City of IF

[Smee]

I'm not up to date with any of the more recent development with Fables. It was certainly a big topic two years ago, but how about now.

How do our candidates see the use of Fables?

Are they an integral part of the City?

Do they serve a useful purpose?

Is their potential being maximised. How might you make them even more relevant?

Do you plan on any changes to the way Fables are utilised?

[Guest]

How do our candidates see the use of Fables?

Fables is the currency that is used to pay the Ifians with, if real money was used, no one would jion the site. tough if they could earn the money like fables they'd be rich.

Are they an integral part of the City?

Yes, it does complete cityofif. With the money currency that it is today, many would like to live their own lives having fun with fake money and writing at the same time.

Do they serve a useful purpose?

Yes, as they are useless in real life, this money currency is usefull for young children to learn to use money.

Is their potential being maximised. How might you make them even more relevant?

I'm not sure if their potential is being maximized, but if it is then I'd make their pursose more known to the Ifians. I'd well say how many words get how much fables, like setting the taxes and the amount the Ifians would get for posting a chapter with (that) amount of words. Fables can't be changed, but I'd make a little money bag instead of the words fables.

Do you plan on any changes to the way Fables are utilised?

No fables are the currency that completes If. If anything changes a problem will occur in the near future.

[Masterweaver]

I'd like to mention here the lack of a central bank. Fables are just generated on posting, nobody hands them out. This leads to inflation. I would ask how you deal with that.

[Chinaren]

We have a treasury MW, but I know exactly what you mean. Some time ago we changed it so as much as possible came and went to the treasury. Unfortunately, to award Fables for Sgams and take it out of the treasury is not easy to do (needs coding).

Just fyi.

[scissorkitty]

Hmm. I'm also intruigued (sp? I can't read or write today for some reason) by other possible uses for Fables. I have to say most of mine hang around until I blow them on cheapie fortunes by Zogby.

For those, like myself, who are pretty recent to If, it would be nice to get a run down of other spending and earning opportunities.

[Chinaren]

For Fable use, read this...

http://www.cityofif.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1682

[scissorkitty]

bwa harrrr! Thanks, C-ren! I am apparently way too lazy to search for info on my own.



but that's what I'm electing a city official for, right? Don't they also do laundry and cat-box duty? What about mail fetching and emptying of my compost bin?


Candidates: If one of you could shut up the yappy dog next door, you'd get my vote.

[Guest]

I'd like to mention here the lack of a central bank. Fables are just generated on posting, nobody hands them out. This leads to inflation. I would ask how you deal with that.

Well Mw, If I'm mayor or a mod or anything that can help out, I'll make a bank to store fables in like the animeforum has. People hand out fables sometimes, like if they made a picture for someone they get fables for it or if they created an article for a newspaper they are paid aren't they C'ren and Draggy. Inflation, Inflation of fables weaver? That is a good thing Mw. Tough I'd encourage readers to participate in earing fables, by doing postive things in IF.

[Lilith]

How do our candidates see the use of Fables?

Ahh.. the fable. The IFian currency that seems to make our economy go round. I see the fable as a fun way to get some spurring of activity from our more, shall we say "shrewd" members. ;)

Are they an integral part of the City?

Yes! Most definitely! The fable is a lure to readers to read the main forum SGs and now they are awarded in Crit Corner for people who do amazing critiquing.

As it stands, we have several enterprises (ie. Chinaren, Inc. , the several imaging services advertised, and Have Pencil. Will Travel, Inc.) that have taken it to the next level in the Market Bizarre as well as our auctions!

More recently, China's The City! has become a fun way for people to immerse themselves into IF a bit more and also made a new function for the fable.


Do they serve a useful purpose?

As I made pretty clear above, yes.

Is their potential being maximised. How might you make them even more relevant?

Hmmm... this is interesting. I think that we could make them more relevant, yes. We do try with the things mentioned above and our competitions in the main forums as well. But what else COULD we do with them? Hmmm.. I would personally like to hear thoughts on this topic, were I elected.

Do you plan on any changes to the way Fables are utilised?

If the voters want to change this, then I'm open to it. As of right now, I think we use them in a proper way. (And fun too!)

I'd like to mention here the lack of a central bank. Fables are just generated on posting, nobody hands them out. This leads to inflation. I would ask how you deal with that.

