Billionaire's Tax

[ingsmsico]

if someone in this game wants to have more than 999 million gold, they should have to pay for more than one account.

institute a game-wide billionaire's tax, anyone with >=1000 million gold in any form gets the excess automatically deleted each server up.

may seem stupid, but might have an effect, people have it stockpiled.

 

[shulginist]

may seem stupid

QFT

 

[Gellor]

So instead, the very rich just go and buy every rare out there and all the expensive stackables... yup, sounds like a wonderful idea.

How about instead of worrying about how much money or items the other person has, work on getting your own money or items?

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

QFT

QFT

 

[UOKaiser]

if someone in this game wants to have more than 999 million gold, they should have to pay for more than one account.

institute a game-wide billionaire's tax, anyone with >=1000 million gold in any form gets the excess automatically deleted each server up.

may seem stupid, but might have an effect, people have it stockpiled.

LOL nerf Billionears. Whats next. Nerf house and vender owners lol. I think im hearing some jeoulousy here. If your interest is making gold then make gold. If thats not your interest then continue on what you doing.

 

[ingsmsico]

So instead, the very rich just go and buy every rare out there and all the expensive stackables... yup, sounds like a wonderful idea.

How about instead of worrying about how much money or items the other person has, work on getting your own money or items?

it would be cheaper for them to pay for an account for 1 month then waste their time "laundering" gold (as you put it).

 

[ingsmsico]

I think im hearing some jeoulousy here..

nope.

 

[shulginist]

Just out of curiousity then why?

 

[Aristillus]

Yeah......let's waste development resources that could be better used elsewhere, on a program to remove wealth from people that have earned it in game.

Greatest Idea ever

Besides I don't think I have met many people with over a billion gold that dont have 2 or more accounts.

 

[UOKaiser]

it would be cheaper for them to pay for an account for 1 month then waste their time "laundering" gold (as you put it).

Gold does not equal real life money unless you sell it. 50 cents per million and if you find a buyer. Most people with that much money never sold a gold piece in there life.

 

[mustafa]

post is crap end it and stop cryin as others have what you dont

 

[Theo_GL]

No one likes taxes in RL - why would you bring them into a game?

It is impossible to enforce, will have no effect and is downright stupid.

How about I take my gold and buy every crimson cincture I can find. Are you going to tax a stack of 100 at my house? Thats over a billion worth.

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

Dumbest idea ever.

 

[slaveone]

Seriously why did you even waste your time typing this thread?!? How bout this for dumb ideas lets have devs inact a policy where people who post ******** things like this on stratics automatically have 10mil deducted from their account for every stupid post like this one....

 

[BeefSupreme]

LMAO @ replies!

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

ski is falling...too tired to care....

 

[popps]

Wealth can be there not only in Bank Cheques, but also in expensive items whether armor, weapons, artifacts or rares, as well as in exclusive Housing.

So, in order to be fair with the taxes, how would the game end up giving values to items and houses, market values, so that any in game taxation would not treat players' wealth too differently ?

I see it difficult to be done, at least without penalizing some players over others.

 

[Surgeries]

may seem stupid

QFT

I typically don't care much for out of context quotes.

This one I like.

LOL. So true...actually..."Seem" is very generous.

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

It surprises me that this thread has not become a de-facto Failblog pic thread by now.

 

[Trebr Drab]

...

It surprises me that this thread has not become a de-facto Failblog pic thread by now.

*grins*

 

[hen]

if someone in this game wants to have more than 999 million gold, they should have to pay for more than one account.

institute a game-wide billionaire's tax, anyone with >=1000 million gold in any form gets the excess automatically deleted each server up.

may seem stupid, but might have an effect, people have it stockpiled.

Any character with vast sums of gold in their bank account should automatically have negative karma.

 

[Trebr Drab]

Personally, I am all for some players being extremely wealthy.

What I don't think is right is that they can use their wealth to scarf up items needed by other players to compete, and then charge even more exorbitant prices that the rest must pay to advance their characters. Imbuing looks like it will fix this on weapons and armor, etc.

That still leaves powerscrolls.

But the problem isn't the wealth, it's the system of powerful things a player needs to advance. The wealthy are abusing this system to become even more wealthy, on the backs of the other players.

The OPs idea isn't a good one, in my opinion. Part of the problem is being fixed. The rest needs to come around too.

