Mining Coilition

[Triston]

Please pardon me if there is anything wrong with the post besides my horrid spelling, I am new to actually posting on forums and know little about it.  (Nothing I can do about the spelling, I by nature suck at it   )  For those of you who have not met me yet, I am Lord Triston, Pontifex of Trade and Olympus' new weapon vendor.  I have had breif discussions with many guildmates on there craftsmen "brothers" (could not seem to fine the actual brother itself) and the potential for a formal coilition of miners, with the intent to make colored ingots readily available for sale to both the public and PGoH members.  For those of you out there with miners, it is common knowlage that gathering any vast ammount of any one color of ore is a truly daunting task, one which takes lots of time, skill, practice, knowlage and luck.  My proposal is to have members of PGoH dust off there "brothers" show them the light of day for once, and have them come and RP a craftsman!  Sound boring?  Not in the least I assure you, while its not exactly slaying anchient evils, it is entertaining in its own right.  There is two possable methods to go about this, an easy way I personally dont like, and a hard way I do, I am open to suggestions.

The first method is the "broker tactic" which basicly breaks down to you sell to a broker and he sells for higher.  This is far easier in both time involved, paperwork, and claims resolution, but I dislike it for many reasons.  One, it hammpers the ability to RP, my key objective here, and basicly makes your charicter no more then a mule to make you money.  Also, it limits the "equal profit" nature of a coilition, something I have no desire to do.  What I prefer is the a far more complex but rewarding scenario.

All miners interested in partaking form up a governing body, one which decides everything by a 2/3 vote.  All decisions, from elected positions to price setting will be voted on, and no person will have absolute powers.  To ensure that we can make and mantain a reputation as an all encompassing coilition in stead of another group of players out to make payday, all ore will be mined, and valued on a scale within the coilition.  (Example- 1 val ingot is equal to 3 ver ingots  FAR FROM IN STONE, but you get the idea)  Then, we elect a coilition head, an exchange head, and a sales head.  These positions have no greater vote then any other position, and hold no veto power, they simply maintain order and consistancy.  From here we elect a miner for each colored ore, from Dull Copper to Valorite, this person is in charge of seeing to it that his/her color is being harvested.  Should everyone try to harvest valorite for max profits, the exchange head simply will stop taking them, thus stoping credit for that color until all other colors have been caught up.  Why do this if not for profit?  Simply put, this is not about profit, this is about RPing our craftsmen to the fullest, and enjoying each others company.  But profits there will be indeed.  The Sales head quite possably has the most difficult task before him, as he must maintain exactly how much of each ore he sells, and see to it that all funds are transfered to the Exchange officer, who sees to it that all miners receive there due pay.  Why will this be efficent?  Simply put, after 16 everyone will want there val suits, but several factors stop them.  1-availability, 2- affordability and 3- loss.  These will make a midrange suit most effective for most players.  (say shadow, copper, or bronze).  There is a whole lot more ideas I have on this, but this is ground one, the skeleton, I need feed back, and to know if there are that many players out there who would play there craftsmen given the oppertunity.  All feedback, good and bad, flame or blessing, is apreciated, and will be taken in stride.

                          My thanks, Lord Triston, Pontifex of Trade

[Lord Ser Brightblade]

A great idea.  I believe you should contact, or be contacted by the current Senator of Trades to discuss this further.  He may be contacted via pigeon at 20540191.

-BB

[Borg]

For the Ancients.....or at least for myself and it seems as well for SerBrightblade.....it does my heart good to read this post.

This was the foundation of the Empire (BEFORE there was miners.......it was smithing)  

***fades to memory***

Lags, Bob, Balandar and Myself would venture out.....Balandar would float around us while us 3 would get our butts tanned and armors dented and broken by.....let me tell you the nastiest Ogres and Ettins you could imagine.  They were at the top of the food chain back then.....dungeons had not even been explored fully yet.

We would return and our kin (alts) would work on our suits.  For pieces that were destroyed our 5th member ever was Rattlehead.  Rattlehead had one great distinction that...though he has left the realms.....he was the FIRST Grandmaster Smith on Catskills.  Dressed in his camoflague green robe (since he worked in the field on random forges and anvils that VULCAN-GOD of Metal would place in those days) Rattlehead would evade Murderers and such to repair the realms warriors wares.

When the days came that mining was taught by VULCAN to us...he forged a collective and made great strides.

