion) of Lok, Kauri
For the 2nd time in the row, the incumbent mayor has won the elections. It would not be the problem, except for the fact that mayor with most of the citizens have misteriouslydissapeared during the Turmoils about week and a half ago. A dust storm covered our city during that day, a storm that we called CSR-Patrick, a storm that ended our Guild and send the most glorious city of the Galaxy into its Dark Age ...
But we are not giving up! We banded together and now trying to restore the city to its past glory. Already all 4 Tactical HQ bases protecting the Shuttle Port district have been outfitted with new defenses. The Detachment HQ bases on theSquare of the Sithare now being upgraded as well. Mine fileds have beenrestored. Crafting folks are starting to comeback. And militia is active once again, sending a message of rebirth to the Galaxy by wiping out a HQ base in a Corellian city-nemesis of Kor Playa! And the message is loud and clear - We rise from the ashes once again!
Second link in my sig.
I have been proclaimed Chancellor, and am unifying by words and force the nearby cities. Already Malus and New Dosha have joined the new order. The city of Bijou Bay is considering it, but given the destruction in the countryside of dissidents, likely they will join as well. The final city in the Federated area, has closed up shop and will likely be surrounded.
My personality change and my embrace of a former enemy has raised many eyebrows. Dissidents grow on every corner. Many are summarily shot.
Last night I took over the broadcast of a prominent channel on Ahazi and delivered a speech about the new order. It will be placed on that thread in my sig when we get it transcripted.
The new order of the Suntir/Riverlands Federation is coming! Peace, prosperity and order will finally be restored.
RbT
Temenos Island, Naboo - Kettemoor
Greetings, fellow political minds!
Well, better late than never, I've always heard said, so here is a little information for you on the city that I have been elected to serve.
Temenos Island is one of very few totally neutral cities in our galaxy, as well as one of the oldest, if not the oldest city in Kettemoor. A role-player's haven, it was established during the second week of the game by a team of six and has seen constant growth since its conception. It was one of the first 10 cities officially placed on Naboo and was the first metropolis on our server. It has managed to retain its metropolis status, as well as its neutrality and status as a place to go when one wants a decent role-playing experience. Our population varies as we welcome new residents every day and occasionally say goodbye to old ones as they move on to other avenues of exploration.
As for the composition of our citizenry, we are, as I stated, neutral. We have rebels and imperials living side by side in our city, although some more known than others do, but all in peace. Our RP reasoning is that the Empire has granted TI sovereignty and allows it to exist as a neutral zone amidst the GCW. This desire for neutrality was established back with our city's founding, and has been a driving goal for our city from the first day. It is the basis of our lifestyle and the source of our peace. We do have a law against open weaponry in our city's borders, which helps reinforce the idea of peace and neutrality. Even our militia refrains from equipping their weapons unless absolutely necessary, preferring a methodology of polite interaction to force wherever possible. In order to foster the nature of role-play within our city, we also have a law against entertaining in our cantina while under the influence of acid-fermented kreetlejuice (AFK), a policy that is strictly supported by our militia and our cantina owner. Everyone is welcome in Temenos, so long as they agree to abide by our laws.
As for our financial well being, we are comfortable in our lifestyle. I have been slowly reducing our taxes weekly as we strive to find a balance where we can all feel comfortable and still be able to afford the pleasantries Temenos has to offer. Our taxes currently reside at 250cr. income tax, 2% property tax, 3% sales tax, and 100cr. travel tax.
We are a home to merchants and crafters of all sorts, this week we are working on establishing a shopping center in our city. Another project in the works is the state of our ambassadorial relations with other cities in our galaxy. We currently have a diplomatic mission house located in Greenmurk, a city near Moenia, and enjoy friendly relations with our closest neighbor, the city of Riverbend. We are in negotiations about another ambassadorial relationship with another Naboo city, and our first interplanetary alliance is in the works as I write this. I have positive feelings about both of these negotiations, and don't expect they will be the last.
