COMMUNITY - FORUMS - GENERAL DISCUSSION
The Town Planning Guide (WIP)

Become a Light in the Darkness

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One thing is certain, Elyria is a land steeped in mystery and filled with numerous, untold dangers. If the natural hazards don't kill you then you may find yourself at the wrong end of a bandit's sword thrust ... or worse.

The only assurance of safety for the children of Mann is to band together into the security of community; places where we can help each other endure the ravages of the hostile environment and fend off those who would take and destroy what is not rightfully theirs.

However these settlements must be managed wisely. Poorly designed or managed communities will be like weak and malnourished Trison that even a pack of Canis Rabbits could pull down and slaughter.

Built right though and these communities will help the sons and daughters of Mann rise up into their rightful places as lords and masters of Elyria. Our towns and cities will be glittering jewels in the passage of time whose majesty will eclipse even the tales of wonder of the gods themselves.

Will you be one of the brave and wise who will be a light in the darkness for the children of Mann?


"Only in and through community will the children of Mann achieve the fullness of themselves."

Mayor Stigweard Sitheach of New Rothiemurchus


Purpose and Scope of this Guide

This Town Planning Guide is to help all aspiring Mayor's design, build and manage thriving, resilient communities in the lands of Elyria. Thriving in the sense of the abundant wealth and health of their citizens, and resilient in the sense that their community will withstand and endure any of the ravages that Elyria can, and undoubtedly will, throw at them.

This guide is inevitably an ongoing work in progress. It is a collation of the best information made available from Soulbound Studios amongst the various Design Journals, Q&A's, and AMA's. You will undoubtedly find yet to be finished areas of this guide, as more information is made available this guide will be revised and updated ... thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Whilst the guide is curated by myself, I encourage and welcome all discussion and input from community members.


"Communities are the bloodflow of the Kingdom. Upon the backs of the common people will the legends of Kings and Queens be told. The monarch that remembers this will prosper. Those that do not will become dust in the history of the forgotten."

Mayor Stigweard Sitheach of New Rothiemurchus


Table of Contents

1. How to Become a Mayor (see below)

>> Before and After Exposition Begins >> Possible Roles and Skills Required

2. Settlement Specifications Click Here

>> Settlement sizes, population, and requirements >> Resources available >> Buildings available >> Trades available for citizens

3. Managing Your Settlement Click Here

>> Town Management UI >> Construction and Building >> Tax and Trade >> Research and development >> Community culture and happiness

4. Defending Your Settlement Click Here

>> Enforcing the law >> Defensive structures >> Town militia

5. Politics Click Here

>> Holding onto your title >> Being a good neighbour

6. Compilation of Dev Q&A / AMA Click Here


"The land is filled with those who would burn, destroy, steal, and violate everything that you hold precious. If not for the vigilance of the free-folk to stand together for the common good the four corners of Elyria would descend into violent chaos. So stand united and keep the fighting men strong and well provisioned. Rid your lands of the purveyors of grief and make your settlements bastions of righteousness."

Mayor Stigweard Sitheach of New Rothiemurchus


1. How to Become a Mayor

>> Before Exposition

Obviously the only way to become a Mayor before Exposition is to purchase the Baron/Mayor level pledge. The Kickstarter level pledges will be available for 30-days from the end of the campaign via the chroniclesofelyria.com website. For another 6-months after that, up to Exposition, you can still "buy-in" as a Mayor.

You will get:

  • Management of approx 25 parcels of land, some of which you will own personally on which you can build your own residential, commercial, or industrial buildings using the pre-launch IP.
  • There will be pre-established buildings in place, some may be on parcels of land you own outright. It is assumed that there will be a well, a tavern, a town hall, and a religious statue.
  • You may purchase extra parcels of land with pre-launch IP.

>> After Exposition

1. Build your own town

You could very legitimately band together with other players to start your own town from scratch. You would have to:

  • Locate and take ownership of the right number of parcels of land to form first a hamlet (i.e. 3 parcels), then a village (i.e. 9 parcels) and then finally a town (i.e. 25 parcels).
  • Have the prequisite buildings (i.e. a well, a tavern, and a town hall).

When a Village is promoted to a Town, the Elders must sign a Town Charter and appoint a Mayor. You register your Town with the County. As part of the registrations, one Elder becomes the Mayor, the rest of the Elders become members of the Town Council.

