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FuboTV DD (First time making DD, please give advice)
I tried to make it easy to skip around if you just want to see the financials or estimates. Just scroll to them if you don't care what the company is or their sectocompetition/management. TL;DR at bottom with final thoughts. Introduction “FuboTV ($FUBO) is an American streaming television service that focuses primarily on channels that distribute live sports, including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international soccer, plus news, network television series and movies. Launched on January 1, 2015 as a soccer streaming service, FuboTV changed to an all-sports service in 2017 and then to a virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) model. As a vMVPD, FuboTV still calls itself sports-first but its expanded channel lineup targets cord cutters, offering a selection of major cable channels and OTT-originated features that can be streamed through smart TVs, mobile and tablets and the web. The service is available in the United States, Canada and Spain as of 2018." From their home page: They are the only competitors in their space of digital sports broadcasting, offer 4K streaming and upscaling of live sports, cloud DVR capability ranging from 250 or 1000 hours on standard plans, and is available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox One, Android TV, Android Smart TVs, and Android/iOS smartphones and tablets, with plans ranging from $24.99/month to $79.99/month (not including add-ons). They have also recently acquired one company and have made plans to acquire another to allow for in-house sports betting. They have stated in a press release that they plan to release a sportsbook before the end of the year. This will push them into a broader spectrum outside of only TV and sports streaming, and into the sports betting sector along with DraftKings ($DKNG), FanDuel ($PDYPY), and Penn National Gaming ($PENN). Plans and Add-ons FuboTV offers three standardized plans as of February 8, 2021: the Family plan is priced at $64.99/month (normally $75.97/month), Elite at $79.99/month (normally $100.95/month), and Latino Quarterly at $24.99/month, along with offering additional add-ons. Each plan offers a range of channels, cloud DVR capabilities (which allows fast-forwarding through commercials), and casting to multiple devices simultaneously. Only the Elite plan does not offer a 7-day free trial (Channels page). The Family plan includes 117 channels (mostly news and entertainment with roughly 40 that offer sports, including ESPN), up to 250 hours of DVR space, and casting to 3 devices at once. The quarterly prepaid includes a free upgrade to 1000 hours of DVR space and 5 casting devices at home with 3 on the go (Channels page). The Elite plan includes 164 channels (includes an additional “47 entertainment channels”), up to 1000 hours of DVR space, and casting to 5 devices at home with 3 on the go. This plan does not offer a quarterly prepaid (Channels page). The Latino Quarterly plan includes 250 hours of DVR space and can be streamed on up to 3 devices at once, but only has 32 channels. This plan needs to be prepaid every 3 months for a total charge of $74.97 and does not offer a monthly service (Channels page). Upgrades include additional DVR space--1000 hours for an additional $6.99/month for the Family and Latino Quarterly--and increased device casting--an additional 2 devices at home with 3 on the go for another $9.99/month for the Family and Latino Quarterly plans. You can also add a variety of channels and sports packages (the Latino Quarterly has fewer channel add-ons compared to the Family and Elite plans, which both have the same channel varieties). Sports Plus with NFL RedZone is an additional $10.99/month, but includes all professional and college sports broadcasting services for football, basketball, baseball, hockey, tennis, fighting, etc. (Channels page). Fubo has recently removed its former Standard plan, which included only 65 channels, up to 2 casting devices, and only 30 hours of DVR support for $60/month. Financials and Growth Fubo has yet to file an annual report as they have gone public in October of 2020, but they have filed a 10-Q for Q3 2020. All numbers in thousands. Assets- Between December 31, 2019 and September of 2020, assets have increased from $368,225 to $799,313 (a 117% increase) . Total current assets increased from $17,973 to $58,016, but accounts receivable decreased from $8,904 to $6,975--this may be attributed to the increase in prepaid subscriptions which increased from $1,445 to $12,177 which shows strong customer satisfaction and retention. Liabilities- Liabilities have increased from $145,049 to $290,376 (a 100% increase). The largest contributors to their liabilities are “Due to related parties” increasing from $665 to $85,847, “Warrant liabilities” increasing from $24 to $28,085, and “Accounts payable” from $36,373 to $61,679. Long-term borrowings have decreased from $43,982 to $25,905. Revenues- Subscription revenues increased by $53,433, totaling $92,945 for the year. Total revenues including advertisements and licensing have increased by $61,202, totaling $112,669 for the year and an increase of 47% YOY. Q4 revenue is estimated to be between $94,000 and $98,000 which would be a 77-84% increase YOY. Expenses- Subscriber related expenses total $114,315 for the year. Total expenses have totaled $500,249 for the year. Subscribers- Ended Q3 with 455,000 paid subscribers, a YOY increase of 58%, and plans to end 2020 with over 545,000, an increase of 72% YOY. Competition Its closest competitors are Hulu + Live TV (owned by Disney ($DIS)), YouTube TV (owned by Alphabet ($GOOG)), and Sling TV (owned by Dish Network ($DISH)). Hulu + Live TV
Includes league networks
50 hours of free DVR (200 hours for $9.99/month)
More than 74 channels
Unskippable ads on DVR without upgrade to 200 hours
2 streams at a time
$64.99/month
Can add ESPN+ and Disney+ for an additional $7/month
YouTube TV
Includes league networks
Unlimited DVR storage
More than 85 channels plus YouTube Red Originals
3 streams at a time
Sports Plus package for an additional $10.99/month
NBA LeaguePass for an additional $40/month or $119.99 annually
Starting at $64.99/month
Sling TV Blue
Includes league networks
DVR up to 50 hours (200 hours for $5/month)
More than 45 channels
3 streams at a time
Sports Extra package for an additional $11/month
Starting $35/month
Can be combined with Sling TV Orange for a total of $50/month
Sling TV Orange
Includes league networks
DVR up to 50 hours (200 hours for $5/month)
More than 30 channels
1 stream at a time
Sports Extra package for an additional $11/month
Starting at $35/month
Can be combined with Sling TV Blue for a total of $50/month
Merger with FaceBank for $100 million revolving credit
Analysts and Estimates Average analyst ratings put Fubo at a Buy to Strong Buy rating with an average price target of $45.50 with a high of $60 and a low of $30. EPS estimates are estimated to be -5.23 for 2020 and -1.64 for 2021. Currently has a short float of about 75%, but the short volume has been holding at roughly 15-20% over the last month and has drastically declined from its October short volume of over 50%. Originally valued at $700 million less than a year ago, a current valuation of $3.19 billion is respectable for this company and is on par for its current performance. Risks
Marketing fails and Fubo is never known as a household name, so consumers stick with other more known providers
Their sportsbook fails and becomes dead weight and wasted money
Subscriber count and streaming drops as quarantine lifts, reducing revenues while maintaining expenses
Consumers opt for cheaper options
People paying for the sports package cancel when the season is over, creating a boom and bust cycle if not managed correctly
Final Thoughts / TL;DR With its drastic growth over the last year (400% in the last 4 months), support from FaceBank and well-known investors, and plans to join the sports betting sector, FuboTV has potential to become a household name and grow well beyond its current valuation by combining both sports broadcasting and online sports betting into one convenient place. Although unlikely to overthrow any of the current forces, it can become the best live sports broadcaster that people can turn to when they cut cable but want to keep live sports. It has many hurdles to overcome (creating their sportsbook, better marketing, increasing subscriber count, etc.) before it is any real competition to its already established competition. At a $3.19 billion market cap and very high (75%) short interest, it will be very difficult to realize consistent growth, but it is on par for a company with almost $100 million in revenue. My Position 25 shares at $47.30 Edit: edited final thoughts/TL;DR Please provide feedback! First time actually researching and compiling information for a company and not just reading about them on here. Also, please ask questions to clear up any confusion; it was kinda hard to put everything together neatly, so I might have accidentally left stuff out or oveunder explained some things.
Harold Wilson is the 50 year old current Prime Minister, and Leader of the Labour Party, a post he has held since 14th February 1963
Edward Heath is the 49 year old current Leader of the Conservative Party, a post he has held since 28th July 1965
Jo Grimond is the 52 year old current Leader of the Liberal Party, a post he has held since 5th November 1956
Background
1964 – The election of 1964 saw the end of an era of Conservative dominance with Harold Wilson’s Labour Party winning the election. However, Wilson only won a majority of 4 MPs due to a late Tory uptick which placed him in a precarious position. Wilson wanted another general election to secure a larger majority. In early 1966 the Labour MP for Hull North unexpectedly died. This was a seat Labour had only flipped in 1964 and had a majority of only around 2.5%. This could have been a routine pick up for the opposition, but the end result was a swing of +8.9% to Labour, signifying Labour could perform well electorally. The Liberals also saw a bit of a revival in 1964 gaining 3 seats and increasing their share of the vote by 5.3%, the Liberals also picked up seats in London, whereas from 45-64 they had been seen as a party which clung on in the fringes of the country: Cornwall, Wales and Scotland’s Highlands and islands.
The Economy Stupid – One of the largest issues facing Labour as soon as then entered office was the large deficit and poor balance of trade left by the Conservatives. Labour moved quickly – establishing a new ministry of technology, unveiling a national plan for the economy, and cutting back on the military, raising protective tariffs on imports, and raising taxes. The deficit has been cut from £750m to £350m and the balance of trade has also improved. This early “test” reflected positively on Wilson and Labour’s ability to run the economy. Labour have also repealed the controversial charges on prescriptions and increased the amount of houses being built.
The 1965 Conservative Leadership contest – After the defeat of 1964 Douglas-Home may have been able to stay as leader of the Conservatives after the improvement in Conservative polling, however the party had been in power for 13 years and reacted very negatively to its return to opposition and Home did not believe he was suited to being leader of the opposition. Home changed the Conservative Party’s leadership election process which had led to so many issues for Home. Now a simple election between Conservative MPs with each having one vote decides the next leader. The winner of this contest is Edward Heath. Heath was somewhat of a surprise with the more widely known former Chancellor of the Exchequer Reginald Maulding expected to win. Heath however had served as Chief Whip – with his job being to wrangle Conservative MPs into voting one way or another and Heath had a more intimate knowledge of how to win over his party members while fighting a clear and focused campaign.
