Tiny Empires

And that's why you don't sabotage the Emperor

2010-04-24T07:56:00.001-07:00

So one month, we see the usual sort of sabotage notice. The interesting part was the victim- Emperor Ultralite Soliel. The second interesting part was that he lost ten acres of land.

Everyone waits to see what's going to happen. Will we know, a friend asked me. I thought we would only if the Emperor had allies to help bring the saboteur to justice.

Wrong.

A couple of months later:

Who's going to try next? Any volunteers?

Interview with TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn

2009-08-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

Vulpine Eldrich, Soon to be King TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn, and Lady of the Bay Charm March

Vulpine Eldrich: Good evening, everyone. I'm here with Prince TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn, and his SL (and TE) partner, Charm March. They've graciously consented to tell me about the big plans that are set to occur for tomorrow, August 27th. TeuffelHunde, would you tell everyone just what you two are planning to do?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: I will be ascending and we will be starting the Kingdom of Music. This kingdom will be to support Music in Second Life.

Vulpine Eldrich: And how will it do that?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: Many of our members are Live Musicians, Singers, DJ's, Venue Owners and Music Lovers. We will do it through promotion of music and different events in Second Life.

Charm March: We have many friends in the music community, and we are both passionate about supporting live music in SL. We have yet to work out exactly how we will help, but that is our main goal.

Vulpine Eldrich: So would I be correct in saying that the music career came first, and then the Tiny Empires career?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: It is more of a passion for the music. Yes we had that before TE. Charm ran a Venue for 2 years called Bay Vista Live Music Scene.

Vulpine Eldrich: Thus, Charm, your Tiny Empires title, "Lady of the Bay"?

Charm March: Yes, exactly.

Vulpine Eldrich: And how did you two become involved in Tiny Empires?

Charm March: I started TE about 2 years ago, and kind of floundered around in it. Then, through some convincing by friends, I decided to form the Kingdom of Music. Teuff joined me a little before that time, and we have been working on this goal together for several months now.

Vulpine Eldrich: So Teuff, you found Charm already with this idea?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: I started in TE this past January when Charm and I started hanging out.

Charm March: The idea came about after he joined me, and since we both enjoy the music scene so much, it seemed like a perfect idea.

Vulpine Eldrich: So he joins you, but now that your kingdom is imminent, you're his subject and he'll be King. Is there something I'm missing about this apparent role reversal?

Charm March: Oh well. Yeah, I guess so. I decided that I preferred for him to be the King. I would rather take a supporting role in the kingdom. I actually think it will give me more time to do the things that I want to without having to take on the duties of Monarch day to day.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you make the Kingdom, and Teuff is the one that will actually administer it?

Charm March: Well, Teuff made the kingdom as much as I did. It really has been a joint effort.

Vulpine Eldrich: And how did the two of you decide on the Kingdom of Home to nurture your growing group?

Charm March: BackHome is a long time friend of mine. I asked him if we could come here and grow our line and asked for his support and guidance to help us along.

Vulpine Eldrich: Was he the one that introduced you to Tiny Empires?

Charm March: No he wasn't. It was another friend.

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: He has been very supportive and helpful to us as we have grown our line.

Vulpine Eldrich: And now you're within twenty four hours of Music being born. What sort of coronation party does the Kingdom of Music have?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: We will start it off at 7:00pm SL with a Live Music Show, followed by a DJ for another hour.

Charm March: One of our Princes, Onehempcat Oldrich, will be performing.

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: We have set up a Music Stage across the sim.

Vulpine Eldrich: And I assume everyone who is interested is invited...

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: Yes :-)

Charm March: Yes! We hope to have a good crowd :)

Vulpine Eldrich: I'm sure you will! So have you been discussing your new kingdom with other venue owners and music performers? What sort of feedback have you gotten?

Charm March: So far the feedback is minimal. There is not as broad an understanding of TE as one might think.

Vulpine Eldrich: Have there been any common misconceptions or problems that you have in explaining it?

Charm March: Well, some people assume it is a role play. And the game itself is not easy to explain. So it takes someone just getting in there and playing it to understand.

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: That’s the challenge sometimes, just getting them to try it.

Charm March: But the relationships that are built within the kingdom are what have become really important. We will continue to spread the word, with the help of our members and hopefully we will become what we are aiming for.

Vulpine Eldrich: And what are you aiming for?

Charm March: Well, in the big picture-- I would like to have a kingdom that is a place where musicians, venue owners etc. can come to find and recruit talent. Provide support and suggestions for new musicians. Become well known as a resource for that sort of thing.

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: And have the fellowship and camaraderie of common goals.

Charm March: Or we may just hang out and enjoy music :) Who knows!

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: And a place to come have fun. We are a fun loving bunch.

Vulpine Eldrich: So I see! Do DJ's and live performers find it easy to play TE while they go about their business?

Charm March: Well, they usually don't have the hud running while they are playing. But otherwise they do. They are here a lot of time other than performing.

Vulpine Eldrich: Which is where the "hang out and have fun" part comes in, no doubt. But as you look at tomorrow's plans, does the fact that Music will be joining a list of Kingdoms with over two hundred entries in it make any difference?

Charm March: It is challenge of course. We have a lot of contacts in the music biz here. So that helps. We have a stage here, and will have shows. We will promote the Kingdom that way. It will be baby steps.

Vulpine Eldrich: And I'm sure there will be lots of those. How easy do you think it is to form a Kingdom in Tiny Empires?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: It has not been easy so far :-) Recruiting takes a lot of time. But I think it’s about building relationships, and that takes time

Vulpine Eldrich: And will Music stay a major kingdom after your ascension? That is, is it planned to. I know some ascend with the deliberate plans of not being a major kingdom for any length of time.

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: Our plans are to stay a major kingdom. I want to be able to give the Kingdom all the benefits that a Major Kingdom can.

Vulpine Eldrich: And Charm, will you become the Grand Vicereine?

Charm March: Yes that is the plan. We also plan to share that role in the future, to help others learn the monarch duties.

Vulpine Eldrich: It sounds as if things have all been planned out. Are there any last minute butterflies or worries about anything in particular?

Charm March: Oh yeah, lol. We will be on our own !!! YIKES

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: :-)

Vulpine Eldrich: And everyone will be looking at you, Teuff, and saying "you're the monarch, what's your decision on this bit of drama-laden spat"?

Charm March: Teuff is very patient. He will be a good King. He thinks things through before he speaks. He listens well, too.

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: I have come to like the Kingdom of Home's "Drama Free" approach. It works well. I think I will adopt that policy, too.

Vulpine Eldrich: What rules are involved in that policy?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: Take your drama to IM and solve it with the person. Respect others feelings, we are all adults here. We are here to have fun and support each other, and to encourage communication with myself or Charm to resolve problems, if necessary.

Vulpine Eldrich: Have you had to resolve many problems in your group so far?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: Yes, a couple of times.

Vulpine Eldrich: And even after that, you're ready to take on more! But speaking of taking on more, there are more than two hundred kingdoms to compete with. There are also ten guilds in Tiny Empires 3000. How does TE3K factor into your plans and enthusiasms?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: Yes I am ready :-) I enjoy trying to make a difference. As far as TE3K goes, I play but it will be secondary to the Kingdom of Music. I realize that more of my time will be spent with members of the kingdom but that is all good. We are trying to build something worthwhile here.

Vulpine Eldrich: Do you have a group in Tiny Empires 3000 that corresponds to the Kingdom of Music? Or is TE3K something that your group does with others, if anyone, and you aren't directly involved in it.

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: I do not. TE3K is something that I started when it came out. I am just part of a guild. I have met some great people in that guild. They have been helpful. But my main desire is to help make the Kingdom of Music a success, a place where people want to be.

Vulpine Eldrich: Do you ever find it a factor when introducing TE to new people? "Wait, there's this other version of the game..."

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: Not yet, actually I see quite a few familiar names on the 3K hud from the original game.

Vulpine Eldrich: Yes, I imagine so. But, laying aside TE3K, what sort of real life experiences do you think have helped qualify you for this project? What sort of things in your past will make you a good King (and Grand Vicereine)?

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: I’ve been a supervisor at a boat manufacturer for a number of years. My experience has been with groups of up to twenty five people.

Charm March: In RL, I have had experience working with and leading teams. I have also been a counselor. I have spent a good deal of time in problem solving as well as in project development. So I think using that experience will be most helpful. Also, my experience running a music business in SL and working with one of the major music management groups here has taught me a lot.

Vulpine Eldrich: And made a lot of contacts, no doubt. Quite impressive, I must say! So, what else is there that we need to know about the Kingdom of Music and its people?

Charm March: We will be allies with the Kingdom of Home. That bond will always be there.

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: We want to thank BackHome Soon and Lodi McMillan for their gracious support.

Vulpine Eldrich: And I'm sure you'll prove that support well-founded. Well, thanks so much for your time, and may the Kingdom of Music stay in perfect harmony!

Charm March: Yayyy

TeuffelHunde Mandelkorn: Thank you Vulpine! We appreciate your interest in our Kingdom.

The party and ascension happened precisely on schedule, with the new kingdom being formed in the middle of the party. For those of you who missed it... it was fun!

Gold Bars and the Alchemist

2009-04-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Some time ago (last October, in fact), I asked if anyone knew what was the significance of the gold bars some people were finding when they bought their land. The answer was: nothing. They had apparently been released by the Emperor, but he didn't know- or hadn't finished- what would actually be done with them. Gold Bars became something of a joke-- something that was totally useless.

All of that changed a few weeks ago. Gold Bars began popping up everywhere. People found them buying land, selling land, completing steps on the Path to Royalty, in gifts they sent to allies, from the Trader, and as prizes at Festivals. At the same time, the moon started turning red.

That is when the alchemist came.

She comes in a brightly covered wagon when the moon turns red. She comes only to people who have gold bars, and to them, she offers the choice of three mysterious potions, which can be bought if you have enough gold bars. Their effects are widely varied, and are not fully documented yet.

So, are these gold bars worth the bother? How much is a gold bar worth, anyway? It's worth as much good as you get out of the potions. It looks like a good rule of thumb is that one gold bar is worth two acres of land- the exact amount varying according to what you get, of course. For example:

Blue Potion (Cost: 1 gold bar):
When the Trader comes next, he will not charge anything for his prize. Since his usual fee is roughly 2.5 acres of land, that's 2.5 acres' worth of gold that your bar saved you. Note that the Trader also gives out five gold bars as his prize. At 2 acres per bar, this makes the prize worth ten acres, one of the better possibilities.

Bubbling Potion (Cost: 1 gold bar):
The report on this one is that it led to a windfall worth roughly three acres- it says that you feel lucky.

Dark Green Potion (Cost: 1 gold bar):
Five years of tax amnesty. This means roughly 150 percent of what your land produces in a year. How many acres that equals depends on acre cost vs acre production and what your tax rate is. In my case, it would be considerably less than one acre, since I have a lot of acres that don't produce much compared to their cost. Unless you have a fairly low number of acres, this may not be a good option.

Draught of Quintain (Cost: 1 gold bar):
When you go to the jousts, you don't have to practice (twice). Since you 'practice' by giving up an acre of land, this potion saves you two acres.

Elixir of Prevention (Cost: 1 gold bar):
Prevents disasters and gives you the amount of citizens that you would have gotten if you had done the second highest option. Considering how much the second best option costs, multiplied by the four times that someone reports it lasted, puts this prize in the one to two acre range.

Essence of Loyalty (Cost: 1 gold bar):
Increases the amount you get for being loyal. The usual loyalty reward is 1/4 of acre price. With this, the prize is twice acre price. Again, just under two acres in land.

Lure of Gold (Cost: 1 gold bar) :
Increases the amount potential subjects are offered when you send bribes. One report is that the amount tripled. Assuming that the amount normally offered is roughly one acre of land for the recipient, this means that they would get two more acres of land from it. (Note that it's said the larger bribe offers keep getting made until someone accepts once.)

Oil of Metagrobology (Cost: 1 gold bar):
Lets you get the prizes for answering correctly to riddles even if you don't answer at all. This one works repeatedly, but it would have to work a lot of times to be worth two acres! One, perhaps. Of course, all it really saves you is the trouble of answering the riddles for yourself... and if you don't pay much attention to the hud, it turns a lost chance riddle into an automatic gold windfall.

There are other potions. Many are not well understood at this point. Many that are understood are only good for particular people. For instance, what good is the ability to not pay an acre to joust if you never choose to joust? What good is being rewarded for loyalty if your liege never rewards your loyalty? And so forth.

My personal experience with the potions was with the generosity one that let me give away land. For a one time gift of three acres, I could just say the name and they got three acres of my land. It's only a convenience, unless the person you're naming is never available, for whatever reason, for you to give them the acres, and you want them to have them.

In the end, it looks like a very mixed bag, some that could be worth a tidy amount, some that are useless, many that are yet unknown. If you have knowledge of more potions and what they do, feel free to add them to the wiki. (It lists more potions that I didn't list in this analysis.)

Until then, count your bars carefully and keep an eye on the moon. It may or may not be "worth it", but it's fun to find out!

Breaking News!

2009-04-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

TERRA AUREA TRIBUNE'S TOP NEWS HEADLINE:

Grand Vicereine Liasha Halcali of Angels of the Empire was detained by the Emperor's Imperial Police Force early Sunday afternoon for the attempted murder of the Mysterious Trader. Investigators in this case have uncovered disturbing mental health records from a recent stay in the Empire's Mental Health Facility, which may tie in with this GV's state of mind at the time of this crime. This photo is a still from the compound's numerous security camera's.

[[CENSORED]]

Needless to say, it is a shocking photo. However, there is no known motive behind this heinous crime. The Emperor's agents have remained silent on the case, only commenting to say, "The Trader is fine and again making his rounds. His safety is no longer a threat." Meanwhile, Liasha Halcali has been detained, and will remain locked behind bars without bail. When approached by our news team, she had nothing to say about the charges against her. A formal court hearing is expected in the coming weeks, and as always, we will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Interview with Zak Zamin

2009-04-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

Vulpine Eldrich and Zak Zamin

Vulpine Eldrich: Good evening everyone! I'm here with Royal Cassanova Zak Zamin of Avalon, dancing in a charming little club while banana leaf fans create a slight breeze and a purple dragon flies by in the distance. Wow! I'm not dreaming, am I, Zak? This is happening?

Zak Zamin: Yes. The baby dragon is hatching too. You may pet it if you like.

Vulpine Eldrich: Ohhh! I think... later! So in the meantime, I understand that you're something more than 'just a Prince' in Avalon. What is your exact rank in the largest Kingdom of the Empire?

Zak Zamin: Really I am a Prince in Avalon. One of many. I have completed my path to royalty and had the correct number of acres to qualify for Grand Viceroy. So at the moment I am acting in that role. It is temporary as I am from way down in the organization.

Vulpine Eldrich: So what is going to happen next? And when, I suppose I should also ask.

Zak Zamin: When my time is up as GV, I will go back to my liege and resume my status there.

Vulpine Eldrich: So is there a regular schedule for this role?

Zak Zamin: No. Queen Shawna asked if there were people in the Queendom who would like to participate. We had to qualify and we also have to be directly under her. So there is a lot of logistics that have to be considered.

Vulpine Eldrich: I can imagine. So you were down in the lines, and you volunteered to be an acting Grand Viceroy. Obviously, the application was accepted. Is this the highlight of your career, or is there something in the past or future that is greater?

Zak Zamin: Ascending to King would be the ultimate. However, being the GV is sort of like practice for the Royalty Rank.

Vulpine Eldrich: Is there anything you lack in qualifications for being a King?

Zak Zamin: No. I completed my Path to Royalty except for the final step where I would be promoted. I asked the Emperor to suspend my Path so I would quit getting the prompt on my hud. One slip and you are there and cannot return without major problems. I don't even know what they are but I did come close to selecting the wrong button.

Vulpine Eldrich: That last step... have you ever heard of such a thing happening?

Zak Zamin: No. I don't think anyone would want to admit a mistake like that.

Vulpine Eldrich: lol, perhaps not! But you won't have to worry for at least as long as you are a Viceroy. As I recall, the Path is automatically suspended then, which is a nice fringe benefit in this case.

Zak Zamin: I have never looked at the rules that hard for GV. Right now I am enjoying giving free acres and titles to residents of the kingdom.

Vulpine Eldrich watches another title given by Zak roll across her hud and nods in understanding

Vulpine Eldrich: So what else do you do as Viceroy?

Zak Zamin: Basically, I try to make sure that if someone has a problem, I look for someone who can resolve it if I can't. I give acres to people. I am just support to the Queen.

Vulpine Eldrich: What sort of problems do people bring to you? And what sort of problem does it take to be beyond you?

Zak Zamin: People need subjects. They don't know how to pass out the trial hud. I sometimes give pointers in how to entice others to become part of TE.

Vulpine Eldrich: Are there any you'd like to pass on to the rest of us?

Zak Zamin: There are a couple. One is for women, I ask: "Have you ever dreamed of being a Princess?"

Vulpine Eldrich laughs. "And if they inform you that they're always a Princess, what then? Oh, never mind, do go on. What about the men?"

Zak Zamin: I laugh with them. You'd be surprised how many say, "Yes!" All their lives. Then I commence to tell them of the game and how they too can be a Princess.

Zak Zamin: I keep a Rez Day Calendar of people in SL. TE is not required to get on my calendar. I currently have 1750+ names on my list. I talk to many, many people, everyday. I will admit that most of the people on my list have women avies. Women are easier for me to talk to than men. Always have been.

Vulpine Eldrich: So are more of your downline women than men?

Zak Zamin: Most of my directs are women. I have 7 directs. One is loaned out. I have 2 men and 5 women. After that, they get their own down line. I just help them and make sure that their people are happy.

Vulpine Eldrich: Have you ever moved someone to a different liege, using your abilities as a Grand Viceroy?

Zak Zamin: Ouch. Yes, just this morning.

Vulpine Eldrich: Ouch? There weren't any problems with it, were there?

Zak Zamin: It is a very expensive move. However, the individual in question played before with one avie and gave up his membership in SL. When he came back he was a fellow of his first alt. So I moved the first (defunct) alt to the current one. Now the current person has his acres from his prior TE experience.

Zak Zamin: I did this for a member of a different line but within Avalon. I would do it for someone in my downline in a heartbeat but would actually think twice about doing it for another.

Vulpine Eldrich: Which means you could move anyone to anyone else within the kingdom of Avalon.

Zak Zamin: They have to qualify. The moving avie has to have been inactive for a period of time. Also the rules of movement have to be followed.

Vulpine Eldrich: No Prince under a Duke, etc... still, even with the expense, it could be very useful, as you pointed out! But looking back to the past... how did you get started in Tiny Empires, and in the Kingdom of Avalon?

Zak Zamin: I started in Avalon. I have some dear friends in this line. Starting with Marissa Goodliffe and moving to Lachland Campbell. They come to the Lily Pad to see Starr Singer when she performs there. The owner of the Lily Pad was contacted by Lachland. Drift Monde then created an alt of Tipsy the Frog. Tipsy sponsored Starr and Starr sponsored me. Starr and I were partners at one time. I will not leave her

Vulpine Eldrich: Not even to be King?

Zak Zamin clears his throat.

Zak Zamin: I could have moved to King a little less than a year ago. My ties to my immediate upline are too tight. This is a game and moving would be tough for me. Starr and I had a plan that we would ascend and we would retire as Royalty. Once a Royal, always a Royal even if you don't have any subjects. But Starr had some changes in rl and she is not as active in TE as she had originally planned. So she is far from being ready to ascend.

Vulpine Eldrich: Which leaves you temporarily moving to Queen Shawna to be Grand Viceroy. But speaking of games and being active, what about the new game- Tiny Empires 3000. Have you tried it?

Zak Zamin: No. I cannot imagine starting this all over again. I know that others are running both.

Vulpine Eldrich: Have you noticed any particular effect it has had on people being active or not, moving or not, in the traditional game?

Zak Zamin: I have noticed the absence of people for long periods of time. But that may be caused by other games outside of SL, too. Right now, my renters are looking at another game called Openlifegrid, so they are not around in here that much.

Vulpine Eldrich: I see what you mean! So do you find Tiny Empires occupying much of your Second Life, or do most of your activities here focus elsewhere?

Zak Zamin: I have begun to help Drift Monde with her Lily Pad Lounge. She has been in SL since 2003 and is tired. So I offered to help her so she could get away from SL for awhile. So I manage the Lily Pad, Play TE, and attend to my Rez Day Calendar.

Vulpine Eldrich: Well thank you very much for making time for me in that busy schedule! So is there anything else that people need to know about Tiny Empires and your role in it?

Zak Zamin: I may be a Prince in Avalon, but I am just a pawn in the whole scheme of things. The object is to have fun. If you can't have fun where you are, you should move or quit. Enjoy, always.

Zak Zamin: I notice you have a large line in TE yourself. Do our ideas complement one another?

Vulpine Eldrich laughs

Vulpine Eldrich: I helped create the Kingdom of Caledon. It was the sixteenth one formed, over a year ago now. I never will become Queen, but that's because I'm part of what I created now.

Zak Zamin: Ahhhh. Well, I'm impressed by your lines. You have done well.

Vulpine Eldrich: I made new friends, and brought my old ones into it... the rest followed. Thank you for your compliments, however, they should be honored by them! And I might also add, thank you for the dance as well as the conversation.

Zak Zamin: It has been my pleasure.

Vulpine Eldrich: Now, what about that baby dragon... shall we go see if it's pettable without losing anything vital?

Zak Zamin: Sure. Come.

Vulpine Eldrich: Great!

As you can see, he was very pettable, and heart-meltingly cute!

Greetings of the Day!

2009-04-01T04:40:00.000-07:00

So I get on this morning, and people are laughing in the TE chat. It didn't take long to see why. Here was the hud that greeted me:

So who am I to argue with my hud? Well, the next month I was ready to! "Smeared Makeup Vulpine Eldrich"? Puh-leeezee And then the next month is "Always Forgotten Vulpine Eldrich". Riiigghhttt...

So, Greetings of the Day! April Fool's day to be exact. Enjoy your new titles! Check your Liege and your subjects as well. Here are some I've collected, everyone feel free to add more in- and who they applied to, if you dare! :)

All Thumbs
Underlit
Thug Life4Ever
Such a Baby
Light of my Life
Majorette
Totally Forgettable
Destitute Millionaire
Shy & Dullard
Royal Janitor
Unskilled Ropejumper
OMG WOW
Power Overwhelming
Dances With Sheep
Here Kitty
Minor Character
Cold-Handed
Royal Idiot
Out Of It
Incompetent Spy
Smarty Pants

...and it goes on...

TE Upgrade

2009-03-29T16:40:00.001-07:00

Those worried that the original TE we've all grown to know and love would cease to have development on it must have been happy to see a new version of the hud released the other day. We're told that this one is compiled in mono, which means it should run faster (and that the SL servers should be happier with it.)

It also means that if you say /1100 help, you get access to some configuration menus, as follows:

Sounds sub-menu:

Text sub-menu:

My personal favorite out of those options is the option to have a turn sound only when there's something in that month. (It should prove helpful to those of us with two huds now!)

The ability to reset back to a default (visible) position is great as well. I know that I, for one, have accidentally moved it off the screen (and once missed a Trader that way.)

Another thing that's changed is that it automatically notifies you when you're going into non-scripted (or scripted) areas. The background of the clock turns red. I'm not sure if it works better now in non-scripted areas (that would be great news if it did) because I haven't had the courage yet to try it!

Still, a nice little bonus for us all. (Oh, and for those of you playing the new game, try /3000 help)

Allies. Who needs them?

2009-03-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

Players who buy the TE Federation HUD notice that one of the changes in it is that it now has a tab called 'Allies' (it replaces the old 'Fellows' tab on the regular hud) The next question is, what are allies?

An ally is another TE player with whom you are "allied". To become allies, the two of you stand next to each other and wait for the offers to come up. An offer says "do you wish to ally with x?", you say yes, they get the offer, and say yes or no. It's the same basic process as changing allegiance. You both have to be Count or higher. (One word of warning: if both players are at the Prince level, the huds may get stuck on offering to let one join the other. In that case, detach and re-attach.)

So now that you've made an ally (or know that you can), why should you? What good is one?

If you are sabotaged, an online ally will get the chance to pay to help get your acres back. (This is often seen in the announcements as 'an investigation funded by one ally convicted the main suspect...')

You can transfer citizens between each other. This transfer becomes even more efficient if you build an embassy

If you build four embassies, you get an extra gold per acre on your land.

One note about embassies: they are expensive (roughly five times acre cost) and they take an acre of your ally's land (your ally loses an acre of personal land when you build one.) On the other hand, you start getting good offers on your land which is attributed to the embassies. And the cost of an embassy can be reduced if you buy it during a year of cheap land from the trader. That year adjusts your land price down to a third of its normal rates, and a lot of calculations- including loyalty rewards and embassy costs- go down as well.

Since you can have up to four allies, and since you get that extra gold per acre after building four embassies, people who get the federation hud are strongly encouraged to get allies as quickly as possible- preferably ones who have plenty of citizens to give them!

But when looking for an ally, you must keep in mind the fact that you can not have your liege or a direct subject as your ally. This means that when you want to make allies within your own group (a natural desire), you have to look a bit further afield. It may be your liege's liege (or a subject's subject). Or it may be another subject of your liege. When trying to track who is allied with who, and who is lieged to, the joins can quickly become an interlocked mesh of two separate webs of connections.

Since things can be so complicated, and since new Federation HUD players are encouraged to get allies soon, they often find friends outside of their immediate group- may, in fact, have to. And why not? I know that when I find that there are people in my group who have allies elsewhere, I tend to say "great, I'm glad to hear it." It's a nice way for friends who are lieged to different areas- even kingdoms- to still share a friendship within the game. It's a good way to find other people (or have your liege find other people for you!)

And, in the end, that may be the best reason to have allies: to recognize existing friendships and create new ones.

Who needs allies? Perhaps the question might be better asked, who needs friends?

Snowy Sidran Interview

2009-03-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

Queen snowy Sidran and Vulpine Eldrich

Vulpine Eldrich: I'm here this morning in a little grassy dell, under a dark sky lightening with the first hint of dawn. This is the home of Misterioso, and Queen snowy Sidran is here, with several of her companions and subjects. Snowy, the first question I always like to ask is, what does Misterioso mean, and why choose it for your kingdom?

snowy Sidran smiles. "Misterioso is the name of one of my favorite Jazz albums, a life recording of a concert by Thelonious Monk, and has for a long time been the name of my Home... and now the Home of the monarchy. When thinking for a name, we kept coming back to it, and in the end decided to simply go for it since it also makes a very nice reference to the Bohemia Homeland we all came from."

Vulpine Eldrich: So you ascended from Bohemia, then. How long have you been playing Tiny Empires, and in Bohemia?

snowy Sidran: Yes I did. I started playing TE in November of 2007. It started out as a "let’s go see what it is" amongst a group of friends that frequented the same club here in SL. We kinda got hooked on it quickly, and suddenly I woke up one morning after about a week finding myself a princess and having no idea about how the game really worked still. That luckily changed over time ;)

snowy Sidran: We started out in Bohemia more by chance, but we liked it there and never left until last Saturday, when I ascended.

Vulpine Eldrich: That's quite a long time! Was there anything in particular that made you decide a new kingdom was right for you?

snowy Sidran: I think that is a decision that grows in time more. And in the end, there is not one real reason to do so, perhaps. For me personally, it was need for a new challenge, perhaps. Having played for that long, being on cap on both land and gold, and wanting to do more for my own down-line specifically. Yet it was a hard choice, and it took me months to decide on it. Leaving "home" and making one’s own is not as simple as it seems, at least not to me.

Vulpine Eldrich: But you felt that it was the next logical step, and so you took it. Well, it's been a week now. What new things have you learned when long-time Princess becomes fledgling Queen?

snowy Sidran chuckles. "Mostly that it takes a lot of group-editing and well, honestly, that I have a great downline that sticks up for each other and knows how to take care of themselves very well. I am mostly busy with rearranging and talking to people once more on what they personally want to achieve playing TE, and trying to make it work. And, grinz, I am having a blast finally being able to give out titles and get the gold we accumulated over time into free acres ;)"

snowy Sidran: I think an important task of every monarch is to simply welcome people. I try to talk to every new player myself and get them to feel at Home. And since we grew a lot over the last week, that has been taking some time.

Vulpine Eldrich: So has everyone decided who is going to stay with you and who stays in Bohemia? Or is that a work in progress, yet?

snowy Sidran: The group that is here now is the group that, as it looks now, will stay here. There were extended talks before ascending with a lot of them, so we had no real surprises there. The people that wanted to stay in Bohemia already moved before we ascended. Even ascending should be a group venture in my view.

Vulpine Eldrich: That almost seems obvious... do you know of others who viewed ascending solely as a personal move, and not a group one?

snowy Sidran smiles. "I tend to hope not, but I am not sure everyone took 3 months of talks and going through doubts before eventually doing so ;)"

Vulpine Eldrich: So have any doubts persisted? It sounds like the last week has been pure fun!

snowy Sidran smiles. "They have been, certainly. I think that once decided after such a long period of thinking, it does give you room to simply enjoy. Although leaving behind a lot of our friends and people we have come to love is hard, too, still."

Vulpine Eldrich: So, as you look to the future, you've obviously got your hands full right now- titles, free acres, and other benefits. What other plans do you have, or hope to have?

snowy Sidran: Mostly to keep this group together and keep enjoying it as much as we are now. To me, the benefit of a smaller group so far has been mostly that it draws out the more silent group members again and shows everyone to its rights. The group seems to be working together a lot, and new contacts are being made here at the Homeland. So I expect this to be a Monarchy of friends, and see it as my job to provide all it needs to keep it that way.

Vulpine Eldrich: So do you have any ambitions as to kingdom size or rank?

snowy Sidran: Honestly, no. I cannot say that seeing the rank go up does not make my heart jump some. But it is not what I find the most important thing at all. I’d rather see people enjoy and be happy in a small Monarchy than have a large one where people get lost and are anonymous.

Vulpine Eldrich: So if the day comes that you feel it is getting too large, what would you do then?

snowy Sidran: I am not sure really Vulpine, although I do think I have the right set of people here to even make that work. Now, I love knowing everyone myself, but I think there will be a size that will make that impossible. The fact that I have very enthusiastic "large line lieges" that are in close contact with their downline will hopefully prevent us from becoming too large to be a friends group more than a Monarchy with a distant Queen.

Vulpine Eldrich: So what sort of real life skills and assets have you found helpful in putting all of this together?

snowy Sidran chuckles. "Loving people and being able to let them be who they are....and some perfectionism and always wanting to be on top of everything myself does help, too, I guess."

