How much money...

[cfh85]

should my estate earn per day?

The mod I'm working on features, among many other things, an estate that produces much food and drink. The problem is with getting the balance right. At maximum output, and minimum consumption (the workers need feeding) how much should it earn?

There are options for increased feeding with increased benefits, but I figure feasts should be a rare thing that should usually cost.

In addition the estate creates fancy drinks and tobacco to sell, but that's a different matter because it will be intended to involve active diplomacy and negotiations to get the price up.

 

Also, the island the estate is on features a fishing and a mining village which will require investment. What sort of return, in taxs, would people like to see from them?

And there are three cities, though gaining command of them wont result in any taxs, but other perks instead.

[Oblivionaddicted]

Be more precise.

[cfh85]

Okay, I was trying to not be too in depth.

 

I suppose I should explain the mod a bit better. It involves an island, on the island the PC will gain Lordship of an estate (through a quest). So upgrades for the estate (each component and sub-component needs to be purchased

• Livestock Farm
• Crop Farm
• Orchard
• Vineyard - grows grapes etc and makes wines, mead, ciders and brandys
• Mill - makes flour
• Plantation - grows tobacco and makes different quality brands (I'm integrating a smoking mod as part of an addiction system)
• Garden - focus's on alchemy ingredients that would suit a garden
• Hunter's Lodge
• Kitchen

These are the components which when completed would make money (in addition to the restored fishing village and mining village).

Some of the food and drink make will be consumed by the staff of the estate. So assuming minimum consumption - lowest feeding level and no extra employees or guests to feed, what would be a good amount of profit to make from the Estate each day?

At full capacity the Estate is not intended to make any money, it offers a lot of features and bonus' to work with the companion side of the mod, amongst a lot of other features

[Oblivionaddicted]

Everything depends on the users' expectations and patience. Why don't you make a poll?

[Striker879]

Will there be any level requiremnets for starting the quest?

 

The reason I ask is that from my experience with the game that after about level 10 or so money becomes superfluous. Even on my current character using Enhanced Economy and using smiths to repair my gear except as much as needed to level armorer (as well as buying as much vanilla food as possible from merchants/inns to satisfy Basic Primary Needs) I've had gold out the whazoo since before level 10. This character doesn't even sell all the loot he finds ... something that adds more gold would just be adding one more thing that needs to be done that adds little or no value in my opinion.

 

An on-going quest that adds hardships to be overcome would add much more play value in my eyes (but to be value adding would be much more difficult to implement). Stuff like finding replacements for staff that have left or died, but those replacements are neither easy to locate nor eager to take the position. Perhaps consequences to the remaining staff if you take too long to replace key personnel (i.e. the vintner leaves because you haven't replaced the foreman of the vinyard workers).

 

I guess I find accumulating gold for the sake of accumulating gold a hollow reward (though a thought does just occur to me ... if you don't make at least a break even proposition of the estate then your characters total gold is reduced until either a profit is turned or you are completely out of gold).

[cfh85]

The estate is not about generating gold. It's about so much more.

It will feature a lot of extra staff that won't be factored in to the running cost. Such as horse trainers, a smith, prison guards(you'll be able to arrest people and capture slaves), a wizard scholar (this is the single most important character in my opinion) and up to 30 companions. Plus then the cost of bribes and spies as part of the politics section.

 

I'm not really about quests (although there will be one to acquire the estate) as I'm not really a story teller.

 

I have got a lot of spells to add that will change the way you play the game. And the companions are already much more than vanilla companions in terms of their use (though not yet fleshed out)

The addiction system is something that will give a more unpredictable element to the game (with an option to confine it to the island).

 

There will be a major kind of quest though - to get the 3 cities to acknowledge your lordship of the island.

Each city will use a different political structure. A voted council/ merchant families where wealth talks (which is why the business of the estate will be important)/ tribal system where the strong has control (you won't be able to win on your own and the stronger the group you join, the less influence your strength will get you)

The NPC's personality will have several attributes. Such as loyalty, addiction, greed etc. No ones attributes will be set, they will have a range to randomly start between. As with real people those attributes can change due to outside influence - other NPCs, the PC, the financial ruin you've brought down upon them.

 

 

I think to help manage the profit issue I may give several NPC's a proportion of profits to their pay. What ever I do, a fully staffed Estate with a full compliment of guests having a feast should lose money (or at least eat in to the Estates produce reserves drastically)