Heath vs Wilson – Heath and Wilson will (spoiler!) fight over 4 general elections so let’s compare them. In many ways both are remarkably similar. Both were born in 1916 and both had middle class upbringings, both excelled at school and won scholarships to Oxford. Because of this both are seen as more modern “technocrats” as opposed to the nobility who traditionally became Prime Minister. Both were involved in Oxford student politics although Wilson only somewhat. Heath on the other hand became President of the Oxford Union debating society and of Oxford University’s Conservative society. Heath travelled extensively throughout Europe before World War 2, even attending a Nuremburg Rally in 1937 and attending an SS cocktail party with Goering, Goebbles and Himmler (whom he described as the most evil man he’d ever met). Heath therefore stood as a pro-interventionist candidate in student politics, heavily backing the Spanish Republic and defeating a pro-Franco candidate for leader of the Conservative society. Heath fought in World War 2 and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel whereas Wilson signed up but was regarded as too important to fight in the war and stayed in Britain organising coal stocks. Both served in multiple ministerial positions and both as President of the Board of Trade. Here Heath instituted an extremely controversial policy during Home’s last year as Prime Minister – lifting the restrictions on the amount of foods Supermarkets could buy. This law was put in place to help small grocers and Heath was warned if he repealed it he’d split the party before an election by antagonising one of the Conservative’s key supporters in small business owners (Heath went on anyway and the split never happened). Heath’s experiences as chief whip during the Suez Crisis, negotiating entry into the EU, and in repealing this law imbued a great deal of self-confidence within him as he’d soldiered through incredibly difficult circumstances but always come out the other side undamaged. On the other hand Wilson’s time as “Nye Bevan’s dog” during the battles between Bevan and Gaitskell reinforced the importance of maintaining party unity and managing big personalities within government.
The quiet man – Heath however has one key disadvantage when compared to Wilson in his charisma or lack thereof. Wilson is incredibly witty and charismatic, but Heath seems to shun the concept of even giving interviews, sometimes going years between television appearances and appearing very stiff and wooden when he does talk. This hasn’t helped the fact that Heath has had less than a year as Leader of the Conservatives before the election. As a result very few voters have even heard of him, and Wilson is incredibly effective at making fun of Heath. Heath believes that the electorate will tire of Wilson and see him as a fake like Heath does (for his public persona and Wilson’s exaggerations about his childhood and upbringing with Wilson trying to paint himself as rising from the working class despite being comfortably middle class) and because of this… Basically does very little to make arguments as to why the voters should back him, instead just sitting back and waiting. This has alarmed his supporters who elected him as a direct answer to Wilson.
Liberal dilemmas – For the Liberals 1964 was a great success. While still nowhere as near as popular as Labour or the Conservatives the Liberals did manage to make themselves seem like a true 3rd party instead of some regional relic of the 1800s. Grimond however is facing new issues – Grimond presented himself as a young, radical alternative to the old Tories but that role has become adopted by Wilson and the Tories elected a technocrat. Grimond is the oldest of the 3 leaders and a firm member of the upper class of society. Grimond also struggled with supporting Labour. Since Labour had such a thin majority there was always the question of if the Liberals would agree to support Labour on certain issues which many Liberals disliked the thought of. Wilson and Grimond seemed to come to an agreement on institution proportional representation – a long-term aim of the Liberals but Wilson has not upheld his end of the bargain. Grimond is also struck by the suicide of his son Andrew during the campaign which takes a great mental toll on Grimond and seemed to take a lot out of him (as you’d expect).
Europe again – Edward Heath is one of the firmest supporters of Britain’s entry into the European Economic Community, a policy which the Liberals also support. Wilson’s position is more confused. Wilson personally opposes entry as does the left-wing of the Labour party, but those on the right support entry. Wilson in a desire to keep the party together has made speeches indicating he supports entry but has not committed to actually joining and has accused Heath of “rolling on his back like a spaniel at any kind gesture from the French”.
9-5-1 – Heath has managed a rare hit on Wilson by referring to Britain’s economic figures. As mentioned before Labour has gained the trust of the public by managing to quickly bring down Britain’s budget and trade deficits but Heath has referred to 9-5-1 meaning the 9% rise in wages, 5% rise in prices and meagre 1% rise in production. Heath is warning about the issue of inflation, but Wilson saw the unpopularity of Home’s attempts at a wage pause, and also wishes to continue full employment both of which have led him to committing little action to combatting inflation.
Issues
Labour:
New incentives for exports, maintenance of tariffs on imports, cuts onoverseas military expenditure, new taxes on overseas income and control over the export of capital to stop the flight of the rich abroad
Increased productivity by selective investment, incentives to reinvest profits, a new corporation and board to reorganise industry and increase productivity
Encouragement of agricultural and horticultural co-operation, increased and cheaper marketing of foodstuffs, support for farm workers
Fixed income, prices, and rent control to curb the cost of living
500,000 new homes a year by 1970, continuation of Crown Land Commission to seize land at below-market prices to combat “land famine” and remove land from the free market, improved public transport for commuters, modernization of old city centres, and continuation of the policy of building new towns
Commitment to full employment, new recognition of the right to a trade union, equal pay for equal work
increase by 1970 the annual spending on hospital building to a figure double the highest sum spent in any year by the Conservatives, increase in medical students, rapid expansion on health and welfare services for old and disabled
Creation of “The Open University” by using TV and Radio to deliver University lessons
A new tax on gambling and gaming, and a land tax based on the difference between the value of the land as it’s currently used and the price received when its sold for redevelopment
Votes at 18 years old, reorganisation of civil service, local governments, law commission to revise and modernize old laws, and a conference to review the UK’s voting system
“Realistic” controls on immigration
Increase in police officers, new youth parole system to cut down on numbers in jail
Commitment to European Free Trade Association but no commitment to join or stay out of European Economic Community
Conservative:
Tax incentives for saving money, a new act for industrial relations to end restrictive practices, intimidation and establish that agreements between unions and employers are legally enforceable, encouragement of competition between businesses
Wider ownership of houses, pensions and capital
Restrictions on immigration and fairer treatment for immigrants
An attack on rising rates of crime
Goal of 500,000 new houses
Entry into the European Economic Community
New cost effectiveness department to cut government waste, reorganisation of economic ministries into one department as well as combining the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance and the National Assistance Board into a single Department, hiring of university and industry professionals to help draft legislation and policies
New inspectors of welfare to co-ordinate support between local authorities and hospitals, improved benefits for old, children, and widows
Establishment of education television centre to help teach children, more power to local education providers and authorities, more choice in education for parents
Expansion of education and higher education budgets for Scotland and Wales
Initiate peace talks to break the deadlock in Rhodesia
Support for admission of China into the U.N.
Liberal:
Simplification of tax system, reduction of direct taxes, cutting of tariffs, continuation of incomes policy but wages to rise in line with productivity,
New works councils to force management of businesses to regularly consult and negotiate with workers, workers to become shareholders in their place of work, A standard contract of service to be introduced covering the right to Union representation; an equal range of security benefits for wage and salary earners; holiday pay based on average earnings; a guaranteed opportunity for further education and training in employer's time; and equal rates of pay for men and women doing identical work
Increased prices for beef, expansion of production of cereals to eventually end tariffs on cereal imports
Parliaments for Scotland and Wales, elected regional councils responsible for the use of land, including new towns and new industries, public transport and hospital building, water supplies, regional resources and all facilities for leisure and the arts, streamlining of government ministries
Creation of new motorways but for all new motorways to be pay roads
No controls on amount of immigrants entering UK, expansion of teaching facilities to teach immigrants English and special funds for housing in areas with rapidly growing immigrant communities
Cuts to defence spending, British nuclear weapons to be given to international organisations
Proportional representation, votes at 18
Increase in state pensions, encouragement of employers to supplement them, increase in sick and unemployment pay, paid for by A Social Security Tax, replacing National Insurance stamps and levied on employer (two thirds) and employee (one third)
Increase in number of GPs and nurses, better facilities for them, and new hospitals as well as improvements to existing hospitals
salaries, working conditions and pensions of teachers to be improved, 11+ exam to be abolished, slum schools to be improved
Entry into European Economic Community
Increased trade and international aid for poverty stricken countries, pressure on Rhodesian government to step down and the formation of a new government to represent all Rhodesians
Jan/12/2021 news: __ Gas prices could rise: ֏ vs $ __ Jailed for taking Azeri bribe __ How much will AM-AZ railway cost? __ COVID strain, vaccine, stats __ POW & borders __ Childbirth subsidy __ Seismic resistance __ IRS to monitor casinos __ Environmentalists to have voice __ Yezidi theater __ more
Your 11-minute Tuesday report in 2562 words.
gas prices could rise due to currency fluctuations
Russian gas price (at the border) had increased from $150 to $165 per 1000m3 in 2019. Although the Russian currency Ruble was devaluing against the Dollar, Armenia was/is paying for gas with Dollars. Since 2019, the Pashinyan administration has been trying to convince Russia to implement a different gas payment mechanism within the EAEU trade bloc. Making payments in Rubles instead of Dollars was one of the priorities: "We are constantly talking about high dollarization within the EAEU, but we still pay for Russian gas in dollars. Our proposal was that it would be more correct if we paid for gas in rubles, because I think it is more logical, also within the EAEU," said Pashinyan in early 2020. This idea was also shared by Vladimir Putin's personal adviser back in October 2018. It appears the EAEU has been working towards this goal lately. But meanwhile, Armenia has to pay for Russian gas in Dollars. With Armenian Dram devaluing against the Dollar, the pricing for consumers will likely be revised. Consumers pay 139 Drams per cubic meter. This was calculated in 2020 when $1 was 480 Drams. Today $1 = 520 Drams. Large consumers pay in Dollars and have their rates adjusted periodically, while small consumers (general public) pays in Drams. Armenia imports 2.2 billion m3 gas from Russia annually, at the price of $165 per 1000m3. 0.7 billion of it is consumed by the general public. Dram was devalued by 6.6% since November. This could prompt the internal gas company to raise the prices, including for the general public. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039886.html http://www.armbanks.am/en/2020/04/07/128024/ https://neftegaz.ru/en/news/energy/406887-armenia-should-pay-for-russian-gas-in-rubles/
Public Council meets drone and robotics industry
The Public Council (linked to PM's office) held a meeting with engineers from the drone, robotics, AI, and nano-tech industries. They discussed ways to help the state to develop the military-industrial complex, drone production, aviation, and to bring their quality to international standards. https://factor.am/327477.html
former PACE MP sentenced to 4 years for taking bribes from Azerbaijan
An Italian court has concluded that Italian PACE representative Luca Volonte, who is the former head of the European People's Party, took €2.4 million in bribes from the Aliyev regime in 2012-2013. The bribe was handed over by Azerbaijan's PACE delegation leader Suleymanov. The scheme was coordinated by an Azeri lobbying firm based in Brussels. In return, the MP gave Azerbaijan favors during PACE and Italian Parliament sessions. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039927.html Tags: #caviar
POWs and searches
The search crews in Artsakh discovered bodies of 10 soldiers and 1 civilian in Jabrayil, Hadrut, and Sgnakh regions. The civilian has already been identified by his relatives. The cause of death is being investigated. Many bodies under the possession of the Armenian side are yet to be identified, while more bodies will likely be found during daily searches for the foreseeable future. Overall, 575 calls have been made by families who are looking for missing relatives, says the Russian humanitarian envoy in Artsakh. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039900.html , https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/289293/ Human Rights Ombudsman Tatoyan once again criticized Azerbaijan for intentionally politicizing and delaying the POW swap mission. "It is against international laws to file felony cases and arrest POWs because that's a form of a prohibited punishment. Azerbaijan is also hiding the true number of POWs." The Ombudsman has noted that Armenian residents in Tegh, Vorotan, and several other bordering villages have lost access to 2500 hectares of farming lands due to border changes. (some lands that were internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan were given to Azerbaijan after the war). https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039933.html , https://factor.am/327226.html , https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204175
POW discussions: general prosecutor meets Azeri counterpart
Chief prosecutor Arthur Davtyan and his Azeri counterpart were invited to Russia. The three sides held a conversation about the establishment of future contacts in the field of international law and other related topics. Prosecutor Davtyan mentioned the importance of implementing the November 9th statement about the return of POWs, "which will serve as an assurance for implementation of other [trade unblocking] issues." https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039953.html , https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039972.html
how much will a new railway network cost?
