Creepsteve05's election post (September 2020)

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
A Bright future for Businesscraft
For the People, not the corporations; a campaign based on
i
mproving everyday life for the working class

Our Vision
The bills I vow to lobby for will not only improve your everyday experience,
but will also aim to improve player retention. More players means more money,
which means a bigger and more elaborate economy.

Bills I vow to lobby for
- Universal Income
- Government housing
- Government Transparency

What the people want! If I am elected,
please contact me about what you want!
I want to be the speaker for the people, not the corporations



My Qualifications
I joined Businesscraft back in early May, and I have almost 15 days of playtime
under my belt. I have worked for the DoPA as a TourGuide, which allowed me
to interact with the grassroots community. My time as a TourGuide allowed me to
recognize the struggles new players go through. I have taken Honors Civics and
Honors Economics (HS), so I thoroughly understand how economies and democracy function.


Thank you for reading my election post!

If you have any questions, please DM me on Discord at Overlord#0193

 
Last edited:

kailabeann

Citizen
Donator
Can you explain more about your universal income plan and how it won't compound the issue of an imbalanced economy with money either spawning in from nowhere or draining the government balance without a comparable solution for how to circulate an equal amount back into the government?

What does your plan for government housing entail? How will you make that possible when a majority of the land in the Capital is privately owned?

I would also like to hear more about your loan forgiveness program. There are no governement-issued loans. All loans are from private banks. How do you plan to mandate this when the government does not regulate private banks?
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
Universal Basic Income
The universal basic income bill would give players with a playtime of less than 48h, a join date of less than 1 week, and a balance of less than 700kr 5 krunas per every 15 minutes online.

This is aimed to solve the problem of poor player retention. As a tour guide, I have witnessed many players leave the server because they don't have enough money to survive when they are trying to become established. They don't have enough funds to buy simple things like food and tools as they are becoming established. I have witnessed this happen countless times, and I believe it could be easily solved with a reliable unconditional source of income for these players.

Common Questions about this bill

Q:
Won't this drain the government's balance?
A: As of last week, I estimate this would cost the government approximately 3400kr/week. This calculation includes the average number of players that meet the criteria online at one time, and their average length spent online.

Q: Would this place an imbalance on the economy?
A: This would not place an imbalance on the economy. If the bill works as intended, the increased GNP would heavily outweigh the minuscule inflation that may or may not occur.

Q: Is this even achievable, tech wise?
A: Yes. The plugin the server uses for wages can easily be modified to include conditions. I'm sure the devs would have no problem with this.

Q: Can't this be abused if people withdraw banknotes to meet the conditions?
A: No. The bill would include a program that internally calculates the player's total worth in banknotes and balance for the system to use.
Government Housing
My government housing bill would reduce the prices of the government apartments behind spawn by 60% to players with a join date of less than 1 week. This would work in perfect conjunction with the DoPA minister's recent order for TourGuides to exclusively show the Government apartments on tours.

This bill is aimed to give new players a cheap place to live while they are becoming established. I conducted a small scale experiment in my BC-146 plot where I handed out extremely cheap apartments to new players. The building quickly became a hotspot for new and struggling players alike. I have had 4 players come to me saying they may have left the server if they did not have such cheap and accessible housing; which proves this concept extremely effective.

Common Questions about this bill

Q: Wouldn't this impact the private housing sector?

A: In the long term, no. The current price for housing in the city is extremely expensive for new players. Once players get established, hopefully after 1 week, they would have to purchase from the private sector. The increased number of players in the server would heavily outweigh the minor discrepancy placed on the private sector.

 
Last edited:

Ferngrove2004

The Turtle Master
Donator
Honestly, the ease that this would give would be basically miniscule, and useless. You can earn 5kr by killing a creeper, tmk, and even more on a killstreak, we don't need to add more inflation to the server with an unneeded plugin. How would you suggest that 5kr for 15 minutes would even add up, related to the cash you can get from merely walking out of a wild warp and hunting for a few minutes. Even with just a fist you're bound to get more money than this way.. Also, how would you deal with banknotes?? They could abuse this by withdrawing all their money and half-afk-ing their way to a small fortune in the week that they've first joined.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd stay in the Gov apartments until I could grab some land for an actual house, or some in the wild, regarding the housing. That might not be everyone however, and I don't totally oppose this idea! Not a bad plan for those who are starting out ;) But it does not include the idea of distribution, no apartments in other cities? Would there be added apartments there? or just in capital? Also, not all privately owned apartments are really expensive, if you look around in other cities and towns, I'm sure you can find some amazing prices, and there will definitely be some in the future, if I don't miss my guess.