***fades back to present***

Rattlehead left before the Senate was established...but the coordinating figure would be the Senator (one who keeps track of xyz and economic issues) since that is part n parcel thier role and resposibility.  Now I will say this......you sir Triston fit the role of Legate of Mining better than any other before you I believe.  

The Legate role is one of a "specific" skill and/or activity that would reside within a house of the Senate.  The Legate is the point man for the skill/activity and is the Senators aid in making and processing the event and/or resources gained into the pre-determined goal.

We used to have Mining Madness events......where our record was 55,000 ingots mined in 4 hours time....this was back when silver alone was found.

We had Wood Works events where our record was 61000 logs.....LOGS not lumber heheh they are heavier....back when lumber was not craftable from logs.....4 hours time.

Hide Harvests record was 15000 in a 4 hour timeframe.

What was very interesting was that for the Hide Harvests....HERA-GODDESS of BEASTS and CERES-GODDESS of HARVESTS aided the Empire by placing massive harvesting areas INSIDE Delucia and around Delucia of shepards, cattlemen and deer herds which still remain to this day....we had prayed for this and received this blessing.

Back to your plans potential Legate Triston.

My only advice on your calculating and such would be to KISS it......Keep It Simple Stupid....which was a saying Lags would say always......"whatever we do make sure we keep it simple because at least Bob here can be stupid and heck we all are stupid sometimes hehehe"  Lags was a common bottomline man......simpler the better.  Only after we mastered the simple did we add on the more complex.  The Codex is a culmination of 5 years of small additions compiled together as what we are today.....and it still grows small steps at a time.

Your proposal again is a great idea and I will support it with my drone I built years ago to do the work for my personal house...I will reactivate him and send him to you.  

For official comments........you are CORRECT also that the strange powers of Ilshenar have begun to seep into the world we have always called our lands of Britannia....this has had a profound effect on natural resources.  The Decay spell showed how destructive and powerful the magic there is at redefining the land itself.......this will come to be as well in the resources......ingots, hides and wood.

ALL of these resources will have properties that will enhance various matters........we do .........WE DO need to make sure the Empire is ready for this and BIND TOGETHER as we always have to bring the true might of the Empire to bear.

Citizens our our foundation strength and when they pull as one....mountains can be moved......cities can be built.....populations can be clothed and fed.

This will undoubtably be an area that the Empire can easily lead the realm in.....I would hope all families (accts) inside the Empire would send thier miners, lumberjacks or hidecollectors to any of the harvesting events that will be planned.

The Good of the Many principal we all have sworn to uphold and participate in.........just like defending the Empire in the Legion.....The Good of the Many principal is truly at work in Harvest Events

[Steel DarKnight]

*Grins*

I see you have taken the idea we spoke of and run with it. You also have stated the exact reason for which this enterprise should be undertaken. The time required for one person to mine, harvest, and slaughter the resources necessary to operate a large volume, profitable operation would be immense.  I have seen that such operations have the potential to be highly profitable. Unfortunately one person, alone, would soon lose focus of our true purpose here. (i.e. FUN!!) Now any conglomerate of individuals must continue to follow that very same Golden Rule.

To further what we had spoke about:

Ingots are and will continue to be the most sought after resource. Versions 16 will only increase this demand. But let us not forget the other resources. Wood and leather, are, and continue to be a highly sought after bulk resource. While these items will not have the sales value of ingots but will still be highly profitable in bulk sales.  Also, we would be better served by offering one stop shopping for our customers (Wal-Mart anyone).

Plus I would like to mention that my initial thoughts on this conglomerate were not limited to raw materials only. I had envisioned a total store of partners these partners would participate in all areas that they are able. Such as weapons, armor, raw materials, etc.  Socialist as it may seem I had envisioned equal distribution of profits to all members. To keep things simple a quota of product required would be issued after our weekly meetings. This would be assigned to each participate to match the abilities of their tradesman. This material would be delivered to the stockpile the following week and new quota’s issued. In case of someone coming short on quota’s (which will happen for various reasons) they are still in line for equal reimbursement. Missed quota’s are logged and are expected to be brought to date and soon as possible. But, as a rule we are FAMILY. I would not something like this to cause tensions or conflicts. As long as all operate in good faith I feel we should find this to be an enjoyable and profitable venture.

Now as far as other items I previously mentioned. There will be times when the party responsible for a certain category of items will not have what is necessary. Again, this is where a total coalition comes in. Need a bronze Runic for the shortage on a particular item? Well the smith responsible may have recently broken his but as a coalition others can step in to fill this gap. Of course this will affect them because the loss of that particular stock item may, infact, reduce sales as a whole cutting total payment to the coalition.