Azeri economists believe it will cost around $430 million to build a railway network connecting Kars(TR)-Nakhijevan(AZ)-Meghri(AM)-Zangelan(AZ)-Baku(AZ). Overall, if you add Gyumri between Kars and Nakhijevan, it could cost about $434 million. Economists believe Armenia can use this network to connect with Russia via two directions: Gyumri-Nakhijevan-Meghri-Baku (southern trip), or Ijevan-Ghazakh-Baku (northern trip). https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/289313/
rumors & rebuttals: traitors are not selling Azeri juice in Armenia
Telegram channel Mediaport circulated rumors that "Azeri Sandora juice is being sold in Armenia". The misinformation was picked up by several outlets and caused confusion among the buyers. Fact-checkers contacted Sandora's local importer who said the producer is a Ukrainian company that sells its product in multiple post-Soviet republics, so they have one unified tag that contains information both in Armenian and Azeri languages. https://fip.am/14469
Pricing for 43 commonly-consumed items was examined by the consumer protection agency in Artsakh. 12 became more expensive, 5 cheaper, 26 remained the same. Onion +25%, cottege cheese +6%, milk +6%, gloves +5%, ..., pear -12%, rice -1%, eggs -1%, butter -1%. Several dairy product prices went up, and since Artsakh has dairy companies that own dominant market share, the consumer agency will launch an investigation to see if there was price-fixing. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039946.html
seismic resistance assessment for old buildings
A significant portion of Armenia's large apartment complex buildings were built half a century ago. They may not be seismically safe, considering Armenia's geolocation. After the 1988 earthquake, some buildings remain populated despite being deemed highly unsafe. Many other buildings have safety irregularities. It is necessary to assess the situation, so the Urban Development Committee has drafted a bill "Methodology for assessing the priority of increasing the seismic resistance of buildings and structures". https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039887.html
IRS will closely monitor gambling industry / RFID chips & servers
IRS press release: gambling facilities and online betting services will be more closely monitored. We worked with international experts to digitize the gambling industry and bring it on par with international standards. All gambling machines and platforms operating in Armenia will be connected to one server which will be connected to a monitoring Center. All betting and winning transactions will be recorded. The Center will also install RFID microchips in casinos to monitor the movement of chips, the chips purchased or won by players, in real-time. The government's Digital Council has approved the bill, which is yet to be discussed and voted in the Parliament. The goal is to be able to monitor the financial flows in this sector and to estimate the actual revenues. It will combat money laundering. (BHK skipping a Parliament session due to "COVID" in 3, 2, 1, ... /joke) https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039915.html
new "public council" will advise Nature Ministry
Nature Minister Romanos met several environmental organizations and environmentalists and discussed the creation of a new Council, which will advise him on nature protection issues, help draft bills and roadmaps, work with other environmental organizations and NGOs. The Council is accepting applications. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039896.html
large quantities of illegally-cut trees were busted
Context: An incident happened last week between parents of drafted soldiers and military officials at a military unit. The parents wanted assurances that their sons would be safe after being deployed on Artsakh borders. The parents wanted to know why Armenian soldiers are still being sent to Artsakh "despite the November 9th statement saying Armenians should withdraw from Artsakh." During the confrontation, an incident happened between a military official and a journalist. The official struck the camera and instructed it to be turned off. Several media outlets released a message condemning the officer for hindering the journalist's work. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039973.html
infrastructure upgrades
Four settlements in Kotayk province (Yeghvard, Nor Gegh, Aragel, Zovuni) have a newly renovated irrigation pipeline as part of a govt subsidy program. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204202
today in history
1932: First Yerevan tramway began operating in Yerevan 1951: The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was implemented. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039885.html
get your free colonoscopy today
The National Center for Oncology has purchased the latest generation tools and will perform a free and enjoyable colonoscopy for residents over the age of 45, for the next 6 months. The goal is to detect suspicious growths at an early stage. It's the third most common cancer among adults in the world. It has become more common in Armenia in the past decade. When detected early, it can be fully treated. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039911.html
... we lift some of the restrictions! "Aye, aye, Captain!" "I can't hear you!" "The rule that limits attendance to non-commercial gatherings to no more than 60 people has been removed. All other safety requirements remain in place," said a Healthcare official. "You can enter Armenia via air or land by presenting negative COVID test results that were taken within the past 3 days. If you don't, you will be tested at the airport and will need to self-isolate until the results arrive." https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039931.html
Armenia will soon import COVID vaccines
Healthcare Ministry: we are negotiating with multiple entities. The first batch of vaccines will arrive between late-January and mid-February. We are negotiating with producers whose vaccines have passed the necessary tests: Sputnik V, Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca. In the first phase, the vaccines will be given to the most vulnerable 10% of the population. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039921.html
Sputnik V vaccine has already been tested in Armenia
Healthcare Ministry: no complications were reported by the 15 patients, including Minister Torosyan. The often-discussed "skin redness" in the injection area has not been observed, either. The first injection gave a 91.4% efficiency. The second increased it to 94%. Even if the vaccine doesn't fully prevent the infection, it can save the patient's life by making the case mild (is that right??). https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039925.html
the new COVID strain: good news, bad news
Doctor Davit Melik-Nubaryan: the version of COVID that mutated in the UK will eventually reach Armenia. Preliminary data shows that those who have already been infected and gained immunity from the original COVID will be immune to this new strain. It is believed that the immunity will last 6-12 months for the majority. The good news is that the new strain isn't more deadly and doesn't result in heavier cases. The bad news is that it spreads a lot faster. The Healthcare system could be overloaded again. The vaccines against the original strain will likely work against the new one. Pharmaceutical companies may have to modify the vaccines, but it will only take weeks. Closing borders with the UK won't be helpful to prevent it. We may already have the new strain. We need to develop a new strategy from the ground up. Viruses mutate all the time. It's part of the evolution. Sometimes they cause more severe symptoms, sometimes lesser. From the evolutionary and survival standpoint, viruses want to cause less severe symptoms for the host so they can have a chance to spread wider. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039856.html
Armenian scientists will study the COVID strain
CDC chief Bakunts: Armenia will have the ability to study the genetic mutations of the coronavirus. Active work is underway to invest in research resources. Meanwhile, we can submit a virus sample to a WHO laboratory to conduct a study for us. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039962.html
families with newborn children receive mortgage subsidy
450 families have so far taken advantage of a government subsidy program that helps with purchasing apartments. ֏526 million will be paid as part of this 2020-2023 program. It is part of a recent initiative to boost the birthrate. Two other aid programs went into effect in mid-2020. Provincial families received a downpayment subsidy equalling 5% of the total price. Another one subsidizes insurance payments. The same family can apply for all three programs, and there is no age limit for parents. https://factor.am/327385.html
diaspora-government cooperation expands: iGorts
iGorts is a program that recently recruited 48 highly skilled diasporan Armenians to visit Armenia and work at 19 various government agencies. Three more volunteers have arrived today to begin their work: Shila Palyan from Canada, Zaven Ayvazyan from Russia, and Anahit Mikaelyan from Cyprus. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204211
Yerevan to install 32 more elevators in apartment complexes
Arabkir district is the next recipient. Hundreds of units were installed in 2020. They replace the decades-old elevators that have become dangerous and poopy. The new elevators come equipped with running water and flush so you can drain your crap /s. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039954.html
have you been buying stuff right and left lately?
...because trade turnover increased by +34%, and the number of printed receipts by +7%, during this year's New Year's holidays. ֏91 billion was spent between December 29-31, which is ֏23 billion more. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/204195
would your majesty be pleased to take a salt bath?