The first Eldar to submit the charter to the regional Count becomes the Mayor of the new town.

2. Possibly Claim Cassus Belli on a current Mayor (??)

According to current information you can only claim Cassus Belli on a character with a Noble title. There may be a way to claim an Aristocratic title from a Mayor but at this time we do not know.

Please see DJ #18: Kingdom & Land Management.

3. Be appointed if the Mayor position is vacant.

If the current Mayor dies without an heir or he is removed from office by the regional count then this will create a power vacuum that you may fill. Once again though you must have a legitimate claim to the title, i.e. being a landowner of the town/city.

>> Possible Roles and Skills Required

It is expected that the official duties of a Mayor will only require 4-6 real-time hours per week performing duties like:

  • Zoning parcels of land for residential, commercial, industrial, farming.
  • Upholding the law of the County.
  • Managing and collecting taxes.
  • Planning and organising town developments.

If the average MMORPG players spends 22 hours a week in-game, then this leaves plenty of time for a player to pursue other interests whether it is adventuring in the surrounding area, playing the Dance of Dynasties in the regional politics, or perfecting their chosen craft or profession. However, I anticipate that the Mayor's role will be one of Jack of All Trades Master of None … so to speak.

The following roles will be beneficial:

~ Explorer - Cartographer

Knowing the lay of the land within 3-days travel around your own town will be vital. As quickly as possible the Mayor should know what resources are in easy reach of the town. So once you have the required planning and development under way spending some time exploring your surroundings will be of high importance.

You should be making a note of:

  • Resources for suppliers and crafters (hunting grounds, mines, quarries, farmlands, fishing, lumber mills etc.).
  • Future roads and trade routes.
  • Possible directions of threats from bandits, raiders, or invaders.
  • Possible lairs for monsters etc that you can't handle yourself (i.e. future work for adventurers).
  • Positions for future defences (i.e. watch towers, keeps, etc.).

DJ-10-Maps-Cartography-and-Navigation

DJ-8-Character-Roles-and-Skill-Advancement

~ Supplier - Merchant

Gold, or whatever Elyrian currency will be, is the lifeblood of your settlement. You can be assured that many if not most players will go where the money is and the richer your citizens are the fuller your town coffers will be.

From all indications, your rates (or property tax) will come from both the quantity and quality of structures in your settlement. This means that your population needs to grow but they also need to be wealthy enough to make improvements on their commercial and residential buildings.

Therefore one of your core roles is to create as many trade opportunities as possible. For an early settlement it means someone might have to literally pack up a merchant wagon full of your local wares and take it to the next town/city … and that someone might be you.

Even if it is not you will want to stay very close to the flow of wealth in your town, so having a working knowledge of the ways of the merchant will be highly recommended.

DJ-8-Character-Roles-and-Skill-Advancement

~ Bard

DJ-8-Character-Roles-and-Skill-Advancement

Bards are word smiths as well as entertainers and “charmers”. It would be reasonable to say that scribe work would be a part and parcel of such a profession. For all of these reasons the Way of the Bard could be a useful to a Mayor.

Also, when it comes to adventuring, Bards tend to take 3rd row in a fight, and seeing that a Mayor's administration duties will occupy a good part of their lives it is reasonable to say that they may not be an outstanding front line skirmisher. Another reason why a Bardic role may be well suited.

Helpful Skills for a Mayor:

~ Scribing skill called Contract Writing

If you are an MMO veteran you will know that when you arrive in a new town some of the best quests on offer are from whoever is in charge. That's right! You are going to be the guy or girl with the big golden exclamation mark over your head … of course not literally.

Players are going to be looking for work and adventure, so make certain you have a list of jobs to give them. This means of course you are going to have to become a professional Contract Writer. It won't be just with adventurers though, trade agreements, lease agreements, bounties, treaties, etc are all going to become a standard fare of your life, so being a master scribe will almost be a must for any successful Mayor.

DJ-7-Contracts-and-PlayerCreated-Professions

~ Architect

Whether you are starting from scratch or developing an already established settlement, being close to how and where the buildings in your town are built will be very useful. It could very well be a lucrative line of work and will also get you down on the level of your citizens.