 

[UOKaiser]

Personally, I am all for some players being extremely wealthy.

What I don't think is right is that they can use their wealth to scarf up items needed by other players to compete, and then charge even more exorbitant prices that the rest must pay to advance their characters. Imbuing looks like it will fix this on weapons and armor, etc.

That still leaves powerscrolls.

But the problem isn't the wealth, it's the system of powerful things a player needs to advance. The wealthy are abusing this system to become even more wealthy, on the backs of the other players.

The OPs idea isn't a good one, in my opinion. Part of the problem is being fixed. The rest needs to come around too.

It's called reselling and it's one of the ways I became wealthy after i left UO for a year and came back with all my homes and possesions idoc with only 1mil total in my bank left. Anybody can do it. If they want the item they got to know where to look,establish trades with the suppliers,be fast at the draw, understand the market etc.. If someone wants these items for them selves either buy it from a supplier,reseller or get it themselves.

 

[AtlanteanAngel]

You've just described the real-life financial economic system of humanity on planet Earth.

Personally, I am all for some players being extremely wealthy.

What I don't think is right is that they can use their wealth to scarf up items needed by other players to compete, and then charge even more exorbitant prices that the rest must pay to advance their characters. Imbuing looks like it will fix this on weapons and armor, etc.

That still leaves powerscrolls.

But the problem isn't the wealth, it's the system of powerful things a player needs to advance. The wealthy are abusing this system to become even more wealthy, on the backs of the other players.

The OPs idea isn't a good one, in my opinion. Part of the problem is being fixed. The rest needs to come around too.

 

[Trebr Drab]

You've just described the real-life financial economic system of humanity on planet Earth.

Personally, I am all for some players being extremely wealthy.

What I don't think is right is that they can use their wealth to scarf up items needed by other players to compete, and then charge even more exorbitant prices that the rest must pay to advance their characters. Imbuing looks like it will fix this on weapons and armor, etc.

That still leaves powerscrolls.

But the problem isn't the wealth, it's the system of powerful things a player needs to advance. The wealthy are abusing this system to become even more wealthy, on the backs of the other players.

The OPs idea isn't a good one, in my opinion. Part of the problem is being fixed. The rest needs to come around too.

If you include these boards and subscribers dropping off and UO's response to it all, then you are exactly right. Political and economic pressures come into play, keeping things from going or remaining too far in one direction or another.
OPEC oil is a good example. Both political and economic pressures keep them from raising the prices as high as they'd like to. Similarly in UO, pressures have brought about Imbuing as a change to part of the problem. I have no doubt that the numbers will dictate even more changes to this currently unwelcome system to all but the few "elite" gamers taking advantage of it.

 

[Trebr Drab]

It's called reselling and it's one of the ways I became wealthy after i left UO for a year and came back with all my homes and possesions idoc with only 1mil total in my bank left. Anybody can do it. If they want the item they got to know where to look,establish trades with the suppliers,be fast at the draw, understand the market etc.. If someone wants these items for them selves either buy it from a supplier,reseller or get it themselves.

What, with powerscrolls and the PKer trap that just feeds that failed system? Subscription numbers have spoken in reply to that already, and the answer is a simple "no".

 

[jeza]

That still leaves powerscrolls.

.

I think they tried to solve that creating the scroll binders.
Why spend millions on a 120 scroll when 10 115 will be half the price, or even less. And you have more chances to get several 110 or 115 than a 120.

The problem is for those who don't want or can't do champ spawn.
Because if you can find expensive 120 on vendors it's become very rare to see 115 or 110 anymore.


Some years ago 105 and 110 could even be found on the ground near the gate in Luna or at the bank.
Now they have a value or could lower the value of the bigger scrolls so most people keep them and use the scroll binders to make 120 and sell those....

So it was a nice try but it didn't work.

 

[KalVasTENKI]

if someone in this game wants to have more than 999 million gold, they should have to pay for more than one account.

institute a game-wide billionaire's tax, anyone with >=1000 million gold in any form gets the excess automatically deleted each server up.

may seem stupid, but might have an effect, people have it stockpiled.

Uh.. Rage at OP.

 

[UOKaiser]

What, with powerscrolls and the PKer trap that just feeds that failed system? Subscription numbers have spoken in reply to that already, and the answer is a simple "no".