Nerqin Getashen will have a halotherapy "salt bath" center to help alleviate certain conditions. It's the first in Gegharquniq province. There will also be rooms for aromatherapy (oils), ogyxenotherapy (oxygen cocktails), and massage. The owner claims it helps boost immunity and alleviates breathing, allergy, and insomnia issues (take the claim with a bath of salt). https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039974.html
first Yezidi theater to open in Armenia
"шəp' y əBин" or "war and love" will be the first performance in a newly opened Yezidi theater in Ejmiatsin. It's part of a «Եզդիների կողքին» cultural initiative. The crew had planned a major performance about Yezidi national legend but the 44-day war began and some were drafted. The crew ended up performing the "шəp' y əBин" during the war. It's about the importance of Yezidis in Armenia, and their love for the country. The January 17th performance will be dedicated to Yezidis who died fighting. The performers aren't professional actors but they received acting training on-the-fly. "It seems to work because their enthusiasm is great. A very good team has been formed," said the producer. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1039941.html
Aram Khachaturian House-Museum will resume "Musical Thursdays"
Netherlands college will donate large quantities of school supplies
Several thousands of desks, chairs, furniture pieces, computers, lockers, etc. are being loaded in containers to be shipped to Armenia. The Hermann Wesselink college is renovating its building with new items so they decided to donate the old stuff to Armenian kids. This will be enough to equip 15 provincial schools. https://factor.am/327135.html
Ho! Given the recent stock frenzy, many of you may have made some quick gains on some stock trades. I was in a similar situation, had a hard time finding any exact answers, had to consult a tax attorney in the end. I'll write up what I know, feel free to add to it or correct me if I'm wrong. The basics Belgium does not have capitals gains tax (applying to Belgian tax residents only), if the investment is done as a private person, managing his/hethe families assets, within 'normal' limits. However, some of investments could be considered speculative, potentially triggering a 33% + municipality rate capital gains tax. (Different from the 2016 speculative gains tax on stocks, abolished in 2017). What counts as speculative and what is 'normal' portfolio management is a gray area and can be strongly debated. I will address it further below. Speculative taxes, if applied, would be for the realized profits for the calendar year (from January 1 to end of the year). Realized profits/losses are calculated over your closed positions (profit/loss = your sell price - buy price). Open positions (even they are shorts, for which you got premium) do not count towards your realized profits. There are no deductibles: if you lost money last year, you can't carry it over for this year; you can't deduct any other expenses from these losses either; 'Normal' limits For what is considered 'normal' portfolio management strategies, you will find plenty of debate/examples of this on this forum, I recommend you read up. What is known to be safe, is buy&hold type strategies, ETFs, staying away from risky assets (crypto, options, turbos,..), not putting ALL your portfolio on one big gamble, no day-trading, automated trading, frequent daily buys/sells, etc. But what if you mostly hold ETFs, but buy the occasional long-dated call options? Gray area. Who knows. Debatable. Would you be taxed speculatively for your options winning only, or also for the ETFs part of your profits? Again, no one knows, but probably it could be reasonably argued the former . How do you pay the taxman? Luckily, it is not your responsibility to keep track of speculative/not speculative gains, but that of the tax authorities. It is up to them to prove you engaged in speculative investment behavior. When this happens, you will be contacted by the tax authorities asking for further information, account & trading history, etc. You would get a warning of sorts to know something is up and maybe it's time to involve a professional to help you justify your investments. Be ready that they can/could come knocking on your door several years later. Have your transaction history/backups, just in case. But there are no fines or interest penalties, just a matter of debating with the fiscus how much you owe them. Enforcement In a typical Belgian twist, while taxes on speculative gains are harsh, enforcement/followup is lacking. I was told that it is very unlikely that anyone would get audited. People making mid six figures get away unchecked. And if you make that kind of money, be smart, and consider supporting the local tax attorney community, they are people too. EDIT: By law, it is up to the tax office to prove/seek further proof you are dealing with speculative investments. They might or might not follow up with you. While your brokebank does not share with them for example stocks/options trading history, there are other things that can be red flags for the tax office: suddenly 200.000 shows up in your bank account, you hold foreign bank/brokerage accounts, there's a lot of monthly money transfers back and forth, you suddenly form a low-tax LLC in Cyprus, etc. The average Joe (or Jan?) is unlikely to be audited (and please no one interpret this as it can't/won't happen either). Advanced ruling This is relatively costly (EDIT: free, if you do it yourself) and tedious procedure that helps get a binding decision from the tax authorities regarding a deal you made, a particular transaction, etc. So if you made mad money on a single transaction, it might be worth the effort. If you made a lot of smaller trades, you would need to do this individually - not worth it. The other downside of an advanced ruling is that it lists a strict set of conditions: if you did A, B and C under circumstances X and Y, then this or that is allowed. Any small change to A, B, C, X or Y can make the advanced ruling unapplicable. Summary You made good money? Be happy, keep the potential tax amount around in case they do come for you, and if you don't get audited/asked additional info/transaction statements/etc, you're probably fine. Talk to a tax attorney if you can't sleep at night. The BEFire community is doing a great job at promoting a fairly safe, low-tax, low-risk investment strategy. But if you do end up taking the more adventurous route, you might as well be informed on what to expect.
This is a long review about Option Alpha. I tried to post this on Investimonials but that website was glitching so here it is on Reddit. I'm not riffing here on Option Alpha but trying to provide an unbiased review to the community. Hopefully this helps someone make a better decision before they part with their hard earned money. A lot of people are getting into options, whether its theta gang or long directional option trading. My warning to everyone is that don't necessarily fall for option trading services/rooms specially when they don't list an accurate trade log and PnL account performance. This review below here is more applicable to the Theta gang option traders/option sellers so if you are a option buyedirectional optional trader than this review won't apply to you. Here is the TLDR - At the very best if you want very low single digit annual returns while taking huge risks and want to take the headache of making 100s of option trades, spend tons on trading commissions and subscription fees ($100 to $300 per month), waste time making option adjustments and then create a tax headache paying short term capital gains tax rates (your highest income tax bracket) on profits and filling out IRS forms at the end of the year then this is the service for you. Also the return on your time spent understanding option alpha and then implementing its strategies is negative. Normally I would not write reviews unless I thought that subs were getting ripped off. Let me start of by saying that I don't think Kirk (the founder of Option Alpha) is running a scam per se, but he is basically bilking gullible subscribers who are very new to options trading and have been sold the dream about option selling as the ONLY proper way to make money in options. This service is a total waste of time for the individual investor. The last few years the returns have been flat after all these trades (basically up a few % or down a few %). This is before accounting for option commissions, and taxes (selling options ie. premiums are always taxed as short term capital gains at your highest income tax rate so you get no benefit vs holding stocks or buying options over 1 year) and subscription fees. Accounting for all this basically makes this a negative return. In fact I think it is better to buy a balanced Vanguard index fund or VTI etf and just Dollar cost Average into that every month vs using this system. Atleast with VTI you can expect to make 6% over the long term. The simplest strategy which is to buy VTI etf will beat Option Alpha over the long term with fewer headaches and invested time and energy. Let start of with the good stuff first. The option education videos are free, extremely well made so that even total beginners can understand option selling. Kirk is a gifted teacher and explains everything in simple language. If you are a complete beginner than these videos will help. Things I learnt that are useful - adjusting losing positions and how to beta hedge. However they don't get deep into the intricacies of options that professionals worry about. The education is totally biased towards option selling strategies. They try to sell the Option Alpha system (where you are a net seller of options) to the subscriber as basically running a an insurance business or creating your personal casino where you make 100s of trades ever year to eke out a small premium for taking on the risk. They then go on to basically sells you the system as being better than buying and holding ETFs or stocks over the long run and - how option buying doesn't work 80% of the time and how buying and holding stocks is riskier than selling option premiums. This is all good in theory. But in practice it reminds me of this quote - "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.". In reality, what they don't talk about is the fact that the success of option selling relies on harvesting variance premium in the option markets (historically around 3% or so). Unfortunately in recent years the variance premium has at times declined to negative levels. The sign for VRP can flip positive to negative for different underlyings and is not always positive every single month of the year. So making money with this system is basically entirely dependent on luck. Atleast the stock market tends to grow over the long term with earnings growth and GDP growth, but there is no guarantee that this will be the case with variance premiums which could be permanently arbitraged away by option sellers and brain dead option selling strategies such as Option Alpha. Option selling has to be done smartly or not at all. The basic system is this: Naively diversify by selling wide Iron butterflys/condors (this is the bread and butter trade about 80 to 90% of all trades) or credit spreads (about 10% to 20%) on these sector ETFs - SPY, TLT, XOP, XRT, EEM, OIH, FXI, XLP, XBI, GLD etc. Sell options about 30 to 45 days to expiration. I say naively because whenever markets crash everything goes down together so infact naive diversification is really di-worsification. Never have more than 5% of risk in any one ETF. They like to start out trades with a 1% to 2% risk per position and then scale in as adjustments are and will be needed. Good luck following this strategy if you have a small account as you will be taking greater risk. Then do this every single month or so without regard to broader macro conditions or IV levels or trend. Doesn't matter what EEM is doing or FXI is doing. Does Option Alpha look at price action, fundamental analysis, news flow, macroeconomics etc or anything else at the individual ETF level? No it doesn't appear they do. If and when positions move against you (which they regularly do) then waste time adjusting your positions and tracking credits to prove to yourself that you did make a tiny profit. They try to center the strikes as the underlying moves with adjustments and additional scaling in positions but honestly it doesn't work over the long term. At the end of the year after 100s of trades (6 to 10 etfs x 4 (assume butterfly or condor) x 2 (opening and closing) x 10 (every 35 to 45 days) = assume 600 trades per year not including the adjustments and additional scale ins that will be needed), subscription fees (between $100 to $300 per month), broker commissions, pay short term capital gains and then waste additional time filling out dozens of pages of IRS forms with the 100s of option trades all to make a small single digit low annual return if lucky. The thing to understand is this, with option selling you generally risk $3 to $4 for every $1 of gains. So you can have 3 winning trades and then the 4th one will blow up profits. To counter this, they will show you how to make adjusting trades (only one side of the butterfly is underwater, so the whole position can be adjusted) or scale in so that strikes are centered around current underlying price. Even after adjusting which is not a guarantee of profits, the overall the results are just extremely lame. If you refuse to adjust positions it will be impossible to make any profit with this system. This is not to say other option selling strategies don't work (there are some that can work but they require a true edge) but its just that Option Alpha doesn't work. The free Theta gang on reddit or discord probably does a better job than OA. As such there is nothing even remotely proprietary about Option Alpha. There is no edge. Because there is always a risk that all positions can simultaneously lose money in a crash as all assets trade downward, so Option Alpha advises that only use 40-50% of the account value for option selling and keep the rest as cash as a hedge against blowing the account up. Recently they advised having a 1% long VXX calls positions to hedge black swans/market crashes which I think is an improvement over the system of past few years. I personally think that selling this system to gullible retail subscribers is extremely