It would also mean you can help shape the look and feel of your settlement determining whether it retains the European style or heading off in a completely new direction.

DJ-14-Player-Housing--Architecture--Construction

~ Builder

Following on from the Architect it could also be very useful to be a builder as well. I can imagine that at later stages more specialised builders will emerge from among your citizens, however being able to help your folks “set up sticks” would be useful in terms of getting your town moving quickly.

DJ-14-Player-Housing--Architecture--Construction

~ Combat (i.e. Town Sheriff)

I believe the very nature of the open PVP will inevitably see miscreants and professional griefers inhabiting your town. As your settlement grows in size and wealth there will be players who see that as both a challenge and a rich hunting ground. So basically you must expect that criminals will be a standard feature of your town.

If your town is well connected to local counts and dukes then you may possibly have a contingent of men-at-arms to patrol your streets and handle the upkeeping of the law. However sometimes it may have to come down to you to be the strong arm of justice. So it would be fairly advisable to have an above average skill in combat.

It can be expected also that if raiders and bandits infest your area you will be one of the lead swords in defending your town or vanquishing the miscreants from your lands.

DJ-8-Character-Roles-and-Skill-Advancement


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...
6/4/2016 7:51:12 AM #1

"So delay not your industry, this horde of darkness is coming to destroy what it ours and it will offer us no measure of mercy. So craft and build we must of our settlements. Let our walls be strong so that these vile men sunder themselves on our walls and on our steel.

Let us be the enduring light in the darkness my friends! Let the gods look down from the heavens and stand in awe at the wonder and glory of the children of Mann!!"

Mayor Stigweard Sitheach of New Rothiemurchus


2. Settlement Specifications

>> Settlement sizes, population, and requirements

Settlement --|---- Size -----|-- Population --|-- Requirements

Hamlet -----------|--- 3 Parcels ---|---- 10 people -----|-- Well

Village -----------|--- 9 Parcels ---|---- 25 people -----|-- Tavern

Town -------------|-- 25 Parcels --|---- 75 people -----|-- Town Hall

City ---------------|-- 49 Parcels --|--- 150 people -----|-- Courthouse

Capital -----------|-- 81 Parcels --|--- 250 people -----|-- Monument

~ Land can be used for residential, commercial, industrial or agricultural use.

~ As a Town and above, there's a Town Management UI which lets you see your boundaries, zone parcels of land for leasing (residential, commercial, industrial), monitor settlement resources and taxes, and lets you identify where you want different types of structures to be built.

~ Once you hit City-level and above, and add a Courthouse, it becomes possible to customize the local laws using the desk at the Courthouse. As with the lower-level tiers, aside from defining some laws for your city, using the City Planning Table to identify where buildings should go, viewing the resource tables to ensure you’re getting the right resources into the town, and collecting taxes, you can otherwise play the game as you normally would.

~ It’s our estimation that with each tier of government comes an extra couple man-hours of management a week. Hamlets maybe 1-2 hours per week spent managing/meeting regarding the hamlet, villages 2-4, towns 4-6, cities 6-8, and capitals 8-10.

DJ-18-Kingdom--Land-Management

>> Building Materials Required

Building a town is no small undertaking; it will require hundreds of manpower hours and literally tonnes of materials. We do not yet know the exact specifications that each structure or installation is going to require, but we can make some estimates based on other similar games like Life is Feudal and Gloria Victus.

Sorted by the number of different uses of each material and by also the quantity required.

  • Hardwood board
  • Linen rope
  • Metal band
  • Rock
  • Building log
  • Hardwood billet
  • Clay tile
  • Mortar
  • Softwood billet
  • Softwood board
  • Metal sheet
  • Boards
  • Nails
  • Shaped granite
  • Shaped rock
  • Common metal bars
  • Wooden handle
  • Clay
  • Bone glue
  • Common ingots
  • Iron bar
  • Iron ingot
  • Iron ore
  • Steel ingot
  • Thick leather
  • Branch
  • Flux
  • Linen cloth
  • Marble plate

Of course add to this list all relevant tools for working wood, stone, and metal.