Vulpine Eldrich: And which of those qualities- or would it be another- do you feel is the most important for a monarch?

snowy Sidran: The first, definitely. The latter might even backfire in the end. I can imagine there are people I will drive insane with my enthusiasm at some point.

Vulpine Eldrich: lol, has that happened, or are you merely speculating?

snowy Sidran smiles and looks around. "Well, no one has run yet, so I guess speculating and knowing your own pitfalls....and when to back off, too."

Vulpine Eldrich: Well, let's hope no one runs screaming into the wilderness! So the game's options seemed too limited for you and you became a monarch. Are there changes to the game that you think would be nice- more options or rules changes?

snowy Sidran: I think the game eventually will die if there are no better options for especially the larger Lieges to do something for their downlines or Monarchy. The Viceroy and Grand Viceroy jobs tend to help some in that, but I am not sure it will do enough to not make more and more people ascend over time, leaving a bundle of small Monarchies behind and no real large ones. I would love to see more use of the Alliances, yet to say I really have a clear idea on how to picture that, I do not.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you're predicting a thousand kingdoms with an average size of 25,000 acres?

snowy Sidran: Well, if I look at the past week with having seen eight ascensions, I wonder truly what lies ahead there.

Vulpine Eldrich: One thing that lies ahead is the new universe/game of TE3000. Granted, you've been busy in this game, but I'm sure you've not been oblivious to the news. How has it affected you and your kingdom?

snowy Sidran smiles. "I know some people have tried on the new HUD, like I did. Yet I have not heard anyone scream that they would leave Tiny Empires for it. To me, it looks like the same game, just with a different scene, and although I am all for a change of scenery (look where we are now), I doubt it will really change the current game a lot."

Vulpine Eldrich: So are you actively pursuing two games, or just letting the new one idle while you tend to the Kingdom of Misterioso?

snowy Sidran: Oh no, I am curious of mind simply, so have tried on the TE3000 trial hud to see what it was about.....and honestly deleted it after reaching the end of the trial period. I have my hands full here, and loving every minute of it.

Vulpine Eldrich: It sounds like you've definitely got a lot to live and love :) So do you have any words of wisdom for someone seeking to succeed in Tiny Empires?

snowy Sidran smiles. "Oh, geesh. Tend for people and not acres."

Vulpine Eldrich: That sounds like a formal motto! Is there anything else you'd like to add, anything that I missed which you'd like to tell everyone about?

snowy Sidran chuckles. "That everyone should be more awake on a Saturday morning trying to bribe Vulpine. Before you know it, you are finding yourself in an interview!"

snowy Sidran laughs. "No, seriously. I hope that everyone keeps enjoying the game and they will find it successful like I did, in meeting lovely people that you normally might never have."

Vulpine Eldrich: Touche, lol! And one last question... was that giant caterpillar sitting on the mushroom up there blue before or after he started smoking that hookah?

snowy Sidran chuckles. "I think he turned Blue after our GV Ernest Newman busted him monopolizing the bong again."

Vulpine Eldrich: ROFL that might explain a few things... what, I'm not sure, but obviously something. Well thanks so much for spending part of your Saturday morning with me, and best of fortune in the new Kingdom!

snowy Sidran smiles. "And thank you for being here, Vulpine, this was a nice surprise."

New Blog announced

2009-03-11T17:27:00.001-07:00

After consideration, I felt that the "New Tiny Empires" and "Old Tiny Empires" each deserved their own space.

As a result, this blog will continue to feature the same analysis, interviews, and other speculation regarding the old game that we have come to know and love.

However, for the fans of the new game, you can space out (pun intended) at the new Tiny Empires 3000 blog. It's up for your reading pleasure at tinyempires3000.blogspot.com.

Brand new game, brand new adventure, that's what you find in the new blog.

Traditional game, traditional format, same commitment to quality, that's what you should still find here!

The Dreams Revealed: Tiny Empires 3000

2009-03-10T18:17:00.000-07:00

Today has been total chaos as another realm opens in the universe of Tiny Empires. Chronological shockwaves have launched players from the medieval to the far future of the year 3000. As Tiny Empires in the year 3000 opens, the instructions look much the same as the past. The basic game mechanics shift as follows:

Tiny Empires	Tiny Empires 3000
Gold	Credits
Land/Acres	Spaceships
Liege	Superior
Subject	Subordinate
Kingdom	Trade Guild
Taxes	Dues

There are still plenty of unanswered questions... for one, what is this thing about "colonies"?

The other big question that everyone keeps asking is, what are the ranks, and how much do we need to get them? The answers that have been given so far (and this will be subject to correction!) are:

Number of Ships	Rank
1	Pilot
2 - 9	Runner
10 - 19	Courier
20 - 49	Merchant
50 - 99	Trader
100 - 499	Trade baron
500 - 999	Broker
1000 +	Mogul
????	Director

Other Miscellaneous Notes:

First glance says that it is going to be harder to change loyalties in TE3k than in TE. (more credits to switch, not earning them as quickly, perhaps other requirements?)

The trial TE3K hud stops at 20 ships (not 10 acres)

The full hud costs 999L

Ulralite is a Chancellor now. Will that be the new King rank?

Resources:

The official group (Tiny Empires 3000)

A player group TE3K, the Rebellion

Official website: www.tinyempires3000.com

Puzzle Solver: Erzsabet's Tiny Empire Calculator

Full speed ahead, Pilot!

Reposted on the Tiny Empires 3000 blog

Strange Dreams

2009-03-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

Troubled nights have come to the Terra Aurean Empire. Inhabitants from the lowliest wanderer (with a Trial Hud) to the highest monarch have restless sleep, punctuated by strange dreams.

It all started on Friday March 6th... in the morning, and again that evening, the following message appeared:

On Saturday, again once in the morning and then that evening, another message appeared:

This morning, Sunday the 8th, the third message appeared. It read:

You awaken this morning from yet another unusual dream. You were harnessed in a strange sort of carriage that was moving quickly. Through the windows you saw no sky or land, only darkness. But you weren't afraid.

So what does it mean? When I was asked that, I stated the obvious "the Emperor is up to something. Outside of that, I have no idea." But speculation is flowing freely, some carrying signs of 'The End Is Near', others saying 'the sky is falling', others saying 'There will be a great pruning!' (quick, record your standings page before it all disappears....)

Ideas? Speculation? I'll try to keep this post updated with new messages as they appear- feel free to add them into the comments!

Interesting times, indeed...

Fourth Dream, March 9th

Another strang dream rousts you from bed this morning, You were flying like an owl, through a desolate, gray valley. The sky was dark. You felt like you were on a quest or mission, but you woke before you could land.

Angel Cordoso Interview

2009-03-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

Vulpine Eldrich and King Angel Cordoso

Angel Cordoso: Greetings Vulpine, and welcome to Amber castle :)

Vulpine Eldrich: Thank you for having me!

Angel Cordoso: Have a seat :)

Vulpine Eldrich: Oh, thanks again. So, to our readers, I'm in a gray stone castle, sitting in a dark red couch, next to a very handsome and muscular King... the King of Amber. If I might start my questions, why the name of Amber? What does it mean to you and the others in your kingdom?

Angel Cordoso: The name Amber comes from a fantasy series written by Roger Zelazny, which I find is very relevant to Second Life. In the series, Amber is the 'real world', and all other worlds (like our Earth) are 'shadows' of Amber. The Princes and Princesses of Amber 'walk through shadow', manipulating reality as they go, very much like Second Life itself! In addition, it is also just a nice name. I wanted something simple and pretty.

Vulpine Eldrich: And you definitely chose one. So who from the series is your role model, as King of Amber?

Angel Cordoso: Actually, they are all fairly dreadful individuals :) They are in some sense my counter-role models, as they are solely interested in power at any cost. The main character, Corwin, is slightly better than the rest but not much ... it was more the concept of the place that I liked.

Vulpine Eldrich: So what sort of positive traits and role models do you follow as King?

Angel Cordoso: I have ideals for how to act. My first principal is that I believe diplomacy is the key to solving all problems. It doesn't always work, but it is always worth it to try to get people to fix their problems through mutual understanding.

Vulpine Eldrich: Has that failed for you, and if so, how did you handle it then?

Angel Cordoso: No it doesn't always work. Sometimes people just aren't getting along and there is nothing to be done about it. I don't banish in my Kingdom, so in the past, techniques I've used have included spending my vacation time trying to amicably split a line into two, and when absolutely necessary, pruning people who just can't play nicely in the Kingdom.

Vulpine Eldrich: Always a painful job, I'm sure. And what other principals have you followed?

Angel Cordoso: My second principal is to try to be as honest and straightforward as possible. I have found that many of the so-called 'dramas' in the game happen when people got caught in lies or underhanded deals.

Vulpine Eldrich: So how do you find new people for Amber? What sort of personality, or place, or thing, do you use as a guide?

Angel Cordoso: At this point, I don't actively recruit as much as manage who is around. That said, a lot of people have heard of Amber, or have been in Amber at some point, and I get more than the occasional IM asking if I'd be interested in having a line in my kingdom. At that point, depending on the size of the line, the requirements, the personalities, etc., I'll work with my directs to find the person a proper home. I used to be more 'they are acres, just take them', but now I am much more interested in getting to know the people a little better first to get an idea of whether they'd be a good fit or not.

Vulpine Eldrich: Why the change in attitude?

Angel Cordoso: Short term gains in acres at any cost invariably cause big troubles later on. Too many conflicting personalities can only co-exist for so long before you get some sort of breakdown.

Vulpine Eldrich: That sounds like the voice of experience to me. Speaking of experience, how did you get started in Tiny Empires?

Angel Cordoso: Ah, the way most people who get highly obsessed do, I think. :) My girlfriend at the time mentioned it to me in passing one day, and I expressed an interest. I instantly got addicted to it and have been playing ever since, even if at perhaps a less fevered pitch. I got my HUD February 18th of last year, so it has been a year and 10 days now.

Vulpine Eldrich: And how long did it take for you to decide you wanted to be a King?

Angel Cordoso: Not for several months. I initially wanted to support my liege and my liege's liege; I had no intention of ascending. Eventually circumstances changed and I thought I'd give it a shot myself. I ascended on the 28th of July of last year.

Vulpine Eldrich: What in particular happened to change your mind, and when you did, did you have enough to ascend immediately, or did you have to work at it?

Angel Cordoso: When I changed my mind, I don't remember if I had enough to ascend or not, but in any case I wanted to make sure I ascended with more than the bare minimum. I ascended with 37,000 acres, which was #35 at the time (there were half as many kingdoms then, of course). I think it was a gradual progress, and I had some dissatisfaction with Kingdom at the time, and no one else was ascending, so I figured it would have to be me!

Vulpine Eldrich: So did you have a group of people- friends- under you who were encouraging you to ascend?

Angel Cordoso: I did yes, a couple in particular, that were very supportive. Also, when I made my plans public, it turned out that most of the people under me were loyal and wanted to come along. We made a stop on the way to becoming Amber in Devonshire for 3 weeks, and in that time there was very little movement away. It was very rewarding to see that people were really excited about this new Kingdom.

Vulpine Eldrich: I can imagine! So you ascended, became King, and found out by experience what it was all about. Did you have any particular real life or second life talents, skills, or experience that proved useful?

Angel Cordoso: I think my strongest suits are diplomacy and an even temper. I try to understand all sides of a story when there is a conflict, and to try to resolve it as best I can that way. I also try to show my appreciation as much as possible without being an acre slave driver. These are things I try to bring from how I am in RL into the game. Aside from that, I am not royalty in RL, nor even a politician!

Vulpine Eldrich: Yes, I did notice your commitment to honesty earlier... but be that as it may. I assume this Palace we're in is Amber's central meeting point in Second Life? What sort of facilities do you have for subjects in Amber?

Angel Cordoso: Anyone is welcome to come here at any time, although this location is still fairly new. There is a Greedy table upstairs, and the Sim is free for exploration. Most of the services I provide are virtual, though - I put together an Amber Business Directory, for advertising SL builders/clubs/shops/etc., and am about to put together a RL directory for people looking for RL jobs in these hard economic times. Also, I've created a Helper that you can wear that provides answers to riddles and a welcome pack, amongst other things.

Vulpine Eldrich: An impressive list! How busy does all of this keep you? How many hours a week go into managing Amber, in one form or another?

Angel Cordoso: Many! Most of the time I am online, I am doing something related to Amber, even if I am no longer actively recruiting. Warning to anyone wanting to ascend: being a Monarch is a full-time job (on top of your other full time jobs...) So yes, it is a busy schedule of several hours a day doing something Amber-related, most days of the week.

Vulpine Eldrich: A good warning! Have you ever found yourself wishing you could relinquish the responsibilities and go back to being a Prince?

Angel Cordoso: Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably lying :) Yes, but then I think of all the people I would disappoint if I did (although I'd probably make a lot of other people very happy! But I am not as interested in pleasing them.) Also, there is still a lot of fun to be had, so I should be around for a bit longer I'd say!

Vulpine Eldrich: Are there any particular plans in your TE and Amber's future, besides keeping things going and active?

Angel Cordoso: Well, getting back in the top 10 would be nice. It means absolutely nothing, but it's a nice goal to have. We are at #11 right now, which is a great place to be because it keeps the excitement level high and gives a great goal to achieve. But other than that, just keep on playing is all that's on the agenda :)

Vulpine Eldrich: And playing usually means having fun, which I suspect is also on the agenda! What about game development in general- any new features or changes that you'd like to see in the rules?

Angel Cordoso: One thing I'd like to see is a way to have proper treaties between Kingdoms. Many kingdoms have no bribe/no sabo treaties with other Kingdoms, but there's no way to enforce them and they cause drama when some subject breaks the treaty, willingly or by accident. It would be nice if you could have a set number of Kingdoms where their names wouldn’t show up for bribes or sabotage, similar to the way that you can't bribe in-Kingdom any more.

Vulpine Eldrich: So more ways and options to form inter-kingdom alliances.

Angel Cordoso: Yes, exactly. From there you can imagine interesting concepts of merging Kingdoms and such, but I'd be happy with that to start.

Vulpine Eldrich: A good idea, and it could open a new level of play. But before getting to the lofty peak of monarch options, you have to start at the bottom. What would your first piece of advice be to someone just starting Tiny Empires- or maybe just considering whether or not they should?

Angel Cordoso: Well, first thing is to get your friends playing early on. Getting subjects early is a real key to becoming a good player.

Angel Cordoso: Once you have your base, go out and hit the friends list! You never know who is out there. But very important - let people know exactly what the game is about. Otherwise, you are just going to get a lot of 7 acre subjects that aren't going to play anyway. So yes, tell everyone about it, but be upfront and clear too, about just what you are getting them into :)

Vulpine Eldrich: A very good idea! Well, I suppose that's most of the questions I wanted to ask. Was there anything else that I missed that you think needs to be added?

Angel Cordoso: No, you were very thorough I think ... it was a pleasure meeting you and I hope you got a good feel of what Amber is about!

Vulpine Eldrich: Thank you... one more question, though perhaps it's slightly personal... am I imagining it, or are your eyes truly colored Amber?

Angel Cordoso: They are indeed, and it is on purpose :)

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good indeed! Well thank you so much for your time, and have a great evening :)

Angel Cordoso: You too

Lazarus Rang Interview

2009-03-01T05:26:00.001-08:00

On Sunday February 22nd, I had a chance to talk with King Lazarus Rang about his then brand-new kingdom. As you can see, the story was on-going even as we talked, and much has happened since this interview. But this is what was happening then...

King Lazarus Rang and Vulpine Eldrich

Vulpine Eldrich: Hello, everyone! I'm here today with Lazarus Rang, King of the Kingdom of White Light. Thank you, Lazarus, for inviting me into your most spacious and impressive log home. I take it this is the center of your kingdom?

Lazarus Rang: Aye, here and our Garden.

Vulpine Eldrich: So tell me about how a Kingdom gets the name of White Light, and what sort of Garden does it take to host such a kingdom?

Lazarus Rang: I can show you our Garden if you like. It is adjacent to the "Log Palace"

Lazarus Rang: Come, and I will tell you the tale.

We left the house and walked into the garden...

Lazarus Rang: This is our Garden we are working on as our Public area. My dear old friend Luna McMillan made this tree & swing system for me.

Vulpine Eldrich: I see an impressive building of marble. It seems to glow with... white light?

Lazarus Rang: Our bath gazebo (still a work in progress.)

Lazarus Rang: I rezzed March 1, 2007, and worked to learn building my first three weeks in SL. I’ve never stopped since.

Vulpine Eldrich: But eventually you began building more than bath houses and began building a kingdom in Tiny Empires. How did that come about?

Lazarus Rang: I met my partner Aurora Llewellyn September 7, 2007 and she really is the pivot in most of my story here, including TE. We were not together as partners for the first five months, but friends. I was married in SL, and it broke up. I needed a distraction while the hurt healed.

Lazarus Rang: A lady I was dating introduced me to TE, but it lasted much longer than that relationship. Aurora joined me very early on in TE, one my first three subjects. We built our relationship while we played, but TE was never our focus.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you played Tiny Empires as more of a sideline, while you pursued other interests?

Lazarus Rang: I moved VERY quickly in TE. I joined under Egypt, and made Prince in 10 days, but it was a sideline. I owned and ran a club & rental area called Lovers Hideaway.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you were a Prince in TE, almost by accident, but mostly a club owner. But eventually, you became King. What changed?

Lazarus Rang: Time changed. The club was never successful, so after a year I gave up. RL finances determined that I needed to sell the land. This is where the story gets personal but bears heavily on what happened.

Lazarus Rang: Aurora had a RL stroke while we were online last spring. When she recovered, I asked her to partner and marry. We lived our life at an accelerated pace, not knowing if any day would be our last together. We wanted to have SL babes as well.

Lazarus Rang: In RL, she is my best friend, and I wanted her to have the best experiences possible. I promised I would make her my Queen in every way, but her health declined soon after we married May, 30, 2008, and her laptop broke. I ended up with a lot of time alone, so TE became my focus. I followed my liege, Lodi McMillan thru several kingdoms as we grew.

Vulpine Eldrich: You were still a Prince, then?

Lazarus Rang: Oh, yes, I never fell below Prince since the day I made it. In Aurora's absence a young woman joined us, as a submissive, but eventually it evolved. Aurora became healthier and returned, so she asked us to be in a poly-marriage. It seemed wonderful, we really grew and were popular in our Kingdom of that time.

Vulpine Eldrich: Which kingdom was this?

Lazarus Rang: Home, under King BackHome Soon. He was best man when Aurora & I married, and is still a good friend.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you were at Home, with Aurora and your other wife. What happened next?

Lazarus Rang: This young woman was a drama magnet. She was with someone else a week after the marriage, and it turned very ugly in 2 weeks. I posted something she said in group chat out of anger, and to keep order BackHome sent me to TE prison.

Lazarus Rang: I accepted it as a price for my foolishness. Several people IM'ed me in prison LOL. One sent a cake with a file in it.

Vulpine Eldrich: I trust you didn't break a tooth on it.

Lazarus Rang: After I was out, I met the person. It turned out she was a daughter of King Angel Cordoso of Amber. She and her sister befriended me and Aurora.

Lazarus Rang: Then Aurora's health declined again. In real life, she has Lupus, and it is getting worse, life threatening. I have not had a week with my SL wife since the 1st week of November.

Lazarus Rang: The second sister in Amber was dumped by her partner, and you can see where the story is going... Two lonely, high ranking people in TE. We bonded, and I was at a point I felt I was a liability to Home after my outburst.

Lazarus Rang: I had a princess there move under me, cause a big drama, then when I warned her that BackHome was considering banishing her if she did not stop, she left me while BackHome and his Queen Lodi were trying to set up my ascension.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you had less than twenty thousand in total acres then?

Lazarus Rang: I had 25,000 acres, but I felt trapped. 5000 said they would return Home if I left. I had about 200 people under me.

Lazarus Rang: Bunny (the princess from Amber- I use her name only to keep it all straight) offered to liege under Aurora if I moved to Amber. I agreed only if King Angel and King Backhome formed an alliance to protect both kingdoms. So I moved, Bunny lieged, and my other 5000 acres moved home.

Lazarus Rang: Bunny had over 50k acres. We were half of Amber. Things were good until a month ago.

Lazarus Rang: I seem to attract people with serious health issues. Bunny found she has terminal cancer. A week later she was pushing a relationship between me and her SL sister, now our wife, Sekmet. She pulled further and further away, began to act strangely.

Lazarus Rang: At first she lived with us, then three days later she left. Then she removed most contact, but called me her best friend. A week ago, she entered a two day fishing contest at Wicked World, where she and Sekmet work.

Lazarus Rang: Anyhow, during the last week, Bunny's actions have rocked and nearly destroyed a kingdom and it came down to this. We had a malcontent that was asked to leave Amber named DeathRitual that she was talking to. He is a very nasty, foul-mouthed young man with serious hatred to the world.

Lazarus Rang: Also, just after she found she was sick, she made me promise to protect her downline and friends.

Vulpine Eldrich: Protect them from what?

Lazarus Rang: I was to care for them and keep them from being broken up or raided. We were going to ascend later, after we hit 100K and made Amber #1. At the time, we had 88,000 acres, 66,000 under Bunny.

Lazarus Rang: Last Sunday night, she had lieged DeathRitual under her, and made a bet on the fishing tourney that if she won he would stay and never ascend. If she lost, she would let him reliege and move under him. She lost. I did not know until after the bet was made.

Vulpine Eldrich: When and how did you find out?

Lazarus Rang: I found out Monday morning when Bunny told me she was ahead by 100 points. I was not happy at all. I did not like or trust this person. Neither did the upper levels of Amber, he was infamous for drama.

Vulpine Eldrich: I can imagine. So, if I understand this correctly, first you swear to protect the line from being raided or stolen, then she puts them all on the line with a fishing bet, which she then loses.

Lazarus Rang: Yes.

Vulpine Eldrich: What did you do then?

Lazarus Rang: Tuesday she was crying, needing hugs. Tuesday night and Wednesday, Death was taunting me in open chat and IM. I went to a couple of her major downline and told them that they did not have to leave Amber if she went to him. I refused to take him under me, and Aurora was not on to put him under her. (Bunny was Aurora’s only subject.)

Lazarus Rang: Thursday morning Death was no longer in Amber.

Vulpine Eldrich: Did he leave voluntarily?

Lazarus Rang: No, he was ejected from the group by the GV's request, and left.

Lazarus Rang: In the meantime, one of the downline told Bunny I said they did not have to follow. She became enraged, sent me a very nasty IM, and left Aurora. I started seeing my alts and their lines stripped, and as Viceroy I could not ascend.

Lazarus Rang: I had to leave Amber to restart my HUD as King Angel was in UK time, and I was in US EST. I made an angry outburst in group chat that Bunny had broken her Promise to Aurora, and was ejected from the group Thursday night… from the group, but still in the Kingdom.

Lazarus Rang: I lieged to a friend, Queen Angella Chesnokv in Tintagel, long enough to get my path restarted. Bunny was ripping me up all night Thursday. By 10 AM Friday, I still had 21,500 acres and 1.2 billion in gold when the path went live again. I pushed the button while I still could.

Lazarus Rang: I had no Kingdom name, no base, no plan, except to save the work of the people that stayed with me. Sekmet and I worked all night Friday to get our alts back, only to see Bunny strip all she could. We fell back to 18,500 acres, from 88,000 a day earlier. I never felt so betrayed in TE.

Lazarus Rang: I talked to Angel for 45 minutes before RL work Friday, only to hear that "Bunny was family." He did not intervene as a Monarch, so I had no reservation ascending.

Vulpine Eldrich: So there are about a hundred people and seventy thousand acres... where?

Lazarus Rang: More like 300 people, and 100 left on me. I’m now down to about 70, but they are people with me since last summer who wanted me to ascend anyhow.

Lazarus Rang: The story continues to this minute. I am getting a constant feed today of IM from conversations of people from Bunny's line.

Vulpine Eldrich: And the others are under Bunny, who is under Death, in another kingdom?

Lazarus Rang: Death went to the kingdom of Darkness ... he is so goth. Bunny left Amber and went under him around 1 AM last night. Amber dropped eight places in rank. People telephoned me to tell me.

Vulpine Eldrich: And when asked the name of your Kingdom, you told Ultralite... the Kingdom of White Light.

Lazarus Rang: Hello darling

Sekmet Karu: Hi hun. Hi Vulpine.

Lazarus Rang: Vulpine, my concubine wife, Sekmet Karu

Vulpine Eldrich: Hello there! Lazarus was telling me of the ongoing drama within the kingdoms. I understand you are both having a very adventuresome time right now.

Sekmet Karu: Yes, it is adventuresome, but very sad too.

Lazarus Rang: White Light was not our first choice for a name. We submitted, in all seriousness, Ayekwitte. ("I QUIT TE")

Sekmet Karu: It was not acceptable.

Lazarus Rang: It was not allowed, the Emperor said it was a joke. We had a pretty curt first IM. I called him a pompous ass. I am less diplomatic as stress increases.

Vulpine Eldrich: And stress levels have been quite high lately, I'm sure.

Sekmet Karu: Trying to save friendships is the hardest.

Lazarus Rang: I met with Sekmet and my other main Princess, Shayri Nightfire, Friday afternoon, trying to find a name. White Light was a compromise. I wanted something to reflect Aurora. In all this, she is the heart of this kingdom, even when absent.

Sekmet Karu: Yes, I suggested it and voted against the name.

Lazarus Rang: LOL She did. But it is to reflect elements of hope and goodness. White light in most beliefs and religions is an embodiment of goodness and blessing. It holds all colors, all warmth, and it banishes darkness. Without hope, we would quit. It still hurts… the SL and even RL friendships lost on the way.

Sekmet Karu: On that note hun, I have to go to my meeting.

Lazarus Rang: Love you, hon. I will be here, whatever happens in work.

Sekhmet left us at this point

Lazarus Rang: We worry for Sekmet's work. Bunny is a manager at Wicked World. Their friendship is badly wounded. TE may not be meant to, but it seems to bring out the aggressive worst in people. I try to keep my people out of it.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you're now assembling a kingdom from the ashes, so to speak. A group of people who can come together as friends out of all of the mess?

Lazarus Rang: Yes. Let me read our charter:

Lazarus Rang: The Tiny Empires Kingdom of White Light is a kingdom to come to when you are tired of the BS and betrayal and backstabbing of the other kingdoms. We are the inactive's retirement home of TE. You park here, save your acres, and go play SL the way it was supposed to be before you got addicted to TE. No SABO, NO DRAMA, NO ROBBING YOUR FRIENDS. And we are small enough the Trader comes often. Actively seeking Viceroys and Vicereines to help keep people rewarded.

Lazarus Rang: woo hoo!

Lazarus Rang: [21:48] Shayri Nightfire: woot laz i just got a duchess! with 466 acres! let the titles flow baby wooooo!

Vulpine Eldrich: Yes, you're a major kingdom now. The Kingdom of White Light is ranked number 101 on a map showing 101 major kingdoms.

Lazarus Rang: THAT is my kind of drama!

Vulpine Eldrich: So, if your kind of drama continues, what will happen to the Kingdom of White Light in the months to come?

Lazarus Rang: We will be the retirement home of TE players tired of the BS and drama.

Vulpine Eldrich: Will they still be active? In your vision of them, that is.

Lazarus Rang: A place people can park the acres they work hard for and go live a Second Life without worry of it being taken away by a bad relationship break up or angry decision in the night ..... or a stupid, un-well-thought-out bet on a game.

Lazarus Rang: The hundreds of hours people put into TE is not a chip in a casino. I would not be willing to give it up in RL, I will not in SL. Time is the one thing we cannot replace.

Lazarus Rang: Vulpine, I love my SL partner more than my estranged wife. I am so afraid of losing her and wasting the time we have left on TE and petty BS in SL. I am leaving in a week to do a 4000 mile road trip to see her and meet her family.

Lazarus Rang: People matter, not faux acres or virtual gold or rank or kingdom names. We in TE need to stop losing that perspective. People get hurt in SL.

Lazarus Rang: December 17, 2007, the night my first SL wife ended our marriage for another woman, I had a minor RL heart attack. There are people behind the screens and keys. Actions here seem less considered and more callous many times, behind avatars.

Lazarus Rang: Then there are some of the best people you ever meet, too. TE is supposed to be a game to promote friendship and network, but somehow it grows increasingly twisted. Many Monarchs are sharing that with each other. How we stop it, I do not know.

Lazarus Rang: I took my own path. I fully expect to be attacked, sabotaged, and harassed for a while by those upset over the last few weeks. But a wise mantra: This too shall pass.

Lazarus Rang: That is my story.

Vulpine Eldrich: Indeed, it shall. Wow. There's not much more to say after that. Thanks for sharing with us.

Lazarus Rang: I will answer more questions if you think of any, just much more briefly, LOL.

Vulpine Eldrich: lol, usually, I ask about experiences as a monarch, and kingdom identity, but you've pretty much answered those. As for history of the kingdom, that's obviously still in the making, and you've outlined your hopes for it.

Vulpine Eldrich: If I had anything to add, or ask, I suppose it would be, after what you've been through, would you recommend Tiny Empires as a game to someone who never played it, and what would you tell them about it, briefly?

Lazarus Rang: To someone starting out, I would say, try TE, but if it gives you sadness, stress, or effects a friendship, take off the HUD a week and think about what is important before you wear it. A kingdom is not worth one lost friend.

Vulpine Eldrich: Spoken with the voice of true experience. Thank you for your time, and best of luck to the Kingdom of White Light.

Gone Fishing!

2009-02-24T16:20:00.001-08:00

A couple of days ago, I finally got around to doing something that I'd been putting off for some time. I contacted a friend of mine (and a subject in TE) and asked her if she could get me started in 7 Seas fishing. She could, and gladly did. Before long, I had my rod, and dipped it into her chocolate waters to catch my first fish (a blue five-eyed mutant fish...)

Since then, I've been practicing it almost constantly. Tonight, I caught Moby Dick. And unless you think that's just a fish story, I've got the picture to prove it:

That's Moby in the middle. He got an interesting looking Captain's hat from somewhere....

You can wear your fish, and they circle you. Touching them gives you options of what they can do. There's even a game within the game, in which you can catch salvage items and blueprints to make gadgets to help you fish. The picture above shows my Oceanography Database, as it sits and records all of my catches. Then, too, there's the clothing. The gold fishing hat was a gift from a friend, though I've caught plenty of other clothing...including worm and hook earrings. (You might be a redneck if...)

So, at this point, you might be wondering what all of this has to do with Tiny Empires. The answer lies in another question: what sort of person makes a good Tiny Empires player? One quick response is that it's the type of person who can get a lot of people to follow them, and keep them. Another response might be that it's the type of person who can run a hundred alts at once.

While both of those answers have their own points, I think another large part of the answer lies in the pastimes people enjoy. Perceptive readers will note that, on several occasions, I have asked monarchs if they offer fishing at their Kingdom's gathering centers. Quite often, they do.