I like the idea of loan forgiveness, but how can an MP deal with this if it is a private affair? The citizens have the right to sue for an agreed amount not paid, even if it is minor, not that most will go to court over less than 100kr, but some will. Will you just not grant them justice because the payment was smaller than that amount? I get that in Gov loans, though, not sure how it'd work out though.

All in all, good luck in the campaign :D ;)
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
You would be quite surprised how far 5kr would go. Many players do not have the time, skillset, or tools to go around killing mobs. The goal of UBI is to provide an unconditional income source that can ease financial stress when starting out. To use your logic against you, government jobs are useless. You get 30kr in 15 minutes when you can just go 'walking out of a wild warp and hunting for a few minutes,' so why do government jobs pay? Obviously, I am not claiming government job pay is useless, just using it as an example of how unconditional income can be beneficial. Regarding banknotes, it is very easy to implement a package that calculates a player's total balance, as banknotes themselves are classified as Boolean variables within the server's storage. That is more of a technical question that doesn't really have to do with the concept of the bill, but non the less it's a valid concern

I believe that the locational ease and official aspect of Government housing, partnered with it being showed on tours would make the government housing building a perfect source for server growth.

The loan forgiveness bill would only come into effect if a lawsuit is filed. It may surprise you how many lawsuits are filed regarding small principle balance on a loan. This would smooth over the process if the loanee has left the server or become inactive/non responsive. It's a confusing concept to understand, but once you do, it makes perfect sense. if elected, I promise the final bill draft will be extremely detailed and explain it in full detail. This bill is not a priority however, so it may not be for some time.
 

Ferngrove2004

The Turtle Master
Donator
You would be quite surprised how far 5kr would go. Many players do not have the time, skillset, or tools to go around killing mobs. The goal of UBI is to provide an unconditional income source that can ease financial stress when starting out. To use your logic against you, government jobs are useless. You get 30kr in 15 minutes when you can just go 'walking out of a wild warp and hunting for a few minutes,' so why do government jobs pay? Obviously, I am not claiming government job pay is useless, just using it as an example of how unconditional income can be beneficial. Regarding banknotes, it is very easy to implement a package that calculates a player's total balance, as banknotes themselves are classified as Boolean variables within the server's storage. That is more of a technical question that doesn't really have to do with the concept of the bill, but non the less it's a valid concern

I believe that the locational ease and official aspect of Government housing, partnered with it being showed on tours would make the government housing building a perfect source for server growth.

The loan forgiveness bill would only come into effect if a lawsuit is filed. It may surprise you how many lawsuits are filed regarding small principle balance on a loan. This would smooth over the process if the loanee has left the server or become inactive/non responsive. It's a confusing concept to understand, but once you do, it makes perfect sense. if elected, I promise the final bill draft will be extremely detailed and explain it in full detail. This bill is not a priority however, so it may not be for some time.

Alright, to be perfectly honest, the government pays us because by the law of employee rights, they HAVE to. The Government shouldn't need to coddle, or give the impression of coddling to new players, as they don't truly WORk for their paycheck and the government already does do them a world of good, giving them tools and food to start their journey with, as well as TG's to show them around. +600kr, what would 5 extra kr per 15 minutes do aside from wasting the governments resources? I feel as though if they asked a TG they could be told several easy ways to earn money aside from suckling off the government. Would the 5kr-15 minutes be the only way to accurately address the problem of player confusion? Or could that be addressed with methods that would lead to the player feeling more accomplished and less carried along? And thank you for addressing the banknote concern :D

And that makes sense, thanks for that answer as well.
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
Good point about the TG's wage. However, I don't quite get your argument. You're simultaneously saying 5kr isn't enough, and saying it's too expensive. As I said before, unconditional income has been proven to work in real life. Finland's government gave citizens 560 Euros a month to immigrants, and what do you know, their GNP gradually increased in the following quarters, even after the program was stopped. While Finland is not a good comparison to Businesscraft, the concept is sound. Regarding player confusion, I would hope that the DoPA minister would ask Tour Guides to explain government assistance to them during tours.
 

Ferngrove2004

The Turtle Master
Donator
I'm saying that it isn't a high enough wage per player, and at the same time, the government giving out this pay to however many people join per week, to the ratio of players who actually stay past the first few days/week is not truly sustainable. Although now that I see it explained like that, it is a fascinating concept, I don't really see how it would beneifit players in the long run, however if it works out for BC then I'm all for it, just trying to better understand your thoughts on this, and see if there was any other way aside from government pay to accurately give players a more dynamic experience lol, thanks for the response.
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
the ratio of players who actually stay past the first few days/week is not truly sustainable
That is the exact purpose of universal income. To help players become established and stay past their first week or two. More players means more jobs, more contributors to the economy, and a higher GNP. I have consulted dozens newer players, and the general consensus is that anything would have helped them during those times. Many of you out there probably don't remember your first few days in BusinessCraft, but for those in that position we want to help. It may be confusing to some people at first, and the change to the system may spark some outrage, but in the long run it will be extremely beneficial to the server's net population, and the economy.
 

hotshot80915

Citizen
Donator
hotshot80915
hotshot80915
Tier1
I might be a bit late but I would like to ask how the money would be recirculated back into the government if most players not currently with an aqua job cant really pay towards the government and instead help other players in privately owned shops.