irresponsible. You can argue that option selling has a place within pension funds or other entities that have a lot of money who need yield income tax free and who have a proprietary system with an edge that can makes better risk adjusted profits but Option Alpha is basically gambling and praying for profits. If selling options is so good, how come I have not heard of a single Hedge fund that only does this with 100% of their capital? There were some crooks in Florida who blew up one fund that was selling energy options (you can look up Optionseller.com on google - website is defunct now). I'm not saying Option Alpha is pursuing similarly risky strategy since these are all defined risk trades and they do ask to hold 50% in cash. But it is conceivable that you can lose 100% of the amount you have put into selling options - that is the other 50% of the portfolio under a true black swan scenario. Maybe making adjustments etc will save the portfolio but its not really a guarantee. Btw the stock market can never goto zero. We can get another market crash and yes it could take a long time to recover but it can never goto zero (the businesses underlying these stocks have real value unlike options/derivatives). With stocks you have time to sell even with a 10% gap down overnight. Options will get blown up much faster. This strategy is not at all the best way for the individual investor to invest. The only market where this system works is even Implied volatility is high ( so that you get extra compensation for selling time decay) and the market moves sideways. However in practice the market is either steadily marching higher and IV is low, or IV is so high (that you get a decent premium) but the market is rapidly moving in either direction so you will endlessly keep adjusting positions or keep taking losses. Options are complicated instruments and if you don't understand vol skew, statistics and probability, option greeks properly and can't backtest with good data than it is literally gambling and praying for profits. There is a real risk that naive option selling can blow up accounts. Option selling only makes sense in certain market regimes and only when done smartly. To tell retail traders that they should trade this way all the time for the rest of their life is extremely irresponsible. Here is the thing. What I'm mad about is that Option Alpha has spent all this time very aggressively marketing this system and spent the last few years trying to develop an autotrading platform. It has been recently launched in Beta mode if you upgrade to lifetime membership for $2000-$2500. My hope is that the autotrading system will work and not blowup accounts due to software glitches like the Knight Capital software glitch fiasco in 2010. I think they know these strategies don't work. The website claims that there have been 200k people who have signed up. I think at any given time they have 1000s of subscribers who come and go. If we assume 4000 subscribers per month at avg of $100 per month is $400k per month or $4.8 million per year. This is better than a lot of smaller hedgefund managers. For Kirk's own account, it appears that he trades a $300k portfolio, but his main source of income is selling Option Alpha subscriptions and doing real estate investing. How come his account is not millions of dollars now after almost a decade? But still around 300k? The simple reason is this doesn't work and instead he invests his income from Option Alpha subscriptions into other things/real estate investing etc. The founder of OA has institutional experience trading and as such I would have expected him to focus on improving trading performance, creating new strategies, backtesting etc, interacting with members, rather than selling snake oil promises. There isn't enough skin in the game. Option Alpha has forums where members can talk to each other and there are probably some legitimate strategies there (none are based on the Option Alpha) developed by members. But the OA founder has been completely AWOL last few years. Zero participation. Zero time trying to refine or improve his strategies on Option Alpha. They could have hired professional optional traders or even subscribed to institutional level stuff to help them out but no they have been focused entirely on making money. There are other free blogs and similar option newsletter services which also trade condors and butterflys which have shown much much superior results, however OA refuses to adapt their strategies or spend any time engaging with members. The focus has been on scaling the business and selling promises about the new autotrading system. I think the founder has realized that this Option alpha is going nowhere and so has decided to pivot into autotrading. Gullible retail investors have been financing the build out of this service it seems. Want another proof of what I'm saying? You can sign up for free membership and see the performance section. First the performance section does not tell you the performance from one year to the next. The only thing you can see is the meaningless numbers such as avg profit and loss on different option selling spreads and win rate. It is impossible to reconstruct PnL performance from these metrics. I think this is very misleading. Even Motley Fool shows their performance for their $100 per year newsletter. Almost any good newsletter and or trading/membership service shares performance/trade log for the past few years. If this is just about education then charge only for educational videos and don't have trade alerts and monthly membership/weekly elite calls etc. Another note on some of the enhancements they up-sell on the website. The tools are almost totally useless. The backtester sucks. The scanner sucks. The forum is basically impossible to use properly. The research reports (each priced at $400) are not worth the money. Let me summarize the technical indicator report - use commonly used oscillators that everyone knows already at a medium term time-frame and buy at oversold condition and sell at overbought condition. I mean C'mon everyone already knows this. Does Option Alpha appear to use this research - nope! The profit matrix report will tell you that there is no limited-loss option selling strategy that produces a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) above a low single digit return. Not a single one. This is not surprising since the variance premium per academic research is around 3 to 4%. Shouldn't this be disclosed to regular subscribers instead of asking them to pay another $400 bucks? Covered calls research report - sell short dated deep OTM calls. Viola! There is no actionable information in these reports. These reports are a few years old and the information is not updated. The reasonable price for such reports should have been $20-$30 not $400. You can even find REITs or dividend paying stocks that have a higher yield than than option alpha strategies. In fact I'm not even confident if Option Alpha has used proper back testing methodology and not made mistakes. You will learn more spending this money on a proper backtesting website that professionals use. Even Seeking Alpha and Reddit have better options strategies articles for free. A lot of academic research is available for free. Tasty Trade has similar trade ideas for free. The bottom-line is that Kirk is not a skilled trader. And has made no effort to improve or adapt to the market environment the last few years. All effort has gone into growing the business and up-selling membership with very aggressive sales tactics. He is a master salesman so be careful. Its really the case of the blind leading the blind. Just blindly sell options every month without any edge and charge big money for it without any real view about the direction of the underlying or IV. Just to be clear I do not have unrealistic expectations from a newsletter service/system. If I'm subscribing to an expensive service than I expect that I should have a reasonable chance to make greater than 10% on my account annually. I'm not expecting 100% nor even 20% - just a reasonable 10% to 20%. The best thing about OA is the free educational videos and the podcast. Use that and skip the paid services. Time will tell if the new autotrading pivot will work well and I would suggest waiting until it is proven to work.
I profited around $7k gambling this year. My normal income is just $24k/yr. Will I be able to pay taxes on my gambling at my normal tax bracket?
I won around $7k between sports betting across 3 apps, political gambling via Predictit, and daily fantasy sports. I live in downstate Illinois. Will the $7k be taxed at some stupidly high rate such as 30% like for lottery winnings? I normally don't pay much in terms of taxes as I am in a very low bracket. Would it be easy for me to file these as income from my profession and if so would that help? For what it's worth, I developed some fairly intricate models and spent maybe around 400 hours researching and building code. I also upgraded my PC to better run my models which cost me around $400. Is there some way to include that as a tax write-off and save some bucks? However, if this would all be a massive hassle for just like $100 or $200 extra, it wouldn't be worth it to me. The alternative is filing this as hobby winnings? Thanks
Warsim 0.8.2.9 (The TJ Bugsmash Update, 330 features)
Hey Everyone, So this update has come about while I've been planning the combat stuff, I've been given an ungodly amount of bug reports by a diligent Warsim community member known as TJtheSoundBoard and u/TheSoundBoard on reddit. Getting the bugs sorted is always important so I've been trawling through them and caught/added new things along the way. I hope you guys like it! TERRAFORMER'S TROVE (4 features) TJ made a suggestion that terraforming should have a chance to reveal loot, now you can get all sorts of stuff.
Added chance of discovering a chest of loot in the ground when ordering land to be terraformed (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added rare chance of discovering pile of 2-7 bluetrii fruit in the ground when ordering land to be terraformed (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added rare chance of discovering a chest of 20-5000 gold coins in the ground when ordering land to be terraformed (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added rare chance of discovering a chaos orb in the ground when ordering land to be terraformed (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
ENLISTING SONS ENCOUNTER (11 features) There are several variants for the 'Sons for hire' type encounter in the throne room, after ending up here due to a bug report by TJ I ended up expanding the reactions to be unique depending on the variant.
Added sound effect for boys enlisting or forced enlisting throne room encounter (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed 4 text bugs in boys for enlistment in throne room encounters (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'boys for hire' throne room encounter
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'unchallenging work lads' throne room encounter
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'too many sons' throne room encounter
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'orphan sale' throne room encounter
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'village elder decree' throne room encounter
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'no good bastards' throne room encounter
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'two problems' throne room encounter
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'militia like deal' throne room encounter
Added new reaction for forced enlistment and hiring in 'strong lineage man' throne room encounter
MUSHROOM TRIP IMPROVEMENTS (13 features) I've tried to expand these trips a little bit, some extra encounters and some polish on the ones currently there.
Added trip themes for Mushroom trips (mixed, good, bad)
Made some trip encounters specifically only appear during good/bad or mixed trips
Fixed issues with many trip encounter graphics sizes
Fixed 15 text bugs with trip encounter texts
Rewrote several trip encounter texts
Added 'I think I feel happy' trip encounter
Added 'Where's my hand' trip encounter
Added 'Floating head' trip encounter
Added 'Watching eye' trip encounter
Added 'Loving eye' trip encounter
Added 'Character revelation' trip encounter
Added 'Wiggle your face' trip encounter
Added 'Words...' trip encounter
NAIRO'S PARTY EXPANDED (6 features) Just a few new additions to the best houseparty in Darkdale
Added second followup reaction to Myck being offered ale twice at a party at Nairos
Added new nairo event 'hello my good friend'
Added new nairo event 'if you're thirsty'
Added new nairo event 'an encore, of course'
Added new nairo event 'it's got a kick'
Added new nairo event 'Two words'
BLACKMARKET SLAVERY (6 features) TJ mentioned that when banning slavery in the Blackmarket, the previously enslaved people seemingly evapourate... now they are accounted for, and the system in-general has been expanded.
Added new screen when banning slavery in the Blackmarket (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added random number of free Blackmarket slaves join slums population (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added remaining freed slaves in Blackmarket become scum for hire in the slums (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added new screen when legalizing slavery in the Blackmarket (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added +3 public opinion gain for banning Blackmarket slavery
Added -5 public opinion loss when legalizing slavery
THE GAMBLER RETURNS (4 features) A lot of people were asking for more follow up throne room encounters that progress over time, while testing I found a good candidate for this, giving a gambling man a small sum of gold. Now there are several potential things that could happen if the gambler gets lucky!
Added 1 in 3 chance that man asking for gold to gamble with returns later in the throne room
Added gambler made something of themselves throne room encounter (gambling gold granted follow up)
Added return what you gave me throne room encounter (gambling gold granted follow up)
ORB SELLER NOW BUYER (5 features) TJ mentioned that the Blackmarket orb seller should be able to also buy orbs, I've given him a little overhaul to fit with this, he sells them for 10k but buys them for 5k.