One of the things that is said about Tiny Empires is that "you can just put the HUD on and play the game while you do other things." But WHAT other things? Granted, it's not likely to take your full attention- with action once every three minutes, that can usually be decided upon in a matter of seconds, it's not something that will demand every mental and physical resource you can bring to bear. But at the same time, you need to be in a scripts-enabled area, and- particularly if you have the Fed hud- you have to be able to devote some attention to it once every three minutes.

Shopping can be seriously impeded by this. As long as the shopping area allows scripts and it's not too laggy, you're fine. Otherwise, you either have to give up the shop, or give up TE. (Well, at least for a little bit.)

Building runs into two problems. One, a good builder is often going to be so absorbed in what they're doing that they forget the TE Hud... which can lead to disasters (literally). Two, if you are in edit mode, clicking the hud to make your turn decisions just puts the hud in edit mode- not what you want.

But there are some other activities that one can engage in, and I can think of three notable ones:

Dancing

Fishing

Camping

All three of these activities demand that a person be present at one place for an extended period of time, and that they won't be doing anything else that requires a lot of attention. If one usually engages in couples dancing, this can be even better- you can pass land. If you're fishing, your fishing partner sitting beside you can get (or give) the land. If you're camping, this usually tends to be more of a solo project- but I've had a subject tell me, quite bluntly, that Tiny Empires helps keep her from going insane with boredom while she camps.

Which leads to the conclusion that a person who is patient, persistent, considerate, and who is able and willing to spend lots of time for rewards that come later is likely to succeed in Tiny Empires. Being a King or Queen often requires that social personality that gathers a huge crowd, but if you just want to be a Prince or Princess, and you're willing to work at it, then you may likely be the type to enjoy doing just a little something else while the TE Hud ticks away.

Oh, I heard the bird call, that means I need to start casting again. Here fishy, fishy, fishy...

(p.s. Look for the barrel above by our barn in the southeast corner of Caledon Cay... it has free fish in it for anyone who wants some.)

Trader!

2009-02-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

TRADER!

If someone yells that and you think they are accusing you of betraying them, you probably haven't been playing enough Tiny Empires. The mysterious trader is the stuff of legends... everyone looks forward to his coming (usually, at least), and everyone talks about him- both good and bad.

But for someone who is the tall, dark, mysterious stranger of so many dreams, exact information about what he does isn't always as well known. The trader is here, what do you do? Well, there are various things that you have to do, depending on what he gives you (assuming you managed to pay his rather high price.) How well you like doing it depends on how much time and attention you can devote to it. Call it your "activity level". (I know of some people who have several alts on to catch the trader... ouch. That activity level is definitely above mine!)

So, assuming that you have a certain activity level, which alternatives will stress that level more than others? Ranked in order, here are the possibilities. We'll start with the most stressful and work down to the least:

For one year, your land is worth more than usual.: This one will keep you hopping! You can sell land for more than it costs you to buy. This means that for twelve months, you have to page through and click yes on TWO offers- one to buy, and one to sell! The gold you earn by doing those two clicks every month is definitely a profit over what you pay, but you earn it. Some people propose just selliing land, and not buying back at the time. I've yet to analyze the situation closely, but I suspect it comes out about the same either way. What is known is that most people both sell and buy every month- two clicks! Total: 24 clicks (plus paging through)
For one year,your generosity will be richly rewarded.: You get a chance to give away acres! For eleven months, when you give away land, you are rewarded with gold the next month. (That's why you can only do it for eleven months- if you give the land away in the last month, which it lets you do, you won't be rewarded because the next month is after the 'trader year'.) This may be only one click, but it also involves finding someone to give the acre to! Indeed, this fact alone can arguably make this the hardest and most active and stressful option... but once you find someone, it is only one click (give land to that person) every month- and for only eleven months at that. (Some people recommend finding a different person each time, saying that it gives better rewards. If you do that, I'd say this is inarguably the busiest option!!) Total: 11 clicks
For one year, you may buy land at a very low price.: For twelve months, you have to click yes to buying land. While it's more clicks than the generosity option (one per month- buy land!) you don't have to find anyone else to give land to. You can sit there and click ONCE each month. (If you don't have enough gold, the clicks can be more, since you both buy AND sell in some months to get gold.) Total: 12 clicks (minimum)
For one year, purchased land is likely to contain surprises.: Buy land for eleven months! In the next month, when it is purchased, you find a prize on the new acre. This is one click per month- but only eleven months, not twelve. It has the same caveat as the gift of generosity- the reward shows up in the next month, so you get a chance to buy acre number twelve, but you don't get any prize on it (or are only as likely to as you ever are- no guarantees). So,just buy, buy, buy.... Total: 11 clicks
A book appears as if from thin air. It is locked. He gives it to you. (Fed Hud Only): This one has no clicks in the "trader year". So, it's low stress, and low activity, in this year... but it's a lot more clicking and work later on, as you complete the quest of how to open and interpret it. It's also a fair amount of money. So, not much activity up front, but more later. Total: 0 clicks up front, plenty later
He gives you a bag of Golden Seeds, and your land production skyrockets. (Fed Hud Only): No clicks necessary! You just stay online, and watch your gold pour in. (Check your accounting tab). This one is fun. Nothing to do except one thing: just stay online and active. This one is low stress and fun to watch! Total: 0 clicks over 12 months
One gold increase in land production for evermore: No clicks necessary! And not only that, there is no further quest to worry about, and you don't even have to stay online after you see it! If you want to, you can read it, say "great", and just log off! All it means is that your land now produces one more gold per acre. This one pays for itself over the long run, and is the lowest of the low in activity level. Nothing to do, no commitment to make, just read it, and enjoy at your leisure. Total: 0 clicks over 0 months.

So, from high stress to low stress, these are your options. If you'd like some more information on them, and the Trader in general, I highly recommend reading the Tiny Empires wiki.

The new standings

2009-02-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

So, for those of you who haven't looked lately, the Standings Page has been redone! I recommend you look at it, on http://tinyempires.com/standings and then read further....

Here are the major differences, roughly in the order you will encounter them:

The standings pages come up in a pop-up window when you click the map, rather than as a new page. That can be remedied by right clicking it and choosing to open the link in a new tab or window.

There are no separate pages for each 'section' of a tree... a whole kingdom is in one page, no matter if it's got three people, or two thousand. (Try it- go to Avalon's page, open it up...)

It's not laid out as a "tree" anymore, it's in an outline format. Each section on the outline can be collapsed or expanded.

Each line has more information. Rank is a jewel, the title is given in gray, and icons after names indicate other things about that player.

Doing a search from the main page gives you a trail that consists of hyperlinks for every person. Clicking on any of those names will pull up the standings page for that kingdom, go directly to that person, and show you where they are by flashing it in blue.

As you move your mouse over names, the upline for each person is shown with a darker brown or tan background.

For reference, the icons that I have seen so far after names, and their meanings:

Mounted Knight:: has won 10 jousting matches
Book:: has completed the Trader's locked book quest
Sherrif's badge:: has finished researching crime
Stalk of wheat:: has finished researching famine
Red Cross:: has finished researching disease
Oval with 'GV':: Grand Viceroy/Vicereine
Oval with 'V':: Viceroy/Vicereine

The ranks are indicated by jewels, as follows:

Prince/Princess:: Light blue diamond
Duke/Duchess:: Round purple amethyst
Marquis/Marquise:: Round blue sapphire
Count/Countess:: Red heart Ruby
Viscount/Viscountess:: Oval Green Emerald
Baron/Baronness:: Square Orange (??)
Knight/Dame:: Square Yellow (Topaz?)
Squire/Squiress:: Pink Heart (?)
Peasant: (unknown)
Wanderer: (unknown)

Reaction has been, to say the least, mixed. Many have been very vocal in their dislike for it. I pointed out in chat that there was more information, and one reply was that it was just more lag (as if SL didn't have enough of that already, etc...) This made me go back and examine the pages more carefully, and consider what the true size of before and after might be. It's hard to do an accurate comparison, since the old pages are gone, but I can get close. I believe the pages are larger. The old large files (pictures) are gone, but each and every name is a picture! There is no text within the page. (So there's no use in using your browser's 'find' feature to jump to a specific person, etc...)

I suspect this was a deliberate design decision. It does result in significantly larger downloads, but it also means that automated scanning of the pages for information is basically useless, since there is no text to scan. (It's like those twisted pictures of letters that you have to squint at to prove that you're human... you have a chance of figuring it out, but the computer doesn't.)

And speaking of people deciphering information from pictures, this is the main complaint, I believe. "It's harder to see where everyone is at." In other words, it's easier to see who is under, over, or beside someone else when it is laid out in a two-dimensional chart. The outline is more compact, but the old straight vertical lines are now horizontal stairsteps. (and at first, not even the stairsteps were showing!)

To my mind, it is a better tool, and while I regret losing the old layout when it comes to quickly seeing who is where by shape- not by name- I'm sure I'll get used to it in time. I do love the new information. Oh, and since each name is a graphic, this means that you can save a kingdom's webpage to your computer, and check the number of pictures it has in it to get a count of how many people are in it. That won't be exact, of course, but it will be close. Just make sure you have a bit of room. Avalon's picture folder is 6.35 megabytes of pictures-- all two thousand, six hundred and seventy nine of them!

Tiny Empires' Tree Ring

2009-02-05T04:40:00.000-08:00

I remember learning how trees form their rings, and how come they have one ring per year. As the seasons go by, the spring and summer see fast growth. The tree grows quickly, and it forms lighter, softer wood. As fall and cold comes, the tree's growth slows, the wood is thicker, harder, and darker. That dark ring is formed by the winter. And people can often gauge the overall climate by the variation in those dark and light patterns.

As in trees, so perhaps in Tiny Empires. I was talking with a friend and subject, and he was discussing about the "what to do" problem that many Tiny Empires players face. Here is the tree ring for Tiny Empires:

Wanderer to Prince-- lots to learn and do. Land improvements, housing upgrades, and rank to achieve. Hopefully subjects to get, as well.

Monarch- the final rank before Emperor. A number of options in caring for your kingdom, with special titles, tracts of land, even punishment options if you deem those necessary.

And recently, Viceroys and Vicereines.

Now, what is between those? For the Prince or Princess, with a thousand acres in total holdings, to the Prince or Princess who may have a hundred thousand (certainly less than twenty thousand), they are one among a growing number. They've achieved high rank. There won't be any higher rank unless they ascend... and they may not be able to, or as much or more often, not be interested, for whatever reason. What is there for them to do?

As a Princess myself in that area, I find fulfillment here, on the blog, or in discussing the game. More often, I engage in passing land, advice and encouragement to those under me. Even in having land parties to help someone. But for myself, personally, I'd be facing near terminal boredom.

Why this huge lack of "anything new" between becoming a Prince and becoming a Viceroy?

The history of Tiny Empires may offer a clue. The game started with all of the options from Wanderer to Prince. All of the housing upgrades, land improvements, rank increases, were all there basically from the day things started. The distance from a prince to a King (and the original King was Ultralite, there were no other kingdoms) was not that great. The top ten landholders automatically got a chance to become a direct subject of the King. And as late as November of 2007, that distance wasn't all that great- Ellie Bearcat (later to become Queen of Caledon) was getting offers to be a direct subject of the (then) Emperor when she only had total holdings of five to seven thousand acres. That seemed like a huge amount then, and it was at that time. The first kingdom was formed when Celty Westwick had the huge total of twenty thousand acres.

So, we start with the options of Wanderer to Prince. Then we have Monarchs, and the King becomes Emperor. Much later (in game terms) we have Viceroys. But the huge expanse in the middle has opened since then- a lot of Princes and Princesses at a thousand acres to twenty thousand (or more), and there's not a lot for them to do, it seems. The Federation HUD helps the situation, with its festivals, and possible other chances of gaining gold, with allies, citizens... even disasters can stave off boredom. But a lot of players are facing the problem of "what now?" when they become a Princess (or Prince.)

It would be interesting to ask what meaningful changes could open up to a Prince or Princess... the possibility of engaging in trade, to temporarily boost land production, or improve sagging land production? There are a number of options, but the ring in the tree, I think, can be accounted for by that single growth pattern. Things were put into place at the bottom on day one. Things were put into place at the top as things developed. But the huge growth in the middle hasn't had a lot put into place for it.

Ideas? Anyone?

The Trader and an Emperor at Play

2009-01-31T05:44:00.000-08:00

It would seem that the fun did not end with the Huds coming back to life... it was only beginning.

Shortly after I posted that the huds were dead, they did come back to life. And before long they went down again for another hour or so (more work).

When they came back, things were a bit... interesting for a while.

For starters, my first month or two back, I was not
"La Reina Zorra Vulpine Eldrich
of Caledon"

anymore. Instead I was

"The Eternally Patient Vulpine Eldrich
of Caledon"

But as if that weren't enough, several months later, I became

"MoLove's Minion Vulpine Eldrich
of Egypt"

This is where you hit the panic button. I checked my companion, and it said I was in my usual line, within Caledon. But the hud said... wait, there must be some sort of database malfunction here. Maybe I've been confused with someone else. So I send Mo an IM, asking him who 'MoLove's Minion' is. His reply? Apparently, everyone! Hmmm....

The next month, I was back in Caledon with my proper title, though the smile on Mo's face lasted for hours. Oh, but things weren't finished yet. A couple of months later..

"La Reina Zorra Vulpine Eldrich
OMG! Where is your land?"

Well, the land line read "0 acres (0 personal)" which would have been worrying earlier... but I'd decided by this time that I really couldn't believe what I was reading. So I waited. Sure enough, the next month it was

"La Reina Zorra Vulpine Eldrich
Ok, back to normal now..."

Well, the line about my land was normal, but the date wasn't. It didn't say Feb. 1110, it said Feb. 2009. Who ever heard of a crazy date like that?

But the day continued. Queen Ellie got a chance to give away a tract of land- for free. I'm sure all of the other monarchs did as well. Then the trader came-- to the whole Empire! He hadn't done that in ages.

The Emperor was testing his new server, and had decided that the best way to load test it was to send a Trader to every kingdom at the same time. He was right. Unfortunately, his server didn't do so well. The Trader came, true, but afterwards a lot of us started missing months. "Your Tiny Empires Hud seems to have missed a turn..." well it wasn't my fault, it was the server not getting back to it in time!

The Emperor admitted his server had a few bugs it needed to get worked out. And life resumed its normal pace for a while.

But the next evening, more special messages appeared. Apparently, if the Emperor got an IM from at least one person whose name started with every letter of the alphabet- within that month- then the trader would come. He was flooded with IM's, and must have been kept very busy tracking them (between laughs). But at the end of the month, he was still missing three letters. (O, X, and Y, I believe) So no trader. But then he proposed a riddle, in which two kingdoms were referenced. If the riddle was solved, a trader would come.

The riddle was solved. (The kingdoms in question were Mysterious Woods and Devonshire.)

This was in the evening, so a lot of people were on. And with the games beforehand about "maybe a trader will come", interest was even more piqued than usual. Not surprisingly, a new load test happened! The emperor declared that the server was getting and handling more than thirty five requests per second. Apparently that's good- it's certainly good enough to keep an empire-wide trader going at prime time week night.

This time, the Trader year did not have a problem- no reported missed months, and lots of people enjoying his benefits. The Emperor announced himself satisfied with the server's performance. Well, in a way. His exact quote was

"This server appears to be kicking several different kinds of ass, in many interesting ways, using several martial arts techniques"

So, what new changes are around the corner? Obviously new hardware is in place, with an upgraded performance enabling lots of fun things. And, also obviously, we have an Emperor who is not at all hesitant about playing with his powers to shake things out of their usual routines. One obvious possibility is an empire-wide trader, again, for good. It's happened twice now, and server limitations may not be a problem anymore.

Time will tell. And, I suspect, not too much of it will be needed!

The day the Huds died

2009-01-28T05:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning, the Emperor stated the following:

[8:41] Ultralite Soleil: Good morning/afternoon/evening all. I want to let you know the Tiny Empires game server will be going down for some scheduled maintenance today. If all goes well, it should be back up after a few hours. If it goes poorly, it might be down for a day. For part of the work, I will be at the mercy of the techs at the server hosting company, so there's a bit of an unknown factor with how long it will take.

Now, nearly twenty four hours later, things are still down. This morning, there are rumors of some sims that have working huds, so maybe there is hope. But in the meantime, all our huds are getting is "Connecting...."

The Tiny Empires site states "It's working!" but we're informed that simply means there is a default Apache webserver running there.

I have to say, in my more than a year of playing Tiny Empires, this is the longest down time that I can remember. It's odd, being able to go places without worrying about scripts, or checking on the Hud every few minutes....

Miss Doe's Interview

2009-01-25T12:29:00.000-08:00

On a day not too long in the past, I donned a black dress, black wig, hooded black cloak, and black deer mask. Thus suitably disguised as 'Miss Doe', I proceeded to an undisclosed location to talk with Prince Q of Kingdom A and Princess R of Kingdom B. These two nobles have engaged in an intriguing but possibly risky practice known as 'trader jumping'.... Here is what happened...

Princess R, Miss Doe, Prince Q

Miss Doe steps into the darkened area, and peers around uncertainly through the smoked glass eyes of her mask. "Q? R? Hello?"

Prince Q: Hello Miss Doe.

Miss Doe: Oh, Q... where's R, did she make it?

Prince Q looks back at R

Princess R: R is around, ;)

Miss Doe looks around the corner

Miss Doe: Oh there you are... good! Are we safe, here then?

Prince Q: As safe as one can be on non-restricted land.

Miss Doe: Oh, good point. Well maybe we can make it quick. What's this 'trader jumping' thing about, anyway? It sounds wild...

Prince Q: It's a method to experience the trader more frequently than every other day.

Princess R: sometimes twice in the same day

Miss Doe: Wow.... how do you manage it?

Prince Q: When the trader is first sighted, you have six months before you have to pay. You can change lieges in four months.

Princess R: Three months if you get the timing right, like if he shows while we are together.

Prince Q: And after you pay the trader, you can jump right back to your old liege, and the trader year continues.

Miss Doe: So let me get this straight. Since you're in two kingdoms, the trader is visiting each on his own schedule. So with some fine timing- and 6 months warning with 3-4 months to switch is fine timing- you can get him no matter which kingdom he's in?

Prince Q: If you have a friend of the right rank in the other kingdom waiting to TP you, yes.

Princess R: yes, and we have. ;)

Miss Doe: So, Q, you go under R when he visits her kingdom, and R, you go under Q when he visits Q's kingdom.

Princess R: yes, although Q has things set up a little simpler than myself.

Prince Q: There are a host of issues to resolve.

Miss Doe: How so?

Prince Q: Well, you're up-line has to be accepting ...

Miss Doe: Starting with one's immediate liege, I'm sure.

Princess R: and your current liege needs to be online.

Prince Q: When I jump, I take 20k acres with me, and that can freak a prince out.

Miss Doe gulps and imagines a full kingdom disappearing in a heartbeat.

Princess R: It can freak a monarch out, too.

Miss Doe: I can... see why. R, is your jump as dramatic?

Princess R: We both have over 20K total acres.

Miss Doe gives a muffled whistle.

Prince Q: But we try to not jump if it means we'll be gone for census.

Princess R: Yes, that would be bad. The whole up-line would suffer.

Prince Q: Don't want your up-line to lose all their citizens. It's a bit easier for me, because my liege is an alt of mine. So I can always bring him on to take me back at the right time.

Miss Doe: and he's very understanding about it...

Prince Q: Yes, it took a while to get him 1000 personal acres ... but now he's (chuckle) quite understanding.

Princess R: My direct liege isn't always available. However, I do have an understanding and sympathetic higher up, who can take me back.

Miss Doe: But you have to pay to leave your old liege (granted, Q, your alt benefits) and pay again to return. Is it really worth paying twice to get the trader once?

Prince Q: Personally, I don't gain a whole lot. Changing lieges twice takes a lot of gold. But my down-line loves me.

Miss Doe: I can imagine. How many people usually get the extra trader?

Prince Q: As many as 20 have been on once. And as few as 5.

Miss Doe: So personally, you don't gain much land or gold (net), but if you get about 10 people with cheap land or something similar, you could get a hundred more acres in holdings that you wouldn't have gotten any other way.

Prince Q: That's correct. But even more, I get a down-line that is reluctant to leave for other kingdoms.

Miss Doe: Except when they find themselves in the other kingdom... I suppose that's as good a way of yelling 'trader' as any.

Prince Q: Yes, they only get a month or two notice. I use the general Kingdom chat.

Princess R: lol, yes, that does work, the down-line doesn't get much warning.

Prince Q: But the first time it happens, someone in the down-line is always worried in the 4 months we are away because their title starts to fade.

Miss Doe: Oh, good point. How long does it take a title to fade away?

Princess R: Most of a day, sometimes longer.

Prince Q: And we're only gone 4-5 months.

Miss Doe: Not even close to a day. But if they haven't experienced it before, I can see how it would be alarming. What other problems are there with this?

Prince Q: By the time the trader year is over, everybody is happy.

Princess R: It can cause a major change in the kingdoms’ rank.

Prince Q: If your liege doesn't have at least one other subject, his citizens will drop to zero -- no waiting for census.

Miss Doe: Ouch. Has that happened to your alt?

Prince Q: It did the first time.

Miss Doe nods in understanding

Miss Doe: So are you afraid the Emperor will find out? I mean, it seems hard to believe that the fame of this hasn't spread at least among your two kingdoms. He's certain to hear of it eventually.

Prince Q: I believe he already knows. He knows everything doesn't he?

Miss Doe maintains a discreet silence.

Princess R: hehehe

Miss Doe: So how did this all start?

Princess R: It started as a theory, 'What would happen if ...'

Prince Q: We started thinking about this almost as soon as the trader started to come to different kingdoms at different times. I used to be R's subject before an ascension pulled us apart. We've remained close. And this needs a bit of trust to go the first time or two.

Princess R: I used to be a direct of Q's Monarch before they ascended.

Miss Doe: A bit of trust on the part of everyone, it seems... up-line, down-line, and personally.

Prince Q: Yes, but the rewards are good for everyone too, up-line, down-line and personally.

Miss Doe: Well, the down-line gets more traders. And I guess the up-line gets more acreage, just as you do, as long as their hearts hold out.

Prince Q: I've tried to recruit others in other kingdoms to jump to. But without a personal connection, it doesn't seem to work.

Miss Doe: So it's just the two of you doing this?

Princess R: There are a couple of others who have helped.

Prince Q: Another in R's kingdom when R isn't online. And I've jumped once to a different kingdom.

Miss Doe: Did your down-line question why it wasn't the usual 'alternate' kingdom when you did?

Prince Q: No. By that time, they'd learned to enjoy the ride.

Princess R giggles

Miss Doe: and the trader lol...

Prince Q: yes ... so my down-line tries to always keep trader money available.

Miss Doe: So how often does this usually happen?

Prince Q: Well, not so much over the holidays, but we're going to start up again.

Miss Doe: A good point. The two of you must be online together a lot, then.

Prince Q: R is online more than me. My RL is starting to squeeze me. But, we are online together quite a bit.

Princess R: Not so much recently, but, with the right offline message, Q can be on quite quickly.

Miss Doe decides not to ask about the other secret methods of communication

Prince Q: Oh, this is too good to not share. I have my group notices sent to my gmail account, and if the notice has the word TRADER in it, it gets sent to my cell phone as a txt message. So, I almost never miss a trader -- though it's a bit tougher to get online in time to jump.

Miss Doe: You must be near a computer at all times, then.

Prince Q: Most of the time, I'm within 30 seconds of my keyboard.

Miss Doe: R, do you have that sort of ability, or do you leave it to Q to be available anywhere almost instantaneously?

Princess R: I'm lucky in that I still live with my sisters, and one of us is almost always at home, so, 'I' can be online a lot of the time

Miss Doe: Ah, a good point, and a goodly amount of trust.

Prince Q: Yes, trust is important.

Miss Doe: So since both of you have enough to be your own kingdom, and since I hear that the Trader comes more frequently to smaller kingdoms... have either of you thought of ascending? Q, if your alt was a King, you could catch the trader in his kingdom, in Kingdom A (assuming someone there would take you) and in Kingdom B. Trader surfeit!

Prince Q: I'm not online enough to be a good monarch.

Princess R: And I don't want the responsibilities, and drama, that goes with being a monarch.

Prince Q: So this is what we do instead of giving out titles, and assigning vice-reigns.

Miss Doe: I gather that the drama from the trader jumping has more or less died down to an acceptance and even enjoyment, then.

Prince Q: I haven't heard from anyone who objects, once they know that it's okay with our monarch.

Miss Doe: And your monarch approves in both kingdoms, I take it?

Prince Q: Mine certainly does.

Princess R giggles

Miss Doe giggles as well

Miss Doe: So it's full speed ahead with more traders. Do you have any active plans for recruiting more people from other kingdoms, or do you just do it between the two of you and mention it now and then to see what happens?

Prince Q: When I get in a good conversation with a prince/ss or monarch, I'll ask, but I'm not looking around for the purpose of finding a new jumping partner.

Princess R laughs

Miss Doe: R? Are you content just to do trader jumps with Q?

Princess R: I tend to just go with the flow. If it's convenient, I'll go for it, if not, I don't.

Miss Doe: So if someone else decided they wanted to do this, do you have any advice at all?

Prince Q: Make sure that your liege is online before you jump away.

Princess R: check with both your up and down line, and especially with your monarch first.

Prince Q: The down-line can get restive if they're not back where they belong quickly. Oh, and what R said.

Princess R: Make sure that you have enough gold ;)

Miss Doe: You must spend all your time saving gold, between multiple switches and traders.

Prince Q: I keep 20x an acre price to make sure I have enough for both jumps and the trader.

Miss Doe: I can believe it.

Miss Doe looks around at the darkened sky

Miss Doe: Maybe we'd better leave before anyone else notices us. Was there anything else I needed to know about this?

Prince Q: There's always something, but I think you have the most important details.

Miss Doe: Great. Good luck jumping and if you get a call from another kingdom, well... you know :)

Prince Q: It was a pleasure to speak with you.

Princess R: What Q said, ;)

Miss Doe: Take care, Prince Q, Princess R :)

Prince Q: Take care.

Miss Doe slips away back into the shadows, giving a last goodbye wave to her new friends

Cordova Decosta Interview

2009-01-18T15:02:00.001-08:00

Holly Honi, Cordova Decosta, Vulpine Eldrich

Vulpine Eldrich: Hello everyone! I'm here this evening with King Cordova Decosta of the Kingdom of Misfits, and his 'Queen by Association,' Holly Honi. Thank you, both of you, for taking the time to host me here in your home!

Cordova Decosta: you're welcome and welcome :)

Holly Honi: welcome

Vulpine Eldrich: So, I have to ask, what on earth inspired you to be the King of Misfits? Or is this something that comes naturally?

Cordova Decosta: Well, I think we are all in sl because we are in a sense misfits. So the name fit, and everyone loves it. Everyone else is just in denial. lol

Vulpine Eldrich: lol, and how would you define the term 'misfit'?

Cordova Decosta: Well, honestly, it would be someone who "isn't normal," so everyone is a misfit in their own way. To be honest, normal is boring.

Vulpine Eldrich: So with a name and attitude like that, have you had an interesting Tiny Empires career in reaching this elevated rank?

Cordova Decosta: I never thought of it as a career. It's a game, a fun one, and a great way to meet people, get invited to formal parties, and have fun.

Vulpine Eldrich: How many kingdoms have you been in before reaching this one?

Cordova Decosta: Due to up-line ascensions, this will be my 8th and last kingdom.

Vulpine Eldrich: After that, do you run out of lives? Don't answer that if you don't want to! Seriously, it sounds like you've had quite a lot of experience within different kingdoms. What, in your opinion, is the most essential ingredient(s) in making and keeping a kingdom together and happy?

Cordova Decosta: To me, the most important part isn’t the upper tiers of a down-line. It’s the mid level and below. They are the ones who keep lines and kingdoms growing, so they are the ones you should pay most attention to. Make everyone feel like a part of the kingdom, and let people know that even if you are a prince, and they are just starting, you are there to help them understand the basics.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you're still there for your people to help learn the basics, monarch and all. How and where do they meet, communicate, and get a chance to beseech you for your wisdom?

Cordova Decosta: Well, my IM is always available to anyone who needs anything. I’ve made and/or collected and edited a lot of notecards. I give them the links to the wiki and your blog, for example. There is group chat, and we plan to have parties and events to give everyone a sense of community :)

Vulpine Eldrich: So where will these group parties be held?

Cordova Decosta: Some will be here, and we have a princess who has very graciously allowed us to use her sim, The Point, for larger events.

Vulpine Eldrich: So will you have a chance to help organize these events, Holly, or is he going to be a solo act?

Holly Honi: We plan most stuff together. I like giving 'social' input

Vulpine Eldrich: Such as....?

Cordova Decosta: She's the wonder woman behind the scenes ;)

Holly Honi: We talk about whether to have live entertainers and who. If there should be a theme, and if we should open it to people outside of the kingdom.

Holly Honi: Of course, it's not always just MY input. He gets opinions on some stuff from other members of the kingdom too, because it's really THEIR (OUR) events.

Vulpine Eldrich: Right, and speaking of members, how did you manage to put the kingdom together in the first place? Something that size doesn't happen by accident.

Cordova Decosta: lol Well, ummmm… my old title was the royal schmoozer, and as Holly said, I am pretty good at that ;) But a lot of my down-line are people whom I knew from other kingdoms. They ended up joining me because we remained friends. And then they get their friends, and it just starts to grow.

Holly Honi: Which is how WE met.

Vulpine Eldrich: So how did you two meet?

Cordova Decosta: I bribed her.

Holly Honi: and schmoozed

Cordova Decosta: And then tried to talk her into moving under me the next day. From there we became friends, and the friendship grew.

Holly Honi: But we were friends for a long time.

Vulpine Eldrich: And how long did it take you to play Tiny Empires before you decided you want to be a King?

Cordova Decosta: I swore I’d never, ever, EVER in a million years ascend. But as I started taking the steps to be grand viceroy and consulting with members of my down-line , they intimated that I should consider ascension. So I thought about it.

Vulpine Eldrich: And after you thought about it, what happened?

Cordova Decosta: It was a very hard decision to make. My former queen was very good to us, but then I IMed her, and spoke with her. She was, and still is, very supportive.

Vulpine Eldrich: Which Queen was this?

Cordova Decosta: Queen Calypso of Treasure Island.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you're saying she deserves some of the credit for helping create the Kingdom of Misfits?

Cordova Decosta: Well, in truth everyone who was ever a part of my up-line and/or down-line deserves some credit.

Vulpine Eldrich: And if any of them- or anyone else- wanted to come meet you in world, hang out together, and do things together, where would they go and what would they find themselves doing?