In terms of government housing does that not already exist? I have seen numerous government owned facilities across the city and I'm curious what this new idea might add?
 

Croldfish

Department of Economy
Department of Economy
Lawyer
Croldfish
Croldfish
EconomySecretary
My comment on the whole loan forgiveness thing is that people signed up for the loan. They know the risk and they decided to take it. I think that it is not up to the government to get you out of a loan crisis. That means that if I take out a big loan and pay it over a long time, I can just lose money and the banks and the loan givers will still get paid. What is better is that the government should pay some of it so people don't get away scot-free. Sure, you might say that they lost the money already so that is bad enough, but the government shouldn't step in for everything. Basically. people assume the risk, the risk comes and they should receive some assistance. Plus, this will cost the government even more money and the people might have to get taxed more. I'm not sure if I fully understand it, but with what I know, this is my comment. Please correct me if I got anything wrong.
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
I might be a bit late but I would like to ask how the money would be recirculated back into the government if most players not currently with an aqua job cant really pay towards the government and instead help other players in privately owned shops.

In terms of government housing does that not already exist? I have seen numerous government owned facilities across the city and I'm curious what this new idea might add?

This is a valid question. If the bill works as intended, an increased number of total active players would counteract the government's spending on UBI.

While government housing does currently exist, it's extremely overpriced for new players. The goal of my government housing bill would be to try and keep new player on the server with cheap housing, and to introduce them to the private sector when they are ready. This concept proved extremely well in my rather controversial bc-146 plot experiment, where I provided extremely cheap housing to players in need. I elaborate on this in my initial response to Kaila.
 

kailabeann

Citizen
Donator
I really appreciate that you are trying to think outside of the box and make some radical changes creepsteve05. I am just concerned about the economic effects of your ideas.

You keep referencing the server's GNP, but that is impossible to calculate in Minecraft because it is infinite. I don't think we should be leaning so heavily on IRL examples of UBI because it doesn't translate well to this game. I also haven't heard a concrete solution for how to circulate money back to the balance as the server grows. It won't be just your estimation of k3,500/week anymore (I am also not clear how you arrived at that number). I don't follow the cause-and-effect argument that more players mean more money back to the government because the government currently has very few opportunities for returns. Wouldn't just increasing the starting balance of new players be an easier, less compounding solution? Why not start players at, say, k1,000 instead of k600 and introducing a system of ongoing payments?

I also haven't heard your comment on how loan forgiveness is not a government issue because the government does not regulate private banks. There are no government loans. In your original reply to me, you said you haven't received any questions about that, but I'm asking you now.
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
The real life examples of UBI I used had similar economies to Businesscraft's. While our economy is no where near as complex as Finland, both instances share fundamentals, as all economies do. Regarding replenishing the government's balance, I believe the increased renting in the government apartments (part of my other bill), and increased overall player count would contribute enough to the government's balance, however I am trying to get more accurate calculations that will reflect this week. Either way, the budget for this project is one of the smaller ones out there, especially for the effects it will have. I have considered a bill increasing the starting balance, however that would require much more intense calculations as that is spawning money into the economy. If the inflation factor is not absurd, it would most certainly be preferred over a money/time strategy.

I understand the government does not give out loans. That is not what my bill is about. My bill would relieve outstanding principle of 100kr or less. This is a less important problem, so it may not come to fruition anytime soon. I will edit my original post to reflect your questions, sorry about that!
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
I appreciate you taking the time to explain further. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. I look forward to the rest of your campaign and wish you luck!
I believe that is the best agreement we can come to without having a bill in hand. I look forward to debating you.
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
Campaign Update


We have decided to ditch Loan Forgiveness as a running promise

Reason:

We have decided to ditch this bill due to unpopularity and confusion. It was such
a minor problem that doesn't really need to be solved at the moment




We will be replacing Loan Forgiveness with Government Transparency as a campaign promise

The current lack of government operation transparency is a problem that many players are concerned about.
I vow to lobby for bills that will force government officials to state reasoning for actions, including
requiring the President to provide a veto explanation, as most real life governments require.



