Node governments

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Alpha-1 winner of Mayoral election.[1]

There are a number of different seats that can exist within a node, and carry different responsibilities.[2]Steven Sharif

Positions within a node's government are attained through seasonal titles that grant special powers and benefits within the node.[3][2][4][5]

There are other node-based positions. Most of them relate to social organizational structures like the temple and the social organization building that the node might construct. Those are ladder systems of achievement that players can work through on a seasonal basis to achieve the highest level of that for the particular node; and by doing so they will then have titles bestowed upon them, which grants certain types of powers and benefits.[3]Steven Sharif

Node elections

Alpha-1 node election user interface.[8]

The village stage is a unique stage because that's when the government system comes online and all other stages past village there will have already been a cadence for the election system and it will follow that cadence, but after the initial village stage is completed there will be a one week period where players have an opportunity to establish citizenship at the village that also provides for the cooldown time that is- that would be present on players leaving another node to participate in in this particular node leveling up. But that after that one week period then there will be a one-week election process and then from that point moving forward will be the one month cadence that the node experiences elections on.[9]Steven Sharif

Once a node has reached Village (stage 3) there will be a one week cooldown period before node elections begin.[9]

  • This cooldown period allows players to establish citizenship at the village; which may require them to relinquish previous citizenship at another node.[9]
  • Following the initial cooldown, there will be a one week election process, then from that point on, elections will follow a monthly cadence.[9]
  • Node sieges may not be declared for 21 days following a node advancing to any stage.[10]
    • This was previously stated to apply only to nodes advancing to Village (stage 3), not higher stages.[11]

Node elections occur on a monthly basis.[9][12]

City hall

Winstead Village (stage 3) node town hall in Alpha-2.[16]

We want the City Hall to be the place where big decisions are made for each Node. It should be where the “ruling class” comes together and decides what to do (these decisions can quickly make them the “old ruling class” too).[17]

Town hall (also called City hall) is a default service building that comes pre-built with nodes.[18][19][20][17]

info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Mayors

Depiction of a mayor.[21]

Mayors have a unique ability to elicit change within the node proper, either through the destruction of certain buildings that have been constructed previously, because there's a limited number of slots that buildings can be constructed within, or the kickoff of additional projects, or the certain types of policies that can be enacted, like... the changing of a tax rate. They all have a unified source of energy requirement and the energy requirement is a mandate.[22]Steven Sharif

Mayors are chosen through different election methods according to the node's type.[23][24]

  • Previous mayors won't have any special system driven bonuses to help them get reelected.[25]
  • Players will be able to view a historical listing of mayors of a node.[26]

Mayoral caravans

Mayoral caravans (also referred to as Trade caravans) are launched by Mayors to obtain needed resources from other nodes.[28][29][27]

  • Players can participate in helping to defend the caravan if they wish.[29]
Mayors who need certain resources that either they don't have enough of, or that they're prospectively investing in: they will initiate a mayor request, and any node that sees that request on the mayoral caravan drop-down menu will have an opportunity to attempt to fulfill the trade request. In order to fulfill a trade request, a node must have a certain level of relationship with that requesting node. At a minimum it has to be a trade agreement relationship; and then there's a limited number of those trade relationships that you can have; and that scales up to eventually alliance perspective. And then, once the node requesting mayor accepts a potential fill order, then a system spawned caravan is generated and the transit is completed. Players can participate in helping to defend that or not.[29]Steven Sharif

Leadership powers

Leadership powers may refer to.

Node development

Racial architecture of the same Village (stage 3) node on different servers. Dünir Dwarven influence (top). Kaelar Human influence (bottom). Alpha-1 Non-NDA screenshot.

