The Job System

What's a life simulator without jobs? Just like in real life, in the virtual world of Civil, you can pursue a career!

Players are encouraged to get jobs; virtual occupations that allow them to contribute to society. In return, they receive cash to buy things with. They also receive points that go to their score; these points are called Karma.

Factions

Occupations are divided into factions; groups that all depend on each other to function. The Political Faction oversees finances, laws, and other important game facets that affect other factions. Certain factions distribute goods to other factions, and this keeps a balance in the economy. Without society being in balance, players might lose jobs or companies.

Getting a job

To get a job in Civil, all a player needs to do is visit the place they desire working for. If the role is empty, they may take that job, depending on if they qualify for it (have sufficient karma). Once employed, a player may promote up the ranks of their career, and potentially may start working as executive staff! As an executive, the player may be able to command employees below them, change pay, and tend to other executive level practices.

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Player Items

An MMORPG needs gameplay items! In Civil, there are many different kinds of items players can have. To name them, categories include outfits, skins, identity banners, weapons, vehicles, pets, ammunition, cash stacks, food, houses, and other gameplay items.

Gameplay Items

It's easy to understand what purpose weapons, vehicles, and even outfits serve in Civil; but what are gameplay items? Well, gameplay items are various objects that are stored in the inventories of players that are meant to benefit them, usually in regards to jobs or quests.

For example, a criminal robbing a bank may need to build a bomb, a gameplay item, out of other gameplay items. A farmer may need to plant seeds, another type of gameplay item. These are simple things that benefit players in regards to the economy and their tasks.

Cosmetic Items

We all love cosmetic items. Weapon skins, extraordinary outfits, car paints, and other unique things make us stand out as players! In the world of Civil, cosmetic items are everywhere. Cosmetic items, otherwise known as "skins," are unique modifications that change the way usable objects look. Using cosmetic items will give players no tactical gameplay or skill advantage, but exist to make players look more interesting.

Obtaining Items

Most items are obtained by purchase or trade. Items can also be obtained by finding or collecting them in the world, looting them, or creating them. Players can use cash, currency that comes from tasks, to purchase items from different stores. A player may buy food from a restaurant, a vehicle from the car lot, or a gun from the gun store. There are other stores that will sell other types of items, but that's the general idea.

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The Economy

MMO Economies are usually incredibly complex, and the Civil Economy is following in these footsteps. This means we need a functional plan that will prevent the economy from rapid hyperinflation, will be secure, and can accurately balance measures.

Cash Flow

Where does in-game cash come from? Task Completion. When a player finishes a job or quest, they are always compensated with in-game cash. They can spend this cash on cosmetic items, which destroys the cash. Shopping in itself is a currency sink, however it does not prevent inflation at all. A player who has been playing for a year vs. a player who has been playing for a day has always had it easier than the new guy just because of the psychology of inflation.

Economy Control

An important system to control inflation will be manually balancing Economy Control Variables. As we update the game, these variables will serve as multipliers that control income and vendor pricing.

Cash Sinks

We can set up proper currency sinks easily, just like the real world. When you die, you pay medical bills; when you buy property, you pay taxes; when you buy items, you pay taxes; etc. There will be taxation and other realistic sinks that will negate hyperinflation.

Medical Bills

When a player dies, a small percentage of their net-worth is taken in the form of “medical bills.” Also, players will drop items (some cash included) upon death for other players to collect.

Taxes

Taxes will be taken from players regularly while they play the game. Property taxes for deed owners, income taxes for job holders, and others that will be addressed in the future of the game.

The Stock Market

An in-game stock market will serve as a way for players to gamble their money, while also supporting businesses

The Auction House

Some items (mostly just vehicles and outfits) are “rare.” This only means they cycle in and out of shops at a lower rate, making them more desirable for players who can afford them. This Auction House, which takes a seller fee, destroys rich players’ money, while giving them rare items in return, while also helping out sellers with the other percentage.

Security

Player information (including cash) is saved on dedicated server databases. Civil automatically secures player transactions by informing the client on their balance instead of storing the value in memory (the only value stored in client memory is the interface that displays the balance itself). This means players cannot use cheat tools to change their cash values, because by exclusively storing their balance on the server means when they try to purchase an item or their balance changes other ways, it will always treat it as if it's the number stored on the server's database.

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The Justice System

In a governed virtual society, gears don't turn without justice being in order. The judicial system polices citizens and serves to keep people on the "good" end of the karma pyramid!

Arresting Players

A Police Officer can arrest any player. The Court System may play into this feature, as some players may be committing crimes that the system does not recognize. When the system recognizes a crime (a crime-in-action), it will flag a criminal. Flagged criminals do not go to court, they are already proven guilty and will go immediately to prison.

Players who are not flagged for crime will be summoned to court, where the Judicial Faction will evaluate the case. If the judge finds the player not guilty, the Police Officer will be demoted with a karma loss. This system is in place to prevent officers from abusing the arrest system. Crime flagging can be when an officer checks for a license and does not find one, or when a player commits an obvious crime like robs a bank or murders someone in a non-karma free zone. Leeway depends on what the Political Faction decides in regards to what laws constitute punishable offenses.

The Court System

The court system is based around false arrests, or if players file a case on their own. The Judicial Faction contains players like a Judge or Jury who will sit down with the pleading parties and decide on what actions to take.

False Arrest Cases

These are automatically assigned when a Police Officer arrests a non-flagged player. This usually happens when a player is no longer flagged for their crime or they have broken a player-created law that cannot be policed by the system. Sometimes, however, this happens when an officer is abusing his power. As a result, the Judicial Faction has a final say on what to do. The city pays for these cases.