Added ability to sell chaos orbs to Blackmarket orb seller (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Rewrote orb buying screen and text to allow for multiple orbs
Removed useless screen for not having the gold to buy an orb from the orb seller
Fixed being booted out of menu for orb seller when buying an orb
Made it so that orb seller has 1 in 15 chance per year of gaining a new orb
DARKDALE TAX CHANGES (2 features) TJ rightfully pointed out that as Darkdales ruler, removing a few of the smaller local businesses should have some effect... so now it does.
SLEEPY'S STALL (10 features) A homage to a good friend, find this strange new character in Darkdale's market district!
Added new location 'Sleepy's Stall' to Darkdale Market District
Added the ability to pay sleepy to pet cats
Added the ability to pay sleepy to light coloured candles (15 types)
Added the ability to pay sleepy to drink an ale
Added special screen for sleepy getting too drunk
Added ability to talk to sleepy (10 dialogues)
Added ability to shut down sleepys stall if you run Darkdale
Added closing sleepy's stall reduces Darkdale tax by 0.2%
Added ability to find sleepy again in a secret location if he's been removed from Darkdale
Added ability to talk to sleepy after Darkdale removal (6 dialogues)
A NEW CHEAT (1 features) A hillarious suggestion that I had to put in.
Added new cheat code '2020' that causes plague (credit Minty and Defender)
NEW NAME PREFIXES (31 features) A heap of new character name suffixes inspired mostly by a member of the Warsim discord with the name Titan of War, now we've got all the titans.
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of War' (+60 battlescore) (Credit Titan of War)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan' (+49 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Speed' (+45 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Strength' (+52 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Mercy' (+30 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Death' (+62 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Love' (+60 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Hate' (+59 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Loss' (+44 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Murder' (+61 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Bones' (+60 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Blood' (+60 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Sleep' (+39 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Swords' (+49 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Steel' (+52 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Shields' (+42 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Skulls' (+61 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Wit' (+39 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Pain' (+59 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Evil' (+60 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Good' (+60 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Gold' (+55 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Iron' (+49 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Sacrifice' (+45 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Day' (+35 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'the Titan of Night' (+40 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'The Meatflesh' (+5 battlescore) (can be further randomly generated)
Added new name suffix 'The Stocker' (+1 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'The Combatant' (+12 battlescore) (can be further randomly generated)
Added new name suffix 'The Candle-Lighter' (+1 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'The Treejumper' (+10 battlescore)
NEW CHARACTER NAMES (3 features) A handful of new possible names thanks to Warsim Patreon supporter Joe! Thank you a bunch for the support :)
Added new Dwarf name 'Borek' (Credit Joe Benavides)
Added new Human name 'Borkrid (Credit Joe Benavides)
Added new Lich name 'Gal'berik (Credit Joe Benavides)
CAVE GNOME VISITORS (2 features) TJ suggested that the hirable throne room gnome insult entertainers should be different if you've discovered the cave gnomes, it's a good idea and now it's in!
Added discovering cave gnome village gives alternate insult battle hirable entertainers from throne room who cost 5x less (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added 3 alternate dialogues for cave gnome insult warrior entertainers
THRONE ROOM MUSICIAN CHANGES (3 features) After a suggestion of having the hirable entertainers from the arrange entertainment section of the throne room refuse to come if your relation to the musicians guild is too low, I've decided to expand the idea to include an opposite effect if you have a really high relation.
Added hireable musicial solo entertainers are free if you have 100+ relation to musicians guild
Added hireable musicial solo entertainers refuse to visit you if you have -100 relation to musicians guild (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Added 2 new descriptions to musicial entertainer category screen depending on relation to musicians guild
GOLD INDICATION (65 features) There are still areas where you spend gold that it isn't clear how much you have, this is another attempt at sorting that out AND MY GOD trawling the throne room encounters was a pain.
Added missing current gold indicator to champion market in Darkdale
Added missing currnet gold indicator to history guild if you haven't registered
WHAT'S NEXT Well, I'm still in the early phases of the combat update planning and have some remnant bug reports to also work through so I'll keep trudging forward. Thank you everyone for the continued support and to those sharing ideas and reporting bugs, it's all helpful. Cheers Huw
[The Kingdom of the Apocalypse] - Chapter 1 - Harlan
Next Chapter Synopsis: Tasked with rebuilding civilisation five years after the world has ended in the 21st Century, the survivors struggle against the forces who would see them fall back into the ashes. A shadow gathers in the west as a determined woman delves into a dubious death; murderous marauders raid the farm belt while cutthroat pirates torment the coast; and desperate settlers threaten to topple those in power as alliances shift in the scramble for safety. *** Harlan Reid sipped his neat whiskey, listening to the rain hit the tin roof as he toyed with his last remaining golden bucks, having gone from a case packed with the gilded plastic chips down to a mere pair in the space of two short years. He was lucky that they were a pair of fifties, otherwise he would have had to sleep outside, although considering the rate at which he was drinking, he would have to forgo the breakfast of his bed-and-breakfast accommodation at the boarding house. What the hell, he thought to himself. It was his last night of having a roof over his head. He may as well enjoy it. Taking another small sip, he looked over at Millie Quiggens, a plump woman who had set up a booth in the corner of the saloon, hiring new guards for her ranch out in the prairies. Rampant rumours of the Desert Marauders’ raids returning had been spreading like a cheap whore’s rash over the past week, with the entire population of Torzal Arroyo having seemingly vanished overnight. Millie swore that she had seen clusters of shadows moving just beyond the reach of their ranch’s spotlights only a few nights ago, but she had always been known to exaggerate. Torzal Arroyo was one of the many unremarkable small towns that had thrived and died during the railroad’s construction. More than likely, everyone stubborn enough to stay after the work dried up had either died of boredom or simply picked up and left, and some traveller who had lost his way between settlements found it abandoned. All the same, a few of the cowboys signed their names on her list. Harlan knocked his glass around the table, sliding it from one hand to the other. A short stint of guard duty at Quiggens’ Ranch would solve his money problems while giving him a place to stay. He caught his whiskey and dug his heel into the floor, ready to kick his chair out, when a commotion erupted from the other side of the room. “If I ever ran outta money, I’d join the raiders and just take what I want!” Big-Stack Billy called out from the dice tables. “She’d be paying us with the same golden bucks,” Dante said dryly. “Where’s the booth for the raiders at? I’m fixin’ to sign me up now!” Elwood shouted, bringing on another round of laughter. One by one, the men who had shown some interest slunk back to Millie’s table and scratched out their names, her face twisting and contorting at every scribble, as if they were drawing lines through her skin. Finally, when her scowl couldn’t get any worse, she scrunched up her piece of paper and stormed towards the front of the saloon, hips jiggling and chins quivering. She paused at the exit as the room exploded with a chorus of mocking jeers. “I hope the raiders come here next!” she spat. “I hope they do, too,” Big-Stack yelled back. “I’ve been itchin’ for a good fight. Best of luck if they come for you first, though!” Millie Quiggens screeched internally before punching the batwing doors open, which swung back into her flanks as she shambled out into the rain. Harlan sank into his chair, slouching as he watched the night unfold. Toby, the piano player, was setting up for the night, stealing furtive glances at Brandi Beckett, the barkeeper’s curvy yet slender daughter. She smiled as she approached the dice tables with another round of drinks. Raking in his winnings, Billy tipped her generously, inviting her to stay a while. She blushed, toying with her hair. “Brandi,” Lyle called from behind the bar, spilling a drink as he watched the exchange, “I need you in the kitchen.” “Maybe next time, darlin’,” Big-Stack winked. He leaned out of his chair, wolf-whistling at her bulging mini shorts as she crossed over to the other side of the bar. Once she disappeared into the back, he glowered at Lyle before turning back to the dice game. Many of the cowboys in Coyote’s Rest had barely graduated high school when the missile dropped five years ago, turning the valedictorian’s speech about hopes and dreams for a bright future into nothing more than a bright flash and ashes. They had endured twelve years of education to prepare them for a world that they would know nothing about. Meanwhile, basic survival skills like hunting, foraging and scavenging for food had never been a priority in their school curriculum. Despite all that, they successfully made it through the food shortages while the missile’s fallout had plagued much of South Tekota, but after the residual radiation had settled and it became safe to venture outside Brimvale again, they found that much of the surrounding landscape had either been picked clean or depleted of its natural food sources. The only way they would be able to survive was if they worked for their food. With precious few jobs available for people with no practical work experience, the former students of Brimvale jumped at the opportunity to work on the railroad, which spanned the entire length of the prairies, from the diesel-rich town of Cloakwater Cliffs to the diesel-poor town of Rubicross. A man named Wallace had overseen the railroad’s construction. The workers had caught the feeling that they were being underpaid, but at least they had been getting paid. Until, of course, Wallace decided to cut and run with the remaining golden bucks before the railroad was completed. Together with the other workers, Harlan had tracked Wallace across the prairies, eventually catching up to him and taking back everything he had stolen, distributing it among the others who had joined the hunt. As it turned out, each of them had only been receiving a third of what Wallace had been instructed to pay them, plus Wallace’s agreed profit margin for overseeing the project, so they shared a far greater prize than what they had initially thought before embarking on the journey. Each member of the hunting party had received enough golden bucks to live a modest lifestyle for at least a decade, or a decadent lifestyle for a few years. Young and dumb, they all opted for the latter. Harlan finished his glass, bitterly reflecting on the fact that his greatest achievement since finishing school was forming a lynch mob and chasing after a fat man until his heart gave out. That sure wasn’t in the valedictorian’s speech. Brandi pushed through the kitchen’s double doors carrying a plate of minced beef and stewed vegetables, picking up a pint of