Cordova Decosta: We like to hop all over all sl and see a lot of live singers, and I dj, so they could come hear great music, whether I’m playing it or someone is singing. Or they are always welcome to come to our house.

Vulpine Eldrich looks at her map.

Vulpine Eldrich: “Nueva vida.” What does that mean?

Cordova Decosta: “New life” – A new beginning.

Vulpine Eldrich: So in this new life, both here in Second Life and in Tiny Empires, what have you kept from the old life that's helped you get to where you are at?

Cordova Decosta: Well, obviously memories and loyalty to my friends and subjects, because they helped me get here. The most important thing is that I always remember that behind the avatar— no matter whether its human, robot, tiny, furry etc—there's still another human being who has feelings, and the words I say to them impact them, whether good or bad.

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good! So you've become a King, you've got a group of loyal people, and a Queen to help you go from here. What other plans do you have for your Tiny Empires future, beyond Kingdom events?

Cordova Decosta: Well, my ranking on TE doesn’t really matter, so I don’t really plan to become one of the top ten. It is, after all, still just a game, and it should be fun. So I guess I plan to help others understand that as well. And to have fun—this is sl, it’s supposed to be fun.

Vulpine Eldrich: And what do you do when you find people in TE, underneath you or (before now, I suppose) above you, who are determined to spoil your and other people's fun here in SL and TE?

Holly Honi: Cord has always been awesome at talking things out.

Cordova Decosta: I talk to them and try to work things out. But if that doesn’t work, you can't let them get to you. If you do, then they win.

Vulpine Eldrich: And, would I be right in saying that a parting of the ways often follows in those cases?

Cordova Decosta: Maybe a brief parting, but I’m always open to giving people a second chance.

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good. So as you look at the game of Tiny Empires, what would you most like to see added to it, or changed about it?

Holly Honi: How long do you have?

Cordova Decosta: Ohhh, well what I want to see won’t be too popular. I want it to be more a game of chance. For example, an evil trader who gives tainted seeds instead of gold seeds, so that you only get half your land value. Instead of sabotage, I think you should get the acres if successful and not investigated.

Vulpine Eldrich: So, it would be more accurate to call it theft instead of sabotage in that case.

Cordova Decosta: And then there’s commandeering land like they did in feudal times. But the most important change is for some to lighten up about it. It’s a hud, a great way to meet new people, and make friends. It should be just that—a fun thing, not a competition. There's really no "win" here.

Vulpine Eldrich: So when you send a bribe, you apparently follow up with more than just a bribe offer on the hud, to judge by the story of you and Holly. What sort of things do you tell a prospective bribe target to get them to join you?

Cordova Decosta: Well that varies on the person. Usually, I tell them I’m sending a bribe, that we have a no drama kingdom, everyone gets along with each other, we have fun joking in group chat, and that to me they wouldn’t be just a number of acres.

Vulpine Eldrich: But sometimes they aren't quite 'real people', are they? Or how do you consider alts in the game?

Cordova Decosta: I have said this many times. I do have an alt (only one alt to get new players into the game), but I think that if you have a lot of alts to help your line advance, you take this silly little hud entirely too seriously.

Vulpine Eldrich: So how many alts are in the Kingdom of Misfits, or would you have any sort of reasonable guess on that?

Cordova Decosta: Not that many, but I wouldn’t have any real way of knowing for sure, except in a few cases.

Vulpine Eldrich: Probably not. And if your Kingdom were a movie, what would its rating be?

Cordova Decosta: PG-13. We are adults and adult chat is allowed, but for the most part we just like to have fun and pick on each other.

Vulpine Eldrich: And how often, now, does the term 'misfit' get used to help pick on each other? Have you got any good examples for us?

Cordova Decosta: Hmmm we've never called each other that, unless someone wants the name misfit in their title.

Holly Honi: I use it to bribe sometimes. When someone has an unusual name, I say they sound like they would fit in with us well.

Vulpine Eldrich: "Come join us, we're misfits, we have fun, and you will too?"

Holly Honi: Exactly.

Cordova Decosta: That works. You just gave me my next bribe speech ;)

Vulpine Eldrich laughs

Holly Honi: Cord always has had a gift for fun and banter, and he can get the chat going well.

Vulpine Eldrich: So besides telling people to lighten up, and remember that we're all human (more or less), what would you tell someone as advice when they're just getting started in Tiny Empires? What to do or not do?

Holly Honi: I just have to say if it wasn't for Cord, I would hardly know the first thing about TE. He always takes the time to explain what things mean and NOT just to people in his kingdom.

Cordova Decosta: Save gold as often as possible, and if they aren’t happy in the spot they are in, talk to their liege and go up the ranks. If someone isn’t happy in my kingdom and wants to move, I’ll help them find a kingdom they are more suited to, because I want everyone who plays this game to enjoy it and not get lost in the shuffle.

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good! And can either of you think of something I missed in our little discussion here?

Cordova Decosta: You forgot to ask if we were a tree what kind would we be and why. Lolol, just kidding. You did well at poking into our heads.

Vulpine Eldrich: All right, what tree are you? A tall sturdy oak, or a tough cherry, or just a nasty prickly thorn tree? lol, seriously, thank you for your time and hospitality, both of you.

Cordova Decosta: A weeping willow, because it bends down to protect ;)

Holly Honi: I will say from the time I met Cord, it was easy to see that he was suited to be in this game of te to help people, which would be a natural leader and King. He has been the 'go to' person for me and many others.

Cordova Decosta: Thank you for coming to our humble abode.

Census Time

2009-01-11T05:40:00.000-08:00

So you're happily playing Tiny Empires, and someone mentions the term 'Census'... but you don't know what they mean. Or perhaps you're playing and suddenly a message pops up in the Offers tab, saying that a census was taken and that you got gold from it. Nice! Now, what happened?

First off, Censuses occur in January of even-numbered years... so you get gold once every two years of play (assuming you aren't coming on and leaving at just the right or wrong times). But before you can participate in a Census, you need one thing:

Subjects.

That's right, subjects. You get so many gold for each DIRECT subject you have. So, if you have zero subjects... no census for you. On the other hand, if you have ten direct subjects (you can't have more), then you get a nice lot of gold! The amount of gold you get per direct subject is based on how much you pay per acre. I get 1/60th of an acre price. (So with ten direct subjects, that would mean I get 1/6th of what an acre costs me in each Census.)

Now the fun part begins... the Federation Hud.

Do you have the Federation Hud? If not, then you won't see this next part.

As a Federation HUD user (who has subjects!) you not only get the normal census gold, you get one piece of gold per 9 citizens in your Federation HUD population. (Remember, these are NOT real people- real subjects- just the Population number on your hud.) As you handle disasters (or not), your citizen population goes up or down acccordingly. Handle them well (costs lots of gold) and you get more citizens. Handle them poorly (or not at all) and you lose citizens. But getting citizens means you also get more census gold.

So if you get one gold for every nine citizens, just keep handling disasters well. You can pile in as many citizens as you want and keep going, the sky is the limit, right? Well, not quite. You can never have a citizen population amount that is higher than 5,000 percent of your "capacity". Capacity is determined by all of the subjects below you- what rank they are, and how much land each have. More land and more high ranking subjects means more capacity for you... giving you the ability to get more citizens in the census! And since you can have 5,000 percent (or fifty times) your "capacity" amount in citizens, small changes in capacity mean a lot more or less citizens, and more or less census gold.

As an example, I can count on gaining 6,000 citizens in capacity when a Duke or Duchess under me becomes a Prince or Princess (yes, it goes the other way, too!) That 6,000 increase in capacity, multiplied by 50, means I can squeeze in 300,000 more citizens into my population number before overcrowded conditions wipe me back down to my 5,000 percent maximum. Now, in the census, I get one gold for every nine citizens, so 300,000 divided by 9 means 33,333 gold in census money every two years.... just because I have the Fed Hud and someone under me became a Princess!

Note that the exact formulas for how capacity is determined are probably unknown to anyone but the emperor... I suppose if someone systematically worked at it, they could determine it, but if they have, I don't know of it. (Anyone???) It really doesn't matter, since the basic point remains the same: get as many high ranking subjects in your downline as possible, with acreage, and you get more gold in the census because you can get more citizens in your population.

....and that's about it for the census... from your first direct subject to a line filled with Princes and Princesses and a Fed Hud... it's all yours for the working!

2008 Review, 2009 Predictions

2009-01-04T05:43:00.000-08:00

As we start a brand new year, it's only natural to wonder where it is going, and to look back to see where we've been. So, in the spirit of inquiry, I have set out to be a good enquirer and make some predictions about this next year, based on past history, plus a large dose of crystal ball gazing (wait, is that a crack? oh well, too late now...)

How many kingdoms will there be?

Dracheheim was kingdom number 24, and was created right at New Year's, 2008. Currently there are 128 kingdoms, for an increase of approximately one hundred. Therefore, I predict that 2009 will see one hundred new kingdoms, or approximately two per week.

How many empires will there be?

In 2007, there was one empire created. In 2008, it was named, but no new empires were created. This averages out to one empire every two years. Therefore, for this trend to continue, there will be one half of an empire created in 2009, and it will receive a name in 2010.

How big will the biggest kingdom be?

At the beginning of 2008, the largest kingdom was roughly 200,000 acres. At the end of 2008, the largest kingdom was roughly 500,000 acres. This is an increase of two and a half times. Therefore, I predict another two and a half times increase, thus making the largest kingdom two and a half million acres at the end of 2009. (Please note, these figures are very very approximate and are not based on direct inside information.)

How many 'alt' accounts will there be?

When things first began, new people flooded in by droves, and some started playing alts. As things have 'matured' through 2008, the use of alts has become more extensive. Anecdotal evidence from giving and receiving bribes suggests that there are about as many alts as there are actual players at the current time. Therefore, I predict that by the end of 2009, there will be an average of four to five alts per real player, and that a number of the hundred new kingdoms will have monarchs that are alts of other monarchs.

How many huds will there be?

In 2007, there were two huds released, and in 2008 there were no new huds released. This averages to one per year, so I predict one new hud in 2009. This new hud, like its predecessor, will change how one gains high rank, and will be used by the half emperor of the new half-empire that will be created.

How many new products will there be?

At the beginning of 2008, the only thing you could buy was the Tiny Empires HUD, in its two flavors. Now, we have two more products- a titler, for 149L, and a Tiny Empires Companion, which is subscription based. Therefore, I predict two new products in 2009. One will be relatively cheap, once up front payment, and more for fun than anything serious. The other will be a subscription based add-on that lets you find out almost anything about your target TE player, and it will be available for only 500L per month.

How easy will it be to transfer citizens?

At the beginning of 2008, Federation allies could transfer citizens, and lose approximately one third of them in the process. During 2008, a new option- embassies- was created, which allowed more citizens to be transferred at once and decreased the amount lost to one fourth. It costs roughly as much as five acres of land. Therefore, I predict another option in 2009 which will reduce loss to one-fifth, and which will cost as much as ten acres of land.

What is the future of riddles?

During the year of 2008, the riddles were changed roughly three times. At the end of that time, they consisted less of mathematical formulae, and more questions based on one's personal statistics. Also, some provided no immediate clue as to what they were asking. Another change is that the amount gotten for answering a riddle correctly was cut by about a factor of five. Therefore, I predict that in 2009, the riddles will change three times. In the last set of riddles, one of them will be 'what is your gender?' and answering correctly will yield you the grand total of one gold piece.

What is the future of disasters?

Disasters came with the federation HUD in 2007. There were three types of disasters. During 2008, a new research option opened up the possibility of handling one type of disaster automatically. Therefore, in 2009, I predict that another disaster will be taken care of automatically. For those pessimists who say that I've not taken all of the facts into account, I'll also add that there will be three new types of disasters.

What about limits?

In 2008, limits were put into place on how many personal acres someone can have, and how much gold someone can have. As this habit of setting limits will continue, the end of 2009 should see a limit on how many hours per day a person can play TE, thus helping to ensure the sanity and health of the players...

What about special titles?

During 2008, the use of special titles rose dramatically, and a rule that let special titles 'fade away' when someone left a kingdom was enacted. Therefore, I predict that by the end of 2009, every player older than a month will either be inactive, have a custom title, or be clinging to their generic rank description because it marks them as different and special.

What about monarch responsibilities?

At the beginning of 2008, a monarch was forced, by peer pressure, to stay online as much as possible and keep tax rates low. This burden was eased by new rules which let a monarch ONLY provide a tax amnesty once every twenty four hours. At the end of 2008, a new position, that of Viceroy, was created. This let Princes and Princesses under the monarch assume royal duties such as giving out titles and purchasing tracts of land. The emperor has dropped hints that this is not his final word about viceregal powers. I predict that as this freeing of monarch duties continue, monarchs will begin to consider abdication out of boredom, since there will be nothing left to do but go fishing in the royal moat.

What is the surest prediction?

In 2007, there were people playing and enjoying Tiny Empires. During 2008, people played and enjoyed Tiny Empires. Therefore, during 2009, I predict that people will play and enjoy Tiny Empires.

The King is dead

2008-12-30T18:26:00.000-08:00

...long live the king.

Early this morning, the player behind the King Chester Capalini passed from the TE throne of Heaven to his real life reward. Various in-world memorials are being made, anyone wanting more information should contact Queen Spunky Young of Phoenix Rising.

The Kingdom of Heaven is currently ranked 15 among the kingdoms in size, apparently having never risen higher than rank 11. For tomorrow, another act of respect is being planned by Queen Alamiga Anatine of Angels of the Empire and King Swankhaven Blitz of Swank. They will temporarily combine forces and send part of their kingdom to nobles in Heaven to boost it to that top ten mark.

If anyone would like to join this for a day, contact your own liege and make whatever arrangements are necessary. I'm sure that Queen Alamiga and King Swankhaven would be glad to help you find where to go in this.

Queen Alamiga will be sending about half of her kingdom to the Kingdom of Heaven. "[I] think it would be nice for Angels to be in Heaven for a day," she said, adding that she had never heard a bad word said about King Chester.

This isn't the first time a monarch has passed away in real life. King Luz Susenko did so as well. A lot of kingdoms had a "no touch" rule concerning the kingdom afterwards, and it has only slowly dropped in rank, becoming a minor kingdom relatively recently.

Taken the next day...

January 1st, 2009...

Interview with Valentine Janus

2008-12-28T04:24:00.001-08:00

Queen Valentine Janus (left) and blogress Vulpine Eldrich (right)

Vulpine Eldrich: Good evening everyone, and Merry Christmas (which it is right now). I'm here with Queen Valentine Janus of New Deseret. Thank you for giving up part of your holiday to talk with us, Valentine.

Valentine Janus: Thank you for interviewing me.

Vulpine Eldrich: So, what or where is 'New Deseret', and why do you think it describes your kingdom?

Valentine Janus: We got started in a nine-sim community founded by Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. The name comes from one of those sims. It reflects our origins, although we certainly have branched out beyond one small part of the grid. Also, the word Deseret itself means honeybee--kind of a nice metaphor for a TE kingdom, unity and industry.

Vulpine Eldrich: I seem to recall that a coin minted by the Mormons in Utah had a honeybee on it. Not an accident?

Valentine Janus: Not at all. The beehive is still in the state flag of Utah.

Vulpine Eldrich: So how many in your TE Kingdom of New Deseret are from Utah, or are Mormons, in real life?

Valentine Janus: Not that many from Utah. I'd guess slightly over half are LDS. Of my five direct subjects, only two share my faith.

Vulpine Eldrich: How has it affected your kingdom, its growth, how the word gets out about your group, others joining or leaving from elsewhere within Terra Aurea?

Valentine Janus: I think it is mostly a positive influence. People can join our kingdom and know that the standards will be PG in Second Life terms. Some, of course, won't want that. One of the great elements of TE is that you can find many different styles among the kingdoms. If you don't fit into one place, another will be available.

Vulpine Eldrich: So true! So do you have- or plan to have- any sort of central meeting place here in Second Life?

Valentine Janus: As of mid-October, I own two of the nine sims I mentioned. We have a group hangout on the City of Enoch sim, with ready access to a lot of recreation facilities. I have been a recreation center operator since my first month in SL. We also have a kingdom website out-of-world, http://newdeseret.wordpress.com

Vulpine Eldrich: Ready-made for a kingdom's social events! How have you found that career helpful to your TE Kingdom building?

Valentine Janus: It's one more way to have fun -- and TE has the added advantage that the game mechanics force players to interact with each other, to get together. I spend more time with interesting people that I might have barely met otherwise. One reason I think the game took off in our community is because many of us are a close-knit bunch with a lot in common; TE built on existing relationships.

Vulpine Eldrich: I've seen that happen more than once, myself. So now that you're the Queen of this Kingdom, where do you go from here?

Valentine Janus: First, we get back on the map. One very successful princess was at home in Camelot and did not want to leave. So we talked it over. Sje and all her people stayed to see the kingdom formed, and went back at a small send-off gathering the next day. Beyond that, just continue to grow, meet people, have fun. One day my other personal goal is to spin off a daughter kingdom.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you knew before you became a Queen that you were destined to start out as a minor kingdom, and you still did it... why now? Why not wait until later, or have tried to do this sooner?

Valentine Janus: I didn't know until I was in the 16,000 acre range that there would be a split. Once it was clear, we decided that it would be best to finalize things rapidly rather than possibly have lingering sentiments fester. Everyone had plenty of opportunity to go where they would be happy. And the limits on a minor kingdom are really only two: no custom titles, and no map spot. Both are nice, but neither is crucial to our fun and our success.

Vulpine Eldrich: But you do still have plans to become a major kingdom.

Valentine Janus: We do. Our senior princesses are really pushing hard to get back.

Vulpine Eldrich: So do you have any particular ideas or programs to do so, or an estimate of when you think you will be on the main map?

Valentine Janus: Our goal is to return by Easter. Mostly, we plan to do this with the same dedication that took us from zero to kingdom in under six months. I expect to do some special events for recruiting and building spirits, but I think we have been energized by the creation of the kingdom; the 'minor' distinction is a minor distinction.

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good! So what would you tell someone- say a Duke or Prince- who says "I'm considering being a part of New Deseret, but I'm not sure why I should.”?

Valentine Janus: We have a nice community, in a pretty setting, for mature people who don't have a need for so-called "mature" activities. It has ties to a two-year-old SL nation and a lot of committed, very friendly people. Most of us have been in SL for the long haul; we expect that to continue.

Vulpine Eldrich: And the same holds true for Tiny Empires?

Valentine Janus: Yes. Again, the community where this kingdom was born has shaped it -- here an in-world presence came first, not the other way round. But we welcome all in TE, just as the nation has, who want to play nice and have fun. I try to set the tone by absolutely refusing to offer, accept, or solicit bribes, or to sabotage.

Vulpine Eldrich: Do you have any plans to set up fishing?

Valentine Janus: I had a fishing place before I joined TE. I still do. It's busier now.

Vulpine Eldrich: Well let's hope that there are still some big ones left, anyway. So what got you started in Tiny Empires?

Valentine Janus: At heart I am a gamer. And the mix of feudal overtones into a really big game . . . well, I am a dual national of Caledon as well. Princesses and dukes and knights and things resonate with me anyway. The social aspects actually became clear later, as I realized the genius of the design in bringing people face-to-face often.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you started it. How long did it take to decide you would be a Queen?

Valentine Janus: Six to eight weeks after I started, my three largest direct subjects, then two princesses and a duchess, came to me and asked if I would consider it. They both thought that I should and that I could.

Vulpine Eldrich: How hard was it to convince you?

Valentine Janus: Not very. I didn't start out planning to do anything beyond rising to princess. But knowing that you have strong people backing you makes a big difference. Also, I got one huge break early on with a fortunate choice of allies-- an old-line princess of Avalon who just happened to have an ally slot for me. She sent me a few citizens to celebrate. Only 150,000 died of the 600,000 that came to me. That gave me a huge income base for my size. This fueled more rapid growth than I might have had. So I had the people and the resources, and the gamer in me said full speed ahead.

Vulpine Eldrich: In other words, Census Gold. So you took good care and they multiplied. How has the new research option changed things for you and your kingdom in regards to all of that?

Valentine Janus: The only hard thing is deciding which way to go. I am advising people to pick famine unless they expect to have several direct subjects, then disease is an alternative. I researched disease very early on. Knowing that the abbot will be forever half price and always gives to your direct subjects is a useful thing. But if you lack directs, famine is better.

Vulpine Eldrich: Or don't have many, I agree. So what would you say to someone who was considering buying the Federation HUD? Any advice about when or if they should get it?

Valentine Janus: I have a detailed article on the kingdom website about the Fed HUD. My counsel is to get it if you are count or higher with at least one direct subject, as long as you are comfortable with the extra attention it requires. The gold you can earn is worth it, provided you don't miss a lot of turns while online.

Vulpine Eldrich: And as the game continues to develop, what would you like to see added or changed?

Valentine Janus: The viceroys were a much needed addition for the rulers of large kingdoms. Perhaps there are ways to provide specialty involvements for other princes and princesses in a kingdom short of the path to royalty. There is a huge gulf between the many princes and princesses and the much smaller number who can be rulers or viceroys. But overall, Ultralite's work is outstanding; I look forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Vulpine Eldrich: What would you say if he appointed himself god and let kingdoms coalesce into multiple empires?

Valentine Janus: If he develops the subsequent game play as well as he has so far it might be interesting. Whether or not he really wants to be "a god" is a matter for his own personality and values. I think it would be fraught with challenges, but I know that he's done well so far. One thing that might be noticeable is that monarchs have a bit of a community with each other and with the Emperor, notwithstanding in-game rivalries. It operates to the good of TE as a whole. Could this be harmed? I don't know.

Vulpine Eldrich: Speaking of monarchs, there are quite a number now. Did you have any particular insights, experiences, or interesting things to find out when you joined that community?

Valentine Janus: I read everything I could find preparing for the jump. But a lot of things by design are not published. Learning the monarch powers is a matter of trial and error. I have found my brother and sister kings and queens to be very helpful and supportive when asked. I think the large number is mostly a good thing, because it offers players more choices. I know some think that being a king or queen is somehow less "special" with 127 kingdoms. But trust me, it's still a sea-change from being a big princess to being the queen.

Vulpine Eldrich: What advice would you give to anyone wanting to try and make that sea change?

Valentine Janus: Do your homework. Dig up the materials that are out there and read them. People will be turning to you for leadership in a new way, and expecting you to know more. Next, be open with your downlines. Accept that some will not want to go with you, and strive for harmony. Also, be open with your liege and your current monarch. You do not want them to feel like they are being stabbed in the back. Finally, remember that you are nothing in this game without a team of people supporting you. Love your people. They will return it when you need it most.

Vulpine Eldrich: Thank you! Good advice for anyone in a leadership position, I would say. So now, perhaps the best question of all... what did I miss? What thing or things did you want to let everyone know about that I didn't know (or forgot) to ask?

Valentine Janus: I think I should close with our kingdom motto, which originally showed up when I wrote my Q and A notecard about the upcoming ascension: "It's a game, not a lifestyle." Play, play hard, play well -- but play nice and have fun. If it stops being fun, take a break and review where you're at. And you can check us out in-world on the City of Enoch or Deseret sims, or on the web at http://newdeseret.wordpress.com. We look forward to meeting you!

Vulpine Eldrich: And there you have it, straight from the Queen's typing fingers. Thanks so much for your time and consideration, Valentine, and best wishes for your continued career.

Valentine Janus: Thank you for everything you've done for the game!

Yes, Virginia, there really was a Santa Trader

2008-12-21T05:07:00.000-08:00

It was mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve. I was wandering through a new store, appreciatively eying a set of Penguin avatars which used clothing layers for much of their effect. As usual, the Tiny Empires HUD was in its upper corner, giving me messages every three minutes.

Then a message came up which I couldn't believe... what did it mean? A mysterious stranger, dressed in bright red, had been sighted? As the messages continued in the next few months, we found that this mysterious stranger drove a sleigh with reindeer, and that he would be available for anyone to sit on his lap.

By this time, I was laughing and enjoying the excitement. Usually jaded senses, dulled by hundreds- nay- thousands- of "same old same old" months were getting a workout on this new twist. It was a Mysterious Trader... but not the usual sort. The messages flying in the chat rooms showed that I was not alone in my speculation and appreciation.

What would this be all about? What would the outcome be?

Finally the last month came, and we met the new stranger face to face. He didn't look at me with a "piercing gaze", he had a bright twinkle in his eye. And gold? Not a breath about it. He simply wanted me to sit on his knee. That was the question it asked- "Sit on his knee?"

What did I have to lose? I said yes.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear but cheap land! It was the usual prize that the Mysterious Trader gave out... but this stranger left with a light and empty sleigh.

This happened twice more on the next day- Christmas day itself.

And from then till now, there's never been a breath about him. But I know he came, because I was there- and I caught him all three times. He never charged me anything, but the prizes were just as good as that mysterious man in the black cloak ever gives out.

But now it's coming Christmas time again. Will it happen again? I have no clue. For those of us who spend much or all of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home, on the computer, in Second Life, playing Tiny Empires... we will have a chance to find out.

But I do know one thing. Yes, Virginia, there really was a Santa Trader.

Interview with Alamiga Anatine

2008-12-14T13:33:00.000-08:00

Vulpine Eldrich: I'm here tonight with Queen Alamiga Anatine of Angels of the Empire. Thanks so much for making time for me, Alamiga :)

Alamiga Anatine: My Pleasure!

Vulpine Eldrich: So, tell me, what particular quality or affinity made you decide your kingdom was "Angels of the Empire"?

Alamiga Anatine: It's from the name of my dance troupe, Angels of Dance. The bulk of the Kingdom was made up of them. The Angels of Dance term came from a deceased friend. I had asked her what I should call my group. She said I was an Angel, and should call it likewise.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you perform dance here in Second Life?

Alamiga Anatine: Yes we go to various venues and dances. It’s donation based, more fun for members to gather, dance, and chat.

Vulpine Eldrich: And play TE while they dance, I take it :)

Alamiga Anatine: Well originally, no. But now many do, though it’s not a requirement to play TE.

Vulpine Eldrich: So what else do the members of the TE Angels kingdom do?

Alamiga Anatine: Many have clubs and their own businesses. I allow them to mention them in group chat, so we can see what others do. Or they can come to Jazz—I have the ballroom, TUX! and the Angel Clubhouse, which is rocking blues. Oh, and 7Seas fishing at the TE Common. (TE Common used to be called Sanctuary Gardens, but a new Kingdom sort of made that confusing.)

Vulpine Eldrich: So Jazz functions as a central meeting place for the Kingdom?

Alamiga Anatine: No, the Angel Clubhouse is for that.

Vulpine Eldrich: I see. And where did it all start in Tiny Empires... I assume you had the Dance group first, then one day- something- got you into Tiny Empires.

Alamiga Anatine: Members of the dance troupe kept bugging me to join. I was resistant to it for the longest time.

Vulpine Eldrich: So when you finally did join, you were a peasant amid friends who were already TE nobility?

Alamiga Anatine: I looked at what the game was about and decided that Queen was my goal, though most of us were low ranks at the time...

Vulpine Eldrich: So the kingdom was formed, in theory, from the moment you first stepped into it. How long did it take from that first step to actual ascension?

Alamiga Anatine: let see... Started trial 2008/02/27, ascended 138 days ago...

Vulpine Eldrich: So, roughly six months.

Alamiga Anatine: Yes, my path to royalty was delayed mid way by Ultra. I had about 490 acres when he changed the requirement from 500 personal to 1000.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you had to stop and get more personal land before continuing. That must have been a bitter moment.

Alamiga Anatine: Yes, it was frustrating.

Vulpine Eldrich: But you finally made it. And now that you're a Queen, what goals do you have?

Alamiga Anatine: To title everyone is one, and to keep Angels happy and drama free

Vulpine Eldrich: Have you ever had to seriously use any of the "punish" options in pursuit of that goal?

Alamiga Anatine: no

Vulpine Eldrich: Has there ever been anyone or anything that made you regret becoming a Queen?

Alamiga Anatine: Not really. There were those dramatic occasions... but they are all history.

Vulpine Eldrich: What advice, encouragement, or warnings would you give to someone wanting to become a Monarch?

Alamiga Anatine: Make sure you have a solid 20k acre foundation, never depend on promises. Starting in the minor Kingdoms is a little daunting

Vulpine Eldrich: Is that what you did?

Alamiga Anatine: I was at about 12k after ascension.

Vulpine Eldrich: And how did you get from there to number 26 in the Empire?

Alamiga Anatine: Well in the minor kingdoms, you have no title powers until 20k, so I used the website as a way to title people and recognize them. It’s something I still do.

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good! So others joined you, and now you have a good-sized kingdom. What's been the best part about the whole thing?

Alamiga Anatine: I get to give back to those who help me

Vulpine Eldrich: And how many people in the kingdom are there to give back to?

Alamiga Anatine: Oh, I really dont have a count! All of them!

Vulpine Eldrich: lol! Have you ever found yourself wishing for any other ways within the rules or features of the game to reward your subjects? Any concrete ideas as to how you'd like to be able to?

Alamiga Anatine: I think things like tracts of land should be more frequent. Abbots who do more than my directs would be great. And a constructive way to give gold would be nice.

Vulpine Eldrich: What about in general- any new features or ideas to add to the game lurking on your Christmas wish list?

Alamiga Anatine: Well Ultra has the Gold Bar thing he’s working on, hopefully that will be a tool of reward.

Vulpine Eldrich: What about the new viceroyalty feature? Have you used it, or plan to?

Alamiga Anatine: I will when I can, but presently I don’t have anyone in position to do so.

Vulpine Eldrich: Do you have any particular person or people in mind for the position?

Alamiga Anatine: Well the one closest to it, but she’s been away, so I haven’t had the chance to talk to her about it.

Vulpine Eldrich: Do you think it will slow the rate of ascensions any?

Alamiga Anatine: Well the position may slow it, but really it’s more of a helper role, their powers only come to life when I’m not online.

Vulpine Eldrich: At present, according to your website, we have 122 kingdoms in the Empire. Have you, or other monarchs, ever wondered if that's a few too many?

Alamiga Anatine: Oh yes, I've heard that complaint from my first day :) I don’t see it as an issue.

Vulpine Eldrich: lol and you were kingdom number what?

Alamiga Anatine: I think I was 70 something. Maybe 80's. I really didn’t pay attention to that when I got there..

Vulpine Eldrich: So, roughly 40 kingdoms created in 138 days

Alamiga Anatine: I’m not sure, Ultra would have the exact numbers. But yes, others and myself ascended en masse after the 1000 acre delay.

Vulpine Eldrich: So amid all of those dozens of kingdoms, how do you make Angels of the Empire unique?