I look forward to future discussion on this issue. Please feel free to contact me.

[KhioTong]

WOW! I am very happy about this Idea/Concept, Trison and Steel.

I would be so ever happy to be able to turn to PGoH for all of my purchasing needs. Can such enthusiamitastic things surely ever be possible?

Hmmm...

[Earwen]

I would like to hear more on this as my family members would be interested in joining this coalition.

[Elathiel]

Add Elathiel TH, PGoH Archeologist to the list with pride. An excellent idea and I'd be more than happy to help with mining for the Empire!

(On a side not: Surgery on my hand went well and with some luck I will be back to adventuring in about a week!  Thank u to everyone that sent a pigeon with good wishes for me!!)

[Triston]

I am absolutly thrilled with the response we are receiving on this idea, and would like to add a few thoughts.  First on the Emperor's thoughts, keep is simple stupid.  I personally could not have put it better.  I have the unfortunate curse of being both amitious and creative, and as I found myself before the keyboard I could not help but type down ALL my ideas.  While I still like them, they are very long term goals, and as is keeping things simple would be in the best interests of all involved.  To Steel, I AM SO SORRY!  I totally forgot to mention you, and this was as much your brain child as mine!!!  I feel horrid about that!  With that said, yes, a "wal-mart" concept is very good, to be able to provide all wares to all customers both guilded and alike would be wonderful!  For such a task though, many would be needed.  I have seen many a well stocked shoppe go under not for lack of buisness, but for lack of capability.  One or a few individuals simply cannot support all wares for a wide customer base.  (trust me ive tried on many an occasion)  As far as the mining/chopping/leather madness ideas, we can beat those recs, no doubt in my mind!     To recap, thank you all for response and support, and especially input.  The best ideas on paper never work in real life (see: Communism   )

but with lots of valuable input and support, what i feel is a worthwile venture may see the light of reality and become a perminate fixture within out lives.

[Lord Ser Brightblade]

Tristan pls send me a icq to 26562417.  I don't seem to have yours yet.  I believe I also have a few maps you can use to complete GM Cartography and then we can go a treasure huntin!

[Ballyn]

Sir Tristan, please accept Jallyn JOAT as part of this wonderful venture.

[Steel DarKnight]

No worries Triston, my statement at the time, was in general Thank you, for adding some flesh to the idea.

And starting the discussion.

I am very pleased to see so many of PGoH interested in this idea and opportunity.

The opportunities to role-play an area many of us have not previously considered.

The opportunity to assist in making PGoH not only a military might but an economic one as well.

The opportunity for *grin* profit.

Now that I have some time to write, I wish to flesh out the vague ideas I had posted previously on the reasons for and possible structure of a PgoH merchant “conglomerate”.

As I stated previously I feel that group ownership of the business would be of an advantage to all. The reasons for which I will further detail below.

1) As a group resources can be gathered in far larger quantities and in much less time than can be done independently. This will assist in allowing more time for the individual to pursue his own goals for his non-mule characters. I even think that resource gathering can be made “Fun” by making it into a PgoH event such as was mentioned by Emperor Borg previously. (“The mad dash for ore! Ready Go!”)

2) The potential for PgoH to become a “economic” force within the realms. As we have all seen prices for goods, services, and items have skyrocketed. These prices have made it almost impossible for your “casual” player to be able to acquire anything of value.  As a group, with our large variety of tradesman and potential for large quantities of resources to build upon, we can help to establish the market. Now in this I do not mean not being profitable I refer rather to the business theory of a “Buyers market”. The “Buyer” not the “seller” control pricing in a competitive market. The “customer” will go where his or her currency has the highest value. The “Seller” must modify the value of his product to compete. If, as a group, PGoH agrees on a market price for a particular item that is less than the “standard”, with proper advertisement, the volume of sales on that item will increase. As other vendors business drops on that item they will drop pricing to compete. Thus, a new market standard is set. The advantage is during this process the PGoH “conglomerate” has established a “reputation” for quality pricing and a has then aquired consumer base.  

3) Non-home owning members will have the opportunity to participate in UO trade something they may have not been able to previously. One must only be proficient in one trade skill to participate.

4) As business grows Olympus will become a “hub” for the realm. This will increase awareness of not only “PGoH” but of the ideals in which the empire follows. This will also help recruitment by leaps and bounds.