beer along the way, serving Emmett in the back corner of the saloon. Harlan had no idea how long Emmett had been sitting there, but the man always seemed to appear and disappear at his own leisure. Emmett was quiet, reserved, but every word he spoke carried weight. Whatever he did, the others followed, although they always managed to bring their own impulsive behaviours along with them. Normally, Emmett would have chosen to appear next to Harlan, but the two had been at odds for the past few weeks. They hadn’t spoken since Harlan had approached him about some of the men who were complaining that their stacks of golden bucks were running low, and it wouldn’t be too long before they all parted ways to do their own thing, legal or not. “How much do you need?” Emmett had asked, somehow seeing straight through him. “I don’t want your money,” said Harlan, refusing to take a handout. “But I’m thinking maybe there’s a way that we can earn more together, like, hiring out our services to the other settlements around South Tekota.” “And what would those ‘services’ be, exactly?” Emmett narrowed his eyes, already scrutinising the plan before hearing it out. “Whatever doesn’t involve breaking our backs in the hot sun for a third of the pay we should be getting,” Harlan answered, more aggressively than he had intended. “We’ve got strength in numbers. We should use that to our advantage, while the numbers are still there.” “You wanna turn our boys into a bunch of mercenaries like those gangs across the bay?” asked Emmett, raising an eyebrow. “Let me tell you something. Chasing down Wallace was the easiest payday we’ll ever get, because I can guarantee you, it’ll never happen again. Nobody in their right mind is gonna be riding around with that amount of chips, and anyone willing to pay you to solve a problem could just as easily hire another crew for less to make sure you don’t come to collect. And in case you forgot, Wallace didn’t even put up a fight.” Harlan caught his empty glass as it slid across the table. He wasn’t sure how long he had been lost in the memory, but when he looked over at the back corner again, Emmett had already pushed aside his plate, drinking his golden dessert. The saloon’s batwing doors swung open, and a man with cold blue eyes strode in, sizing up the place with a sneer before approaching the bar, taking a wide berth of the gambling tables, his dead stare locked on Lyle as he silently waited to be acknowledged. “Welcome! What can I get you?” asked Lyle. “Two whiskeys, on the rocks,” he said tersely. “Who’s in charge?” Lyle faltered as he reached for a bottle, looking back at the man, “I get the feeling you aren’t looking for me,” he said, despite being the owner of the saloon. The man showed no reaction, he simply stared until he got an answer. Lyle leaned over the counter, pointing at Emmett in the back corner. “That’s the guy you wanna speak to.” The man dropped a golden buck on the bar and thanked Lyle for the drinks; it wasn’t a “Thanks” out of genuine gratitude or respect though, but more as a part of the transaction, as if he was obligated to say the word. Almost mechanically, he walked over to Emmett’s table, sat down opposite and slid the second glass towards him. Harlan scraped the floorboards as he kicked his chair out. He marched towards the back corner and sat beside Emmett, taking the glass on his behalf and scooping out an ice cube, chewing it, to the man’s frowning displeasure. Emmett nodded at Harlan before levelling his rugged gaze at the newcomer. “I’m very impressed with all of the work you’ve done here,” the man said in an overly nice tone, straining to maintain a friendly face. “Building the railroad to supply us with enough diesel to keep the gears turning, making an example out of that thief, Wallace, and all the while, managing to keep such a strong crew in line and out of trouble.” Emmett was unmoved by the forced flattery. It seemed the newcomer had met his match in only sparing words for the people who mattered. Harlan chewed another ice cube in the silence, crunching it with his mouth open. “Forgive me,” said the man, offering a handshake that was promptly ignored. “Quentin Davis, I’m a representative of the Mayor’s Office in Brimvale.” “Here to extend Brimvale’s jurisdiction into the prairies so you can start taxing us, huh?” Harlan goaded. “Quite the opposite,” said Quentin. “We’d like to pay you.” Harlan leaned forward, but Emmett kept staring deadpan. Quentin continued, “Mayor Paxton wishes to keep the peace both inside and outside of Brimvale. The return of the Desert Marauders’ raids on the outlying settlements has been some very troubling news, and, since the prairies are your territory, we thought you would be the most qualified to handle the situation.” “Handle the situation?” Emmett repeated, breaking his silence, to Quentin’s delight. “Eliminate the threat,” he said coolly. “How much?” asked Harlan, shrugging at Emmett. “We’ll pay you ten full cases of golden bucks,” Quentin answered, loudly enough to be heard over the sounds of the piano in the background, causing the men drunkenly slurring at the nearby tables to drop their conversations, eavesdropping excitedly. “You’ll have your answer by morning,” said Emmett, stone-faced. Quentin nodded, his ears perking up at the sound of a woman’s laugh as the prostitutes of Coyote’s Rest made an entrance into the saloon, fresh and ready to work the crowd of liquored-up cowboys. He promptly excused himself from the table, leaving his own glass of whiskey untouched. “Looks like we’re back to this conversation again,” said Harlan, finishing the first glass and claiming the second. “Answer was ‘no’ as soon as he walked in,” Emmett said flatly. “We’re not hired killers, and the people he wants us to hunt will be shooting back this time.” “If you’re so sure,” Harlan shrugged and sipped, not wanting to flog a dead horse. “But why do you want him to wait until morning before he gets his answer?” “I want to make sure he’s on his way out when I turn him down,” said Emmett. “That way, nobody else can cut a deal. We’ve got some good men here. Stupid, but good. Be a damn shame to let them volunteer to get themselves killed.” “And what are you gonna do when you run outta money?” asked Harlan. Taking the moral high ground was all well and good while the wolves weren’t at the door. “Ten cases full of chips... you’ll wish you said yes.” “Well, unlike the rest of the boys,” said Emmett, finishing his beer, “I haven’t wasted all my reward money on whores and gambling.” The men eavesdropping nearby shot death stares at Emmett. *** Thanks for reading, all comments are welcome! All free chapters are rough drafts. Please find me on Patreon (Steve Heuzinkveld) to support the story and read the refined chapters (+4,200 words of additional content) ahead of public release. Next Chapter
Hey Everyone, So this update is primarily focusedt on the Times Up update, an update focusing on massively expanding what happens when a game on a timer ends with the time running out thanks to suggestions by Antonios and Josh771. That's not all though, there are mountains of other things changed and added, 57 player suggestions and bug reports, a new hidden tavern, new throne room encounters, lots of new locations and events and tons more! HOW YOU DIED (21 features) An important part of what happens after you rule, is how it came to an end. Now there are a bunch of possible ways you can vacate the realm of the living, chosen at random.
Added a system to choose random deaths based on how long your reigned each with sound effects
Added peaceful sleep death outcome
Added quarter of a millenium sleep death outcome (credit u/ColonelKepler)
Added 5 different graphics for grave stone based on public opinion
Added 21 different possible outcomes for how the public react to your death
They love me... they love me not - https://i.imgur.com/PwhaNJJ.png HOW DID IT GO (39 features) Just because they successfully took over the throne, doesn't mean they can successfully run a kingdom. There are many ways it can go, good or bad, and dependent on how you left the realm.
Added good outcome for Dog ruler
Added bad outcome for Dog ruler
Added transitional justice slaver ruler outcome
Added ex-slaves paradox ruler outcome
Added ensalve the rich ruler outcome
Added bitter slaver war ruler outcome
Added peasant council rags to riches outcome
Added peasant council golden age outcome
Added peasant council age of liberty outcome
Added peasant council corruption and abandonment outcome
Added peasant council royal morph outcome
Added peasant council greedy divide outcome
Added demon servant firery hellscape outcome
Added demon servant civil rebellion outcome
Added 1 land ruler shrinking realm outcome
Added 1 land ruler personal money pot outcome
Added 1 land ruler desperation outcome
Added 1 land ruler the balance of duty outcome
Added 1 land ruler rise from the ashes outcome
Added 2-3 land ruler despotic and oppresive outcome
Added 2-3 land ruler neglectful monarch outcome
Added 2-3 land ruler comfort and peace outcome
Added 2-3 land ruler root of corruption outcome
Added 2-3 land ruler prosperous renovation outcome
Added 4-10 land ruler corruption and revolts outcome
Added 4-10 land ruler Chaoticly neutral rule outcome
Added 4-10 land ruler saved by the council outcome
Added 4-10 land ruler wealth gap reduction outcome
Added 4-10 land ruler expert council outcome
Added 11-25 land ruler dictator and local resistance outcome
Added 11-25 land ruler unoteworthy ruler outcome
Added 11-25 land ruler lavish life outcome
Added 11-25 land ruler mega city outcome
Added 11-25 land ruler two extremes outcome
Added 26+ land ruler tool of oppression outcome
Added 26+ land ruler dens of villany and regional councils outcome
Added 26+ land ruler prosperity for the people outcome
Added 26+ land ruler high emperor of the world outcome
Added 26+ land ruler mighty empire outcome
A rollercoaster ride of a reign - https://i.imgur.com/DnfKDFP.png The central city! - https://i.imgur.com/8L4BIJP.png THE DEMON AFTERMATH (12 features) The final act of the new replacement ruler, how do they handle the demons... that is if the demon horde exists, if you have the horde disabled or defeated them yourself then the new ruler doesn't have to worry.
Added 3 possible outcomes if your replacement is a demon agent and demon horde attacks
Added 3 possible outcomes if you have the demon shield artifact and the demon horde rises up
Added intro screen if demon horde rises up after your death
Added system to estimate your armies strength to fight the horde
Added system that modifies your armies strength for the better or worse depending on how well your replacement ruler ruled
Added battle system against demons
Added 2 outcomes for outmatching demon strength and winning
Added 2 outcomes for outmatching demon strength and losing
Added outcome for equal strength to horde and winning
Added outcome for equal strength to horde and losing
Added 3 outcomes for outmatched by demon strength and winning
Added 3 outcomes for outmatched by demon strength and losing
Added the ability to retire from ruling via the throne room to get a game finish (credit Defender)
Reworked the end of game times up screen to give option to view how it went or not
Reworked the end of game times up screen text
Added 11 new possible texts depending on your final score
Reworked the play on screen and added new text
Want to see how the realm existed after you died? - https://i.imgur.com/Tn7i1v8.png If you choose to play on beyond the timer running out... it was all a dream? - https://i.imgur.com/n5nlk4M.png THE HELMSMITH (6 features) For a while now you've been able to get your helmet redesigned via the throne room or your general, I've now added a new location in the Blackmarket's Fighter's District called the Helmsmith, here you can get a new helmet design made any time, I've also added over 800 thousand new possible helmets!
Added a new building to the Fighter's District of the Blackmarket 'The Helmsmith'
Added ability to speak to the Helmsmith (7 dialogues)
Added ability to have a random helmet forged for your kingdom (100 gold)
Added ability to have a helmet forget based on the Helmsmith's personal helmet
Added 853,248 new randomly generated helmet designs (was 346k now 1.2 mil)
Made getting helm design made via General cost (150 gold instead of 100)
Meet the Helmsmith - https://i.imgur.com/arwKCI1.png QUESTIN' WHO ASKIN? (10 features) Terrible title, but after a series of suggestions by u/TheSoundBoard, I've added a number of new possible questing knight outcomes include some less than positive ones!