>> Resources available

In Chronicles of Elyria virtually everything you encounter in the world is craftable, and virtually everything can be used as a resource for crafting. To begin with, we divide resources into inorganic and organic materials. The inorganic materials consist of

  • Metals
  • Stone
  • Gems & Minerals
  • Sand
  • Chalk
  • Clay

The organic materials can be divided up into various plant and animal products. When harvesting plants you can generally gather the:

  • Fruit
  • Leaves/Petals/Buds
  • Stalks / Reeds
  • Bark
  • Roots
  • Wood
  • Saps / oils

When harvesting animal parts you can often get the:

  • Skin / Hide
  • Meat
  • Bone
  • Organs

[Note: available resources will also depend on the biome of the local area. So the materials used to build your town will depend on the resources available in your area.]

DJ-9-Crafting--Professions

>> Buildings available

Residentital Commercial

>> Trades available for citizens

~ Your population will consist of:

  • Producers (blacksmiths, bakers, alchemists, and tailors)

The Producers are the crafters of the world. They're the blacksmiths, bakers, alchemists, and tailors. In general, Producers stay within the safety of a town and rely on suppliers to go outside and fetch the things they need. When they're not crafting they're selling their goods in a storefront or auction house.

  • Suppliers (Gatherers and Merchants including miners, lumberjacks, and farmers)

Suppliers, which are further divided into Gatherers and Merchants, are those responsible for getting necessary resources to Producers. Between the two of Suppliers, Gatherers are your miners, lumberjacks, and farmers and tend to gather the more mundane resources. Meanwhile, Merchants travel long distances in order to requisition the more extraordinary or rare materials. In either cases, it’s not uncommon for both Merchants and Gatherers to use large wagons and keep bodyguards around.

  • Explorers

Explorers are those who specialize in survival skills, allowing them to be out of town for long periods of time, roaming the badlands, braving forests, and wading through swamps. They're the treasure hunters of the world. Whether it’s an untapped mine, an unspoiled tomb, or a magical tree in the middle of an uncharted forest, Explorers make their living by knowing what's where, and charting the safest way to get there.

  • Champions (town guards, militia, sheriff etc.)

Champions are the bodyguards, sell-sword, soldiers, and dungeon-delvers of the world. When Explorers discover uncharted new territories, it is the Champion who proceeds forward and gives the all clear. When merchants makes their way along dangerous trade routes, it’s the Champion who keeps them safe.

DJ-8-Character-Roles-and-Skill-Advancement

DJ-9-Crafting--Professions


>> Further Recommended Reading:

Crafting Complexity Journal #1: Ink

Crafting Complexity Journal #2: Concrete

Crafting Complexity Journal #3: Glass

Crafting Complexity Journal #4: Metalworking

Crafting Complexity Journal #5: Paper

Community Design Journal - Blacksmithing

CoE Architecture

IP per Square Footage of buildings breakdown


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6/4/2016 7:51:20 AM #2

3. Managing Your Settlement

>> Town Management UI

As a Town and above, there's a Town Management UI which lets you see your boundaries, zone parcels of land for leasing (residential, commercial, industrial), monitor settlement resources and taxes, and lets you identify where you want different types of structures to be built.

We are yet to get to full details of what this UI will entail.

>> Construction and Building

Citizens are able to construct a building on any parcel of land or zone that they own or lease (with permission to build).

Housing in Chronicles of Elyria is designed to address several different design mechanics including:

  • Survival
  • Storage
  • Crafting

Housing also gives other benefits including the ability to create and progress the player's family line.

Housing in Chronicles of Elyria is fully customizable, but it’s the architect that creates the blueprint for a building. As a result, virtually any shape and size of building can be built, within the skill of the architect.

The process of creating a blueprint is done using the Architecture Tool. This tool, much like the map tool allows you to draw content directly onto a blue-print. However, as blueprints are inherently more “3D” than maps, SBS are creating a special 3D environment for architects in which you are quite literally transported into the blueprint to help you visualize it.

When working within the architecture tool, the skill of the architect will determine several things, such as how many floors can be in a building, how complex the shape (4 walls, 5, 10, more?), and what materials can be used.

In construction the material you use is important, as a material’s weight and strength are used in combination to determine when/where you need support structures and how strong your structure will be. For example, if you’re using wooden flooring on a second floor there will be a maximum area before a first-floor support structure will be necessary. Switching to reinforced materials can change the requirements.

As you’re working in the architecture tool, the UI will make you aware whenever the creation of a structure would be inherently unstable. Of course, the architecture tool can only calculate the physics based on what’s known at design-time. Things in the environment can add further complexity.