Alamiga Anatine: Well, I run it openly, don’t hide secrets, the kingdom group is open invite, not a secret society like many kingdoms. I try to treat everyone the same, no matter their rank. That’s why I title everyone, as an example.

Vulpine Eldrich: At least on the website, and follow up in the actual kingdom as you can, I assume. What's the greatest number of times that you've given any one person a title?

Alamiga Anatine: Twice, but only because no one else was available. It’s better to title and give the 5 acres than not at all—it’s a cheap 5 acres for the Kingdom. 30M for a title, acres are 12M each for me.

Vulpine Eldrich: cheap at the price! So did you give them the same title over again?

Alamiga Anatine: Yes, you can give the same title, or change it if they wish. I let people pick their own. I think most Kingdoms do that, but many limit titles to higher ranks.

Vulpine Eldrich: In one form or the other, I'm sure they do. So, is there anything else interesting about your kingdom that I've missed?

Alamiga Anatine: Well, I hope people here find everyone helpful. My door is open for all. We don’t sabotage or retaliate, and try to avoid issues with other kingdoms.

Vulpine Eldrich: Well, your door was certainly open for me this evening. Thank you for the time and chat. May you have the best of success in your future endeavors!

Alamiga Anatine: Thank you Vulpine!

Interview with Buckaroo Mu

2008-12-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

Vulpine Eldrich: Hello everyone! I'm here this evening with Prince Buckaroo Mu, who not only is King of nothing, but is the former King of Nothing. If that sounds confusing, perhaps he can help straighten us out. Buckaroo?

Buckaroo Mu: I certainly hope so! It's a long, difficult, confusing story, but I think we can get it all sorted.

Buckaroo Mu: A bit of history. I'd been with the Kingdom of Gianfar since before it was formed, technically - I started playing in early January 2008, in the Kingdom of Ayodhya, recruited by a friend of mine. My very first recruit was Soo Novi, a friend through the Dragons of Pern RP group. At the time, the DoP was going through a transition. The person who created and organized it was leaving SL and had given the group over to Soo. She was in the process of building the Gianfar Peaks sims, a 6-sim RP community based on the Dragonriders of Pern books to house the RP. With her help, my line blossomed more than I could possibly anticipate.

Buckaroo Mu: By the time I reached Prince, Soo became interested in having a Gianfar Kingdom - both to help get out the word about the RP, and to help build camaraderie within the RP group (among those who played TE, at least). She spoke to her good friend BigBadaBoom Bing, who was also part of the RP, had been playing TE longer than us both, and was prepared to ascend. He agreed to use the name Gianfar, with Soo's permission, and ascend, giving us the Kingdom we were interested in. We entered the lists at #16 on February 5th. A short six months and one day later, we became the largest Kingdom in the Empire.

Buckaroo Mu: We attributed this leap to the dedication we all put into the Kingdom. Everyone in the Kingdom was intent on helping out new players, and King Big (as we called him) was extraordinarily generous - we led the Empire in the number of Special Titles even before we became #1, he never missed an opportunity for tax amnesty, and we had a place to gather (in the Gianfar sims) for weekly parties, Trader appearances, and other gatherings. We kept alliances with any Kingdom that ascended from us, and some sister Kingdoms - meaning we all agreed not to bribe from each other. We had a strict no-sabotage policy, and banned recruiting from within the Kingdom. We had a HUD fund to help pay for full HUDs for new players.

Buckaroo Mu: I soon become the largest Prince in TE history, with over 350,000 total acres at my peak - at the time, over half of Gianfar's total. I (and many others) petitioned the Emperor for additional powers for high-level non-monarch players, to make operating a Kingdom of this size easier. I didn't know it at the time, but he had recently begun work to implement this via the Viceroyalty.

Buckaroo Mu: Unfortunately, we soon became just too big. We had a large number of people join us simply because we were the largest Kingdom. The group chat lost much of its friendly attitude. Some players began recruiting lines from within the Kingdom, and those that lost acres or rank took their frustrations out in chat. After one such incident, I spoke to the King, urgently requesting that we have more discipline within the Kingdom. By that time, Prison and Banishment had become options. He agreed to use these powers, despite the "negative publicity" it might put on the Kingdom. However, when it came down to it, the harshest penalty ever used was expulsion from the Chat Group.

Buckaroo Mu: Soo and I both spoke to the King several times about Abdication, which had also become an option. Soo still owned the rights to the name "Gianfar", and was rapidly becoming concerned by the negative image being associated with her business name through TE. At several points, King Bing agreed that his abdication, and passing the Kingdom to one of us, would be the best thing to do - but he never arranged it, and changed his mind every time.

Buckaroo Mu: We started losing lines in droves. The drama became thicker than the friendship. One day, I received word that two large lines under me were planning to leave the Kingdom. These were my friends, and they were running away. I convinced them both to stay with me, on the condition that I ascend to remove us from the Gianfar Kingdom. I saw it as the only option to keep us together, so I did it, on November 13th.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you ascended, and chose 'Nothing' for a kingdom name. That sounds like Ulysses telling the Cyclops his name was 'nobody'. Why... 'nothing'?

Buckaroo Mu: There are several reasons for the name "Nothing." First, my last name, Mu, is the Chinese ideogram for "No-Thing". Second, I thought it defined well the object of our Kingdom - no drama, no concern for numbers, no fighting to rise above other Kingdoms. We did not seek fame and fortune. We only wanted to play the game. And lastly, I couldn't pass up the opportunity for all those puns. Besides, when it comes down to it, all TE Monarchs are Kings or Queens of nothing - it's a game, it means nothing in RL.

Vulpine Eldrich: And yet, for something that means nothing, a lot of time and trouble is spent. But now the Kingdom is gone. Why?

Buckaroo Mu: Well, it was probably not destined to last. Being in a different Kingdom, without the name Gianfar, Soo Novi became worried about her copyright on the name of Gianfar. While King Bing was using it with her permission, she was concerned that she could be seen as not defending her copyright. She spoke with the Emperor, and with King Bing, at length about these issues, and about revoking King Bing's license to use the name. Again, at several points, the King agreed to abdicate to her, or change the name of his Kingdom - and then subsequently refused.

Buckaroo Mu: After several weeks of fruitless negotiation, she asked the Emperor if she could ascend using the Kingdom name "Gianfar Peaks", which would provide due diligence for her copyright. She and I spoke at length, and I agreed to support her as she had supported me for nearly a year. I agreed to abdicate and move under her once she ascended - and she agreed to take the core principals of Nothing with her. She'd been my most dedicated subject and a very good friend, I had to support her. On a personal note, I'd like to thank all of my subjects for trusting me, because they all suffered patiently through the abdication and came to Gianfar Peaks with me (despite a flood of recruitment offers from other Kingdoms).

Vulpine Eldrich: And now Soo is your liege. So how has all of this played out within the Gianfar sims themselves, with people - I assume- in two TE kingdoms instead of mostly one?

Buckaroo Mu: There are three types of reaction to all of this. The largest contingent stayed happily in whichever Kingdom they preferred - a lot of swapping back and forth happened in the times around both ascensions.

Buckaroo Mu: A smaller number said nothing - and just followed their liege. Possibly alts, possibly those who aren't playing anymore - or just those without strong opinion.

Buckaroo Mu: Regretfully, there are some people within the original Gianfar Kingdom who continued to stir up problems - starting rumors about Gianfar Peaks, and making personal attacks on Soo and many of her subjects. Soo continued to discuss the problem with BigBadaBoom Bing, who continued to ignore it. Thankfully, the discussions have finally born fruit before the lawyers had to be called into action. King Bing has finally agreed to stop using the name, and has requested that the Emperor change the name of his Kingdom from "Gianfar" to "Paradise", and has created a group for the Kingdom's players and started moving them into it. I am very happy that this situation was able to be resolved without the use of the courts, and regret that it had to come so close to that.

Vulpine Eldrich: So where does the name 'Gianfar' come from?

Buckaroo Mu: Gianfar is one of the names of the last star in the Draco constellation, the tip of the tail. Soo found it while looking for good Sim names for the Dragons of Pern RP group, and loved it. She searched most thoroughly to make sure no-one else was using it, RL or SL, and chose it for her business name as well - clothing, boots, and such. It has become the base name for the Gianfar Peaks estate, and the website where our RP meets.

Vulpine Eldrich: So it hasn't been used anywhere but here, at least as in regards to anything relating to Pern.

Buckaroo Mu: Correct. Or, that is, not that we know of.

Vulpine Eldrich: So as you look back, do you ever find yourself thinking "if he did this " or "if she hadn't done that", it could have all been avoided?

Buckaroo Mu: Very much so. I must first say that I have nothing but respect for BigBadaBoom Bing and the Kingdom he helped to build - yet, the lack of discipline, and the fact that it became more about being #1 than being family - these are the real points where things started to fall apart.

Vulpine Eldrich: So what would you do if you had the number one kingdom?

Buckaroo Mu: Hahah - I could never see it happening. When you get that large, too many people come to the Kingdom just to be close to the top - and those are the trouble-makers. If I suddenly were King of the largest kingdom, I would encourage ascensions :D

Vulpine Eldrich: lol, well how many ascensions were there from Gianfar- that you know of, I suppose I should add.

Buckaroo Mu: Big could tell you off the top of his head - he seems to keep records of everything. I would say, if you include ascensions from daughter-kingdoms, it would be on the order of 7.

Vulpine Eldrich: How big was it at its peak, in acreage?

Buckaroo Mu: Such numbers were apparently state secrets. However, I can tell you that when I left, I held over half of Gianfar's total acres, at 350,000. My guess would be on the order of 600,000, at its peak. I can tell you that it was larger than any of us ever anticipated.

Vulpine Eldrich: And now Gianfar (aka Paradise) is #2 and Gianfar Peaks is #13. Do you see either of those ranks changing significantly soon?

Buckaroo Mu: Well, I can't say - nothing in TE is fixed. I can tell you, however, that Gianfar Peaks is not interested in Rank. Our focus is playing the game because we enjoy it, not because we want to "win".

Vulpine Eldrich: How would you define "win"?

Buckaroo Mu: I don't, really. In TE, there is no "win". Unfortunately, some people in TE do have a definition for it - being #1. Being on top of the Empire. Those are, in general, the people who caused much of the problems with Gianfar - by poaching lines from other lieges, even within the Kingdom. I have been at the top. I was the largest prince in TE history, in the largest Kingdom in TE history. If that's winning, I want nothing to do with it.

Vulpine Eldrich: So have you left all of the troublemakers behind, now that you're in Gianfar Peaks?

Buckaroo Mu: I can't possibly believe that we've left all the troublemakers behind. I hope that we have. If someone does cause trouble within Gianfar Peaks, they'll be dealt with - first, by trying to work with them to find out what the issue is. Many of the problems we had in Gianfar were players who were never contacted by a new liege, or whose liege would move lines out from under them without consultation. We're trying to foster communication, and make sure that any move is coordinated ahead of time and with the consent of all involved.

Buckaroo Mu: However, if we find a situation that refuses to be dealt with diplomatically, we will exercise the option of banishment - something that King Bing was loathe to do, because "other kingdoms might use it against us"

Vulpine Eldrich: So if you had the whole thing to do over again, what sort of thing(s) would you have done differently?

Buckaroo Mu: The way I ascended was, I openly admit, horribly under-planned. I felt rushed, and was only able to give any notice to a handful of my downline, and that only a few minutes. Much of my downline was furious - their loyalty was to the King, rather than to their direct liege - and nearly half my line returned to Gianfar within an hour of my ascension. If I could do it again, I would have assured those who wanted to leave that I was ascending soon, but would have given the rest of the Kingdom a little warning.

Buckaroo Mu: Part of me wonders if they would have left if they had realized that, at my ascension, I was larger than what remained of Gianfar. No-one knew this because I didn't show up on the map until the Emperor approved my Kingdom name, and by that time, I had sunk to 19th place. Another, larger, part of me doesn't care - because the people who cared about rank aren't the people I wanted in my Kingdom. And they aren't the kind of people we want in Gianfar Peaks, either.

Vulpine Eldrich: Has there been anything good to come out of this? It seems like so much trouble.

Buckaroo Mu: Yes, there have been good things and bad things.

Buckaroo Mu: Best part: Getting to a place that feels like home. This feels like TE used to, before Gianfar became the #1 Kingdom. Everyone's happy and friendly, and working to help each other.

Buckaroo Mu: Worst part: Losing friends. Seeing people spit out vile lies, rumors, and accusations about what was behind this all. And most of all, seeing some of the same people who caused all of the mistrust and drama gloat about all of those accusations, and prod them further along when things started to quiet down.

Buckaroo Mu: Other best part: Seeing some people recognize what those people are doing, and call them on it. And then there were the puns....

Buckaroo Mu: I tried to come up with a new pun for each tax amnesty (30% of Nothing = Nothing), title/acre giveaway (/me gives Prince Whoever 5 acres of Nothing, because 5 acres of Nothing is better than Nothing), etc. My one regret is that no-one ever followed up an acre giveaway with "Thanks for Nothing!"

Vulpine Eldrich: What would you say if someone else decided to use 'Nothing' for a kingdom name?

Buckaroo Mu: I certainly wouldn't object. I think more people need to see this game as... well, a game, and have fun with it. I would heartily endorse a new King of Nothing (or Queen), but they wouldn't be getting me as a subject.

Buckaroo Mu: They'd probably get tired of me suggesting puns for them, though :P

Vulpine Eldrich: hmmmm perhaps I should tell my PunSlingers group.... no, that would be too much of a good thing.

Buckaroo Mu: Hahahah

Vulpine Eldrich: So it would seem a lot of problems were caused by just too many people and not enough management. How does the new viceroyalty position affect that equation?

Buckaroo Mu: The Viceroyalty is the first step of a long-needed change. The Emperor himself said he never envisioned such "mega-kingdoms", so never envisioned the need for a non-monarch with near-monarch powers. The Viceroyalty is a step in the right direction, and I think he's said he may add further powers to the position in the future. It's going to become necessary. Right now, too many people are at the point where they have no reason to put the hud on other than to pass land down, or ascend. The Viceroyalty gives them further options.

Buckaroo Mu: Just since the Viceroyalty was announced, within hours there were a great number of them given out - which tells you how many people were capped, and ready to ascend, but not wanting to leave the kingdom they were in. That's where I was for a long, long time.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you think it will slow the number of ascensions?

Buckaroo Mu: Definitely. Those people who've capped, who've taken the Path to Royalty but not the Ascension, now have an option to stay with the Kingdom they love (if they so choose), and be of more use to the Kingdom, without risking friendships over ascension

Vulpine Eldrich: I'm told there are 122 kingdoms in the empire now. Have you ever wondered if that's too many?

Buckaroo Mu: Well, a number of those are "inactive" Kingdoms - monarchs who quit playing before abdication was an option, and encouraged their subjects to move to other Kingdoms. At the same time, I'm sure the Emperor never anticipated such growth. The popularity of the game doesn't seem to be waning, though, and with new people joining SL all the time, I don't see it ever "ending". I personally would like to see other options - separate empires, a rank above King.

Vulpine Eldrich: Another Emperor?

Buckaroo Mu: Multiple Emperors. Remove Ultralite from the game, or make him a recognized omnipotent force (rather than just "The Emperor"). I could see a couple of options - don't allow interaction between Empires, which would be like having separate instances of the game itself; or do allow, and just have the higher position as a reward for the best players.

Vulpine Eldrich: Are we talking ascension from Emperor to Diety?

Buckaroo Mu: Yes, make Ultralite Diety rather than sole Emperor.

Vulpine Eldrich ponders what an Ultralite diety would be like, then decides to just ask the next question....

Vulpine Eldrich: So are there any other ideas you have for making things more interesting for TE players?

Buckaroo Mu: I had an idea that the Emperor has ruled right out, but I still like it - War. Right now, there is only one way to lose acres - sabotage. I'd love to see a way for players who've gotten "too big" to be brought down, give them further options for play. Don't ask me how I'd implement it, though. It's just a thought.

Vulpine Eldrich: Still, an interesting idea. So now that you've been through all of this history, is there anything left for you to do in Tiny Empires? Is there any reason to not just sit back and say "I've done it all, have fun everyone"?

Buckaroo Mu: My plans are to stay with Gianfar Peaks until I can't stand to wear the HUD anymore - i.e., for a very long time. Soo would like to reward me for my past leadership with a Viceroy position, and I intend to accept as soon as I am eligible. I am happy to say that, due to the timing of the introduction of Viceroyalty, and the circumstances surrounding my ascension and abdication, the Emperor has granted me the boon of shortening my "Abdication Penalty" from six months to one - meaning I can start the Path to Royalty again at the end of December rather than May, and get the Viceroy position that much faster. I believe he did this because he agreed with me that this kind of position could have prevented, or at least mitigated to some degree, the kind of problem that caused the fracture within Gianfar to begin with. The whole point of TE is to meet people and make friends. The Emperor has said that TE is all about socializing. That's what I intend to use it for.

Vulpine Eldrich: That sounds like a perfect plan to me! So when do I get to chat with your Queen and find out her history firsthand? :)

Buckaroo Mu: I'm sure she'd welcome it, but please! Wait a few weeks. The Gianfar Peaks sims are undergoing renovation starting next weekend, due to the Open Spaces changes. We're going from 2 full/4 open to 3 full/1 open, and that means a LOT of rebuilding. She's swamped with it.

Vulpine Eldrich: Well it sounds like you all have your hands full with everything. Best of luck with it, and thank you for telling me your story! Did I miss anything interesting in it?

Buckaroo Mu: No, I think that about covers all the important parts. I hope it helps people understand what happened, and why.

Vulpine Eldrich: I'm sure it'll be at least a good start.

Call for writers

2008-12-04T05:24:00.001-08:00

The Emperor has sent out a notice to the empire which reads as follows:

Dear Terra Aureans,

Are you feeling creative? I am requesting proposals for new Gold Windfall notices.

If I accept your proposal to be part of the game, you will receive five acres of land and have your entry be a part of Tiny Empires.
The format is 7 lines of text, with no line being too much longer than 32 letters, including spaces. The notice must include the amount of gold received.

One well-known example:

A fortuitous event has occurred.
A messenger's cart overturned
on the road near your land.
Some gold fell out of the
back, unnoticed by the driver.
Nobody claimed it after 30 days,
so you kept the $$$$$$$$ gold.

Please submit your entries to me via notecard in the format above, and put "Gold Windfall proposal from " in the title of the notecard. You may submit as many as you like in the same notecard or different notecards.

Contest ends at 11:59pm SLT Wednesday December 10. Thank you and good luck!

Sincerely,
Ultralite Soleil

Yes, of course I will be sending in submissions, and I encourage everyone to do so. When you are searching for ideas, I would point out one thing. The current group of gold windfall messages have many humorous ones. The idea is not just to construct a plausible scenario for gaining gold, but if you can, add a twist that makes it funny. Regular players who are acquainted with the stereotypes generated by the game may have a treasure trove of inside knowledge to use. For example, who buys anything valuable from a short, fat trader?? And the list could go on...

Interview with Birdie Fairymeadow

2008-12-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

On the evening of Sunday, November 16th, I interviewed Birdie Fairymeadow, Queen of Wight. Due to the contents of the interview, I have withheld it until this time. Read on to understand why...

Vulpine Eldrich: I'm here this evening on the beach at the kingdom of Wight, talking with the Queen of Wight, Birdie Fairymeadow. Birdie, thanks so much for the time. So tell me, why is this sim and kingdom named 'Wight?'

Birdie Fairymeadow: It's my pleasure to be with you tonight, Princess. The name Wight originated from the RL Isle of Wightwhich is a British island and county in the English Channel south of the county of Hampshire and is separated from mainland Britain by the Solent.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you have a special connection with, or fondness of, the Isle of Wight?

Birdie Fairymeadow: I do now! History is not my forte, but I love it. The Isle of Wight has a rich history including its own brief status as a nominally independent kingdom in the fifteenth century. It was home to the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Queen Victoria built her much loved summer residence and final home, Osborne House, at East Cowes where she died on 22 January 1901. Her reign lasted almost 64 years, the longest in British history.

Vulpine Eldrich: Oh, very good! Just out of curiosity, is this sim around me modeled after the real Isle of Wight- the shape, topography?

Birdie Fairymeadow: No it isn't, I’m afraid. I was hoping to eventually make it more topographically correct. Our original island (full) sim had many aspects indigenous to the RL Wight, such as the red squirrels, vegetation, reptiles, birds etc… with signs to educate visitors.

Vulpine Eldrich: Ah, so this is really your own individual Isle of Wight. When did this kingdom start?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Wight Kingdom was born on January 26th, 2008 in the year of our Lord- and September of the year 1223 in the year of our Emperor :)

Vulpine Eldrich: Yes, the lovely job of keeping track of two calendars. So you've been a monarch now for most of a year. What sort of things have you personally seen come and go, and remember especially?

Birdie Fairymeadow: This past year has proved to be a whirlwind of changes and happenings, good and not so great. I have discovered much and realized some things that were not so comforting about people. But I am richly blessed by much of what I have experienced. True friendships have been formed in the past 11 months.

Birdie Fairymeadow: One thing in particular, though. When I ascended, Monarchs were able to set the taxes regularly. That is no longer the case. The emperor imposed a new rule several months ago.

Vulpine Eldrich: Do you think doing away with that was particularly good or bad?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Good and bad. Many kingdom members enjoyed the tax breaks regularly. However, some monarchs sacrificed even sleep to maintain those expectations. This new rule ended that.

Vulpine Eldrich: Right. And for you, personally, how much time do you spend tending to "kingdom affairs"?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Personally? Hmm. That has varied greatly over the months. I have spent many countless hours helping our family to achieve their goals, but I dare not boast. They are the true workers.

Vulpine Eldrich: I know that feeling well. Would you have any estimate over, say, the last month or so? How many hours per week, or the like?

Birdie Fairymeadow: I don't think I would be underestimating to guess an average of 20 hours per week.

Vulpine Eldrich: That sounds like a part time job! How many people are in a kingdom that needs that much attention?

Birdie Fairymeadow: I assumed from our kingdom group that we had somewhere around 450 kingdom members, but just this past week, Emperor Soleil reported us having more than 600 members.

Vulpine Eldrich: A fair-sized group, indeed. What do you have to do for that twenty or so hours a week to keep them all happy and productive?

Birdie Fairymeadow: There are so many things a Kingdom needs in order to thrive. Let’s say there are exactly 600 in this kingdom. That means there are 600 individual personalities and moods. And believe it or not, many come to the Queen for the littlest things. I have never minded that, as I adore the people in this kingdom and appreciate their trust in me. At times, I have had to remind some of their power and ability to do what they have asked me to do, but alas, such must be done with respect as we all have more than this kingdom to tend to.

Vulpine Eldrich: Amen. Do you think you would have ascended, knowing ahead of time how much work would be involved?

Birdie Fairymeadow: That is a very good question. I had a feeling of how involving it could be, but I had no idea just how heart wrenching some of it could be. You see, Miss Eldrich, I never aspired for greatness, just goodness. It was my subjects who pushed me towards ascension. They assured me I would be a "great queen".

Vulpine Eldrich: So have they been happy with what they helped create?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Indeed! This is one content Kingdom. :)

Vulpine Eldrich: lol very good! Your hard work has paid off, then. So we have a sim here, and we have the name- heritage, perhaps?- of the Isle of Wight. What else makes this kingdom a kingdom, with its own identity?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Ah! our pride and joy. Look m'Lady—northeast— the Needles :)

Vulpine Eldrich: Amazing! What exactly are they?

Birdie Fairymeadow: The Needles is a row of three distinctive stacks of chalk that rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, England, close to Alum Bay. A lighthouse designed by Scottish civil engineer James Walker has stood at the western end of the formation since 1859.The formation takes its name from the former fourth needle-shaped pillar called Lot's Wife that used to stand in its midst until it collapsed in a storm in 1764. The remaining rocks are all short and squat and not at all needle-like, but the name has stuck.

Vulpine Eldrich: Yes. For a minute, I wondered if it might be a sea serpent's coils... ah well. Most interesting! So with all of this water around, the fishing must be good?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Ah yes, the fishing here. Bass are the main quarry for beach anglers, but pollock, conger, mackerel, pouting, thornback rays, flatfish and wrasse, with occasional tope, are also taken. (A bit of info for the true fisherman ;)

Vulpine Eldrich: Whew, it sounds like an aquarium, writ large. Have you caught all of those yourself, or just watched others in the kingdom haul them in?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Ha! I do enjoy fishing, and I've caught a few now and then, but a Queen has many duties that do not allow her to enjoy such leisure too often.

Vulpine Eldrich: Too bad, it sounds like an absorbing pastime. Are there other pastimes and things available here which members enjoy?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Indeed there is. We haven’t had as many kingdom-wide events in the past few months as we once did, due largely to a move to this new sim. But we have enjoyed many gatherings, including formal balls, Friday night at the Cup-N-Spittle, a Fall Festival, and even a good old fashioned Greedy Tournament, to name a few. Last year, we turned our former kingdom island into a winter wonderland. Many kingdom members pitched in to help. We had a gingerbread village, ice village, and an ice skating rink.

Vulpine Eldrich: Nice! No wonder you spend so much time at this, to simply oversee all of that. So, if there were a single new feature or change that you could add to the Tiny Empires game, what would it be?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Actually there are two things that come to mind. One is something many speak of— having more opportunities to "pass gold down”.

Vulpine Eldrich: And the other?

Birdie Fairymeadow: The other is my own thought. Change the HUD offerings when you decline an offer to join a new liege. I just thought it might add a touch of 'flavour' to the game if one could choose "how" they decline an offer. For example, "Declines your offer with a smile of appreciation,” or "Declines your offer with a haughty smirk". Hehehe!

Vulpine Eldrich: Oh! So do you see this as a set of choices to choose from? Accept, decline with smirk, decline with appreciation, etc?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Yes. Those are just a couple of ideas. I think I am not the best writer.

Vulpine Eldrich: It would definitely add color! And speaking of color… in all of this experience, have you developed any good methods, rules, or conclusions about how to handle drama?

Birdie Fairymeadow: I truly believe that what SL folks call drama (conflict, turmoil, crisis) is a part of every relationship in every aspect of life. How to handle conflict is different in every circumstance. In Wight, we haven’t had much drama nor many rules. We have held an expectation of respect of others, and have asked that vulgar language be left out of our group chat.

Vulpine Eldrich: And beyond that, leave it to common sense?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Exactly! However, the drama we have had to endure was quite intense and left us with scars, but together we survived and came out stronger, a more tightly knit family.

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good! So in the future, what changes do you see for the kingdom of Wight?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Your question comes at a sensitive time. We are in the midst of some powerful changes in Wight.

Vulpine Eldrich: Oh? What sort of changes?

Birdie Fairymeadow: I have chosen to step down from the throne and pass my crown to a worthy Princess of Wight who has aspired to ascend for some time.

Vulpine Eldrich: I... see. I can't imagine that such a decision was made lightly. What prompted you to decide this?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Not lightly by any measure of the word. I have agonized over this decision for many weeks. I love my kingdom family dearly, and it troubles me so to think of them confused or lost in the process. I will certainly inform them of my decision before my abdication and before this interview goes to print. I have spoken with most of my immediate court and close friends, and am in the process of writing a notice to the kingdom to inform them all of my decision and explain my reasons which I will do with you now.

Vulpine Eldrich: Thank you for your confidence. What exactly were the reasons?

Birdie Fairymeadow: I live a rich, full real life, and though I have enjoyed working closely with our kingdom family helping each wanderer to find a home-- each Sir to find the answer to his questions-- each Princess to reach her goals-- I have come to realize that the very vitality of my real life has been compromised by the hours I have spent nurturing our kingdom members in the many ways they need.

Vulpine Eldrich: And that, no matter how caring and devoted, you're only one person with twenty four hours per day?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Oh? There are only 24 hours in a day? I thought there were 30. hmm…

Birdie Fairymeadow realizes now why time hasn’t added up for months

Vulpine Eldrich: lol

Birdie Fairymeadow: The main reason I chose to abdicate is that I am a real life student. I only have 1 year left to complete my degree program. I do not wish to take a chance at missing that mark.

Vulpine Eldrich: I think that pretty much answers the question! So how do you decide on someone else in a situation like this?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Another good question. I have had a few Wight members come to me to express their desire to ascend some day. Princess Zelinna is one Princess who is active, consistent and caring of her subjects, very much as I have been. Though the other princesses are as qualified in stature, Zelinna loves this kingdom and wishes to keep it as intact as possible.

Vulpine Eldrich: And you've been talking with your other close subjects. Their reaction has been positive?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Oh yes. I still haven't spoken with all of them yet, but those I did speak with were most supportive. They said they love me and they totally understand.

Vulpine Eldrich: That's good to hear. So after abdication, where do you plan to go? What will you do?

Birdie Fairymeadow: First and foremost comes RL school. I will, of course, be spending as much time as possible promoting our kingdom as a Princess, which is what I have always wanted to be.

Vulpine Eldrich: So will the Kingdom of Wight continue with Queen Zelinna?

Birdie Fairymeadow: Yes, it will. Once I abdicate, I will join under Zelinna who has decided to keep the name Wight for our kingdom. This makes me smile and should give many in our kingdom some comfort.

Vulpine Eldrich: I can see how it would. So, some stormy days ahead, but hopefully a safe harbor at the end. Do you find yourself regretting the end, even though you know you have to do it?

Birdie Fairymeadow: I do have a sense of loss, but I cannot regret what I feel is best for me and my kingdom family. You see, madam, I spent many hours nurturing each member who I had the honor of meeting. I will always feel they are my own.

Vulpine Eldrich: A very good point, indeed. Well, I think that covers about everything, unless there's something more that I missed?

Birdie Fairymeadow: I would like to conclude with a note of appreciation to you for taking time to find out what makes Wight tick. We are and shall remain a loving family.

Vulpine Eldrich: Well thank you for your hospitality, and my best wishes for what lies ahead. I know it's not going to be easy on anyone.

Birdie Fairymeadow nods and smiles.

Birdie Fairymeadow: farewell :)

Today, December 2nd, Queen Birdie Fairymeadow abdicated the throne of Wight, and Princess Zelinna Jacques become Queen Zelinna Jacques of Wight. Long live the Queen.

Taking Bribes

2008-11-26T05:25:00.000-08:00

Hello, new peasant in the mighty Terra Aurean Empire. You have just been offered fifty gold if you will join Dame Lady Steele and accept her as your liege. Accept?

How many times has that come across your HUD... (or how many times have you caused it to appear on the HUD of others?)

One of the first things a new player starts receiving is offers of gold to come join someone else. It's probably the most common automated event in the game. So...

why should you accept that bribe?