Custom Cases

These are assigned when an attorney approaches the court and files a case for a client. This can be against another player, and ends with financial compensation or arrest. The reason can be over a broken law or a custom reason. The Judicial Faction has a final say on what to do. The court takes fees, so this may impede heavily on certain players. Players cannot file a custom case if they cannot afford the fees of the attorney or court. If a case is already in session, the following cases will wait the case duration before starting.

Laws are put in place by the Political System. The Judge deems what law was or was not broken, and the Jury votes on his decision. The outcome is the final say, and will result in financial restitution, a player's arrest, or a Police Officer's demotion. Once the outcome is made, players are able to leave the courtroom (Otherwise, they are locked inside for the duration of the trial, which automatically times out after 5 minutes).

Court Timeouts occur when a judge does not make a decision. This happens when players are AFK, or otherwise idle. The case will nullify, meaning no one pays for compensation, no one is punished, and the Judge is fired for incompetence. A member of the jury will automatically step up to fill his shoes, depending on highest karma.

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Karma

Karma is a score system that gives players a universal reputation, starting at (and can go below or above) 0. Karma measures how you perform in society, so if your score is high, you will find yourself promoting up the ranks of your career. Killing a player will either improve or ruin your Karma score depending on your victim’s career path. For example, a civilian killing a criminal would increase his score, and a criminal killing a civilian would lower the criminal's score. This automatically polices players to pick a side, then stick to it. Karma is used as a multiplier for how much money a player can make, which is why it is so essential to the game.

The Good Side

Good players, sometimes described as Civilians, are players with Karma Scores greater than 0. Good karma is earned from working at a job, completing good side quests, giving to in-game charities, or by reversing Karma (arresting or killing criminals). Good side players tend to earn more cash, are rewarded higher quality items, and have a wider variety of jobs to choose from. Players are enticed to play on the good side to balance out the majority of players that desire trolling or griefing.

The Bad Side

Bad players are players with Karma Scores less than 0. Bad players (criminals) create problems for the good side by denting the economy and following jobs that risk innocent lives or businesses. Karma is subtracted when players commit crimes (or do criminal jobs), completing bad side quests, or reversing Karma (Killing good side players or NPCs).

Resetting Karma

So, you're stuck as the only player on the server. Your Karma score is below 0, and you cannot get a civilian job! Worry not, there are multiple solutions. Resetting Karma can be done by donating money or destroying the Karma all together by dying. Karma is destroyed when a player dies, and is granted to the player's killer. If there is no killer, the Karma is destroyed completely. This happens when players take too much fall damage, get killed by NPCs, or are killed for other reasons by the system.

Karma can also be destroyed when doing things that oppose your side. For example, Karma is destroyed for good-side players when they commit crimes. Karma is also destroyed when bad-side players do good deeds.

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Politics

The Political System is the root of the economy, the job system, and the policies. Civil's economy is player controlled, which means the decisions that derive from the Political Faction can impact all other factions. This means jobs, crime, and is the essence of the game itself.

To get into this from the top of the hierarchy, the top level of the Political Faction is the mayor. The mayor has control over the following economic and political architectures:

City Finances

City finances include tax percentages, budgetary spending (how much to pay city workers, police, the fire department, etc.)

If taxes manage to pay for more than is needed to run the government, the money is automatically re-entered into the economy. This means businesses get automatic tax returns.

City Laws

The mayor can pick from a list of system-wide laws or create their own. Crime flagging is based on these laws, and the courts can only make decisions based on these laws. Custom laws are not automated!

System laws include the prohibition of theft, murder, operation of a vehicle without a license, assault, auto theft, vandalism, and firing a weapon in an inappropriate setting. The mayor may enable or disable any of these as he/she chooses. This is within reason, the senators and representatives can vote for or against these actions.

Zoning

Or things relating to "Civil" Engineering ... get it?

There are certain lots in the world that the political faction can build or demolish buildings on top of. These buildings can bring in more jobs.

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Questing

Quests start with a player talking to a Quest-Giving NPC. That NPC will ask them to run errands for them, such as gather items, kill enemies, or go somewhere to trigger an event. The Quests appear in the players “Task List” where they can toggle their active tasks. After completing the quest, the player will be prompted to return to the NPC to collect their rewards. Sometimes the NPC will give them a new quest as well.

Quest Structure

The NPC may ask a player to drive them somewhere, deliver a package, retrieve items, etc. NPCs may also ask players to do more intense things like kill players, or other good/bad enemies. Questing will reward the players with cash or items they would not get otherwise.

When a player finishes a job or quest, they are always compensated with in-game cash. They can spend this cash on cosmetic items, which destroys the cash.

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Real Estate

A player may purchase property using cash or property passes (a property pass is a tier-based item that allows players to claim land for less money, though some small fees will still be taken for real estate business).

Property

Property can be seen as apartments, trailer homes, houses, and luxury homes. In other words, it is residential land that players are responsible for. When a player purchases land, they will be required to maintain it. Dirt will accumulate on homes, any grass will grow on the land, and the player is responsible for cleaning the dirt or cutting the grass. If they fail to do this, they will be warned before actions occur. If the Political Faction has rules against it in place, they can be fined for poor property maintenance.

Ownership Duration

Players can hold properties for 2 weeks at a time. Property renewals cost the player nothing, and extend the holding to 2 weeks after the renewal time. Players can pay for longer holding time, however it's expensive. Players can sell their properties if no longer needed, and the city can sell the property if the 2 week holding time expires. If the holding time expires without the property being sold to another player, all potential for financial returns is virtually destroyed.

Buying Fees are also a part of the Real Estate system. The Real Estate company receives 10% of estate sales, even including the small sale fees that come from "property pass holder" purchases. The other 90% goes to the seller, the city, or the bank (depending on who actually owns the property).

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