DJ-14-Player-Housing--Architecture--Construction

>> Tax and Trade

>> Research and development

>> Community culture and happiness


>> Further Recommended Reading:

Community Design Journal - Taxes & Town Managment


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6/4/2016 7:51:31 AM #3

4. Defending Your Settlement

>> Enforcing the law

>> Defensive structures

>> Town militia

5. Politics

>> Holding onto your title

>> Being a good neighbour


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6/4/2016 7:51:39 AM #4

6. Compilation of Dev Q&A / AMA

Q. So a king collects a tax from all within his kingdom or, only the duchy -> county -> town that he has primary dominion over?

A. Typically a King would tax the Dukes, the Dukes tax their Counts, the Counts tax their Barons, etc. So for the fact that the King owns the Kingdom, his Duchy, his County, and a town or stronghold, he'd get to tax at each of those levels.

Q. Will it be possible to have his Town / Stronghold outside of a Kingdom? I mean will there be "wild" places, where no one is king (no player, no npc) and you can place your stronghold / town?

A. I think we plan to have all land within a Kingdom, but there will certainly be areas that are much less populated and governed rarely. This is a very large world (think multiple US states large).

Q. Hi, so im curious about the starting infrastructure of the towns and cities and how much opportunity there will be to build those cities more, remodel existing buildings, and building entirely new settlements. Personally im a big fan of designing and building in games and i plan on selling my services for this in game. How much opportunity will there be for this?

Im also curious about materials as well and how detailed the designs can be. Also im curious how being hired works. Will it be based in part of of a historical system, such as that or the Renaissance with wealthy benefactors, or more like today where the architects have firms. Would i simply create some designs to show say a barron to see if he wants to hire me?

A. Guilds with a focus on architecture would act like the firms. But also individuals could act like single architects and the Contract would be between them and the payer.

Q. Will it be possible to pave roads between towns/cities and thereby increasing travelling speed?

A. Yes, travel speed will be affected by environment. Paving roads won't create fast travel, though if that's what you meant.

Q. Soo I kicked at the baron level, thinking it would be just a mayoral position and non military focused. Will it be an option like stronghold or town? Or am I forced to play a military character when I really just want to run a central town catering to adventurers?

A. You can totally be a mayor with a non-military focused town. The military features were just an option for you with defense.

Q. Various questions/concerns regarding the Land Management design journal

A. As others have mentioned, the majority of the design journal was focused on the "normal game play" experience of working your way up to Mayor/Baron, Count, Duke, etc... The article linked at the bottom of the DJ talks about how Nobles and Aristocrats will pick their settlements before Exposition. Furthermore, Nobles and Aristocrats, upon entering the Exposition, can make their way to their settlement and use a special currency to "buy" the land under their settlement. It's completely separate from their IP which they can use for other things. This special currency is to help them identify which land under the settlement belongs to them, and which belongs to other NPCs that live in the settlement. The better the builds on the land, the fewer lots you'll be able to afford. So if you become a mayor/baron, count, duke, or king, you're entitled to some of the land under the settlement. If you're a baron/mayor you can then use your IP to buy other land, or if you're a noble you can use your IP to build additional structures, etc.

Sorry, that should have read: The better the buildings on the land, the fewer lots you'll be able to afford.

Q. How much land fits on a parcel, how much IP will buildings cost, how long will funding count toward stretch goals?

A. A few clarifications - Each parcel of land is 64x64 meters and can house multiple buildings. So a parcel in the center of town might include a house, a shop, a road, etc. As you can see by the initial commercial building sizes, they only take up part of a parcel. Yes, each building can be customized with additional rooms, floors, etc. either at the start or added/changed at a later date with the help of an architect. We don't yet have a 1:1 association of each skill to commercial building types - but you don't have to make the choice now, so it should be enough to know that each crafting type will have a related building and profession kit with a crafting/processing station which makes the building into it's function. We will have more IP charts coming - namely on residential structures (houses, castles, and everything in between) and military structures (fort, outpost, etc.). Those, too, can be customized. The building that comes with the tier 3 profession kit is a 1 story wood building. A small 2 story commercial building would cost 300 IP for wood or 400 IP for stone. Yes, you can most definitely still buy IP on the site until Exposition begins. We've stated we'll continue funding toward our existing stretch goals for up to 6 months.