Curiosity/Ignorance: Particularly for new players who don't have a full understanding of what is happening, this is often the case. Say yes and see what happens. Well, what does happen? Your kingdom may change. Your liege's name certainly changes. And that's all of the differences that you see on your hud. However, your lieges- past and (new) present- see your acreage either appearing or disappearing from their total holdings... and will be either happier or sadder (depending on which side of the change they're on) because of it. Rank is often gained or lost because you, dear player, hit yes on a bribe offer. As a new player, it may not mean much- particularly if you're not sure or don't care which kingdom you're in, or don't know any of your current lieges.
Accident: It happens. Lag, a misread line, "I thought I clicked no!" and other things. A lot of people decide- or are told- to not even click no on bribe offers, just in case a no click gets treated as a yes. Often the cause of a lot of excitement and drama.
Money: You've been offered gold to change, and it's often enough to buy a few acres of land. Why not augment your income and switch? (More answers to that later...)
Join Friends: You know the person sending you the bribe, and want to join them. The money is nice, but the chance to play with friends is even better. Sometimes, you may not have known them before, but they IM you and it sounds like a nice place to be, with people who are really interested in you.
Leaving a bad situation: You don't like your current liege, or you feel forgotten. Perhaps other drama has taken place that makes you feel uncomfortable or unhappy where you're at. It's even possible that you've been told to "take the next bribe out". Hitting 'yes' on that bribe offer may be a relief, and a chance at a new career.
Spying/Sightseeing: You know a fair amount, but want to see how it is done in other kingdoms. Perhaps you're an alt of a more experienced player who wants to keep his or her finger in other pies. This is a good opportunity to get into the inside of another kingdom, and perhaps gain access you wouldn't have otherwise.
Boredom: Same old, same old. The kingdom doesn't change, the liege doesn't change, and nothing is happening. Perhaps you even quit playing for a while because it didn't seem worth your time. Then you see an interesting new name pop up on the hud, offering gold. Why not? It's at least something new...

And why wouldn't you want to do it? What are the downsides to taking that bribe?

Burnt Bridges: Leaving someone behind can reduce their rank, certainly reduces their holdings, and if they're active at all (or if their lieges are active) is likely to cause hard feelings. The polls say that most people will take someone back if they're "genuinely sorry"... but those polls can't be fully trusted.
Lack of subjects: People tend to drift away from someone who switches a lot. They liked it back in the kingdom you left- maybe they were friends there, or people who first joined in that kingdom, and aren't interested in changing. Or perhaps your now former lieges/friends approached them and asked them to come back, since you had left them. If a rolling stone gathers no moss, it's also true that a wandering TE players tends to gather no subjects. This may not be a huge factor for beginning players, but is more likely to be a problem later. You could end up as a Marquis or Duke with no one under you and no immediate prospects of anyone.
Distrust: You decide to join a new kingdom that sounds inviting, and once you get there, you find that your new liege and his or her friends don't fully accept you. They know that people who come usually go just as quickly, and even after perhaps paying millions in gold to get you, they still put you "on trial" and don't really accept you, or treat you as "one of them". I once had someone tell me of an alt that they had used to explore other kingdoms with, using bribes. He said that out of about a dozen lieges, only two had even bothered to speak to him. It's a self-reinforcing cycle that often occurs- you're more likely to leave because no one trusts you, and no one is likely to trust you because you're more likely to leave.

So, there you have it from the viewpoint of someone being offered a bribe. Any other reasons to add, anyone?

Sabotage

2008-11-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Sooner or later (usually sooner) every Tiny Empires player will get a message that reads something like this:

The opportunity comes to sabotage an enemy of your choice. Use small arrows below. Will you pay a rogue 4,000,000 g to damage a few acres belonging to [Cereal Killer Miles Baran]?

The name in brackets changes-- you get a choice of five different people. The actual amount to pay varies, depending on land holdings. Usually it is between two to four times the price of an acre, though people with large amounts of personal acreage report lower prices, suggesting there are other factors at play. Whatever it is, though, it's a significant sum of money.

Why do it?

First, let's review what it is. For this huge sum of money, the target that you select from the dropdown list will be sabotaged and will lose a few acres of land. (Usually one to five.) Originally, that was all that there was to it, though the scenario is more complicated now (complications to be discussed later.) But how does this help you? Back to our original question... why? It seems so much easier to find good reasons not to do it... and the general consensus that I normally hear is "sabotage is stupid." So, unless someone is "stupid"... why is it done? It happens all the time. Here are some possible answers:

Accident: It happens. You think you're sending out a bribe, and instead it was a sabotage offer. I know of a friend who did that. She was sooo embarrassed- she IM'ed the person, apologized, and offered to donate the land back to them if they wanted. It was reported that the person in question was quite surprised by the offer.
Competition: According to this mindset, the goal is to be number one, regardless of what it takes. So if you have three more acres, or if someone else has three less, the outcome is the same: you win. This reasoning tends to fall apart when you consider that there are thousands of players. The money you spent on sabotage, if spent on buying land, would give you a lot more land in comparison to everyone else. Sabotaging one person may 'hold them back', but that's just one person- thousands of others are still gaining on you, unaffected by your sabotage. To someone with a very competitive nature, though, this reasoning may not be obvious, and may also pale in comparison to the emotional satisfaction of "beating them" that they get from sabotage.
Inter-kingdom rivalry: Back in the early days of Tiny Empires (meaning about a year ago, now), Lothlorien was the largest kingdom in the Empire. Avalon, however, was growing, and was looking to pass them. For a while, several Lothloriens openly, publicly, made Avalon a target of sabotage. For the record, the effort failed. Avalon became the largest kingdom, and remained that way for some time. However, it illustrates the larger principle: kingdoms may seek alliances or rivalries among one another. These alliances/rivalries are usually expressed by the monarchs in terms of whether or not players from the other kingdom should be sabotaged, among other things.
Personal animosity: Once I sent an IM to a friend, sympathizing with her on a sabotage that had just been done on her lands. She replied, laughing. She said she knew the woman who had done it in real life. What she said about that woman's lack of a life (first and second) doesn't bear repeating, but suffice it to say, my friend attributed it solely to personal envy and spite on the other woman's part, and in general had a low opinion of her. In all of the drama that takes place within and without the empire, it's not surprising when the randomly generated list contains someone you genuinely dislike and don't mind spending the money to hurt them. The reasons for the dislike are, of course, as numerous as the people involved.
Boredom: For some people, simply 'buying land' just doesn't keep them interested. They want more buttons to push, more things to do, more 'fun'. Sometimes, their idea of 'fun' involves sabotaging others. It's more variety, and an enjoyable sidelight to the game. When confronted or condemned for their actions, these people treat those who object with scorn and ridicule, characterizing the objectors as "whiners" or "babies", etc... and justifying it by pointing out that the Emperor obviously intended for people to do it, or he wouldn't have put it into the game. The general advice they give is "grow up," though it may not be phrased that politely or cleanly.

If anyone else can think of any more reasons, feel free to add them. I think that covers about every situation I can think of. Now, in the interests of personal disclosure, let me take the time to answer two questions:

Have you ever been sabotaged?
Yes. In the more than a year that I've been playing, I have been sabotaged exactly once. (Now that I've publicly stated that, watch it happen again in the next week...) I lost four acres of land, and there was no clue as to who did it. My friends among the monarchs informed me that meant that whoever did it was a direct subject of the emperor- that those people got cheaper sabotage and that it was always anonymous.I suppose I should feel flattered that someone- likely a King or Queen (not all direct subjects were monarchs then) should take the time and money to single me out. But, it was long ago, and I'm sure long forgotten by whoever did it.

Have you ever sabotaged anyone?
No. Once I was seriously tempted, but I remembered a lesson that I've learned the hard way: the rotten, mean, nasty people that probably deserve it are also going to be a lot more mean and nasty to you, and will make you more miserable, than anything you ever do will them. (What I learned about the potential target later, his actions and career, only confirmed my earlier decision.)

Now, on to more details-- the complications of sabotage. (Note that this is purely technical, the personal drama I leave for the reader to decide.)

In the beginning, if you paid the money, you got results. The only thing that mitigated the damage was if the target had a castle built on their land (this is the million gold piece castle that you finish upgrading your housing to, if I recall correctly.) But then things became more complicated. A would-be saboteur now has two more things to consider:

1. If the target has allies who are online, they can 'fund an investigation' and bring the perpetrator to justice. If this happens, the person who paid for the sabotage pays for the lost land out of their personal holdings. Net result? A lot of money spent for sabotage, some money spent by allies, and the lost land is suffered by the person who spent all of the money on sabotage. Not necessarily a pleasant outcome, though I've been told at least once that "it was worth it." (see the 'personal animosity' section above as to why)

2. If the target has researched crime and is immune to it, they (and their direct subjects) will not suffer any loss from sabotage. This isn't something that is enforced by simply not having their name appear on the list of targets, nor is it something that the player hiring the rogue is warned about. You pay your money, the rogue tries, and fails. Net result? Money spent for sabotage with no damage done. So far, I haven't heard of a failed sabotage also resulting in the would-be saboteur's identity becoming known.

...and that pretty much sums up the sabotage scene. As to the question of is it worth it, I leave that to the reader to decide. People being people, the answer probably depends on whose name comes up in that list of targets...

Life in other Kingdoms

2008-11-12T04:43:00.000-08:00

As I've written for the blog, I think the best thing that's happened to me is that I've had a chance to meet and learn about the other kingdoms in the Aurean Empire. Before, I may have known how the game is played, and I certainly knew my own kingdom (why shouldn't I, they're my friends)... but other kingdoms were largely a mystery. But as I've had a chance to talk with some of the monarchs and others, I've had a taste of what is out there. Now I wonder what it would take to help bring that to others.

This past weekend, a friend showed me his stargate. Most of you have probably seen the movie(s) and/or series based on the concept of the Stargate: a huge ring of stone, about 25 to 30 feet across, which can be used to open a wormhole to another stargate many light-years away. The concept has been adapted for Second Life. For those of you who haven't seen it, you may want to find it... there are several hundred "stargates" within Second Life, all connected in a network that lets people travel instantly (via teleport) from one to another, either randomly or to a selected location ( once they learn the commands. ) My friend tells me that his stargate has dozens of people coming through it every weekend-- explorers traveling the network at random.

Many kingdoms within the Aurean Empire have "headquarters". They are often full sims, devoted to a particular kingdom. As my mind wonders about how to bring about greater communication between them, I see a vision of some sort of gate... perhaps not the form of a stargate, but something similar... that lets a traveler go from one kingdom to another within Second Life, and have a chance to see for him or herself what each one is like.. and what they have built for themselves and for any visitors.

On a much more modest scale, the TE wiki already lists a few websites for the various kingdoms within the empire... perhaps simply having people add their own kingdom's link there would provide a good starting point for explorations... if not in the world of Second Life, then at least on the web.

Or, if it were made part of the Tiny Empires system itself, a monarch could have the ability to specify a website url and slurl for their kingdom... information which would be available to all players within that kingdom via the 'regular' hud, and to players of other kingdoms through, say, the TE Companion.

In the end, of course, kingdoms are people. People create places. People make websites. But if you want to know what those places and websites really represent, talk with the people themselves. I know I've talked to a few, and the little bit I've done has only given me a small idea of the many tales that can be told of events within the Terra Aurean Empire! Perhaps others will be willing to share their stories... if not in a public forum, then among each other.

And, though I don't know about you, I personally find that a fascinating idea, indeed.

Thanks!

2008-11-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

As the Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns are turned into Pumpkin Pies for Thanksgiving, I felt it appropriate for me to thank those who I have met and who have meant so much to me in Tiny Empires.

If anyone else feels like doing the same thing, by all means do so in the comments below... or if you send me a notecard in-world, I'd be happy to post it here in its own post for you.

(Also, please excuse any typographical or grammar errors, and if this seems a bit clumsy as well. I'm just writing this into the blog without the usual review. Perhaps less professional, but hopefully sincere!)

I suppose, in order of occurrence...

Ellie Bearcat for giving me the original HUD. Who knew it would turn out like this...

Erzsabet Bergbahn and Happe Hax for inspiring me to actually use the HUD and join under them.

Balto Allen, Burtrum Forester, Gloriana Maertens for being among my first subjects. It means a lot to have friends who want to be with you and help you, and they did.

Reinhardt Stenvaag for helping me become a Princess (you never forget that time... except for me, I was asleep when it happened...) and for being the key to help create Caledon later.

Becky Book for joining the two parts of Caledon into one kingdom, and helping us achieve our dream.

Deva Babii for her help in creating Caledon, and providing a goal for us during our last holiday season!

Juls Rosca for joining us when we needed the boost... and I mean in morale, not just land. It's been a gift to have your enthusiasm and energy by my side!

And of course so many more that I've met and enjoyed. I look through the page and find so many friends and people I've had the good fortune of learning to know. Miria, Dub, Caisha, Dagda, LadyArtista, Kandace, Mordecai, Bridget, Francesca, Loracenaj, Giga, Christofer, Josefina, Gorilla, Tigerchub, Calixus, Crias, Nanlee, Aldebaran, Prabal, Lavendar, Patty, Kiralette, Bullpup, Elixia, Viderian, Mariana, David, Brian, Aries, Bellafia, Brooke, Clairvaux, Manannan, Nanami, Swiftly, LadyStargazer, Kwerbleburb... all of you have been there with me in this enterprise at some point. And, of course, there are others- how could I forget Nerk, Muse, Art, Sunny, Marsha, and Mike?

Each and every one of you have been a joy to work with, fun to be around, and in general good company and loved friends. My main regret is that there are so many others that I see in the lines whom I haven't met personally. Perhaps that can be remedied soon!

Your disaster and you

2008-10-29T04:59:00.000-07:00

Those of us who have the Federation HUD soon become aware of disasters... lower ranking players starting out with it may see citizens coming in as a benefit from other people's "bad handling" of disasters, but for most of us, disasters mean paying out money to avoid losing citizens... and also to gain them.

Not too long ago, a new option appeared.... the 'Research' option. It was very expensive, and as usual, no one had any idea what it did... if anything. But it had to be tried, so people began spending gold on it. Lots of gold. Lots of times... with seemingly little or nothing in the way of results.

Eventually, results began to show. The effects have become known, quantified, and have been published for all to see on the TE wiki.

There are three disasters, and each one will give you a certain benefit after paying for research no less than twenty times! The benefits are:

Famine:: +3 gold per acre
Disease:: The abbot charges you less and promises to forward your benefits to your subjects
Crime:: You and your direct subjects are immune from sabotage while you are online

You have to choose only one of these to research, however! You can not research more than one without losing any work previously done on another disaster... even if your previous disaster was completely researched. (The good news is that if you do lose a completely researched disaster this way, it only takes once of researching it again to regain your rewards.)

Now, that said, you have a choice to make... which type of disaster is right for you? To help you make your decision, here is a brief, unscientific personality analysis based on your choice:

CRIME:: No one messes with you! You're very prominent, and often the target of barbs, but what do you care? It's the price of fame. A no-nonsense person, likely a monarch, who does not intend to let anyone get away with anything... particularly something like sabotage. Your personality is often described as firm, and people tend to either respect you or hate the position you've earned through your hard work. Reward the first, punish the latter, and things will go well!
FAMINE:: You toil away in obscurity, with few or no subjects. You work extra long and extra hard to get that next acre. With lots of acres, you have to pay more for the land, which means you put in more time... but so what? You're patient, and above all, you're persistent. Friends are somewhat in awe of your iron will, and your lieges appreciate your rock-ribbed loyalty.
DISEASE:: You have lots of subjects, very likely all ten of your slots are full and you've begun helping those beneath you. You're generous almost to a fault, giving to those underneath you. Not self-seeking, you seek the benefit of others and don't mind what your personal statistics are. It's for the group, and the love you give to the group is returned to you. Friends describe you as kind and giving, and enemies are few and far between.

So, ladies and gentlemen, pick whichever one best describes you, and I'll see you on the far side of the disaster!

Huskey Garzo Interview

2008-10-22T18:16:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, I had the chance to interview Huskey Garzo, the newest King in the Empire, shortly after he had ascended. Here is what happened...

Vulpine Eldrich: So, now that the Ascension party is over, and you get a chance to relax and enjoy feeling like the latest King of the Empire... how does it feel?

Huskey Garzo: Well, I'm a little tired out. Me and a few of my line have been working very hard to get the sim ready for the party as we have not had it long, but my main thing was getting the asension offer on time. I'm just happy it all went well.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you scheduled the ascension offer at a specific time? How do you do that?

Huskey Garzo: Well, I got the Throne room on Thursday morning. So, getting about one path offer per day, I thought Saturday would be a good time. Gives us some time to plan everything as we had a live music event, not just a DJ. And well, I'm in the UK, so my time is well off from SLT. So for most, I thought 12 noon would be a good time and well, at 12:09PM I actually had ascended.

Vulpine Eldrich: So it was part planning, and part luck, that you got the ascension offer nine minutes after the party started?

Huskey Garzo: Well everyone told me you get the offer every few turns. But as Ultra does, he changes a lot of things. Like the rate they come-- I was online for 12 odd hours a day doing the path, and still only doing 1 step per day, if that. And it wasn't until about 3 hours before the event I got the first offer. I just hoped he hadn't changed it again-- that it won't show up every 6 turns, but few hours. So a bit of Luck, yes, you could say.

Vulpine Eldrich: Things change a lot, don't they. One of the more recent things has been researching disasters. Have you done any of that?

Huskey Garzo: Yes. Well me personally, I did crime. That was for my direct subjects more than anything. As I was very close to my personal acres cap, I thought it best to do crime. Later I found out it is only when I’m online, but I still think it was the best one for me. The Abbot, I can still do, and I wouldn’t need the gold.

Vulpine Eldrich: If you spend a lot of time online, that's less of a problem. So you have a lot of direct subjects?

Huskey Garzo: No at the moment I only have 5, two of which are inactive. But I think it helps to maybe sway a new subject a little more to be very active along with the immune to sabo thing. Now as King, I hope to gain a few more directs some time soon.

Vulpine Eldrich: I can see how sabotage immunity might be an inducement to join someone, as well as being a monarch. So how does this fit into your overall plans for the kingdom?

Huskey Garzo: Well really I'm not overly bothered if I don't get to #1 or in the top ten because, me personally, I have done the game. I'm a king, thanks to an amazing line and kingdom I was in, I have the acre cap, working towards the gold cap. So now for me, it will be to get my line to where they want to be. I know of a few who wish to ascend some time. Although growing and getting into the top 10 and maybe some day to #1 would be a great thing to do. But really, just enjoy Te and have fun.

Vulpine Eldrich: So what made you decide to ascend?

Huskey Garzo: Well, for a long, long time I was with one person-- a very good friend of mine. As everyone knows, I never looked to ascend. I had 70K acres and was very happy. But things happen, and due to things that did happen, I lost a lot of subjects and ended up moving lines. I was still unsure if I wanted to ascend. My gold built up, my personal land build up, and then a lot of my line started IM'ing me, asking if I ever would ascend. They thought I would be a good king. So I had the path put back on, and slowly worked my way to it, with the blessing of my then Liege/King Angel Cordoso.

Vulpine Eldrich: That would be the Kingdom of Amber, then. So do you know of any others who were in a similar situation, and who may ascend in the near future?

Huskey Garzo: Well for me, I lost a lot of good friends and a lot of acres-- more than 3/4 of my line-- so really, I had to start new. But one good thing-- because I grew so fast, people knew what I was like. I know of a few who want to ascend, but none in the same fashion-- coming back from losing a lot.

Vulpine Eldrich: Sometimes there's a price to be paid on the path to success. So now that you're here, you have a new kingdom to name and define. What's the name and definition of King Huskey Garzo's kingdom?

Huskey Garzo: The name of my-- well our-- new kingdom is Elysium. It means a few things, depending on how you look at it, but the one that caught my eye was: "Elysium was a pagan expression that passed into the usage of the Christian patristic writers as a synonym for paradise." This is because I would like to have a peaceful, no drama, fun, happy kingdom

Vulpine Eldrich: And so far, the main kingdom event has been one huge party! Do you have any more plans, ideas, or places to go for your kingdom members yet?

Huskey Garzo: Well this whole sim-- a 15K prim sim-- is for the use of our kingdom and friends to come to chill, relax, build, do whatever. We have a few things at the moment to do, like zyngo, fishing-- the general things people enjoy doing in their spare time. We also have a live music venue, as some of our line play live in SL, and my main subject/Wife Deana is a live music promoter in SL. I'm also going to do a schedule for events, live music, etc, on my web site for the kingdom to help all members of the kingdom in their field, whether it be live music, DJ hosting, club owner, etc. A lot more things are to come on the sim. It is still under construction (only had it a little while.)

Vulpine Eldrich looks at her map

Vulpine Eldrich: "Autos"... any particular significance to the name?

Huskey Garzo: Not really. We have this sim from a friend. She kept asking us if we needed a sim, and we had a 3750 prim one to chill and relax in before we ascended. So when we came to ascension, I figured we needed a bigger sim for everything. So Deana Im'ed Queen Angella from Tintagel and she helped us out. “Autos” is just the name on the sim, although it might be changed at a later date.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you've gotten 2,000 personal acres of land, you'll soon have over 2 billion in gold, you've got loyal subjects and a new kingdom. Is there anything more you wish from Tiny Empires?

Huskey Garzo: Well, I first started off in Tiny Empires with the intent of being the best, which is a good attitude to have, and I did do very well. But even if I had not done so well and still met the same people, I would have been just as happy. I have met my now SL Wife from Te, and so, so, so many very good friends-- like 3/4 of my friends list lol. So, like it was before I ascended… just have fun, keep myself out of trouble in RL, and meet a lot of good fun people.

Vulpine Eldrich: And what would your advice to anyone else who wanted to be a monarch?

Huskey Garzo: Mainly, check with your line about what they feel about you ascending, because you don’t want to ascend, then lose most of your line/kingdom and have nothing. So check with them while you’re thinking about it. I was well over the milestones needed to ascend, and found it very easy. Some found it harder work, since they were growing. So I would say: get over 1000 personal acres, and 20K total acres, and save a lot of gold before going into it. I'm glad I did. My path was an enjoyable one. I got hit with Tax amnesty of 66.6 million, Land tract of 33.8 million, a title for 20.6 million, and famine at 8.1 million-- all in 90 minutes of ascending. So it is good to be ready for it.

Vulpine Eldrich: And is there anything new you'd like to see added to the game- new features, options, rules?

Huskey Garzo: Well, Deana and I always worked together very well, and still do. This is why she is my biggest subject, because we are together all the time. So, maybe joint asencion would have been nice, or somehow she could help me out with things. I do have some other ideas in mind, but not right off of the top of my head right now. Lol, been a busy day!

Vulpine Eldrich: So some sort of official role and special privileges for a royal consort.

Huskey Garzo: Yes, someone each Monarch can assign roles to-- one person as a helper. Because things like holidays, being ill, etc. can be a bit of trouble for kings/queens.

Vulpine Eldrich: A very good idea! And, back to your kingdom, if I might quote something I have found in my research... "Poppy sap is known for it's narcotic qualities, and used to create opium, giving them an association with sleep, death and Elysium."... which begs the question... will you make the Official Flower of the Kingdom the Poppy?

Huskey Garzo: We have a crest. At the moment, we are working to get a new one custom made from someone in our line (they have been very busy in RL and are doing a few different ones for us to pick the best from). They have looked into everything about Elysium, so there might (and probably will) be one with the poppy in it.

Vulpine Eldrich: Well I'm sure it's something we can all look forward to! And, one last thing... what question or questions did I miss? Is there anything I should have asked you and didn't?

Huskey Garzo: How i got into Tiny Empires?

Vulpine Eldrich: How did you?

Huskey Garzo: Well, my real life brother had been on SL a while before I tried it out. I thought it was the most silly and stupid thing ever. Then one time, my best friend asked me to play and to join him and help him out as he has just started and had no subjects as of yet. Against my will, I put on the Hud. I didn’t really pay attention or anything, but just bought land as it came. I then got the full Hud, and still plodded along until I thought, “you know what, I’m going to play this. I have spent L's on it, might as well make the most of it.” And from that point on, it came to me that Te is a very good, fun game and you do meet a lot of very good people from it. And then I wanted to take over the Te world lol.

Vulpine Eldrich: So Tiny Empires actually got you into Second Life, it's not something you found and started after you'd been in Second Life for a while?

Huskey Garzo: Well my brother got me into SL because he never had a comp before and (horribly), I used to kick him off it a lot to play my games, and always used to hear the ding for the turn. It drove me mad. He got me to try SL, and then a little while later the friend got me into TE.

Huskey Garzo: Then he stopped playing TE, and it is me that is making him play lol.

Vulpine Eldrich: Well, welcome to both Second Life AND Tiny Empires, and thank you for your time at the end of a long, busy, and eventful day!

Huskey Garzo: Thank you for your time and thanks so much to my great line and kingdom for making this possible.

Gold Bricking

2008-10-14T16:56:00.000-07:00

The other day, we had someone ask about The Gold Brick. She had found a gold brick on an acre of her land and wanted to know what it was. Further questioning has produced more questions than answers. So far, here is what is apparently known about The Brick:

You buy an acre of land and find a gold brick on it

There are apparently no further messages about the brick

This can happen multiple times to the same person

No obvious ties to allies or embassies

No apparent connection to the Festival

Little, if any, rank restriction- ours was a Marquise, and Monarchs have found one, too.

This shows only for people with the Federation Hud

And that seems to be the sum total of what is known. If anyone has any further details, personal experiences, or even wild theories, share it with the rest of us! Please!

Yes, Pat, I'd like to buy a Count

2008-10-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

Recently, one of our new members uttered the phrase, "is that the only way you can give gold?". Once again, the paucity of ways to 'give gold' was highlighted.

The inability to give gold from one player to another very easily- and almost always at a huge loss- is not an accident. But the reason for it is something that I've rarely bothered to fully explain. Hopefully, I'll be able to do that here.

At its core, Tiny Empires is a game of land. You spend time playing the game, and in turn you get land. Land = rank, and the fact that those under you give you more rank is the social networking part of it. But laying that aside for a moment, consider the fact that I did not use the word "gold". To be more accurate, you spend time and you get gold. You then use the gold to buy land. Why did I leave that out?

The reason is because gold is there only as an intermediate step between you... and land. While there are certainly other things to spend it on (the Emperor seems to take a perverse delight in finding new ways to do so), the main reason it exists is to buy land. Thus, when considering your financial position, thinking "how much gold I got" is not a truly accurate way of looking at it. It would be more accurate to say "how much land did I earn?"

The reason I stress this is because the game is weighted to reduce your ability to earn land as you buy more... how fast depending on a number of factors. It does this by rapidly increasing the price of land... but some things- notably gold windfalls, riddle prices, poll rewards, and census bonuses- do increase just as quickly.

Now, consider for a moment. Let's say that I spend three hours online and, having a lot of land and income, I earn five million in gold. That sounds like a lot of gold, but when I spend two and a half million gold for one acre, I've only earned two acres of land. But if I could give that five million to a new player with very little land, they could take the same amount and buy two hundred acres. This is the natural result of the rapidly increasing scale of income/cost that is built into the game and is also the reason why transferring gold to lower ranking subjects is next to impossible. It would be easy to multiply your land a hundredfold by having a player with a lot of land and thus income transferring the income to a player with very little land. It's also why it is such a slow process to give land away... a player could simply save their high income land, transfer all of the land to another player, and then buy low priced land with their accumulated hoard of gold from earlier times.

So, when considering income, don't waste time thinking of it in terms of gold pieces earned.. think of it in terms of land earned... and never forget sight of the fact that even giving a smaller amount of gold to someone else (say with loyalty rewards) can still not be as huge of a loss as it seems... that ten percent that your subject got could buy them more land than the full amount could have bought you.

So, why can't we transfer gold? Because, as a Princess with a lot of it, I could easily "buy" lower ranking subjects.... but somehow, I don't think I'll ever get the chance to say, "Yes, Pat, I'd like to buy a Count."

A new bribe?

2008-10-01T04:47:00.000-07:00

Did anyone notice recently when the answers to the cryptic riddles weren't working anymore? You would do all of the adding and totaling of your land amount, and the answer would be wrong... the rules were changed! A slight change in wording was your only clue that something was different.

Unlike most games, Tiny Empires is a game in which the rules are subject to change without notice at any time. It certainly keeps things interesting! But since we're changing the rules as we go, here's a new one that might be fun...

Currently, when someone wants to switch allegiance, they have to pay their current liege to leave and join a new one. How many times have two Tiny Empires players sat together while one of them accumulates the gold necessary to switch? I wouldn't want to even guess at that number, but I'm sure it's fairly large.

So, a possible solution would be to make the liege change offers happen on both sides. For example, if a Countess is standing next to a Duchess, the Countess gets the offer to pay to switch allegiance (as happens now)... but the Duchess also gets an offer which reads "You are standing next to Countess Mulligan. Offer her xxx gold to join your kingdom?"

Several things would happen if this option were available. The first one is that a lot of changes would occur much faster-- the higher ranking player is usually in a much better position to afford the payment than the lower-ranking one. (This would probably hold true even after the usual calculations which would have the higher ranking player paying much more than the lower ranking one... and the lower ranking one receiving only a fraction of what had been paid.)

The second change that would happen is that it wouldn't take long for some bright soul to see this as a way to transfer gold from one player to another. Bribes occur at random, and usually with people you never met. Voluntary payments to switch occur from lower to higher- usually not the way you want your gold to flow. But this goes from higher to lower, and even with the losses that occur in such a transaction, it could be seen as a gain from a purely monetary point of view. This means that the offer would have to be limited... say that a player would only be eligible to receive one of these bribe offers once or twice a week. This takes care of most genuine changes in loyalty, while limiting the incidents to a rare enough level to make "switch me back and forth to give me gold" a largely futile strategy.

The third change would be between Princes and Princesses. Since a Prince can go under another Prince, the current offers that both receive are to pay their current liege to join the other. (These mutual offers to switch can even mask- hide- offers to become allies.) Now, with this new option, one of two things would have to be done... either have a system of alternating offers (pay them gold to join you.... next year, pay gold to join them) or just not offer this between Princes and Princesses (which likely wouldn't be a bad idea, since at that level, the amount of gold usually isn't an issue when wanting to switch allegiance.)

The fourth change would be a bit more subtle, but perhaps longer reaching. When the only way to join someone is to pay gold from your own purse- and to do so without any possibility of direct recompense from your new liege- you have to be serious about switching. You certainly aren't doing it for the money! But this option opens up the possibility of more 'rolling stones'... people who switch allegiances at any time when gold is offered to them. The fact that it is done in person would make it less anonymous than the current habits of accepting automated bribes, but the principal could be much the same. And voila, a new source for drama is born in Tiny Empires!

So does this sound like a desirable new feature or not? And what else have I overlooked here? What other possibilities can you foresee from this idea if it were implemented?