The layout and architecture within a Node’s development area are determined by influential race. For example, a stage 3 Node with the majority of player contribution being Py'rai would have a Py'rai village with Py'rai architecture. Most NPCs would be Py'rai elves, and offer questlines within the Py'rai narrative.[24]Margaret Krohn

Each player’s contributed experience is flagged with their character race and other identifiers. When a Node advances, the race with the highest experience contribution determines the Node’s style and culture. This style and culture change can happen at every Node Stage. For example, if a Node advances to Level 2 - Encampment Stage and 51% of all experience was earned by Ren’Kai players, the Node will be a Level 2 Ren’Kai Node. If that same Node advances to a Level 3 - Village Stage Node, but the Py'Rai contributed 62% of all the experience earned, then the Node will be a Level 3 Py'Rai Node.[30]Margaret Krohn

Node layout and style is determined by several factors:[31][32]

The way that the node system is built is that they can exist across a spread of 18 biomes, but at the same time have to represent the cultural influence of these cultures that are intrinsically a part of a specific biome.[33]Steven Sharif
Currently the way that the platform system is set up, is it's capable of adjusting the topography of the node's footprint, regardless of the surrounding terrain. So the reason for that is we want to have flexibility in the presentation of the node's layout and how it is essentially both from an aesthetic standpoint as well as a mechanical standpoint with node sieges- how it's constructed and that construction should have the ability to take on a variance of different types of topography. So it shouldn't be dependent on the surrounding area. Now that's not to say that the surrounding area isn't going to have some influence over. So for example... we're experimenting a little bit with the platform tech and putting up a node up against the side of a mountain or on the edge of a cliff or something that has a beautiful vista. Those are things that we're going to test out obviously as we continue to work on the node tool and how that platform system works, but the idea is to have the node independent of the surrounding terrain.[34]Steven Sharif
Some parts are determined by the area it's in. Some parts are determined by the type it is. Some parts are determined by the race it is; and then the rest of it is determined by the mayor.[32]Jeffrey Bard
All nodes, whether they're associated with a castle or associated with normal node structure, has cultural influences that replicate over to the buildings that are produced and the NPCs that are present.[40]Steven Sharif
  • The rest is determined by the node's mayor.[32]
    • It should be possible for a node to complete several building projects within a mayor's one month term in office.[41]
Q: How long would you say it will take players on average to fill/build up a node completely from wilderness to metropolis?
A: It's one thing to get a node to a certain level: it's another thing to develop the node; and I can't really give you an on-average expectation, because there's a lot of variables at play. There's how many citizens does the node have attracted to it; what's the type of traffic that the node is attracting to it based on things like its tax rates, or the specialization that it chose to spec into, based on the building types it's chosen to build. All of those things are variables that can affect the quote-unquote "average build-out time" of a particular node. So it's difficult to give you an average when there's so many variables along those lines. But the idea is that if there is a particular project that players are interested in in developing based on the node stage, that they would have the ability to complete several of those projects as within a single term of a mayor; and a term of a mayor is one month.[41]Steven Sharif

Constructible node buildings

Alpha-2 Service buildings.[19][20]

The important thing with the service building system for us is that it's a way to shape your node like a character; and to give you an exclusive niche that you can carve out in the world; or a niche that you fight over. If you go down this weaponsmithing path and you build your node to be this mecca of weaponsmithing and the node three doors down builds it, there's reason for you to conflict over it. They're taking your business. Or maybe you are in a zone and there isn't a weaponsmithing thing anywhere near you, and you do want to start to carve that path for yourself to make your node a place people visit and come to.[20]Chris Justo

Service buildings within a node are either default buildings that come with the node, or they are constructed buildings, which are initiated by the mayor and built by players.[19][20][42][43][44][45][46] Service buildings are further broken down into two main types:[19][20]

Constructed service buildings are available to every type of node in every location. Where the uniqueness comes in is in some of the default buildings like your node-type building.[47]Chris Justo

Service buildings are upgraded by expansions, which are unlocked through the placement of passive service buildings.[19][20]

  • Building expansions unlock higher tier workstations at the cost of dedicating service building plots.[48][44]

Service buildings incur a regular maintenance cost of node commodities and gold from the node treasury in order to continue operations.[19][51]

Node sieges

Node sieges (Pre-alpha footage).[52]