Q. If you are a kickstarter baron and start a town during exposition, do you start with blank plots of land or generated buildings. If they start with buildings, after going into exposition can you customize their placement?

A. All nobility and aristocracy will start with some buildings pre-made in their town/stronghold/county/etc. You can modify any of these in Exposition with IP, or in-game with the use of an architect to create plans for modifications.

Q. Studios How much control will barons/counts have over the existing structures in their region, if we tell npc X to tear down a wood house and build a stone one instead will they do that? Do we 'own' the existing town or just sort of set zoning rules and see what happens?

A. As a Baron or Count you don't own all of the land in your town/stronghold/county. You are the manager for the land, but can't make changes on parcels that are not your own. When you start you'll get to choose which parcels you want to own outright, and those are the ones you can modify.

Q. Sooo what are the odds of a baron being able to claim a town that already has a stone manor pre built. -looks at the large amount of royalty/nobles-

We'll, a Count starts with 1050 if he spends his $50 credit on IP. That would get himself a stone Townhouse. My level of Brew Master gets ~2050 if I spend my $100 credit on IP. I'd have to spend another $100 to get a stone Manor. (Which I'll totally do!) I doubt a Baron starts with much.

maybe not, from the answer I got the other day it sounds like barons will be able to choose a certain number of the prebuilt plots in their town to own (just from their title, before spending more IP to add new buildings) so if there is already a manor in the town they chose they could pick that as one of their plots...

A. It is true that each noble title will be able to choose certain parcels of land as their own after they've chosen their domain.

Q. If we spend IP during Exposition building up a town, will there be NPCs to fill them and make them earn revenue/taxes or will we have to wait and sit on empty buildings for either PCs or NPCs to wander into town, want to settle there and buy or lease these spaces?

A. NPCs will join your town dependent on many things - available crafting buildings, road access, your reputation, current population. There will be some NPCs available during Exposition, but we haven't yet discussed whether they'll be assigned to towns from the start.

Q. What happens when you are a baron/mayor an your stronghold/villlage gets captured by an enemy country? Do you get replaced?

A. Not automagically. In most cases, invaders will want to sue for peace at some point or risk spreading themselves too thin. If your town/village is fairly far inside the border and not on the path between the invading kingdom and your capital, you should be safe.

Q. I'm in the process of deciding if I should up my pledge from Bloodline to Baron. As such, I have a number of questions to help me better understand the Baron rewards tier.

1) Upon release, will the game world have hamlets, villages, outposts and forts? Or will the smallest NPC settlements start at towns and keeps?

2) Does a Baron/Mayor automatically own all the land within their keep/town? Or any of it? If not, can they purchase the NPC land/buildings within their keep/town?

3) Is there any way to depose a Baron/Mayor and take their place? In the DJ, CB's against nobility were talked about extensively. But is there any way to obtain a CB against a Baron/Mayor? Or are the only two options: a) appointment by a count, or b) building up a settlement and registering it yourself?

4) You've mentioned that whoever is first to register a new town/keep with the count/duke becomes the Mayor/Baron. However, what if I am endeavoring to build my little village into a town, when some other player comes along, expands a little bit to my village to make it large enough to be a town, and then goes and registers it and becomes the Mayor? Is there anything to stop this?

A.

Yes, you could start as a land owner and build your own village up into a town - I'm sure many will and that's great. The reason for starting as a baron is that you'll get to select your town earlier and play it during Exposition when you can build/modify using IP.

Yes, as a Baron you get to choose the parcels of land in your town which you own. I don't know 100% if you can buy land from an NPC, but I don't see why not. And during Exposition you can use IP to purchase other parcels of land in your town.

Barons can be disposed and regular folks can use CB based on fame or noble support.

We don't have the final details here, but it is likely a town registration would include information about the village elders, perhaps a sign off.

Q. Is there going to be a banker starting kit? I read somewhere that banks will be owned by NPCs at launch and you kind of have to take over

A. There will be some banks in different towns ran by NPCs, but nothing prevents you from starting a competing bank or a bank in a different town. Banks in CoE aren't linked.

>>> The following is from the AMA <<<

Q: When you claim the land outside of settlements does it then follow the standard rules for land ownership/management?