5) Members with family capable of multiple trades will not be limited to only one aspect of their abilities. One week one may be called upon for ore resources where the next week they may be called to gather wood. This will add variety and help to make things “fun”

6) Adventures are to be had in this for our non-mule brothers. Sold out on Dragon Scale armor? “Hmmm now where can I get the necessary resources” *brandishes sword*. Feathers for arrows? *Watch out harpies*

Now as for the structure of this “conglomerate” I would like to present the following ideas has a baseline for further discussion.

1) I agree with Tristons ideas as to the structure and voting rights of the “council” of tradesmen. Although, we must remember that the “ancients” have already set up a head of trade. I agree with the council but the council should be led or overseen by the current “senator of trade”.

2) The council will, as a group, establish pricing for the most common items. Therefore the council members should be knowledgeable in the current market value of items. (This should be fairly easy as all of us use outside vendors)

3) Certain elected members to be responcible for certain aspects of this enterprise.

+ A vendor controller

+ An inventory head that reviews stock and issues weekly quota’s for the membership.

+ Recordkeeper- someone who not only tracks pricing but also records current market averages.

4) As I mentioned, as a group we can pull on the abilities of the whole instead of the individual. Each member will be assigned weekly quotes of resources to gather based on his/hers “Families” ability. Failure to meet this goal will not be considered reason to withhold income as long as it is felt that the member did what he/she could to gather what is necessary. Judgement on this should be left to the council.

5) Resources can be stockpiled at the store location. From this stockpile, which was gathered by the  “group”, Craftsmen will produce finished goods. Individuals participating will not need to pull from their “private” stock.

6) Not only shall resources be stockpiled but also finished goods shall be stockpiled. This will allow the “head of vendors” to rapidly resupply sold goods.

7) All vendors will be placed by one individual. This individual will be responsible for attractive placement of goods and the accumulation of “profit” from goods sold. This profit will be stockpiled and distributed on an agreed upon timeline. Each vendor will not be controlled by an individual it will be a cumulative effort by all members.

8) Per Emperor Borg’s previous decree a vendor(s) to be placed to cover all aspects of trades available in the realm.

9) We should all take part in promoting the group’s wares. I would like to see a “Grand Opening” with a crafts bazaar. This would be accompanied with members making and dropping runes to the tradehouse at strategic locals (i.e. Britt Bank, Rune Gates, Shame hehe).

Now with the Emperors and the Senator of trades permission I would like to see a list of interested participants by posting your name below or as listed above. It would also be of great assistance if you would place what areas of trades you can participate in.

Also I feel that an in game meeting of all interested participants would be warranted at this time. How about before or after the meeting Sunday?

Please feel free to post any suggestions, or comments.

Steel DarKnight.

[LizShue]

Groovy - can we set-up stockpiles somewhere where everyone can add?  I *think* a person can still add objects to a locked down pile without being friended to the house in question.  Or we could have a secure to friends container somewhere around olympus (as I presume the crafters will need a way to access the raw materials).

It would certainly give my brother more incentive to get out there and mine again.  Nothin' cooler than building a big horde of resources and then pickin up a new blade for your troubles!

-LizShue

[Elathiel]

Ah yes... Taking form I see  I agree fully with Steel's words and am available Sunday or any time for a meeting. My brother, Elathiel TH is a treasure hunter by trade... He can assisit with ingots and provide all the cooked fish steaks we need as well.  Also... He is already GM Cart. and frantically working on lockpicking to start doing some nice treasure maps with and for guildmates and friends of the Empire.

[Borg]

Ahh........the beauty of invention.   Inventing the event as per say.

The location you now discuss......area to drop piles onto....has always been planned in the mind of Olympus to be ....

The Port Authority.

In the stories written so far it has shown the Port Authority is becoming a hub or location that cargo is delivered.  Inside this building the following things were going to be created.

NOTE: I personally admit my....how does Balandar say..."el sucko" ability to decorate.....while I can visualize quite well ideas and designs.......graphics ingame systems.

Villa was to have a VAULT and then a counter for standard resources Logs, Hides, Ore, Leather, Sand, etcs......here is where drop offs would occur.

Vendor Operators for Villa still are available.

Salvage Vendor (Sunken Treasure stuffs and fished up thingys)

Magic Mace Vendor

Magic Archer Vendor

Magic Fencing Vendor

Magic Swords Vendor (Waldorf signed up for this one)