Temenos has seen a lot of great changes over the past few weeks. The home of the Namasoon's Corporation, we boast the first multi-structure zoo, complete with exhibits from various planets. If you think you've seen a zoo in game, you haven't until you've visited Namasoon's, trust me. We also host an Endorian meditation garden in the southern part of our city where Teras Kasi Artists can come and meditate. In all, it is the people that make Temenos great and I am just honored they let me be their mayor. I am enjoying being a politician and look forward to seeing all the great things I know will come out of our city.
Horizon Isle, Corellia, Starsider
It has been a like no other in Horizon Isle's history. Mayor DavidII Trebonious stepped down and the opponent that had been running against him for the last two weeks was elected. Mayor Max-Dragon Outrider (me 
) now steers Horizon Isle on a more exciting course. Horizon Isle was the first city to be placed by the guild known as Rebel Squadrons. At the birth of the city many of the PA members flocked to live there. But then a second city was built by Rebel Squadrons on Dantooine called Castoria. This was the city that the PA planned on making the biggest city. Horizon Isle was forgotten and neglected. Mayor Trebonious kept the city running as best as he could but many moved to the new city of Castoria. Horizon Isle's early glory was over and the big brother city Castoria dominated the hearts of the Rebel Squadrons members. Horizon Isle was reduced from40 members down to the 35 minimum needed for the level 3 status that it had achieves early on. Mayor Trebonious has kept Horizon Isle running all this time yet Horizon Isle felt more like a ghost town with only a handful of its citizens ever spending more than 5 minutes on the island.
Thentwo weeks ago Mayor Trebonious had finaly grown weary of leading an lifeless city and decided to step down as mayor. The Rebel Squadrons PA was asked to find a new candidate for mayor. As soon as Mayor Trebonious had sent an e-mail to the citizens informing them of his desire to step down Max-Dragon Outrider quickly aquired the skills of Novice Politician and put his name down for the role as the new mayor. Max-Dragon Outrider outlined his plans and waited for any competition to show themselves from the PA. No such competition surfaced and with the PA's blessing he ran for mayor.At the end of the first week the results were in only 8 people voted for Max-Dragon Outrider. The other 27 had not listened to the call of Mayor Trebonious, the PA's Command Staff andOutrider himself. The 27 votes had all been those automatically given to the mayor when a vote had not been personally placed.
Both Mayor Trebonious and Max-Dragon Outrider were highly annoyed that only 8 out of the 35 members of Horizon Isle had actually bothered to return to their home city to vote. Outrider ran again for mayor but this time put his own plans into action for getting the votes. Straight away the 8 people that had voted the previous week voted once again. Outrider's plans had originaly been intended to be implemented after winning the election but desperate times called for a change in plans. Outrider opened talks with a new guild looking for a place to set up. The guild leader agreed to come to Horizon Isle and have his members all make homes in the city boundary. Horizon Isle now had two PAs on the island and working together to make the city great. As 5 new citizens were quickly added from the new PA's ranks Outrider opened talks with yet another guild. Just like the previous guild they imediately took up the chance to build their fledgling guild in the city boundary in return for financial support in purchasing a guild hall. Horizon Isle gained another3 citizens through the second new PA. The Rebel Squadrons also gained3 new members during this time and Outrider quickly talked them into making Horizon Isle their home. Horizon Isle had now recieved the biggest influx of citizens since its birth. A total of 11 new members had joined Horizon Isle in the last week. Since the building of Castoria, Horizon Isle had gained a few citizens but lost the same number seemingly to be stuck at 35 for eternity. But Horizon Isle now rose to 46 citizens, the greatest number of citizens ever to be part of the little city. Each one of the new members placed their vote for Max-Draon Outrider to become the next mayor. Yet this was only 18 votes.
The Rebel Squadrons guild called their weekly meeting and with it came several of the missing members of Horizon Isle. 6 of them were ordered to place their vote for Max-Dragon Outrider before the time of the update arrived. Early Sunday morning GMT Max-Dragon Outrider was proclaimed the new mayor of Horizon Isle.
The city that had been a ghost town for several months had just seen a sudden increase in population and the replacement of its long standing mayor.