As some areas in the world grow, others will fall. This is the foundation of the living, breathing world that is Ashes of Creation, where players will have the ability to make important decisions that matter in the longevity of an area becoming a city, or whether to siege a rival town. Rise above the ashes, create the world around you, and be a part of the story that unfolds because of your actions and decisions.[30]Margaret Krohn

Node sieges enable players to destroy nodes starting at Village (stage 3).[30] This paves the way for new development and access to the locked content in surrounding nodes. Due to this dynamic, political strife and intrigue play an important role in the structure of the world.[53]

  • Sieging nodes will not be an easy task for the attackers. Cities and metropolises will have a considerable defensive advantage.[53]
  • There will be systems that mimic some of the mechanics of sieges, but there won't be practice sieges.[54]
If you own a home in a node and you don't want to see that home destroyed, you need to defend that city![56]Steven Sharif

Node wars

Node governments may declare war on another node and rally citizens to the cause.[17]

We have conditions that you can set between nodes with regards to either nodes being friendly with each other and acting trade alliances, or they can declare war on nodes similar to how guild wars may function in different games, where those citizens become hostile to each other based on the player government that's elected in the particular node. So those systems all cater to allowing a conflict that's meaningful and that also provides a non-imbalanced relationship between stronger guilds and not as strong guilds.[61]Steven Sharif

Node politics

There won't be a civil war mechanic within nodes but there will be scope for internal political conflicts; such as undermining the current leadership and disrupting trade.[62]

We want consequences to matter and if that person got elected then you need to work within the means of the mechanics to get them unelected.[63]Steven Sharif

Trade agreements

Mayors can enter into trade agreements with other nodes to facilitate trade between the nodes.[29][27][17]

  • There are a limited number of trade agreements that a node can have.[29]
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
Mercenary guilds will be a viable way forward for different organizations. I think there will be a lot of business to be had with that; and one of the systems in our trade agreements is creating an escrow for those particular type of arrangements that we're looking into.[64]Steven Sharif

Trade routes

Mayoral caravan launched by a mayor to establish a trade route with another node.[27]

For example: this node over here might have access to cotton as a resource and when that node processes that cotton it might be some very nice type of linen that only that node, or very rarely nodes would have access to. So when you initiate a trade route, you're bringing its supplies that the mayor has requested because they're trying to build, let's say a specific type of service building, or they're trying to unlock a blueprint that they have access to now to build up their node.[65]Steven Sharif

Trade routes in Ashes of Creation refer to.

  • Roads for the transit goods via the caravan system.[66]
    You might have a mountain pass and during winter that mountain pass is always closed and so the trade routes on land change with caravans and that's something that can not only exist on a cyclical level but also dynamically based on player activity.[66]
From a diplomatic standpoint the ability for the mayor or citizens to set up NPC routed trade routes between nodes as a trade agreement or as a diplomatic process.[65]Steven Sharif

Taxation

Alpha-2 Node treasury work-in-progress advanced node taxes UI.[69]

As the node levels up, you're gonna get access to deeper controls on the taxes, so that you as a Mayor can incentivize players to come to your node to do certain things. If you're a node that loves smithing, you're probably going to want to lower your taxes on artisanship to incentivize players to be here. But then you might want to drive up taxes on other avenues that players aren't necessarily coming to your node for, but are using out of convenience.[69]Chris Justo

Mayors are able to set a generalized node tax rate as well as overrides for different activities within their node. Mayors gain additional taxation controls as their node advances.[69][70]

Regent nodes take a cut of taxes from various activities that occur within their vassal node structure.[80][81]

  • This tax doesn't necessarily impact the individual citizen, because citizen's tax levels are determined by their node, but the node's finances are affected by the taxation levied by its parent nodes.[81]

When a node reaches stage 3 (Village) and a player run government has formed, all player housing will pay taxes.[82]

Maintaining businesses requires licensing and payments to the node your Freehold is associated with. This permitting system allows for a certain number of buildings to be constructed on a Freehold. Permits can be obtained from the same node the Freehold was certified from, and buildings that require permits will have an additional upkeep cost.[83]