Chinaren has brought up a clever idea... the coding might be a pain in the butt, but I am willing to see if it would work. I would need King Key's help of course, but it's worth a shot.

[Crossfire]

The Fable- Our Future, Or Demise? Question Time!



How do our candidates see the use of Fables?

I see them as an incentive to post! Without it, traffic here would be a lot more stagnant.

There aren't many places to use the Fable... yet.


Are they an integral part of the City?

Without doubt... although they could be given greater prominence if there were many interesting ways to use them! I hope to make that a reality!

They help increase the popularity of StoryGames in the StoryGaming forums- but there is zero Fable growth in the New StoryGames section, and so it is far less popular! This must be changed!


What is Currently Done

We have an entire forum devoted to it, which apart from a variety of dead-end enterprises and few successful ones is deserted, we have auctions for anything from books to clothing to all manner of other things...

The forum has vanished, the auctions have ceased... Complete financial stasis is imminent! *loves that phrase*

We do, however, still have the City, Chinaren's real estate initiative.

Many things have been done with it, but inside that plot of lifeless wasteland covered in Ren-O-Turf (courtesy of Chinaren Inc. Landscaping Division- "Your World is Ours To Shape As We See Fit!") is chaos, where there should be peace, and order!

Also, it is a little difficult to grow things with twelve inches of topsoil above fifteen feet of solid rock!


Do they serve a useful purpose?

Not yet... but, with a little elbow grease, hard work and legalised bribery...

*coughs* Well, we'll see.


Is their potential being maximised?

Hardly... there are so many more things that need to be done before that is true, I doubt I'll be finished for quite a while!

I'll do my best to fix our currency!


How might you make them even more relevant?

I did detail a few things above... The more options that are available for Citizens, the more likely they are to utilise them.

However, it's unlikely that people will buy anything you throw in front of them...

(Ooooh! Rotting meat- 50 Fables! What a steal! *rushes after the enticing bargain, returning shortly afterwards with a satisfied smile*)

...so we have to think up something- actually, many things- that'll be useful to anyone on IF.


Do you plan on any changes to the way Fables are utilised?

Well, yes! The way that they're being used now definitely has room for improvement!

Incidentally, the hundred Fable coin was not meant to be used as a frisbee! Wait, that's MY hundred Fables in that Mist Devourer's mouth!

*rushes off again, returning minus a few appendages but a hundred Fables richer*


There are no banks. Fables are just generated on posting and nobody uses them, leading to inflation! How will you deal with this terrible problem?!

*cheerfully* Well the Treasury was a real bust!

There would have to be interest for people to want to put money into the bank- and I wonder what's stopping them from simply leaving all their money in there and taking it out whenever they need to buy something?

After all, travel here is nearly instantaneous... there's no reason to carry money around! Possibly some kind of time lock, which you could spend Fables to decrease the amount of time needed to access your bank account.

There are a huge amount of pre-made modifications for these worlds out there... why not use a few more?


Inflation

Inflation is non-existent simply because the leaders regulate the economy personally- after all, there's only three hundred Citizens.

Things cost what they say they cost, and the only people who have large amounts of Fables are our benevolent CEO, the Dark Chancellor and the Elders, who are the leaders- as a rule, anyway.

What we need is more things to buy- a system which unlocks certain bonuses and additional forums with interesting things in them perhaps (Arena, the Open Forum- and so forth- that would encourage posting on the StoryGames).

This could be coupled with a way to purchase weekly or monthly income at exorbitant prices... and if you bought enough, I've just realised you could have an infinite paid vacation! Yay for money!


I will do what I can to make Fables worth having!

[sir wax]

Since answers are already long-winded, i apologize for being long myself, here are my answers on the subjects raise in this thread:

I think fables are a brilliant idea and they are being used pretty well at the current time. I do believe that it can be a more integral part in the City by having making the Market Bizarre a better place to shop for all your needs.

We need to be creative, all of us, in what we can throw down in an auction

More RL donations from members to auction off, be it e-books, real books, art services, and whatnot. Make it feasible to do so for people who donate these services by giving them a certain amount of fables as well. Therefore, they can use it for services or items they would want or need. Thus, the cycle of commerce.

I do think that NSG forum should have a small fable scheme, even if its small, really small, to give people an incentive to join in on the crit there would be nice. And i'm sure this would be, if not already is debated.