Powerscrolls are in control of fellucia. Know what to resell and what not to resell. Besides that doesn't bother a reseller. Just wait till one pvp powerscroll sellers puts a scroll at cheaper than the others prices buy it and resell it at going price. Doesn't bother a reseller in the least.

 

[Tinsil]

bad idea is horrible.

 

[Tek]

This is the funniest thread I’ve read today. Most “billionaires” in UO don’t have billion(s) in gold checks, they have stuff / items worth billion(s) of gold, how would you calculate a tax on what items are worth that someone owns?

 

[ACB1961]

Any character with vast sums of gold in their bank account should automatically have negative karma.

You can't put vast sums of money in your bank account. You can put 150 million in it if you have the enhanced storage & not even a bag to keep it in. I wish I could put vast sums in my bank account.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

You know what...tax me all you like...good luck trying to figure out my wealth, that is if based on nothing but items. Gold? WTF is that? I has no gold!

 

[Llwyd]

if someone in this game wants to have more than 999 million gold, they should have to pay for more than one account.

institute a game-wide billionaire's tax, anyone with >=1000 million gold in any form gets the excess automatically deleted each server up.

may seem stupid, but might have an effect, people have it stockpiled.

Leave the tax collectors in the real world, please.

 

[Viper09]

And they would be able to actually calculate your total amount of gold in game?

 

[Fink]

if someone in this game wants to have more than 999 million gold, they should have to pay for more than one account.

institute a game-wide billionaire's tax, anyone with >=1000 million gold in any form gets the excess automatically deleted each server up.

may seem stupid, but might have an effect, people have it stockpiled.

Yes it does seem stupid. Why should people be punished for doing well?

I think they should dedicate shimmering gold statues to these billionaires, these paragons of wealth-acquisition, and have them erected in public places with plaques naming the billionaire. The statues should sparkle constantly and give off a warm glow at night. The statues should talk, and assess your net worth as you walk by, and mock lesser citizens for their feeble means and inferior items. Very poor characters should be forced to bow to the statues much like NPCs bow to Lords and Ladies. :bowdown:

Only then will these social elite garner the attention they deserve and be truly distinguished from scum like mere multi-millionaires.

 

[UOKaiser]

Yes it does seem stupid. Why should people be punished for doing well?

I think they should dedicate shimmering gold statues to these billionaires, these paragons of wealth-acquisition, and have them erected in public places with plaques naming the billionaire. The statues should sparkle constantly and give off a warm glow at night. The statues should talk, and assess your net worth as you walk by, and mock lesser citizens for their feeble means and inferior items. Very poor characters should be forced to bow to the statues much like NPCs bow to Lords and Ladies. :bowdown:

Only then will these social elite garner the attention they deserve and be truly distinguished from scum like mere multi-millionaires.

Sarcastic or not this is a very good idea. Achievements are rewarded in every game that ever existed except for UO it gets look down on go figure.

 

[Fink]

Sarcastic or not this is a very good idea. Achievements are rewarded in every game that ever existed except for UO it gets look down on go figure.

I'm not entirely sure, but I may have been a least partway serious.

I'm running UO on one screen and Spore on another thinking "Spore's Achievements feature would be a maybe-neat thing in UO". The newer, socially hip games tend to have bragging rights, which get posted here or there & cross-promote games in various communities. Not sure how that would work in UO where the achievements are pretty much wholesale - I just did my 250th Dreadhorn! I am the Dread-Master! or something - but we already have things like Champion titles, Virtue tiers, Community Collections titles and such. It would be an open-ended system, no end-game as UO simply doesn't have one.

 

[RavenWinterHawk]

So instead, the very rich just go and buy every rare out there and all the expensive stackables... yup, sounds like a wonderful idea.

How about instead of worrying about how much money or items the other person has, work on getting your own money or items?

Thank you.

Lets see Ingots, woods, essences, stone, gems, silver, and tokens.


Hmmm.
Good idea.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Every time I come back from the can I have made a billion gold.

 

[georgemarvin2001]

Were you on the AOS dev team?
Bad idea. Really bad.

The game does need gold sinks, but a tax wouldn't work. Penalizing success usually has the opposite effect of the one that is intended. What the game needs is a way for people who don't have the billion gold to compete in both PvP and PvM combat on an equal footing, while retaining a lot of non-combat benefits for the players who do. Imbuing is helping to fill that role nicely.

