How do you reach and maintain profitability?

[John Cabot]

I've read the sticky "Getting Started" guides, but one thing confuses me. It says to "tweak" the tax rate into the edge of the green and orange, but the screenshots show a much larger green area than what I can see when I click on a house. Mine seems to be dark green, light green, orange, then other shades about 1/6th the bar length each. I assume you have to increase their income, but how is this done? How can you get to charging 345 gp in taxes and still keeping them happy? :confused:

[Largefry07]

Not income but more goods. The more goods that you produce for them that they demand the happy they become. Thus you can increase the tax rate and gain more money.

Example: You poineers just turned to settlers. You have the tax rate in the light green (very close to the yellow). The settlers start to demand beer and school. You built a couple of schools and some hop farms with berweries. The settlers get the goods and the schooling and their happiness increase. The tax is the same but is now in the dark green instead of the light green. The rate didn't change their happiness just increased. The dark green and light green bar is much larger and the rest are smaller. You move the rate to where you had it before in the light green close to the yellow and you make more money.

[John Cabot]

If I supply everything, don't they evolve into the next stage and demand more?

[Delondil]

They if you let them upgrade - I have been clicking the box in the lower right corner to prevent them from taking materials from the warehouse to upgrade their homes, so they get stuck at the current level lol

I usually do that while I try to fill up on all supplies before letting them advance.

[Dobber]

Well you can tax them in the yellow and they will not upgrade, even without withholding materials! Actually they will only upgrade if the taxes are set in the darkgreen!

[thegrindre]

The answer to your question is, yes, John, but everything else is relevant, too. It's a tricky balance you have to manage.:go: And, Dobber is correct, also.

[zippyriver]

The more goods that you produce for them that they demand the happy they become.

But don't over produce. If the need for cloth is being met, producing excess cloth has no impact on happiness and the excess chains will drain you bank.

[John Cabot]

But don't over produce. If the need for cloth is being met, producing excess cloth has no impact on happiness and the excess chains will drain you bank.


You can sell the excess....

[Largefry07]

You can sell the excess....

Yes but I'd imagine that the rate is not as good as selling to the people and taxing them.

[Reka]

Yes but I'd imagine that the rate is not as good as selling to the people and taxing them.
Selling luxury goods (i.e. those goods which only increase tax payment) is always more profitable then giving them to your population. With the single exception of cloth for farmers. For example when you produce alcohol, it is more profitatable to sell it all instead of giving any of it to your settlers and getting the higher taxes. It's odd, I know.

[zippyriver]

I was only clarifying what Largefry stated because it could be interpreted as either meeting several needs, or creating an abundance of product for a single need.

Of course you can sell excess products, provided you have a market for it (which is not always the case). And just having excess has no impact on happiness.

[John Cabot]

If you have access to an unlimited source along with several other "regular" sources, why not tap the excess resources and make a profit, right?

[Largefry07]

If you have access to an unlimited source along with several other "regular" sources, why not tap the excess resources and make a profit, right?

If there is a demand. Why go through the expence to producing jewerly if none of the other players need it yet? Yes there is always the free trader (if you are playing with him), but he won't buy large amounts of excess goods ferquently. Example: I was moving my entire oil/perfume production to another island. During this I did not want my population to go without these goods. So for a brief time I was almost producing double the amount of oil and purfume I usaully would. This made for a large excess of these two goods. When all was said and done I had some 500t of both of these items. I tried to sell about 200t to the free trader but he just wouldn't buy that amount of goods.