TE's Big Pie

2008-09-25T05:13:00.001-07:00

One day, one of my subjects asked me a question. It was one of several, in fact, and like the others, it was a good one. She asked "how much land should I give to my subjects? Is there an optimum ratio?"

First, a bit of background as to the reason for her question. Anyone who plays Tiny Empires for any length of time (and by this, I mean more than half an hour) notices that the price of land goes up as you buy more land. The exact formula for land prices can be found on the TE wiki, but for our purposes, it's enough to say that the price of land goes up as the square of the amount of land you own. For those less mathematically inclined, let me put it this way: when the amount of land you have doubles, the income from that land doubles... but the amount that you pay for land will quadruple.

It doesn't take much to see that as you get more personal land, your ability to buy it decreases. The only thing that saves it from being a total disaster is that such things as census gold, gold windfalls, poll bonuses, and riddle bonuses all increase at the same rate as land costs.

But all of this leads to a basic strategy in Tiny Empires. As you buy land, pass it down to your subjects. By doing so, you increase their rank, their loyalty (one would hope) and you preserve your ability to buy land. At some point, in fact, you would hit a balancing point at which your ability to buy land matches your ability to give land away. At that point, you can sit and give land away all day and maintain your personal land throughout the whole process... while your total acreage and rank goes up if you're giving to your subjects.

There are other considerations, though, as I told the lady who asked me. For one thing, consider how many direct subjects you have-- the fewer you have, the less secure your position is. (This is explained in more detail in 'chains vs. layers') Accidents happen, and a subject leaving may not be an accident. Maintaining personal land may slow your ability to buy more, but it also makes your rank more secure, since less of it depends on those underneath you.

This last consideration leaves the realm of the mathematical and enters the realm of human psychology. A story has been told of a woman who was made the manager of an industrial plant. Unfortunately for her, this plant was in poor condition. Morale was very bad, production was bad, and almost everyone there expected it to go bankrupt. Her job was to prevent that from happening. Fortunately for her, she found a very wise man among her employees who taught her how to increase morale and productivity. One of his analogies applies particularly well to Tiny Empires. Consider if you will...

Imagine a pie. Fill this pie with your favorite delicious goody (apples, blueberries, rhubarb, whatever.) You'd love to have some of this pie, wouldn't you? Of course you would.

Now you look around and you see other people. And you realize that they want some of this pie as well.

You look at them.

You look back at the pie.

Now the question: How big is that pie?

There are two instinctive gut reactions here.

Little Pie people will see the pie as being too little to go around. They will immediately scheme ways to get as much for themselves as possible.

Big pie people will see the pie as being big enough for everyone. They'll gladly serve slices to others, because they know there will always be more delicious pie.

It's my contention that Tiny Empires is a big pie game. There is a potentially nearly infinite supply of land and gold. The only limiting factor is the time and enthusiasm of the people playing it. Thus, increase the time and enthusiasm, and the pie will always be big enough. (This is also why one expert on the game once told me, bluntly, 'war's out... TE is just not that kind of game'. A war game involves little pie thinking.)

So, when I want people in my kingdom, I want to make sure I get big pie people. Why? (Note that little pie people will instantly say 'so she can keep the pie for herself and convince the others not to complain about it')

But the real reason is that your expectations are a large factor in the eventual size of your pie. If you see the pie as being big, it will be big. If you see the pie as being little, it will be little.

Much of the drama in Tiny Empires comes from little pie thinking. Scheming and backbiting to increase one's position, rank, prestige, at the expense of others involves either fear that the limited supply of desirable land, rank, and position will go to someone else instead of you, or a malicious desire for such things in and of themselves.

As for me, I want a big pie! I want a pie that keeps growing because people are enjoying themselves in making it bigger. I want to see success come to me and those around me not as an "I win and you lose" little pie factor, but as the truly TE "if we work together, we can all win together" big pie world.

So, in the end, I told my Countess (now Duchess) that I couldn't give her an exact answer to her question. She nodded wisely and replied, "yes, it's the human factor."

The Invisible Kingdom

2008-09-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

One evening, I met with a Duke from another kingdom. During our conversation, he asked me to bring him into our kingdom "ASAP". Although we had been discussing his less than desirable relations in his current kingdom, his desperation finally made me do a double take. He had been told that he would be "deleted" from the game, which I translated mentally as "disowned." I finally stopped to ask him, bluntly, "do you know as a practical matter what happens when you are disowned?"

He asked what the outcome would be... "Deleted from the game?"

No, he wouldn't be, and I had the happy chore of telling him that the fears that had been instilled in him by his current kingdom were groundless. He would not be deleted from the game, his HUD would not die, his subjects would not be deleted from the game, either... all of those stories were, at best, misunderstandings on the part of those telling him. (I had my own personal suspicions of worse, but I can't prove anything, nor do I want to- it doesn't matter.)

So what is this 'disown' thing, and why would it be so frightening?

When you have subjects in Tiny Empires, you will occasionally get a message. The wording says, "A farmer knows when it's time to prune dead branches. Will you pay xxxx gold to disown the subject of yours known as ____?" You get to fill in the blank, and pay the amount it asks. (The actual amount varies depending on your personal land holdings.) If you do that, the subject is 'disowned'.

The list that I gave my worried Duke was as follows:

1. You can't get income from your land
2. You won't be in any kingdom
3. You can join someone else for free
4. You get offers to join a random liege decided by the emperor
5. Those under you continue their lives as normal- they just won't be in any kingdom

I finished my list with "as a practical matter, it's a bit uncomfortable for you personally, but hardly a huge disaster."

With his fears relieved, we were able to conduct our business in a better frame of mind and judgement. He is now a happy and productive Prince in Caledon, with a growing list of subjects.

One item that I didn't include on my list was that neither he nor his subjects would show up in the standings page. Understandable that I would leave an item out, I suppose. After all, this was an impromptu list, not a lengthy disquisition on the exact concepts and mechanics of being disowned. I left that for now.

When a person starts the game, she does not have a liege, and with no acres, she ranks as a Wanderer. With no liege, and thus no income from any land (even if she is given any), she subsists on the Emperor's charity. By standing next to someone of the right rank, she will receive a notice that she may offer to join them. If she makes the offer and they accept, she becomes their subject. While all of this is going on, she will receive occasional offers from the Emperor to assign her to a random subject.

This state should be familiar to any TE player, since every one of us started in that exact same position. (How long we remained there is, of course, a matter of personal experience.) My point in bringing it up here is to point out that if you are disowned, you revert back to that exact same state. The difference is that you now still have all of your land, gold, and subjects that you have accumulated in the game. You don't lose any of those at all.

Thus, you are a free agent again, and still with your current rank. Before, the only way to switch subjects was to apply to someone and pay gold to your current liege. Now, your current liege has paid the gold and broken the relationship, so you can apply to someone else and pay nothing!

As for your subjects, they find that their huds no longer list a kingdom after their name. They might also notice that they will no longer receive any tax amnesties, trader visits, or other goodies that depend upon being in a kingdom- but they are still free to get homage income from any subjects they have, and earn gold from their land, just as if nothing had happened.

The one thing that does happen, though, is that none of you show on the standings page anymore. If someone entered your or their name in the search engine there, they would receive "That citizen has no direct line to any of the Kings or Queens." as a result. Yes, you're still out there... somewhere... but in a limbo land, in an invisible kingdom that has no connection to the Emperor or any Monarch.

Which led me one evening to muse over an interesting idea... what would happen if a huge Prince were disowned, and neither he nor any of his subjects ever changed allegience to anyone else? They could actually still have people become their subjects, but the result would be a kingdom that didn't officially exist.

There are no doubt thousands of these invisible people- wanderers who never found a liege, people who were disowned and decided, for whatever reason, not to rejoin. No doubt the vast majority of them are loners, with no subjects... perhaps at most a handful. But considered as a single entity, they are very likely a kingdom larger than any in the Terra Aurean Empire... what would happen if they someday found each other, joined into a single kingdom, and.... who knows what would happen when the Invisible Kingdom realized its potential?

(pssst... want a way to help find the invisible kingdom? While nothing is sure, you do stand a better chance with the TE Companion.)

Disappearing Kingdoms?

2008-09-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

Abdication! The winds of change are swirling even more fiercely through the empire than usual. Rumors fly about Kings and Queens giving up their thrones.... whole kingdoms disappearing....

Could it happen? Perhaps! Keep an eye on that kingdom list, people, because you never know....

My second set of eyes

2008-09-06T15:41:00.000-07:00

Situation: You're offered a chance to bribe 'Count Procurator Gladius Ceaser'. You have no idea if Gladius is really a Count, or perhaps another Prince. Solution:

/2 Gladius Ceaser

You instantly have Gladius' actual rank, approximate number of people below him, and even his lineage from the Emperor down to himself.

Situation: Someone becomes a Prince in the announcements. You wonder if they are a fast growing Prince, with lots of subjects, or a slower one with few or none. Solution:

(click) display button
(click) new Prince's name

Again, the number of subjects and lineage is yours for the asking.

Situation: The new Prince has been demoted to Duke in the next turn. You wonder if he was automatically disowned of a knight. Solution:

(click) display button
(click) new Duke's name

Now you can compare the number of subjects, and- more importantly- the list of direct subjects for the once-again Duke. Did one of his direct subjects disappear? Then it's a good chance that is what happened. A fast way to confirm it is to look for them and see if they have a liege!

Situation: You notice news about a kingdom that sounds interesting. You wonder if they are a major or minor kingdom, and how big they are. Solution:

/2 /k KingdomName
/2 Monarch Name

You now know what the kingdom's rank is, and the size of the monarch's downline.

Situation: A subject has disappeared from your line. Who did they go to? Or were they disowned and are now floating in limbo? Solution:

/2 Subject Name

You now know who they went to... if anyone.

For those of you who are wondering how all of this is done, it is courtesy of my second set of eyes, more commonly known as the Tiny Empires Companion. Experienced Tiny Empires players will note that much of this can be done through the Standings Page.

One thing the standings page can't do is find players who are not connected to a kingdom- but this one does. If the line is only partial, you get the partial line, up to the point where it ends with a liegeless player.

Another thing the standings page might have trouble with is giving you the size of the downline. A small downline is easily counted- given time. A larger downline may be difficult to impossible. This gives you good estimates on the larger downlines instantly.

It's quicker than the standings page. You don't have to open another window. And if you're acquainted with the ways of Tiny Empires lines and how they work, you can glean a surprising amount of information in a short amount of time.

However, this is not free. In fact, it's the first item for sale that is more than just a single one-time buy: it's a service, and you pay continually. The current charge is 250L per month. Is it worth it to you? Let's put it this way. In the You might be a TE addict if... post, a couple of the items were:

You spend more time looking at your TE standings page than your friends list.

Your ninth and newest alt just made Count.

If either of these apply to you, it's a good chance you'll find the Companion quicker and easier. Plus, let's admit it... it's fun to be able to type in a name and instantly see who, what, where, and how many!

The Game within the Game

2008-08-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

One day I logged in to find that my total holdings had dropped by several hundred acres. This not being the usual sort of thing I saw, I immediately began a search through my lines, and I finally found who had left. I sent her (now former) liege a message that basically said "ouch! I see she left, is there anything I can do to help?"

When she replied, she said that the subject had left with no message or warning, and that she hadn't responded to an IM asking what was wrong. Then she added that she wasn't too surprised. The Duchess had come to her after getting into an argument with her SL boyfriend, who had aparently been her liege. But time passes, and either the rift had healed or she had found someone else she liked.

It merely underscored the words that Ellie had told me all of those months ago. Tiny Empires is a "game within the game". The things that happen in TE do not happen in a vacuum, or solely in relation to other things happening within TE. Quite the contrary. People form TE kingdoms most readily among groups of friends or people who are already associated with each other in SL. And the SL drama and events that happen can easily change what happens in TE.

No one seeking to observe the patterns and movements within TE can avoid this conclusion. TE is, at its core, a game of social networking, and its networks are mostly formed on existing SL networks. (Not that lots of new friendships aren't formed, which is always fun.)

As I view the Kingdom of Caledon, I see these groups, these networks, these parts of a Kingdom that make up the whole. If I want to find TE Caledon players, I know several places I can go to. The most obvious places would be:

The Dome in Caledon Cay
Red Palms
Cleopatra's (in particular if you're searching for our Queen)
Moiety
Heart of Dragons
Insula Inferi
Caledon Cymru
Caledon Kintyre
--and our new 'HeadQuarters' in Caledon Cay!

...and this list is far from complete, it's just a highlight of some of the most common spots. But in each of those places, you'll find at least one person, and usually a group, of Tiny Empires players who are all Caledonians. The reason for these spots? Because they all know each other there! They're friends, they like to play together, they're probably all lieged under the same person, and that group is lieged within the kingdom of Caledon.

Thus, we find that our single kingdom is a variegated quilt, made up of many pieces, all interwoven together by a common thread of cooperation and understanding. If one part encounters the other, they know that the other person is a friend-- Caledon is where their friends are, so this must just be a friend they haven't met yet.

...and to the extent that is true, the Kingdom of Caledon is assured a good future.

Now, enough of my babbling about my kingdom... what about yours? What are the foundations it rests upon? What places, what groups, make up your kingdom? What methods of operations does it use? After all, Caledon is a rather small kingdom, one among nearly a hundred... how much more varied and interesting is the full Terra Aurean Empire!

Beginner's FAQ to Tiny Empires

2008-08-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

So someone gave you a hud, and said "here, wear it and try playing the game"... but now you're lost, confused, and not even sure where to start... well, here's a little guide that should help you get started in playing Tiny Empires....

Why am I hearing a bell sound?

In Tiny Empires, a month lasts three minutes. It is one turn of the game's play. Every three minutes, when a new month (turn) starts, you hear a bell sound from your HUD. If it bothers you, you can turn it off by clicking and holding the clock in the upper right corner for a couple of seconds.

How do I win this game?

Unlike Chess or Checkers, Tiny Empires doesn't have a way to "win" or "lose" in a definitive sense. However, you can gain more rank and influence... perhaps even become King or Queen of your own kingdom if that is what you desire. It often takes some time and experience for different players to decide what goals they want to achieve within the game.

Do I have to pay Lindens to play the game?

The only purchase you are required to make is to buy the "Full" HUD. There are optional HUDs and gadgets sold as well, but none of them are required to play the game. If you continue to use the free trial HUD, it will 'die' (stop working) after you become a Knight or Dame (with ten acres).

Why am I being offered a liege?

If you do not have a liege, you are not in a kingdom, nor an official part of the Empire. This means that you cannot earn gold on your land, nor will you receive any special benefits that a King or Queen might provide. This makes it much harder to achieve anything, so the Emperor offers you the chance to take a liege at random if you do not have one.

Do I need to buy a shovel?

The offer to buy a shovel is the first of several "land improvements". Each improvement will add one half gold per acre to your land's production. While it's certainly possible to play without improving your land, it is highly desirable to do so, since it means more gold, and thus more land!

Should I buy land improvements or more land?

Each decision on whether or not to buy more land or make land improvements varies, depending on exactly how much land you have and how fast you want to buy it. The more land you have, the more gold you get from improvements and the more expensive it is to get each acre. In general, buying land is great for short term gain, but land improvements work best for long term gain. So, you will want to concentrate on buying land at first, then after you have a few acres you can begin buying more and more improvements to make it produce more gold for you!

Do I have to pay homage to my liege even when I'm not playing?

No. Homage that you pay- and that is paid to you- is determined by your own individual playing time. There is no actual relation between the amount of gold you pay in homage and the amount your liege receives. You pay when you are playing. They receive homage when they are playing.

How do I get a different liege?

Once you have a liege, there are two ways you can switch. Either stand next to the person you want to be your new liege, and offer to them when it comes up on your HUD (if it does...) or accept a bribe offer from someone else. These come up on your Hud at random intervals, as people get the chance to offer you gold to join them.

I was told I could be removed from the game by my liege. Is that true?

No. You can be "disowned" (it is sometimes called "pruned") by your liege. If this happens, you revert to your original liegeless condition (with no ability to earn gold on your land), but you keep all land, land improvements, gold, subjects, etc, that you have. You will not be in any kingdom until you find a new liege to join. Note that standing next to a new liege and offering to join them will not require you to pay money to switch lieges, since there is no old liege to repay!

How do I get a higher rank?

Rank is determined by how much land you and your subjects own. This is called "total acres", and is shown on your HUD as Land. (Your personal acres belong to you and are in parentheses after the total acres number. The difference is the amount of land your subjects own.) Getting a higher rank means getting more total land. This holds true until you want to become a Queen or King, at which point things are more complicated. For an exact list of how many acres are required for each rank, check out this earlier blog post.

How do I get a custom title?

Custom titles are given out by either the Emperor or (more usually) monarchs. The normal method of getting a custom title is to have your King or Queen give it to you. How each King or Queen decides on who to give a title to depends on their personal wishes- so ask your current liege, or however high you have to go to find out! Note that titles are usually (not always) given to higher-ranking subjects. Also, if you do receive a custom title from your Monarch, you will eventually lose it if you leave their kingdom.

How do I get subjects?

First, you have to have the full HUD to get subjects of your own. After you buy that, you may get subjects randomly assigned to you by the Emperor. (Note that new players are the usual subjects assigned a random liege, which means you won't get any of those after you become a Baron/Baronness). The second way is to have someone of the appropriate rank stand next to you and request to become your subject. This means anyone who is one to three ranks lower than you. You will also get a chance to bribe someone else every now and then on your HUD.

On a more general note, finding people to join you usually falls into one of two categories: new people that you or your upline (lieges) find, or current players that are persuaded to join you for whatever reason. The exact reason, of course, is as varied as the players themselves!

The ability to create and maintain a large number of subjects is an essential part of the game to anyone who wants high rank and/or their own kingdom- but how it is done depends on the people involved, and is the old human art of finding and inspiring others to follow you.

How do I find answers to the riddles?

Riddles and polls appear each October. There are several helper pages out there. One of the more popular is by Erzsabet Bergbahn. Note that the riddles are changed occasionally, so when a new set comes out, you and your friends and everyone else will all be scrambling to figure out the new ones!

What are Taxes?

Every December, you pay twenty to thirty percent of your land's net income for the year to the Emperor. (Or for the time you were on, if you haven't been on for a full year.) This is calculated by taking your land income for one month (it's the first line in your Accounting tab- number of gold times number of acres = land income) minus the amount of homage you pay (the second page of your Accounting shows this) times twelve (for a year) times .2 (twenty percent... or whatever it is for your rank). Your monarch may have the ability to give you and everyone else in your kingdom three years of amnesty once per day--no taxes for three years in a row.

One important note is that if you do not have enough gold to pay your taxes, your land will be automatically sold until you do have enough- so be sure you have plenty of gold on hand when December comes!

What is the Census?

In January of every even numbered year, the Census occurs. If you have subjects, you get so much gold per direct subject. If you have the "Federation HUD", you get one gold per nine members of your population. This may become an important factor in your strategy later in the game.

What is the Trader?

The Trader comes every couple of days to your Kingdom. The exact time is random. You will start receiving notices on the HUD that he is coming. He will charge you roughly two to three times your current acre cost, and in return offers a surprise which is usually more than worth what you pay. For more details, see the wiki page. Note that he only comes for players who meet certain minimum rank/land requirements, so you won't encounter him immediately after you begin playing.

Are there any groups I have to join to play?

Basically, no. However, there is a main Tiny Empires group (it is currently by invitation only, due to spam problems) and most kingdoms- and even groups of players within kingdoms- will have their own private groups. Ask your liege, if no one mentions it to you. (They should, almost every active player places a high importance in their local groups.) These groups can prove useful for advice and help!

Who is the Emperor?

Ultralite Soliel is the creator of Tiny Empires and is the Emperor of the Terra Aurean empire. As such, he produces the game, and all new changes in the rules and new gameplay options, riddles, etc, are created by him. He is also the final authority on any questions about the rules of the game.

Where else can I find information?

The Tiny Empires Wiki has detailed information about numerous aspects of the game.

Erzsabet Bergbahn's page helps solves puzzles.

The Tiny Empires Blog can be a source of information.

The official Tiny Empires site has basic game information and the 'standings' pages, which show you the ranks and alliegiences of everyone within the Empire.

Kingdom Identity

2008-08-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Take two princes within the same kingdom. Both have about a dozen subjects, with total holdings of perhaps fifteen hundred acres. If you were told that one of them would one day be a King of his own kingdom, and the other would never get close to it.... how could you tell which was which?

Is there a difference? After all, the requirements for a kingdom are the same for both, and they're both in the same position now. A kingdom is just what happens when they get the right amount of land and gold. Right?

While that may be true for some, it is my belief that it is not true for all- or even most- kingdoms. The one thing that every kingdom I've known well has had is an identity. By this, I mean more than just a name- I mean it's a group of people, working together for something that has a name, but that is more than a name-- that means something to them and why they play.

The old saying has it that "birds of a feather flock together". If you're one of those princes and you decide to assemble the flock, the first question you have to ask yourself is what color your feathers are.

If you're like me, you love watching the announcements come up that give titles in the various kingdoms. Sometimes, it's obvious that the title and the kingdom go well together- that the people in it are part of that particular cultural theme or idea. If you don't know what I mean, watch the announcements for yourself. Soon enough, you'll see some which go so well as a single full title that you begin to wonder if the title was made for the kingdom... or the kingdom for the title.

In a sense, perhaps the kingdom was made for the title. It may have come first, but that person was likely part of it before it became its own kingdom. The kingdom name and independence was just a recognition of the camaraderie and ideals that already existed.

That said, one way to find a potential kingdom is if a group has been formed for it. We created the group for the Tiny Empires kingdom of Caledon long before the kingdom existed- back when we were a dozen or so Caledonians just getting started. It was (and still is) actually open to any Caledonian who plays Tiny Empires, formal Kingdom membership not required. But the question that had to be answered for us was the same as I posed above. What defines the Kingdom of Caledon? What particular theme, method of operation, and ideals determine it? Fortunately, since Caledon itself already existed, it was relatively easy to point out how the Caledonian culture combined with the Tiny Empires culture, and thus our group description was created as follows:

Caledon- a land of Ladies and Gentlemen, where consideration and manners accentuate an appreciation for the finer things in life.

Tiny Empires- a game of feudal proportions, where one can be a Lady or a Gentleman, and enjoy advancement and prestige by being with your friends

This group is for anyone who likes that combination! Come, citizens of Caledon, to a land where anyone with diligence is but a breath away from nobility... and where your "liege lord" is also your best friend!

So if I were to pull out the kingdom idea themes from there, we have:

1. A common medieval/vintage theme
2. Consideration, manners, culture
3. Friendship

Although large parts of the Tiny Empires Caledon has gone beyond its formal borders, I like to think that much of the core concept described above runs throughout the entire kingdom.

As to how that theory works out in practice, those details are for another day and another post...

TE Companion Available

2008-08-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

From the Emperor:

Introducing the indispensable accessory for players of Tiny Empires...

TINY EMPIRES COMPANION

Are you never quite sure who is bribing you?
Not sure if those sabotage targets are worth the risk?
Do you keep forgetting which monarch rules over which kingdom?

Then you might find the Tiny Empires Companion VERY useful.

By the way, you can try it for FREE for two weeks, to see if the cost of L$250/month is worth it to you.
Read on. There is a landmark to the free trial down below.

--== What is this thing? ==--

The Tiny Empires Companion is a HUD object that you wear while playing Tiny Empires. It helps you keep track of other players in the game and in your vicinity. It also allows quick lookups of players and kingdoms without having to visit the TE standings web page. In short, it acts as a companion HUD to the main Tiny Empires HUD.

--== What does it do? ==--

o Looks up Tiny Empires player names to see their rank, liege, and kingdom without going to the Standings page
o Scans your immediate area to find other Tiny Empires players (and shows their rank, liege, and kingdom)
o Shows rank, liege, and kingdom information about about any other players mentioned on your game hud this turn
o This includes any bribe makers or potential bribe takers, the list of sabotage targets, promotions, special titles, etc.
o If you see a name in your offers this turn, it will be clickable on the Companion.
o Looks up a kingdom name to find out the name of its King or Queen, and its rank in the empire
o Shows the latest gossip among the people of the realm

--== What kind of information does it give? ==--

For any nearby players, or names shown in your current set of offers, simply click the name to see the person's name, rank, special title if they have one, kingdom name, and monarch name. Here is a example of the information:

"Tiny Empires Companion: Squire Tanner Larson, subject of Prime Suspect Harriet Nightfire (Viscountess), under the rule of Queen Mary Aberdeen of the Kingdom of Froth"

You can get the same information for ANY player in the game by typing their name (or partial name) into your local chat window.

You can also get information about Kingdoms by typing the name (or partial name) of the Kingdom. It will show the name of its King or Queen as well as that Kingdom's ranking in the empire. Here is an example of Kingdom information:

"Tiny Empires Companion: The Kingdom of Froth, Queen Mary Aberdeen, currently ranked 17"

The Companion will also show the most recent Gossip among the nobility of the empire.

--== HOW CAN I GET IT? ==--

Come to Ultralite Soleil's shop at this landmark:
Look for the Tiny Empires Companion vendor.
You will be able to get a free, fully functional trial of the Companion that lasts for two weeks.
After that, the cost to continue using it is L$250 per month.
You can pre-pay for as many months as you'd like -- every L$250 adds another 30 days of usage to your Companion.

Check it out!

Here is a screenshot of it on my hud:

A couple of brief usage notes... to get information on a kingdom, you use the '/k' switch, e.g.:

/2 /k Caledon

(just for fun, try 'Aurea')

And to get gossip, you just type:

/2 Gossip

..more details and a considered review will be held until I get some experience with this... say in a week or so.

And on a side note, the upgrade station has been remodeled. The Emperor declared that blue glass was just "so 1100", and it has been replaced with a stone structure. The single vendor with the arrows to choose between different products has been replaced with multiple vendors, one for each product, grouped by type.

Check it out! (wait, didn't someone just say that?)

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer Interview

2008-08-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

Vulpine Eldrich: Good evening, everyone. This evening finds me in the far sandy corner of Egypt, in the private silken tent of the Pharoah- or should I say King- MoLoveMoFun Hammerer of Egypt... I'm here with his Great Royal Wife, Charoa Hammerer. Thank you both for having me.

Charoa Hammerer: Quite welcome, it's our pleasure

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Welcome, Vulpine, to our little piece of the Empire. It's a pleasure to have you. Most people call me Mo, by the way :)

Vulpine Eldrich: Now, I'm sure our readers have heard of Egypt, the real life kingdom. So, tell me, what inspired you to name your kingdom after it?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I have always been a Egypt fanatic and my lovely wife is just as passionate about it as I. So it wasn't a hard choice to make.

Vulpine Eldrich: And you have a sim to show for it as well. Did the sim come first, or did the TE Kingdom?

Charoa Hammerer: The sim came first

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Yes, we were working on our new home before I ascended.

Charoa Hammerer: The vision of the sim just became more focused after we had ascended though. It became a home for several hundreds of people instead of just the two of us lol

Vulpine Eldrich: So when you started in Tiny Empires, it was just the two of you? Or the two of you joined quickly by friends?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I started playing first, soon followed by my wife and a few close friends.

Charoa Hammerer: yes he was busy busy one day and I couldn't figure out what had captured his attention and so he sent me a trial hud...the rest is history

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Yes, I was sold quite fast (or hooked)

Vulpine Eldrich: And did you decide you wanted to be King before that day was over?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Not really. That decision came after a lot of drama in other kingdoms, and the thought and hope of having a better day with my own kingdom.

Charoa Hammerer: The downline also suggested that we ascend and wanted us to start our own kingdom.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I would say that it was after four months of playing TE.

Vulpine Eldrich: What kingdom did you ascend from, then?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Bohemia

Vulpine Eldrich: Were you originally in Lothlorien when you started?

Charoa Hammerer: We were never in Lothlorien

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: No, I have never been there. I started playing in Avalon

Vulpine Eldrich: So your career starts in Avalon, goes to Bohemia, then on to your own Kingdom of Egypt... but I noticed one day after you had been King for a while, and had been giving out titles, that you were literally a King without a Kingdom- no one was under you. Some time later, you were back again with one of the larger kingdoms within the empire. What happened?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I stopped playing because I and my kingdom were harassed by someone else who plays TE as well. This harassment became so great that I felt there had to be something done about the fairness and equality in the game. I asked for that by the highest authority in TE and didnt get what I asked for. So I stopped playing. By chance of luck, what I asked for was granted even if it was via a different way.

Vulpine Eldrich: How long did your self-imposed exile last?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: About a month.

Vulpine Eldrich: What ended it?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I had given, prior to my quitting, the promise to some subjects that I would play again if my wish were granted. So I decided to start playing again mostly because I was very unhappy with having to quit and because I missed my group and the daily interaction very much.

Charoa Hammerer: We also had many from our kingdom begging that he come back and leaving messages asking that we come back. Mo is a much loved king and was missed greatly by many. He forms strong personal relationships with the people he plays with.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer smiles

Vulpine Eldrich: So when you announced that you were coming back, many returned. I assume not all, since there are always exceptions to a rule as large as that- and some couldn't, if you had formed other kingdoms. Have things changed since then, though? Does the kingdom feel any different, or its size?

Charoa Hammerer: Actually we didn't announce we were coming back so that people would not abandon the kingdoms they had made new homes in. We would have played quietly by ourselves. As people realized we were playing they asked us to come back. I would say that with exception of the two ascensions that coincided with our leaving, 90% returned. Our kingdom was largely restored and has since grown even larger.

Charoa Hammerer: It was like family coming back home and missing each other and being strong together once more. With exception of the 10% who elected not to come back, we did not have any significant changes to the feeling or personality of our kingdom.

Vulpine Eldrich: And with two ascensions, that means you have at least two kingdoms with close relationships and common history.

Charoa Hammerer: We are on neutral terms with all kingdoms who ascended from us. Some are closer than others. Several of the kingdoms who ascended from us were only with us for a short time. The one kingdom that shares a history with us more than others would be Kingdom of Angels who was with us all along

Vulpine Eldrich: So with one of the larger kingdoms, that means a lot of people, and a lot of special titles. How do you handle those? Any special types of special titles?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I keep a notecard of the titles given out with the date and we also publish that on our website.

Vulpine Eldrich: So how does someone in Egypt get a title?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I don't have a whole lot of rules. I tried doing the prince/cess level first but I'm down to count/ess level now. I poke the chat and the players to give me title requests and I grant the title.

Vulpine Eldrich: That must be a lot of titles! Are you repeating people now- changing special titles?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Today, someone that has had four titles already just got one more because it's her birthday. So that and making people happy is why I'm down at the lower levels. A good way of getting a lot of requests up front is something I'm still searching for.

Charoa Hammerer: We aren't forcing titles but jokes come up and special events or a special request from a loved one, and so in those cases they get changed.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer has a hard time giving out the five acres, the mini trader and the title!

