Taxes and fees

[Falcrack]

Should there be property taxes (stations owned) and sales taxes present in the game, as a way to fund the faction which owns a particular sector of space? The fees would go towards the faction owner where the station is located, and be used to purchase security for the sector and military forces. Stations in lawless (unowned or pirate) sectors may not have to pay sales or property taxes, but would also not benefit from protection by local security forces. To set up a station in owned space, the NPC or player would have to pay an initial fee to the sector owner.

As a sector owner, you could set the tax rate as you please, but be aware that setting it too high would drive away business as NPCs would take their business to cheaper sectors. If you are a sector owner, then obviously taxes would not apply to you, only those NPCs who set up shop in your sector.

[Hector0x]

This sounds good, but should be done by modders. For ES its too much to develop with all the things that already got into the game

[Reprisal]

Slum Lord has a nice ring to it.

[Vandragorax]

This sounds good, but should be done by modders. For ES its too much to develop with all the things that already got into the game

Yeah this is probably something that could be modded by the community, but definitely a cool idea

[ero_sk]

Sounds like a great idea. With good economy model and dynamic factions the money earned from taxes could also go to the faction owning a given sector and thus the money could be reused.

[gbjbaanb]

Shouldn't be difficult to implement - fees per docking, if you don't pay (or run up too much credit) then the station refuses to let you do things in that station at first, and eventually refuses to let you dock.

Taxes for running stations though, could easily be added to the "running cost" of each station that you need for crew, regular maintenance, food supply, fuel, etc.

I think such things would be a good addition to the game, and simple to manage if it was a single value per station or ship.

[sd_jasper]

While I'm more of a fan of assuming this is "backed" in to the cost of goods, it would be interesting if the amount of credits traded in a sector resulted in that sector's faction being better equipped. I'm for it.

[Morkonan]

For player-pilots, I think having to pay for a "Trade License" is good enough.

For faction-owned sectors charging fees/taxes, I think that might be a bit difficult.

In the previous X3TC/AP, player interaction in the economy was critical. The player's influence was easily discerned. If the player ignored a certain faction or region, then it simply didn't thrive as well as regions in which the player was very active. So, unless a tax was equal across all factions, the player may neglect certain sectors due to increased costs for development. That effect would have to be balanced in some way and that's a very unpredictable thing, considering that the player may have reasons other than increased costs for building in a region.

IOW - If it was just some flat tax for every sector, it'd be meaningless. But, if it truly wasn't meaningless, then it could have complex effects on gameplay, including the AI-run economy, which would likely, if play is going to be expanded in X4, have to have some extra balance work thrown in. And, that extra work may not be justified, since the player would simply be paying "more costs", which isn't really a new, exciting, or entertaining game mechanic that might justify that extra work.

[Kitty]

Interesting idea, but more complex that it sounds.

This sounds good, but should be done by modders. For ES its too much to develop with all the things that already got into the game

Yeah this is probably something that could be modded by the community, but definitely a cool idea

Or not.
The behavior of factions regarding installation (or not) of new modules to their stations should be impacted also. If these sort of thing is not taken into account by the coders, the mod may not work well.


Here we get into political simulation. Interesting, but.... Keynesians and Liberals may not have the same ideas on the impact on factory owners. Do they consider only taxes ? Taxes and protection ? Or also things like "I don't like 3-eyed scums" and "I have to support employment in Boron space!". Oops. Borons may not be there. Replace by Argons.

[mr.WHO]

NAY - I want into space to avoid the frickin' taxes!

[Kitty]

Stations in lawless (unowned or pirate) sectors may not have to pay sales or property taxes, but would also not benefit from protection by local security forces.

Well, Pirates do collect taxes. This is called racket.

NAY - I want into space to avoid the frickin' taxes!

No tax, no protection. Ask your Camora contact.

[spankahontis]

In Core Systems? Yeah.

In the Border/unexplored Sectors/Systems? No.


In encourages you to go out into the wilderness and make your money that way, and then challenge the big boys by setting up in the Core systems.