Will you still have to pay taxes or some form of land rental if its close enough to someones settlement?

Does owning this land elevate your social status at all or are you still a good old peasant if land is acquired this way?

A: All land is within a Kingdom, Duchy, and County even if it is outside of a town or stronghold. So when you acquire land it must be from the Count who presides over that land. Note that the Count does not initially OWN all of the land, but is still the manager for creating purchase contracts. So, yes, you'd need to pay taxes to the Count upon acquiring land.

Q: As a count, who also would have a baroney, would I need to use my IP initially to purchase buildings? Or can I use property that already exists in the Town/Village etc. that I've chosen? By property that exists I mean buildings specifically that exist in the pre-formed "town".

A: For both your County (via Count title) and Town/Stronghold (via Baron/Mayor title), you'll get to choose some of the pre-developed parcels of land within your domain as your own. Those parcels of land could be ones within towns which already contained buildings such as houses or crafting stations. From there you could use your IP to purchase other buildings, more land, resources, animals, etc. You could also use it to modify the buildings that are on your chosen land, to add rooms or floors, change the materials, etc.

Q: We have a heard your ideas about the "punishment system" ingame, like warrants, prison time and higher death-lifeloss penalties for PKer etc. Things that will work if the player cares about his char, the reputation, if he is kicked out of cities or the money he has to spent. But what about Griefers who don't care if they waste a character. How are you going to handle them and the damage they might do, especially if the damage is done to the economy (Exploiter using early bugs)?

A: It is certainly a factor we'll have to balance out. We have a pretty good min/maxer with some griefing tendencies on staff to help us with that during Alpha/Beta. We know that this is really key to a fun game, so expect us to put a lot of work into this.

As you mention, we have the real world financial penalties. Secondarily you can be blacklisted from cities/Counties/Duchies/Kingdoms based on your reputation. So you could basically get shut out of interaction and places where you can cause the most damage. We also know there are several guilds and organizations already forming which have the intention of hunting down those types of people, so there's that part too.

Q: Questions –

1.) When can we expect to see a finalized layout of world/kingdom layouts?

2.) Can kingdoms EXPAND into other kingdoms or are borders permanently set?

3.) What are your thoughts on player controlled banking?

4.) How hard will it be to grow a city/county with just NPC's until more players join a county?

A: Answers –

While this might change based on feedback, we were planning to have a finalized version of the world map available near Beta 2 and Exposition. The amount of alliances forming so quickly now, may require that earlier.

Yes, borders at any level can expand.

We think player controlled banking is a fantastic idea. That's the kind of meta that the contract system was developed for. Imagine a group of people deciding to rob that bank, and the conflict that would ensue. That being said, we also think many people will choose to store their wealth themselves, thus creating intricate player run dungeons.

It depends what your ultimate goal is. If you want to run a city with NPCs, that would be possible. If you're talking about growing it, that might prove more difficult. You'd have to buy all the land and build out houses and commercial buildings, plus the roads to the town, to draw in more NPCs.

Q: Will groups of friends that pledge to be Barons together be able to combine their towns and forts into one location so they are able to play together?

A: Friends who pledge at the baron level to govern settlements together won't be able to combine their towns/forts into one location. During settlement selection the mayors and barons will get to select the pre-established settlements to take control of, and then take over management of that settlement from there, including adding new buildings, etc.

We aren't planning to have settlements close enough together that you could easily build them into a single settlement during Exposition. Though, doing so isn't impossible, and as long as the contracts are in place, you could combine your towns and create a city if that were to occur.

Q: The $250 tier comes in two aristocratic versions -- mayor/town and baron/stronghold. Is there any scope for a gentry-level version of comparable value where the bundle is based around residential/commercial property rather than either a stronghold or a whole town? Or are the only options to either take a lower tier & buy IP, or get a barony and sell the title (for IP) and the stronghold (for gold)?

A: The 2 options you mentioned would be good ideas. If your goal is to be a landowner with property, then you should focus on just that via the IP purchasing. Or, given that a Mayor title comes with the choice of certain parcels of land and the buildings on them, that would be an option.

Q: Question How is the Mayorship handled from the KS title, is it elective per life, per x years, or can your heir inherit the position as a heritable position? We've got both styles in the old medieval from mayorship being inherited (appointed) to it being a elective.