 

Windows_Dog

Microsoft Replay
Staff member
Administrator
Department of Internal Development
Department of Public Affairs
Lawyer
Donator
Windows_Dog
Windows_Dog
CommunityCoordinator
Hey Creepsteve05, I have some questions regarding your campaign.

Universal Basic Income
The universal basic income bill would give players with a playtime of less than 48h, a join date of less than 1 week, and a balance of less than 700kr 5 krunas per every 15 minutes online.
This kind of defeats the purpose of working hard from the start. If you want to make money quickly, we have multiple ways of making FREE money that isn't taken out of the Government Balance; Killing mobs, fishing, and your daily 120kr when you vote. Additionally, this system can easily be abused as if players happen to withdraw their entire income and wait every 15 minutes for 5kr, by the end of 48hrs of playtime, you will have 960kr. So at the end of the week, you would've made 1'560kr. I don't see how this will help the economy if free money is being printed for new players. Yes! I understand, your interest lies with the new players but there are other ways of making money that isn't accounted from Government Balance. Can you explain how you will combat this abuse?

Government Housing
My government housing bill would reduce the prices of the government apartments behind spawn by 60% to players with a join date of less than 1 week. This would work in perfect conjunction with the DoPA minister's recent order for TourGuides to exclusively show the Government apartments on tours.
The only reason why the prices were high is the Government encourages players to start their own apartments for other players along with the Government needs to pay their employees. But if you really want to enforce and push for the Government to reduce their price, you can always make a Government suggestion but I guess a bill would push for it quicker.

We will be replacing Loan Forgiveness with Government Transparency as a campaign promise

The current lack of government operation transparency is a problem that many players are concerned about.
I vow to lobby for bills that will force government officials to state reasoning for actions, including
requiring the President to provide a veto explanation, as most real life governments require.
So you want the President/Prime Minister to reply to the initial bill on why it was vetoed? That's as much as the public you can get.

Thank you for reading this and you may take your time in replying to this post.
 

violetunknown

Your Friendly Neighborhood Trash Panda
Speaker of the Parliament
Member of Parliament
Department of Public Affairs
Lawyer
Donator
violetunknown
violetunknown
Speaker of Parliament
I agree with most of the things Miss Kaila and Mr. Dog have said. If you were, instead of paying players a government salary for absolutely nothing, which could be easily abused and drains the gov, start out with more monies, possibly reduce the price of repairing tools at spawn, and have an announcement or something saying 'If your balance is getting low, make sure to check out the wilderness with /warp, you can earn some money by hunting there!' The players may not be aware that they have a low balance, and an annoucement coupled with cheaper item repair could probably increase player retention just as easily as paying money to players who haven't done anything to earn it. I also have a question about player retention. In reality, with 25-35 players on most of the time around the clock, the lag at spawn is terrible even for the best of computers. Can the server really support constantly having 60 players in the game? Imagine this scenario: A PO/Mod hears there are a bunch of trolls hanging around spawn making everyone feel awful about themselves. He trys to pop in to stop the issue, but the server has already hit max capacity. Not only would the lawlessness increase during that time as tension rises, but there is some serious emotional damage in the works there. How would you fix this? I personally believe a 50% retention rate is healthy for the server, because, if we retain too many new players, what would we even do with them? In addition, how would Gov. Transparency work? OwO sorry for the book but I'm kind of confused... good luck Mr. Creepsteve!!
 

Creepsteve05

Member Of Parliament
Banned
Donator
Thank for your concerns Sir Windows. Some of your questions/concerns I answered in my responses to Kaila, so I'll only respond to the new ones.

Additionally, this system can easily be abused as if players happen to withdraw their entire income and wait every 15 minutes for 5kr, by the end of 48hrs of playtime, you will have 960kr. So at the end of the week, you would've made 1'560kr.
I believe I answered this already in Discord, but I'll answer it again. In the server files, banknotes are classified as independent numeric variables (either ints, floats, or longs). It would be very easy to write a class or package that calculates a player's total worth and uses it as an internal condition to distribute the income. Obviously, I could be wrong about how the server's backend is set up, but I have yet to see a server that uses a text/compiler based storage module, as they cause great amounts of tile lag. Even in that case, this could be implemented.


The only reason why the prices were high is the Government encourages players to start their own apartments for other players along with the Government needs to pay their employees.
If you look at it realistically, the Government housing prices are just as expensive as the private sector. Reducing the government housing prices for new players would draw more money into the Gov's balance, along with giving new players a place to become established. I have explained this concept in more depth in my previous replies, so I suggest you read those.


So you want the President/Prime Minister to reply to the initial bill on why it was vetoed? That's as much as the public you can get.
I want the President/PM to declare a reason for a veto when they veto it. The lack of feedback slows down the process of trying to re-pass the bill.
 
Top