Politician Archive
Thread: I'm starting up a city and have a few questions.
Odro wrote:
1. Is it hard? I assume it is.
2. How much does it cost per week? Month? Or however often you pay for city hall.
3. How long does a mayor usually stay in office?
4. A couple of friends and I are starting a city. I can either be guild leader or mayor since I am buying both halls. Which should I be and why?
I played SWG for a year and Ijust left a few months ago.I ended up becoming the mayor because our mayor left and I didn't want our city to crumble. So with lots of blood, sweat and tears I counted every house, tried to find it's owner, tried to find the active players and got them to vote and recruited.
1. Is it hard?
NO. Being a Mayor is very easy although citizens may expect to see you online all the time. Our city didn't have an organized PA, so I had to do city events such as speeder races, hunts etc to keep city folks interested.
2. How much does it cost?
YES, it's expensive.
You pay WEEKLY fees and the weekly updates. Our city of 65-75 citizens cost over 80k a week - 300/mo. Even, if I appied 2000k taxes, 10% shuttle and 20% garage fees, it would only cover about half. I, had to cover the other half. So, calculate about a minimum of 150k each and every month. Also, I used to give a free house, speeder and 10k to all new citizens.
The only thing difficult, is keeping citizens. You get a mixture. Those who only play for a short time and leave and those who've stayed but leave for a different city/guild.
3. How long in office?
I don't know if there have been changes but when I was mayor, it was extremely difficult to resign. First, you need 51% of the registered citizens.I was an Architect, so I had money. There aren't too many players who can afford 150k every month just to keepa city running so I just remained mayor. It is very rare for citizens to elect another mayor. Althought, there are know instances where mayors have been ousted out of power because they didn't have zoning and with the help of (cross server) and static lots swapping were outvoted before election.
4. Don't confuse City Hall and Guild Hall (most ppl do)
If you place a City Hall, you will need to get 10 citizens registered into your city within 24 hours or else you will lose your City Hall. A City Hall will cost you no lots. A Guild Hall looks nice and everybody wants to be part of a Guild. But if the Guild is not organized, if your Guild doesn't do events or have a purpose then you don't really need one immediately. Also, a Guild Hall will cost 7 lots.
Overall, I enjoyed being mayor. I didn't like it when the game was changed so that new players began only on starting planets. I lived on Rori and I had to aways travel to Tantooine (Bestine) to recruit. Now really, why in the world would any new player want to go to Rori when there's so much more to offer on Naboo or Tatooine ??Also, if your city is far out, a shuttleport is a necessity but you need 55 citizens for that.I found, most citizens didn't understand much about cities and mayors (or the treasury) nor really cared as long as it was there and someone was willing to do the job. Wost of all, it was hard loosing citizens and having to recruit more to keep the city alive.
There are many things (expecially long term) to consider when wanting to begin a brand new city. My recommendation is, don't start a new one but join an existing.
Odro wrote:
Is it possible to be Mayor and Guild Leader?
Yes it is possible to be the Mayor and a Guild Leader.
There is a lot of confusion between a Mayorand a Guild Leader.
A mayor manages the city. Only one mayor - only one city hall.
A Guild Leader is in charge of a guild (or a group with common interest). It can be a crafters guild, a PvP guild or any other. A city can have none, one or many Guilds.