Introduction to Economics & Government

Project Mongoose operates on the idea that economics should be complicated enough to require thought and management, but straightforward enough to be accessible to new players. The following is not so much a rulebook or development guide, but a general outline of what you the players can expect for the finished product. There will be an in depth explanation of virtually every aspect of the game...eventually, I am hoping to average 5 posts a week.

The Basics;

Money & Resources:

-Currency in the game will be made up of gold coins. The way you acquire money is quite simple. Every province has a "base level" of potential revenue, there will be several different ways to increase the value of your province, including building various buildings, increasing the size of the merchant class, and so on.

-Resources are going to be the back bone of most economies. Every province is different, there is not "perfect" province, every nation will require some sort of trade if they want to advance. This will hopefully make for a more dynamic world.

-Class divides people based on social/economic status, each class produces different goods/services and you recruit soldiers directly from each class. IE Knights can only be recruited from the noble class. The number of serfs (among other things) determines your food production.

-Population Consumption are the resources that your population (as opposed to government) consumes. How much is consumed is determined by your demographics (class, population, wealth, etc). Each province has a self contained "economy".

-Government Consumption are the resources that your government and government buildings consume.

-Revenue comes mainly from taxation, every resource is tax individually (including money) and the government withholds a certain percentage of the resources.

Trade:

-Direct trading between parties is simple and straight forward. One party sends a trade proposal and the other party has the option of accepting the deal or not.

-The unified market is where you send resources into the market and they can be bought by anyone (who you are not at war with or have a trade embargo against). This will allow players to more easily sell their resources.

-Other features are being explored as well such as regular automatic trading and an international banking guild.

Economic/Government Systems:

-Players will have 2-3 economic "systems" to choose. Each has its own unique advantages and challenges.

-Feudalism: The default economic system is based on European Medieval Feudalism. Class divisions are deep and stable, everyone knows what their place is and there is little social mobility if any. Tends to be very war friendly, although this also tends to stunt economic development.

-Oligarchy: This is a system where a small group of people, often merchants, bankers or businessmen control the nation. They are privileged and like to maintain the status quo. Class mobility is relatively high (compared to the feudal system) although becoming an oligarch usually requires one to have friends in high places. Soldiers are very good but expensive, takes full advantage of economic advancement. Wide use of mercenaries is common.

-Republic: The "catch all" system, ranging from democracy's to imperial states. This system is a mixed bag, it is usually less stable then the previous systems but offers some of the greatest rewards (with a bit of hard work and luck). More or less the most "free" of all the systems. Good for producing a large amount of moderate quality troops. Economically stronger then the Feudal system but well behind the Oligarchy.

More to come later on