Hey everyone!

I wanted to make this quick clarifying announcement after some very productive conversation I read earlier in ⁠#💬chat.

Basically, there was some confusion about where silver in-game comes from and why in-game taxation, rent, and whatnot is necessary to keep things going in-character. I've broken down the next couple sections into "taps" (ways silver enters the economy) and "drains" (ways it leaves the economy).

Silver Taps 📈

1. The Silver Mines. Tried and true, and never more accessible than right now. We believe the majority of silver in circulation comes from the mines.
2. Fishing. Since the introduction of the Fishing NPC in SB by @Ultra and my friends on Production Team, we've seen a big shift - especially from folks who do not enjoy COMBAT - using this method instead of the mines.
3. DEW Recalls. Over the course of this last year, we used DEW as an in-character mechanism to purchase back a lot of items we wanted to discontinue. We put hundreds of thousands of silver pieces into the economy this way. We've since discontinued this program formally as of yesterday's board post from @Zack.
4. RBB Resource Purchase. Since S1 we've had an on-and-off program run by @Gustav which uses the in-character mechanisms of the RBB to buy back vanilla resources (iron, gold, diamonds, etc) at fluctuating rates based off of the active supply and a slowly replenishing demand. This program has, likewise, put hundreds of thousands of silver pieces into the economy since the beginning of this year. We plan to continue this for the foreseeable future. It's worth noting that the bank also receives a small portion of the proceeds from this program that they use to loan out to folks and pay those who help run the bank.
5. Events. Our Creative Team runs both our seasonal events and other stories here on Valence, one of the rewards for participating in these events have been silver pieces. If you've ever been to one of our ⁠#📜events , you may have received a silver piece reward for your character's time and trouble.

Silver Drains 📉

1. NPC shops. The Haberdashery, Tempered Talon, Grocery Store, Karan Wholesale, and others do not pay rent, dividends, or other taxes in-game. All funds collected by them are deleted from the economy.
2. Special Event shops. Whether I'm playing Lars of Rovigo, @Dino & @Wy are running a live Haberdashery opening, or the Tempered Talon opens up with some special gear to sell - pretty much all proceeds from these special events are deleted.
3. Player inactivity and bans. Whenever someone leaves the server without any intention to return, or are banned - any silver in their ender chest or inventory is effectively deleted. This is a lot more than you might think.

Common Misconception 🤔

The money that the government has is spawned in. Actually, lolno. Feel free to ask someone like @DeadInsight, who manages the funds held in the Citadel. Since the start of S2 on our new world, we have never had to spawn in loads of coins or bars for the government to use. The largest source of revenue for the Crown is rents from the City of Stone Bay, where the Crown receives half of all the rents collected by the CSBC.

Generally, all the silver pieces in circulation come from one of the taps mentioned above and eventually leave via the drains. We're proud to have a cool dynamic in-game economy that is sustained by y'all. It's just one of the things that makes Valence unique!

Hopefully some of this information has helped y'all understand where some folks are coming from with the taxes in-character. We have some upcoming programs to help folks make even more money, and explore some of the trade and finance opportunities Olvunter has to offer!

Terence / Doc

General Manager

Valence SMP