[Guest]

So the wealthiest person in the game is leaving and has left his fortune to a lucky few. We are talking more money than most people have in their banks combined. I am making this post to get everyone’s thoughts on the subject.

The thoughts below are simply to get you thinking and in no way represent my opinions.

Is it fair for someone to receive this huge amount of cash that hasn't truly earned it donating and or playing?

It’s their money why shouldn't they be able to give it to whoever they choose?

Are you just upset about it because it wasn't you that received the cash? Would you feel differently if it was?

Should there be some sort of tax on this just like the Government taxes these things?

Why should we even care?



Now it’s your turn.

[Guest]

I'm happy for the two I know of that got some.

[Guest]

be happy for those that recieve it m8..

for u would hate for someone to do this to u..

and dont say u wouldnt and its fair and just.. for its not...

someones actions is always repeated in another dimension by that person affecting someone else or it being done by someone else affecting that person..

wat comes around goes around...

>.>
thus no one should make any statements on this

[Guest]

Tobith Wrote:Is it fair for someone to receive this huge amount of cash that hasn't truly earned it donating and or playing?

This is tough. The problem to me is where do you draw the line? I know I have given a lot of money to people in my gang and sub gangs to help them get houses and/or better weapons. I just figured this is what you do to help make your members stronger. I never really thought there was anything wrong with it. I know in this case the amount we are talking about is huge, but when should the admins say it's too much? That I am not sure about.

Tobith Wrote:Are you just upset about it because it wasn't you that received the cash? Would you feel differently if it was?

Haha, hell ya! I want my money!! In all seriousness, I am not upset about it. I am happy for the people who got the money. I am trying to leave my emotions out of this and look at it as unbiased as I can. But to be honest, if I recieved the cash I sure as hell wouldn't want it taken away, lol.

Tobith Wrote:Should there be some sort of tax on this just like the Government taxes these things?

This is an idea I really, really like. I think there should be a tax on all cash transfers regardless of the size. I think this will make people think twice about giving away cash. Not sure what a good percentage would be though, maybe 35?

Tobith Wrote:Why should we even care?

Because this is going to affect the game. If you don't care about the game then you shouldn't care. But if you enjoy the game and want to keep the game from turning into CC or Metro Wars or any of the other games were things our out of control, then you should care. This game has done a great job of keeping the economy in check and I hope that continues.


So I guess overall I think they should be able to keep the money, but there should be a tax on all future cash transfers (and maybe even apply it to the big one). Maybe even a limit on how much cash you can transfer per day or something so if a person quits, they can't just give away all their cash at once.

[Guest]

As a recipiant of the largess, I would have to think I am somewhat biased, but I believe I can seporate out my feelings from my intellect in this issue... Plus it hasn't sink in yet.

(Note: I am not getting all fancy like Chris with his quotes, mostly because I don't know how, exactly)

As the game rules are currently written (23 Aug 2006 @ 3:00 PM PDT), the money can be transferred to anyone with no cost. The person who has the money can do what they want with it. Sam asks about fairness. I will break the question into two pieces. 1) Is it fair to receive cash from another player. Yes it is fair. The two people can be friends in real life, or have become friends in the game. 2) Haven't truely earned it... I do not know Casanova outside of the game. He messaged me on what might have been his first day playing asking if we would marry ingame. I told him to be a gentleman and ask me out on a date first. This is how we met. Since then, we have maintained our friendship. I have helped him (mostly from being kicked about) and he has helped me. I am fairly poor and can't donate much. He has/had free money in his real life budget and was generous to give me some during our months of playing. When he was down, we would chat about things and hopefully he felt better. Did I "earn" the money I was given? That would be up to you each to decide. I was always a friend, and will gladly give all the money back to him and more. I tried to talk him out of leaving the game. He may return, but it will be on his terms.

Am I upset? Nope, but then again, I got money. I look at it as borrowing a really nice house to train with until/if he gets back. Did I care that Chris/Sarge/Beele/Casa/Sam had more money than me before I received the money. Nope. Really the only ones that should care are Zenith and anyone jealous of Pinky and I (sorry if I am leaving someone out that received money too). Caring about the game isn't the same as caring about someone that gets a lot of money. If someone cheats to make a lot of money, THAT I care about.

I think to keep the game finances in check, a transfer fee is a good idea. If it is easy to implement, it should be over an amount per day. My suggestion is 100k per day. This seems like a lot, but people will be making a lot more money (I had almost 300k in the bank before getting the present).

I like my and Chris's answer.

[zenith]

I don't have a problem with people giving cash out when they continue to play. Bottom line is, they aren't going to give EVERYTHING they own away.

Where it crosses the line is when someone quits and gives everything away. Or someone gives a major portion of their personal wealth away. This throws the entire economy into a tailspin, especially when a major portion of all cash in the economy is at stake. When this amount of money is injected into any economy, several unwanted things can happen; prices for everything go up, interest rates go down, or even taxes are taken out of the cash transfer.

What happens in the real world when this amount of money changes hands? First thing that comes to my mind is everyone tries to get their hand on it, be it transfer fees or taxes.

Sure the people who got the cash are going to be happy. The people who didn't get it are going to think it's unfair. Either I can take the money back and make the people who received the gift unhappy, or I can let it go and have everyone else unhappy.

The Awakened Lands Tax Collector sees all transfers of items and cash, so I am sure he will think of something.

As for those who just received millions upon millions, if taxes were taken out would you feel that it was a fair price to pay for something you wouldn't have had in the first place?

[Guest]

Lostangel Wrote:I do not know Casanova outside of the game. He messaged me on what might have been his first day playing asking if we would marry ingame. I told him to be a gentleman and ask me out on a date first. This is how we met.

Uhm......

[Guest]

From Zenith...

As for those who just received millions upon millions, if taxes were taken out would you feel that it was a fair price to pay for something you wouldn't have had in the first place?

As a receiver of untold millions (ok they were told millions), I wouldn't mind had that been the rule before I got the money. I wouldn't be happy if the rule was changed and I was affected retroactively. When the US Government changes tax law, they don't go back and tax people who are now by the new law.

Generally I think it is good for the game to have money transfer limits and fees. I think you should limit the transfer to $100k cash/day and have fees of 1% to 10% depending on the amount transferred. I think friend and gang transfers should have higher limits than non-donator transfers, as an incentive to donate to the game. I think you should have item transfer fees that are 1/2 the cash (selling) value of the item being transferred.

As an administrator, your job is to remove as much money from the game as possible, while making players as happy as possible. Fees on optional parts of the game are a good way to do that.

[zenith]

Lostangel Wrote:From Zenith...

As a receiver of untold millions (ok they were told millions), I wouldn't mind had that been the rule before I got the money. I wouldn't be happy if the rule was changed and I was affected retroactively. When the US Government changes tax law, they don't go back and tax people who are now by the new law.

Taxes have been doled out retroactively to a certain date here in California. You must have missed Grey Davis' tenure. Businesses got hit the hardest.

You obviously don't want me to take out a fee from the transaction, else you wouldn't have posted. Err and I must make a proper decision that might make some mad, but it will be for the longevity of our community.

[Guest]

Just to make sure. None of the questions in my post above reflect my opinion; they were just to get people thinking. I tried to remain neutral and represent all sides.

I think my concern is that millions of dollars were all in one person’s pockets and he was using it mainly on things that don't enter into circulation such as houses and other things for himself. Now he has given it to certain people and if it enters into circulation it will, like Zen said, throw the economy in a tailspin. From experience with other games like this one, I do not want to see this happen.