The other thing that i talked about in my opening statement, which was the educational program, AFTER If has grown in a positive direction. The people who would have the honor of working with the select few beginner writers, would receive a small compensation for their work.

Perhaps we can raise the price of land plots, and they could be semi-permanent places as a 'sticky' of that persons stories in the place where they choose to buy a plot (HEM, FF, Skiffy, Linear, etc.) Thereby, another source of advertising. The 'sticky' could work as a utility, and have to maintain a bill also monthly or bi-monthly to keep active members active and providing a motivation and encouragement to keep writing, drawing, etc. to keep earning.

Competitions for each section (HEM, FF and Skiffy) for their sg to be entered into a competition where people vote on who get placed on City Ads. City Ads that would be in places OTHER than the forum they inhabit.

These are just ideas. However, if something struck me as a drastic way to change fable usage for the better (which ideas often do come into my head that way), i would bring forth to the council after i have worked out most of the kinks in my mind. Then, find out if it is feasible to do within the technical perimeters of the City, if it is, then i present it to the public.

I think that fables are being utilized by people who are valuable assets to this City and ones that wish to become one. I mean honestly, we give the fables their value. I think this City has done a good job of making people want to earn fables, and i would like to continue to make more Ifians want to put in hard work to gain fables as well.

Funny story involving the black leather Robe who has a concern about central banking. One day he came into the Inn, asked why nobody was reading his story, then asked if one of us could spare 40 fables. It was great, there's always one in every town; i truly belly laughed when i read MW saying that. I think this is a good example of how the system and the usage of fables, are indeed working well.

MW, i don't think that inflation will be a problem in a land such as ours, it would be a problem if fables were deposited in the pockets of few people. Which they are not. Even though they should be deposited a little from the treasury into the pockets of active mods, as it's a thankless job as it is, and they should be rewarded (even if in small fables) for their labor of love. If it does become an apparent problem, we just delete some fables from the Treasury (might be harder than it sounds, but i'll say it like it's a simple operation).

I would also like to change some of the wording in the Fables decree or make a new newb-friendly one, as even i was a bit confused by the wording of that statement when i first got here. Like an easy look up list to see what costs what, without having to read the whole fables statement. Maybe this can be an auto PM after making their first fables, or something else so definitely every person can see the currency. Because i think, it can be an even more important feature of this City and make this City thrive.

Kitty, spend time with the dog that yaps. A yappy dog almost always means two things; 1. doesn't get out much and doesn't get enough exercise during the day, and/or 2. it is scared of others, which is usually a symptom of the first. Ask your neighbor to have that dog meet a new person a day, OR offer to walk the dog yourself and give it some love in an open environment. Because i'm guessing, since its a yappy dog, it only gets loved when in closed quarters. If i knew more about the situation and specifics, i'm sure i would be able to help more, but this would definitely be steps in the right direction. *throws Kitty more cheese*

I think that's it, let me know if i missed any.

Sincerely,
SirWaxaLot

[The White Blacksmith]

Dogs like cheese as well, you know. *sets her dogs on wax for the cheese*

Candidates, do you think there should be a fable reward system separate from the normal methods of earning fables and, if so, what do you think the rewards should be for?

[sir wax]

*gives Whiteys dogs some slices of cheese and pets them*

For rewarding what Whitey?

EDIT:

I believe my response talked a small deal about this, but, what are you asking about specifically?

[The White Blacksmith]

For introducing people to If, helping with some coding (although I'm not sure if they already do this), for consistantly helping newbies, or even something like 'SGotM' with your first sg. I did ask if you had any ideas on what it could be for.

[NeverNeverGirl]

The White Blacksmith wrote: For introducing people to If, helping with some coding (although I'm not sure if they already do this), for consistantly helping newbies, or even something like 'SGotM' with your first sg. I did ask if you had any ideas on what it could be for.


IF damn it! I, like a schmuck am doing all this stuff for free! Do i get back paid?

*goes to sit in cranky corner*

[Crossfire]

Mmm! If I had a Fable for every time I helped someone out in IF, I'd have... *looks a little confused at this sudden onslaught of mathematics* some more Fables than I do!

I think there's a fifty Fable reward for introducing interesting coding into IF. Not sure, I'll look it up.


Crossfire- the dancing, bright chaos in the heart of darkest IF.