See also

References

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  2. 2.0 2.1 Steven Quote2.png
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  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Livestream, July 26, 2019 (1:20:48).
  5. 5.0 5.1 MMOGames interview, January 2017
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Livestream, November 17, 2017 (9:49).
  7. Livestream, July 25, 2020 (1:52:45).
  8. Livestream, March 28, 2020 (1:01:34).
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Interview, March 27, 2020 (6:03).
  10. steven-siege-lockouts.png
  11. steven-mayoral-siege-cooldown.png
  12. Government2.jpg
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (1:01:00).
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 steven-kings-and-mayors.png
  15. 15.0 15.1 Interview, May 11, 2018 (50:05).
  16. Video, August 31, 2023 (49:05).
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 City hall.
  18. Video, August 31, 2023 (33:07).
  19. 19.00 19.01 19.02 19.03 19.04 19.05 19.06 19.07 19.08 19.09 19.10 Blog: Development Update with Village Node.
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (50:25).
  21. mayor-tweet.png
  22. 22.0 22.1 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (31:44).
  23. Node series part II – the Metropolis.
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 Blog - Know Your Nodes - The Basics.
  25. Livestream, August 31, 2023 (37:35).
  26. Livestream, September 29, 2023 (1:05:44).
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 27.7 27.8 Video, July 15, 2019 (2:12).
  28. 28.0 28.1 Video, September 29, 2023 (2:59).
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 29.6 29.7 Livestream, August 31, 2023 (2:10:23).
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 Blog - Know Your Nodes - Advance and Destroy.
  31. 31.0 31.1 31.2 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (39:17).
  32. 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 32.5 Livestream, September 27, 2018 (53:06).
  33. 33.0 33.1 Livestream, February 25, 2022 (41:00).
  34. 34.0 34.1 Livestream, February 26, 2021 (1:12:18).
  35. Livestream, March 31, 2022 (4:57).
  36. Podcast, April 11, 2021 (29:47).
  37. Interview, May 11, 2018 (54:34).
  38. Livestream, May 26, 2017 (21:23).
  39. Podcast, April 11, 2021 (23:36).
  40. 40.0 40.1 Interview, May 11, 2018 (47:27).
  41. 41.0 41.1 Livestream, July 29, 2022 (1:13:09).
  42. Video, August 31, 2023 (2:59).
  43. Interview, July 9, 2023 (1:32:45).
  44. 44.0 44.1 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (33:57).
  45. Livestream, January 20, 2018 (38:17).
  46. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (PM) (51:49).
  47. Livestream, August 31, 2023 (56:18).
  48. Livestream, August 31, 2023 (52:56).
  49. Video, August 31, 2023 (34:37).
  50. Livestream, March 31, 2022 (1:13:00).
  51. Livestream, August 31, 2023 (57:23).
  52. Video, December 4, 2016 (0:02).
  53. 53.0 53.1 A reactive world - Nodes.
  54. Twitch Bustin - Practice Sieges?
  55. Livestream, December 22, 2020 (1:13:51).
  56. Video, April 30, 2017 (5:31).
  57. Livestream, January 28, 2022 (17:50).
  58. 58.0 58.1 Interview, July 19, 2020 (24:34).
  59. 59.0 59.1 steven-wars-prime-time.png
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  62. Livestream, May 24, 2017 (40:50).
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  64. Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (18:59).
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  68. Kickstarter - We Just Broke $1,500,000!
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  71. steven-tavern-games-1.png
  72. steven-tavern-games-2.png
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  75. 75.0 75.1 75.2 75.3 Tax spending.png
  76. Livestream, August 31, 2023 (15:51).
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  78. 78.0 78.1 Interview, March 27, 2020 (0:30).
  79. Livestream, September 29, 2023 (1:11:22).
  80. 80.0 80.1 Livestream, August 26, 2022 (1:10:16).
  81. 81.0 81.1 Interview, May 11, 2018 (57:02).
  82. House Tax.png
  83. 83.0 83.1 83.2 83.3 Blog: Exploring the Boundless Opportunities of Freeholds.
  84. steven-freehold-building-permits.png