A: Mayors and Barons are inherited positions in Elyria.

Q. Hi! In an earlier comment you wrote: "So if you become a mayor/baron, count, duke, or king, you're entitled to some of the land under the settlement. If you're a baron/mayor you can then use your IP to buy other land, or if you're a noble you can use your IP to build additional structures, etc." Does this mean that Mayors/Barons can only buy land and not buy/place buildings? Or does it mean we'll just have a smaller number of building choices compared to Counts? Thanks!

A. A mayor can certainly create new buildings or modify existing buildings. We were more saying that a Count or above wouldn't really need to buy land since they already have so much of it, and would instead concentrate on buildings, etc.

Q. When a Baron and above enter during exposition, is there a limitation or cost associated with which settlement size may be claimed as their seat of power? Assuming said individual opts to not use his IP towards additional buildings/land purchases, how much of the settlement will be under his direct control/ownership? Does claiming a settlement include ownership of a residential building of some size? I apologize if these questions have been answered elsewhere. I poked around and didn't see anything.

A. There is not a limit on the settlement size that can be claimed by a Baron/Mayor. We think the larger settlements will be chosen by the Kings/Dukes/Counts as their own. I don't have an exact number for the plots that you'll get to choose as your own. Claiming a settlement does not automatically include ownership of buildings. That is dependent on which parcels of land you choose, which would include the buildings.


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6/4/2016 7:54:05 AM #5

Reserving the first five slots? This had better be good. No pressure... ;)


FWIW, I was KS Backer #21 and wanted nothing but the best for this game.

6/4/2016 9:01:59 AM #6

I plan to satisfy ;)

It is for myself and I want to get it right so I can promise it will be as in depth as possible ;)


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6/4/2016 9:19:43 AM #7

Good work!


6/4/2016 9:28:39 AM #8

Don't forget that mayor could be scribe too! Keep working! I will keep an eye here ^^

PS: In Heraldo de Elyria we did a "guide" but now there are new information from Q&A and KS updates that give us other point of view.

6/4/2016 10:44:25 AM #9

Very nice work @Stigweard


Count Darothar, Bleak Ark

6/4/2016 11:27:51 AM #10

Quick bit of spelling nagging - which I apologise for - surely you mean roles of the mayor - rather than rolls.

Other than that looks good so far.


Coming Soon(tm)

6/4/2016 11:32:04 AM #11

The Mayor had the best rolls in town, I'll have you know ;)


FWIW, I was KS Backer #21 and wanted nothing but the best for this game.

6/4/2016 11:41:28 AM #12

Hehehehe ... got it :D


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6/4/2016 12:05:14 PM #13

haha the Mayor can realistically take on any role he / she sees fit.

You may be a majority land owner, and local farmer. You might be the local tavern keeper - great way to keep up to date with your locals.

How do most of you plan to approach towns? Are you starting off with one (ie Baron), building up your own, planning to gradually take over another etc?


6/4/2016 2:13:12 PM #14

That's a great question.

As a pledged Baron I wonder if and when I need to start recruiting people....or should I just wait till launch and go to my little area of land and build it, and they will come.

We are soooo early and everyone is off forming kingdoms and etc and that's great (I even joined one) but what if said kingdom takes a drastically different approach come launch time....

I wonder when is a good time to truly really focus on that - expo?

Does anyone know what kind of land you start with as a Baron? Or is it simply you start with the title? But....can't the title of Baron be earned by growing a group of parcels just like major can be earned? It will be interesting to see how that is fleshed out closer to launch.

For the most part I plan on building up land myself. Hoping to find some players and some NPCs to fill the ranks as I go.

A small fort or stronghold off the beaten path in the mountains that focuses on blacksmithing. I hope to be a smith of high quality hammers.


.....and then I'll smash it with a hammer!!!

6/4/2016 2:15:53 PM #15

Starting off with the baron tier, taking over the town. It will be one in a temperate climate along a trade route. Im going to run the tavern in town.

Not sure how I will modify it yet during exposition, depends on what resources the town has at the time. But I know that I want it to have nice plazas and gardens with a marketplace


Xuerou Wyvernwood Mayoress of Imbrium Ridge Kingdom of Ashland Duchy of Fioralba

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