Being rich should mean that you get the big house, the nice stuff, etc. but you don't get to go into god mode in combat; the poorest players out there, who had good skills, were able to fight and win in both PvP and PvM pre-AOS. When AOS turned the game into an item-based system instead of skill-based, it turned everything on its head. For the first half of UO's history, a full suit of valorite armor with a katana and shield were maybe 20k gold. Maybe 10k for leather for a mage. Decent combat equipment was cheap. Even a week-old player could buy a good suit of armor. A rare item to put in your house and show off to your friends might bring millions, even though it had no use in combat.

Now, if you don't have several hundred million gold worth of equipment, you had just as well forget about PvP. And only the people with that uber suit can make the gold and get the artifacts they need to even do PvM effectively.

When gold didn't matter for combat, whether people amassed ungodly amounts of it or not wasn't all that important. It might buy you some neat junk to show off, but it wouldn't make you a great warrior or mage. That took skill and experience. The AOS crew made skill and experience close to irrelevant. If you don't have a skill, just grab some jewelry and artifacts and you have an instant skill. If you want stealth, for instance, a +20 cloak, +10 robe, +10 bandana, +20 leggings, and two pieces of +15 jewelry, and you're at 90, with 0 real skill. Why even bother training the skill at all?

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Now, if you don't have several hundred million gold worth of equipment, you had just as well forget about PvP. And only the people with that uber suit can make the gold and get the artifacts they need to even do PvM effectively.

Aside from the rest of your rant...I must inform you that you are completely wrong. For 50 millioin or less I can build an all 70s corpse proof non faction suit mage suit with crimmy, conjurer robe, and real orny...70 dci 40 ep 100 lrc 40 lmc 11 mr 2/6 cast.

 

[Tukaram]

Yes it does seem stupid. Why should people be punished for doing well?

I think they should dedicate shimmering gold statues to these billionaires, these paragons of wealth-acquisition, and have them erected in public places with plaques naming the billionaire. The statues should sparkle constantly and give off a warm glow at night. The statues should talk, and assess your net worth as you walk by, and mock lesser citizens for their feeble means and inferior items. Very poor characters should be forced to bow to the statues much like NPCs bow to Lords and Ladies. :bowdown:

Only then will these social elite garner the attention they deserve and be truly distinguished from scum like mere multi-millionaires.

We need a new title for them too. Legendary Capitalist. It would flash and sparkle just like the statues.

Oh, wait, we want to make the game realistic so the rich player should have to pay for my house and armor.


~Edit~
You know I've been gone about 2 years but it sure is comforting to come home and see nothing has changed here! It's a like a soap opera. The continuing story of kill Fel, kill Tram, Pk's suck, I don't have what he has, herding is overpowered, and lest we forget... UO is dying.

 

[Ezekiel Zane]

Still the stupidest post ever!

 

[Slickjack]

Leave the tax collectors in the real world, please.

Actually, can I TRADE my real world taxes for pixels taxes? That'd be swell....

By the way, I'm recruiting for my new guild....

We are listed on the NYSE and yes, I do get a 100m bonus every other month for just being rich.

 

[Scratch]

op must be a socialist

 

[Connor_Graham]

And only the people with that uber suit can make the gold and get the artifacts they need to even do PvM effectively.

This is a bunch of hooey. It takes 0 gold to engage in high end PvM. Before I made my gold every one of my characters were well outfitted in gear that was nothing more than enhanced monster loot, and were enhanced with wood and ingots that I chopped or mined myself.

If you haven't figured out how to gear a character well without having to spend a lot of gold to do it, then you don't know how to play UO.

 

[the 4th man]

All I gotta say........a damned good tune too...........

Everywhere is freaks and hairies
Dykes and fairies, tell me where is sanity
Tax the rich, feed the poor
Till there are no rich no more

I'd love to change the world
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you

Population keeps on breeding
Nation bleeding, still more feeding economy
Life is funny, skies are sunny
Bees make honey, who needs money, Monopoly

I'd love to change the world
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you

World pollution, there's no solution
Institution, electrocution
Just black and white, rich or poor
Them and us, stop the war

I'd love to change the world
But I don't know what to do
So I'll leave it up to you


later