Vulpine Eldrich: Speaking of looking for new things, what other new things would you like to be able to do with the game?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: One or maybe two things I really would like is getting a better view or print out or message from who leaves and other important details.

Vulpine Eldrich: So if you come online and find five hundred acres gone, you don't have to look through eight pages of standings and trust your memory to know all two hundred people to find who is gone?

Charoa Hammerer: Yes, that is what he means. Sometimes it's a misclick and people are scrambling to find what part of the line was broken.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: And second, I would like the tax cut option to be available once every twenty four hours and not like it is now: twenty four hours after the last tax cut. I want this so that I can switch from timezone to timezone.

Vulpine Eldrich: So if you give a tax amnesty at, say, five pm SLT, you next get the offer at five pm SLT the next day. That would mean that if you wanted to switch to five a.m. SLT, then you have to wait a full day and a half?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Yes, that's what I mean and why I want the tax cut changed.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer smiles

Vulpine Eldrich: I can understand that one, as I'm sure your subjects who are in different time zones can as well! So if someone wants to find Egypt, they have this sim and the website to look for. Where else would they find it, and what would they find your members doing when they arrived?

Charoa Hammerer: We are also a NeoRealms fishing camp, we have trivia and other games, we have several clubs affiliated to the kingdom, we have a stargate network linked to several of those locations as well.

Vulpine Eldrich: Fishing... is there something about enjoying Tiny Empires that also means you're good at fishing?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: it's a way to relax and pass some good times, nice views and off-topic chats.

Charoa Hammerer: It's a good bonding time with other kingdom members, too.

Vulpine Eldrich: That works for me! So now that you have become a monarch... twice, in effect, considering your first ascension and then your return... what are your current goals in Tiny Empires?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Having fun, enjoying the game and having a blast with our group. For me it's not how big we are, but I guess by how much people like to play TE with us. Maintaining that is a great goal and also a gift.

Charoa Hammerer: I would like us to be unique in people's minds and have a positive experience here. We want warmth and strong friendships.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Yes thats what I mean (Charoa can word it so well.)

Vulpine Eldrich: So what would make you unique?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Our Stargate network?

Charoa Hammerer: I think we are particularly active as a kingdom, we have very strong bonds and a willingness to help each other. We also try to interact with others frequently and do new things. I make a point of creating new and different activities for the members as a means to help make people feel welcome and get to know each other and expand those bonds of friendship.

Vulpine Eldrich: What sort of activities?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: We have had several differnt types of treasure hunts, parties in and out of theme, fishing, building, the website, etc.

Charoa Hammerer: Each treasure hunt has a different theme and style. They get more and more complex and more people are getting into it lol

Charoa Hammerer: We have had elements of the sim built by kingdom members: furniture, gazebo's, fountains and clothing.

Charoa Hammerer: We also have custom Egyptian clothing, swimsuits and right now our daughter is making a male and female egyptian outfit for everyone.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer giggles

Charoa Hammerer: All of this makes people feel like they are a part of this kingdom. Our treasure hunts often have custom built contributions from our members as well.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I'm very keen on the strong relationships that are formed here.

Charoa Hammerer: We have a new photo gallery on our site and people have been eager to see themselves added and put their candid SL shots into the site.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: People talk with each other over everyday RL issues and find support and help with other kingdom members

Vulpine Eldrich: So there is a lot going on in Egypt! Do you have any particular plans to expand all of this to others within or without the game of Tiny Empires?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Not really. We, as a kingdom are already happy as it is. We prefer to maintain the fun, closeness and the great atmosphere often lacking in bigger kingdoms.

Charoa Hammerer: We do this for ourselves because its what makes us happy. Our website is open to everyone though, of course, and I personally think it's more extensive than any other site, but I am biased.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer giggles

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: So am I.

Vulpine Eldrich: And within that long line of events in TE, and list of kingdoms that you have been involved with, what does all of that experience lead you to give as advice to someone just starting in Tiny Empires?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: That's a hard question, but I do believe this is a nice way of putting it: HAVE FUN :))

Vulpine Eldrich: Very succinct! And is there anything else that I forgot to ask that you wanted to answer?

Charoa Hammerer: Egypt has a policy that I think should stand true in all of SL and not just TE. Show respect to the people you play with.

Charoa Hammerer: We find that when people want to leave or find a new liege, the best way to avoid drama is to keep that communication open and show your peers the respect they deserve by telling them what you have decided. You don't have to give extensive explanations, but just a heads up is common courtesy.

Charoa Hammerer: We should all treat each other here with the same courtesy we would extend in RL.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: I think that people should keep in mind that its a game, with no real monetary value at all, and absolutely no reason to misbehave in any way. Respect is what we all crave for, so respect is what people should keep in mind.

Charoa Hammerer: And play because it makes you happy.

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Also, listen to yourself. Do what makes you happy while playing TE. I made some very tough decisions and I still feel good about myself after all of it. There are real people behind every TE player with real feelings, please keep that all in mind.

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good! And one last question, if I may... is there any truth to the rumors about the return of the Mummy King?

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer giggles and giggles, yes he will be in the movie theaters near you soon.

Charoa Hammerer: Oh yeah we forgot to mention our movie nights! We will be playing that on the sim as soon as it comes out in SL LOL

Vulpine Eldrich: Good! And thank you so much for having me here this evening-- I wish you the best with your kingdom.

Charoa Hammerer: By the way, Mo is known as the king who giggles, even on voice chat lol

Charoa Hammerer: Thanks for being here!

MoLoveMoFun Hammerer: Thank you very much for taking the time to hear about our passion and our story.

Interesting Titles

2008-08-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, one of the major sources of entertainment in Tiny Empires is watching anouncements of Special Titles- however they might come up in various offers, etc. Sometimes it's a pun, either on a person's name or with the kingdom name. Sometimes it's just the sound- alliteration, or rhyme. Sometimes it makes you roll your eyes and laugh at the same time. Others strike that funny bone for no particular reason other than "it's funny!".

So, below, find a few of my picks for interesting custom titles that I've seen, sorted by why I found them interesting. Note that Apropos Kingdom usually means Apropos person AND Kingdom... the whole title fits into one interesting whole!

So if you have any good ones, add them to the list... it could be yours, a friend's, or just one that you saw on your HUD as a general announcement. Whatever the reason or source, share the fun with the rest of us!

ALLITERATION

Princess Prissy Sussie Pera of Laurelin
Knighted The Seeker Capt Blinker of the Karma Kingdom
Pineapple Prince Zedicious Zerbino of Camelot
Bohemian Brit Brat Destiny Marx of Bohemia

APROPOS KINGDOM

Her Royal Sweetness Hunee Dreamscape of Charm
In Egypt U Feel The Love Flow of Egypt
Phantasm SpookY Pitts of Twilight
Princess Opium Poppy Maladay of Bloodtide
Delerious Dreamer Delerium Dreamscape of Twilight
The Quiet Goddess Jaydie Sapeur of Olympus
Roses Royal Bad Leissa Schwade of Blood Roses & Tears
God of the Dance KennyC1956 Writer of Olympus
Bratty Pink Princess AquaMarin Alter of Tintagel
McDreamy McGoose Bury of Treasure Island

APROPOS PERSON

Southern Comfort LadyClaireBrianna McLaglen of Laurelin
Princess Fluffy Kitt Catgirl Hian of Tintagel
Majestic Mysterious Divine Veil of Laurelin

AMUSING

Prince With A Plan Sir Brennen of WyPlay
TheCookiestPrincess Cindyloo Sablatnig of Brittany
Princess Foxy Roxy Emsbury of Treasure Island
Gun's Little Boo Cerridwen Wise of Egypt
Royal Huggybear Max Key of Gianfar

ROLL YOUR EYES NAUGHTY

Here Comes Trouble LoveTrinity Johnson of WyPlay
Royal Thwapper Lynn Binder of Gianfar
Soft Porn Princess Jain Arkin of Egypt

BackHome Soon Interview

2008-08-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

Vulpine Eldrich: Good evening, everyone. I'm here with King Backhome Soon of Home, and his lovely companion, Lodi McMillan in their - I must say- most expansive beach home. Thanks to both of you for having me!

BackHome Soon: Thanks for joining us

Vulpine Eldrich: I like to start about asking about the kingdom itself, perhaps the meaning of the name. But that almost seems trivially obvious here... so tell me... which came first, your SL name, or the kingdom name?

BackHome Soon: oh, my SL name for certain. The Kingdom of Home name came about after much thought, agonizing and even some incredibly painful puns

BackHome Soon: The thought of "Home" just felt right though

Vulpine Eldrich: Why?

BackHome Soon: We're all looking for a place to feel comfortable, a place to feel where you belong. We act like a big family, so it just fits our group. There's not a lot of "pomp and circumstance" with our group; it's more like we've all come "Home".

Lodi McMillan: It has a casual, informal, and welcoming feel...just like we would like the kingdom to be.

Vulpine Eldrich: So does that mean someone who swears allegiance to someone in your kingdom is actually "coming Home"?

BackHome Soon: absolutely, Vulpine! The most common comment to a new member is "Welcome Home"

BackHome Soon: or when I log in, it's "Honeys, I'm Home!"

Lodi McMillan: everyone had a lot of fun with that ;-)

Vulpine Eldrich: I can imagine! So many puns, so little time... so where and when does the formal Kingdom of Home come from?

BackHome Soon: We started on July 3rd, so we're a relatively new kingdom. We were all happy members of the Queendom of Terabithia before I ascended.

BackHome Soon: Like most people in TE, Lodi and I began in Avalon, and followed our lieges through Genovia, Syldavia, Egypt and Terabithia before coming home.

Vulpine Eldrich: And how and when do you tell your Queen, "I'm about to leave you and become King of my own Kingdom"?

BackHome Soon: With great trepidation and many second thoughts. Queen Kyradevon and her King Legalos(**See Comment below) were incredibly gracious and supportive, even though my ascension greatly reduced the size of her queendom

BackHome Soon: I'd stated for a long time that I had NO plans of ever ascending. However, as we all do, the thoughts recurred, and I finally decided that I wanted to give my own kingdom a shot, so here we are.

Vulpine Eldrich: Was there any particular event or thing that was the tipping point? The spark that lit the fire, so to speak?

BackHome Soon: I don't think there was one single thing I could point to. It just became something I wanted to accomplish and was the right time.

BackHome Soon: I actually only got the Federation HUD about a month before I ascended. Almost my entire downline was built while i was playing the regular HUD. So, I still ask dumb questions about the Fed HUD in group :-)

Vulpine Eldrich: So after you ascended, did you ever have second thoughts... did you ever begin to wonder just what you had gotten yourself into?

BackHome Soon: No, no second thoughts at all. It's even more fun and enjoyable than I had hoped. We've managed to avoid major drama and pain, and I plan on it staying that way.

Lodi McMillan: We are fortunate in our downlines...we have a fabulous bunch of people

Vulpine Eldrich: So do you have any plans for being the largest kingdom in the Empire, or at least closer to it?

BackHome Soon: Perish that thought! Nope, my only real goal is I'd like to stay on the map. While we welcome and want new people to "come Home", it's never, ever been about the acres for either of us. We love playing Tiny Empires, but i think we have a healthy perspective about it.

BackHome Soon: One apt analogy is what I heard about the game of bridge a long time ago -- it gives you something to do with your hands while you visit your friends.

Lodi McMillan: The relationships, and how we treat each other, are far more important than the size of the kingdom

Vulpine Eldrich: So you've settled into a home, and if you need to add an extra room on now and then, the more the merrier.

Lodi McMillan: Absolutely!

BackHome Soon: I like the sound of that :-)

Lodi McMillan: Always room for another plate at the dinner table

BackHome Soon: And we know that kingdom will ebb and flow over time. There is at least one prince now who plans to eventually ascend on his own and I don't doubt there are others. I fully support that.

Vulpine Eldrich: Have you ever had any situations in which things were less than pleasant-- when you had to settle disputes, misunderstandings, hurt feelings?

Lodi McMillan: Misunderstandings happen, especially in a medium like text chat, where it is hard to discern attitude and intention.

BackHome Soon: Well Vulpine, that unfortunately goes with the territory. I have to say there's been very little of it. We've had some great friends return to Terabithia and some others have found other kingdoms to join. But we've also had people leave and come back too :-)

Vulpine Eldrich: So at least so far, you can say that everything has eventually worked out.

BackHome Soon: Absolutely!

Vulpine Eldrich: Hmm, the latest news on my hud declares that a Sir has been permanently banished from his kingdom. What's been the reaction of your people once they learned of your new options to punish them in some way?

Lodi McMillan: Most have taken it in good humor, and it's been the subject of some joking and playful remarks. Some have wondered about the value and purpose of such punishments. But so far, it seems not to be much of a concern.

BackHome Soon: From my perspective, I don't see me using it much or at all. Lodi and I have a saying that if we don't like what you're doing and you persist, we'll politely ask you to accept the next bribe offer.

Lodi McMillan: There are lots of kingdoms in the Empire...each with its own personality...there are plenty of places for every type of TE player

Vulpine Eldrich: So is there anything special about Home besides warm and friendly? Any sort of place, hobby, or particular set of enthusiasms that a number of people in it like? You mentioned bridge earlier as a comparison.... so when the people of Home are together, what else are they doing besides TE?

BackHome Soon: one word i'd like to add to your warm and friendly description is vocal. Our group isn't shy about chiming in -- either with practical help or a quick joke or tease. But I think most of us share the attitude that TE is not the whole of SL. Folks are busy building, dancing, DJing, SHOPPING, etc... while they monitor their HUDs and chime in on group chat.

BackHome Soon: The diversity of interests is what helps keep it interesting and fun

Vulpine Eldrich: So the main place to find Home within Second Life is actually in your group chat, not some particular Second Life location in world.

Lodi McMillan: We have an active group chat...and talk about anything and everything ;-) Our members have diverse interests, as BH said, and we enjoy that.

BackHome Soon: That's correct. We haven't built a sim just for TE, nor plan to. A few members of our kingdom have gathering and party places that we use from time to time. In fact, we're having a formal dance tomorrow afternoon, with both a DJ and live music.

Vulpine Eldrich: It sounds like it should be a lot of fun (or was a lot of fun, since this interview will be published after it happens!) So is there any new feature or thing that could be added to Tiny Empires that you think could increase the fun and- dare I say- productivity level- of your Kingdom?

Lodi McMillan: Well, everyone's favorite answer to that, of course: More frequent Trader visits!

BackHome Soon: Hmmmmmmmm, it's pretty good now. I think it would be nice to be able to give gold or other rewards more easily to other players. I'm not personally a fan of sabotage and wouldn't mind it going away.

Vulpine Eldrich: So is there any sabotage done from within Home- that you know of, of course.

BackHome Soon: Once and it was addressed immediately. There will always be "oops" clicks, but we try to help our newer players figure out what's good and not. We only have 4 rules in the Kingdom.

BackHome Soon: The Rules:
1. Have fun
2. NO Drama
3. NO Sabo -- EVER!
4. Solve your drama, or I'll pretend I'm King Solomon

Vulpine Eldrich: Does that mean the sword comes out for the baby?

BackHome Soon: so far, haven't had to draw the sword yet :-) I prefer a positve kingdom, not one based on judgment, regulations and structure, and our group seems to agree.

Vulpine Eldrich: And it sounds like you've achieved something at least close to it! So now that you have your own kingdom and, it sounds like, are helping others achieve theirs, what is your advice to them?

BackHome Soon: Remember Rule #1 -- Have fun! TE is just a tiny part of this amazing place called Second Life. Make friends and enjoy them. Do NOT get worked up over phantom acres and non-existent gold!

BackHome Soon: (BTW, the opinions I express may not be shared by our Emperor)

Vulpine Eldrich: Good advice to any player, no matter the rank, I'm sure! So I suppose the last question is... what did I miss? What interesting, unusual thing or opinion is there that we need to know about the two of you and your kingdom that hasn't been mentioned yet?

Lodi McMillan: Our chat, and the level of playfulness within it, would be deemed, er, rather mature by some standards ;-)

BackHome Soon: We brought the tradition of Truth or Dare in group chat with us ;-)

Vulpine Eldrich: So is it a case of "what is said at home stays at home"? :)

BackHome Soon: What? Did i say something? ;-)

Vulpine Eldrich: You said a lot, and I thank you for it and the time you took to say it.

BackHome Soon: The pleasure was ours, Vulpine. Thank you for your time and your interest in Home! I'll bribe you as soon as I get the prompt!

Lodi McMillan: He will, too.....

Lodi McMillan: Thank you, Vulpine, for taking the time to do this.

New TE Titler Available

2008-07-31T04:17:00.000-07:00

From the Emperor:

Greetings all,

I have created a Tiny Empires titler attachment that shows your Tiny Empires kingdom, rank or title, liege, and more.
It connects to the game and automatically retrieves your latest status, so it never gets out of date.

It's completely configurable by clicking buttons on a menu. You can decide how much or how little information
to display. You can show or hide your rank (your special title is used if you have one), your name, your kingdom,
your liege's name, and your King or Queen's name. There are also buttons to fine tune the position and color of the text.

The cost is L$149 at my shop -- landmark included below

Enjoy!
Sincerely,
Ultralite Soleil

The landmark is the normal upgrade station in Kitster. So, now that I've gotten one, here's the details. You simply wear it and you bring up its menu at any point by saying /1 titlemenu or by touching it. (Of course it's by default invisible, which makes that a bit complicated. It's no mod/no transfer, so you can't change that.)

Here is the menu:

To take the items in order...

Turn Off/On Self-explanatory. Poof no text, poof back on.

Position Brings up a sub menu that lets you move the wording up, down, left, right a bit with each click of the button.

Colors Brings up a sub menu with a list of colors to make your text. The choices are White, Gold, Purple, Red, Blue, Green, Orange, Pink.

The other choices hide/show the various parts. With everything on (which is what I had for that screenshot), mine says:

--Tiny Empires--
La Reina Zorra Vulpine Eldrich of Caledon
Ruled by Queen Ellie Bearcat
Subject of Princess Happe Hax

It shouldn't be hard to see which parts are hidden when you click the hide/show button for that part.

And that's the fun! The only quibble I found with it is that the default attachment point is the right ear. When you wear jewelry, that doesn't play nicely with your right earring. But I'm used to playing these sorts of "find the empty attachment point" games. (For me, the most likely choices are mouth or chin.)

Another fun part would be for those of us who have custom title to have the choice to either use our rank, or show our rank in addition to our custom title. Say:

(Princess)La Reina Zorra Vulpine Eldrich of Caledon

...but since there's an empty button on the main menu, it wouldn't surprise me if that isn't planned for the next revision. (v1.2, judging by the name of the Titler!)

So let the fun begin at all of those TE parties... or even other parties! "What's this Tiny Empires thing you're wearing?....."

Cujo Mayo Interview

2008-07-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

Today I'm announcing the beginning of a new feature here... as they become available (always depending upon the consent of the monarchs), I plan to release interviews that I've done with them. This way, we can learn a bit about the other kingdoms and people in them. If you or a monarch you know might be interested, just send me an IM or notecard In World, and I'll be happy to arrange things. Who knows, it might be YOUR King or Queen here next time-- except for Arcadians, because for them, it's this time! Our interview series starts there...

Vulpine Eldrich: Hello, everyone. I'm here today with King Cujo Mayo of Arcadia, who has kindly consented to give us some of his time to tell us of himself and his kingdom. Thank you for the consideration, Cujo.

Cujo Mayo: Thank you for having me. :-)

Vulpine Eldrich: Let's start with first things first. How big is the Kingdom of Arcadia, and when was it founded?

Cujo Mayo: Well, Arcadia is the largest Minor Kingdom at the moment, and with a little luck we should make the big map sometime next month. And I believe we finally saw our dreams come true on Dec. 13, 2007 when we became the 17th Kingdom.

Vulpine Eldrich: So you've been in existence for some time! What kingdom did you ascend from?

Cujo Mayo: We came from the great Kingdom of Camelot.

Vulpine Eldrich: Were you ever in any other Kingdom in your TE career?

Cujo Mayo: Yes, I started out in Somerset, but moved to Camelot not long after I started playing.

Vulpine Eldrich: Was there any reason for the move?

Cujo Mayo: Well at the time, I thought the purpose of the game was to move higher in the Hierarchy of a kingdom, meaning the closer you were to a monarch, the closer you would be to your own kingdom. So I received a bribe from Kathrin Dassin who was closer to Queen FoxyKim than I was to Queen Eva, so I made the move. It wasn't until a little later that I found out that all didn't matter.

Vulpine Eldrich: ...And that the true path to a kingdom consisted of acreage and those below you, regardless of who was higher. So you had an ambition to become a King from very early in your career.

Cujo Mayo: Yes, I'm very competitive and I really didn't see a point in the game after you've accomplished everything short of obtaining a Kingdom. So I set my sights on being the largest Kingdom in TE.

Vulpine Eldrich: That means you've still got a goal to strive for, then! So was there ever a point at which you said "being a King isn't a dream anymore, it's something I'm going to do, all that's left is when and how"?

Cujo Mayo: Well about a week before I ascended, I was playing TE as normal - earning acres at a very slow pace - and I realized that it would be at least 6 months before I would be able to ascend at my current pace, so I just all of a sudden decided it was time to take the next step and see what I could do to speed up the process.

Vulpine Eldrich: So what did you do then?

Cujo Mayo: I messaged around to see if anyone was interested in acquiring their own kingdom and would be willing to lend me the acres needed to ascend if I joined their line, thereby giving them enough acres to ascend as well. I finally found someone, and was able to get within 3 steps of ascension within the next week before I realized the person I made the deal with had ulterior motives and I was about to get the raw end of the deal. So I rejoined Kathrin and asked around again for someone gracious enough to put me over the top, and thankfully you answered my call! ;-)

Vulpine Eldrich: Well, to fill in more from our end, we had just created the Kingdom of Caledon, and it was actually our Queen who heard of your call and asked me about the possibilities. So, a (then) relative stranger answered and helped you over the top. In your experience, how many other kingdoms have been created in a similar way?

Cujo Mayo: well I honestly can't say that I personally know of another Kingdom that has followed the same path, but just observing the number of Kingdoms that would ascend then shortly afterward would fall in the rankings below a 20,000 acre Kingdom, I would say at least a quarter of the Kingdoms today have used this method.

Vulpine Eldrich: Speaking of smaller kingdoms, do you ever get the impression that the other monarchs tend to take you less seriously because yours is a smaller kingdom?

Cujo Mayo: Hmmm.... well thinking on it, I'm not sure that the bigger monarchs necessarily take us smaller kingdoms any less seriously; however, the regular citizen of TE might. It seems the bigger kingdoms just keep getting bigger while the smaller kingdoms struggle to survive, and I think that's in part due to the fact that Count John Doe believes a smaller Kingdom is somewhat inferior and/or more inactive. And in reality, that's true to some extent, because the monarchs of the Minor Kingdoms have fewer privileges than the bigger kingdoms, which just adds to the discrepancy and widening of the gap between the rich and poor.

Vulpine Eldrich: So for Count John Doe, is there any practical difference between a Major Kingdom and a Minor Kingdom?

Cujo Mayo: Well from what I can think of off the top of my head, the only thing a monarch cannot do with less than 20,000 total acres is to give special titles. So aside from that, and the fact that Minor Kingdoms have MUCH less drama and are much more tight knit within the Kingdom, there's really not much difference

Vulpine Eldrich: I've heard it said that the Trader tends to visit smaller kingdoms more often than larger ones. Do you know if this is true?

Cujo Mayo: Well considering I'm only a part of Arcadia (as opposed to some monarchs who have many alts in many different Kingdoms), I can't really say. All I know is he doesn't come around enough as it is. :-P

Vulpine Eldrich laughs

Vulpine Eldrich: I think we can all agree on that! So, considering Arcadia, let's say I wake up one morning, come in here and say "I want to meet people who are in the TE Kingdom of Arcadia". Where should I go?

Cujo Mayo: Hmmm... I'd have to say currently, the best chance you have of meeting an Arcadian would be on the sim Cursed. There's 2 to 10 of us here at any given time. I've had a plan for about 9 months now of building a sim just for Arcadia, but that's been kind of put on hold until I can get Arcadia on the map and back amongst the Major Kingdoms. However, I'm afraid that with the rate that Kingdoms are forming - 4 in the last 36 hours, for instance - it really won't mean much, before too long, to be a part of one kingdom as opposed to another. It seems that unless you're a top 10 Kingdom, it just really isn't that big of a deal.

Vulpine Eldrich: So why is the sim Cursed the place for Arcadians, and why does it have that name?

Cujo Mayo: Cursed, or *~ Cursed ~*, is the name of Queen Syarra Hebert's and my store, where we sell Jewelry and Furniture. We have about 4 or so Arcadians who live on a part of the sim, and we have a big park with a pond on it, so it's just where most of us hang out, have fun, and fish.

Vulpine Eldrich: Oooh, jewelry! Does that mean that Arcadians get special no transfer editions that are only available to Arcadians?

Cujo Mayo: Yes ma'am, I'm in the process of making Limited Edition Jewelry, for both men and women, that is exclusive to Arcadians. I just have to find a good, cheap scripter and, more importantly, time.

Vulpine Eldrich: Couldn't we all use some of that! So what else do Arcadians have that others don't?

Cujo Mayo: Well, I like to think that Arcadians enjoy a perfect combination of all the good aspects of a great Kingdom - loyalty, friendship, actual enjoyment when playing TE instead of it being a task - and none of the bad qualities. And as I mentioned before, there are plans in the works to make Arcadia one of the most envied and sought after Kingdoms in all of Terra Aurea!

Vulpine Eldrich: Great! Speaking of bad times, have you had any as King?

Cujo Mayo: Not really any that I can think of. Being a smaller Kingdom, we don't have any drama to deal with, so I don't have to play "babysitter" all the time. I just have the self imposed pressure of doing whatever I can to make TE enjoyable for Arcadians and to help them succeed in moving up the ranks.

Vulpine Eldrich: What sort of programs, habits, practices, etc, do you have to help your people?

Cujo Mayo: Well I always do what I can to get people acres and gold, whether it be through bribes, land tracts, giving away acres, etc. As soon as we become a Major Kingdom, I'll be using all of my gold to do whatever I can to make sure money and land filters down the lines. And, of course, I always make myself available to Arcadians to help them out with any questions or any other help that they might have.

Vulpine Eldrich: Do you have any plans to use your new 'punish' option to spank anyone?

Cujo Mayo: LOL I have to admit that I used the punish option on my Queen Syarra when I first received it, but after learning that the acres do not actually go to the poorest subjects in the Kingdom - and you essentially pay money to lose acres - that will be the last time I'll be using that option.

Vulpine Eldrich: Well, we all live and learn! And speaking of new features, are there any new 'dream features' you'd love to see in Tiny Empires?

Cujo Mayo: Hmmmm.... I'd like to see more games or the sort, i.e. Festival or Trader, which we can spend our gold on yet have some fun. Although, more importantly, I'd like to see a way that Kingdoms can either combine with one another or form Kingdom Alliances, and perhaps some way to weed out dead and inactive Kingdoms, thereby giving Kingdoms some sort of real purpose again. However, I'd like to see the changes be made on the Federation HUD instead of another Add-On, especially after the Emperor originally said any additional improvements would be made solely on the Fed HUD when he was justifying the cost.

Vulpine Eldrich: In other words, no new types of HUDs, no new prices we have to pay to play at the 'new level'?

Cujo Mayo: Yes, I don't believe we should have to keep shelling out money to play new aspects of the game - that was the entire purpose of buying the Federation HUD. Besides, it's hard enough to keep new players active as it is, and would be nearly impossible to convince someone to buy 3 HUDs just to keep up to date - especially with the recent price increases.

Vulpine Eldrich: Oh, yes, those price increases. Have you noticed any greater difficulty getting new players into Tiny Empires because of those?

Cujo Mayo: Yes, I've had to buy a few myself for new players just to entice them to keep playing after the Trial HUD. I believe the Trial HUD should be changed to stop at 50 or 100 acres so that a new player can experience things such as the Trader, which might help them justify the cost - although, yes, I do realize that would create a massive inflation in acres and new Kingdoms when everyone would use their alts to build up their lines.

Vulpine Eldrich: It seems like there are always side effects... so, have you ever put alts into TE?

Cujo Mayo: LOL I knew that was the next question. And yes, I do have a few alts, as does anyone else who's really trying to succeed in TE.

Vulpine Eldrich: One of the recent 'you might be addicted to TE' lines I put onto the blog was "Your ninth and newest alt just made Count". So, not to count your alts, but just out of curiosity, why did you do it? What purpose do they serve?

Cujo Mayo: Well one purpose they serve, as I said before, is when monarchs use them to spy on other Kingdoms by joining another line and being a part of their group; however, I think that's pretty much a waste of time. I started my alts to get a few extra acres, back about 11 months ago, when I was in fast pursuit of becoming a Prince. I kept them around because I had already bought them the Full HUD, but now I just play them when the Trader comes, if at all.

Vulpine Eldrich: So, looking back over your career, what advice would you give to someone just starting in TE today who wants to become a monarch?

Cujo Mayo: First and foremost, make absolutely sure you REALLY want to be a monarch, because it will take literally countless hours of your time, a whole lot of patience, and maybe even cause a few grey hairs; and quite a few monarchs have immediately regretted their ascension and would love to return back to a Prince or Princess. Secondly, TE has a tendency to show you who your true loyal friends are, and those who are not so loyal; however, more than likely you will meet people along the way whom will become some of your very best friends in SL and perhaps in RL. Third, and most importantly, you ALWAYS must remember that this is just a game that's played within a virtual world. A LOT of people lose sight of that fact in their quest for power and dominance and tend to make this game into something it was not intended. So just have fun, enjoy the ride, and remember the "Golden Rule" is as big a part of this game as anything.

Vulpine Eldrich: Very good advice, for here and elsewhere, I'm sure! Well, that only brings up one last question.... did I miss asking you any questions that you wanted to answer? If so, have at it!

Cujo Mayo: There's nothing I can think of off the top of my head, we seem to have covered almost everything. If anyone feels intrigued by our conversation and would like to be part of something special, I'm just a search button away. I'm eager to welcome anyone into Arcadia with open arms, and I will personally do whatever I can to make them feel right at home. I chose the name Arcadia for the simple fact that it's very meaning is "Utopia" or "a perfect, harmonious place", and I've done everything in my power to create just that.

Vulpine Eldrich: And you can't ask for better than perfection! Well, thank you so much for your time and insights, and one last request, if I might...

Cujo Mayo: sure :-)

Vulpine Eldrich: the next time you're fishing in the royal moat, catch one for me! And in the meantime, have a good day :)

Cujo Mayo: ummm, I hope you mean something other than the alligators :-P

Cujo Mayo: Thank you very much Vulpine, and have a great day too!