Added 2/3 chance of public opinion loss for hiring incompetent questing knights
Added extra text to questing knight screen better explaining how they work
Added questing knight quest - Finds two bandit horde bandits fighting on the road and convinces them to join you instead (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Added questing knight quest - Finds two rebel soldiers left for dead after being branded traitors and convinces them to join you (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Added questing knight quest - Dinds a battle between mercs and bandits and turns the tide -1 bandit level +2 public opinion (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Added questing knight quest fail - Fell from a tree while confronting bandits(credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Added questing knight quest fail - Hit on the head by a troll who took pity (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Added questing knight quest fail - Lost everything in a gambling den (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Added questing knight quest fail - Bought some magic beans that were actually dirty rocks (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
NEW NAME PREFIXES (3 features) A couple of new peasant orientated name prefixes, beware Torgo the Carrot Cutter!
Added new name suffix 'The Turnip Puller' (-5 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'The Carrot Cutter' (-3 battlescore)
Added new name suffix 'The Spud Thrower' (+1 battlescore)
BLACKMARKET MERCENARIES REWORK (14 features) After a bug report by u/TheSoundBoard pointing out that once owning the Blackmarket there were no more bandits for hire. I looked into and decided to add a new system while I was at it, so now alongside several bugfixes theres a new system where depending on how high your public opinion is, less and less bandits will appear for hire each year.
Added New section of Blackmarket Herald Newspaper reporting new bandits for hire from the slums
Added New section of Blackmarket Herald Newspaper reporting new bandits for hire from the market in general when you own the market
Added system to generated new Blackmarket mercenaries based on your public opinion (lower the opinion the more recruits)
Reworked Blackmarket bandit merc hire screen to show effect of public opinion on recruitment (if market owned)
Added 75+ public opinion grants between 1-3 new bandit mercs per year in owned market
Added 50+ public opinion grants between 1-5 new bandit mercs per year in owned market
Added 25+ public opinion grants between 1-8 new bandit mercs per year in owned market
Added 0+ public opinion grants between 1-10 new bandit mercs per year in owned market
Added -25+ public opinion grants between 1-12 new bandit mercs per year in owned market
Added -50+ public opinion grants between 1-15 new bandit mercs per year in owned market
Added -75+ public opinion grants between 1-18 new bandit mercs per year in owned market
Added 76 or lower public opinion grants between 1-20 new bandit mercs per year in owned market
Fixed Blackmarket bandit hiring screen no bandits message
Fixed Blackmarket bandits for hire being miscounted as bandit guards in recruitment mention in Blackmarket Herald newspaper
Hiring Blackmarket bandits when you have a high public opinion (when you own the market) - https://i.imgur.com/JOEiTmv.png Hiring Blackmarket bandits when you have a low public opinion (when you own the market) - https://i.imgur.com/6R12o6d.png THE HOLY LAND (15 features) The holy land, a new hidden area added to the game with a few interesting things to do. Good luck finding it!
Added secret entrance hidden in the gameworld
Added clue to getting into secret entrance hidden near it
Added bard to the secret area with a newly recorded song
Added dynamic intro system to secret area with each of the 5 options having consequences
Added ability to be permanently blocked from the secret area
Added secret area entrance after blocked scene
Added ability to buy ale in secret area
Added ale prices in secret area vary depending on intro (1 gold, 2 gold, 3 gold)
Added ability to get ale for free
Added ability to hire bandits from secret area
Added bandit hire cost varies depending on intro (35 gold, 40 gold, 45 gold, 20 gold)
Added brawls in secret area
Added 15 random dialogues for locals
Added new character Bentha the Bad (and 10 dialogues)
Added new character Schwee the Tenfoot Tall (and 6 dialogues)
The new Tavern - https://i.imgur.com/Pch9Hrg.png Meeting a new character of consquence - https://i.imgur.com/09UDH52.png ADVENTURER'S QUARTER EXPANDED (3 features) Was playtesting and noticed the Adventurer's Quarter of the Artifact Market looking a little scarce so I've added two additional locations there.
Added Adventurer's Quarter Merc Post (random foreign merc units for hire)
Added New location Gralkar the Nameteller (tell you your name)
Added 3 random dialogues for Gralkar when spoken to
The Adventurer's Quarter looking a little more busy - https://i.imgur.com/Q1cliTh.png What's my name? - https://i.imgur.com/N0WVclt.png COUNCIL MEETINGS EXPANDED (21 features) While playtesting I noticed that asking about the wider realm was absent in council meetings, so I figured I'd add the ability, little did I realise how much I'd have to write, 3 different possible comments, from the 5 staff members, about the 4 different world regions... oof
Added new category of options in council meetings
Added 3 possible dialogues from Spymasters about the North
Added 3 possible dialogues from Jesters about the North
Added 3 possible dialogues from Diplomats about the North
Added 3 possible dialogues from Stewards about the North
Added 3 possible dialogues from Generals about the North
Added 3 possible dialogues from Spymasters about the East
Added 3 possible dialogues from Jesters about the East
Added 3 possible dialogues from Diplomats about the East
Added 3 possible dialogues from Stewards about the East
Added 3 possible dialogues from Generals about the East
Added 3 possible dialogues from Spymasters about the South
Added 3 possible dialogues from Jesters about the South
Added 3 possible dialogues from Diplomats about the South
Added 3 possible dialogues from Stewards about the South
Added 3 possible dialogues from Generals about the South
Added 3 possible dialogues from Spymasters about the West
Added 3 possible dialogues from Jesters about the West
Added 3 possible dialogues from Diplomats about the West
Added 3 possible dialogues from Stewards about the West
Added 3 possible dialogues from Generals about the West
This was a real trawl to add in, now you can ask about the different regions - https://i.imgur.com/auycyYY.png MONFORT MINE IMPROVED (15 features) After a suggestion for a little feature by u/TheSoundBoard I came across a number of issues with the mine, I ended up improving and fixing as many as I could.
Fixed 3 text bugs in Monfort mine descriptions
Fixed missing screen for trying to talk to mine guards if monfort mine owned by rival group
Added new screen for trying to put peasants in monfort mine but not having enough peasants
Added new graphic for various levels of miners being added or removed
Fixed monfort mine line graphic being too short
Removed useless screens from prospecting
Fixed 6 text bugs in prospecting screens
Fixed 0 peasants added to the mine screen
Fixed monfort mine peasant withdrawal bug
Added new screen for trying to remove more peasants than you have stored
Added mention of how many peasants join you when you collapse monfort mine instead of generic text
Fixed two text bugs in dried up monfort mine screen
Reworked collapsed monfort mine screen
Added random number of Harlaw miners join smallhaven population if you buy the mine (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Reduced mine sound effect volume
THRONE ROOM TWEAKS AND ADDITIONS (31 features) Always happy to add more to the throne room, quite a few throne room bugs fixed and a bunch of new encounters and additions to existing ones.
Added new song for encounter where drunk man sings terrible song
Added new drunk throne room encounter 'More drunk than normal'
Added new drunk throne room encounter 'Day of drunkness'
Added new drunk throne room encounter 'Excuse to get drunk'
Added new drunk throne room encounter 'Pukes into hands'
Added new drunk throne room encounter 'Drunk army joiner'
Added 4 new alternate outcomes to hiring foreign unit into your army in the throne room
Added urine trouble joke from throne room wall peeing event happens only once
Added urine trouble event follow up if throne room wall peeing happens twice
Added urine trouble event follow up if throne room wall peeing happens for a third time
Added throne room tip on stewards when entering for the first time (Credit YES YES YES)
Added alternate throne room tip on stewards for games where you start with a low level throne room
Fixed 4 text bugs in man marrying carrot encounter and reactions
Fixed 2 text bugs in accepting foreign unit into your army via the throne room
Fixed fallen brothers throne room encounter blocked from appearing and instead showing blank text (credit JimmyL)
Fixed bug with soldier's mother donation throne room encounter incorrectly showing 500 and 50 gold payments instead of 200 and 20 (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed text bug with beating throne room gambler out of all his gold
Fixed missing gold loss indicator when giving gold to gambler beggar in throne room (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed abomination trap door event refers to last throne room visitor prior to abomination (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed demon worshipper encounter reactions refer to the last throne room visitor prior to them (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed missing line in abomination imprisonment encounter
Fixed 2 text bugs in Abomination throne room encounters
Fixed there is a great ruler throne room poem typo (credit Night_Shift_Sleepy)
Added missing indicator for musicians guild relation change when hiring bard in throne room
Fixed 7 text bugs with execution reaction in throne room
Fixed 2 text bugs in Blackmarket mercenary throne room encounter
Fixed issue with gold loss not being shown when hiring troops in Blackmarket mercenary throne room encounter
Fixed crown of mai option missing if you stop accepting visitors to the throne room
Fixed harlaw mining company seller throne room encounter trap door option not working
Made knight isn't seen or heard from again outcome to questing knight 25% more rare
Fixed refusing silver tongues services in throne room generates them a brand new face
TRIAL BY COMBAT IMPROVEMENTS (5 features) Thanks to TJTheSoundBoard mentioning an issue with trial by combat not showing prisoners gained if you refuse the trial, I ended up finding several issues and reworking the system a bit.
Added new graphic for trial by combat introduction
Added new screen for choosing to refuse trial by combat
Fixed refusal of trial by combat not showing prisoner loss (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed some trial by combat outcomes being blocked
Made soldiers and knights fighting for you in the trial by combat labelled better to clear confusion (instead of knight vs knight, knight vs your knight)
NEW KINGDOM TYPES (6 features) I came across a new noble title I hadn't seen before which led me to discover some new, and remember some that weren't yet in game.
Added new kingdom type 'Kingdom' with ruler 'Kindins' and lord 'Warlord' available for any civ level (based on term used by the Goths in 4th century meaning judge, but described the position as "super-royal judge")
Added new kingdom type 'Realm' with ruler 'Shophet' and lord 'Hakham' available for civ level 4 and above (Old term used by several Semitic languages meaning Judge or community leader, Hakham meaning wise or skillful man)
Added new kingdom type 'Kingdom' with ruler 'Qore' and lord 'Warlord' available for Civ level 4 or above (ancient title for the king of Kush)
Added new kingdom type 'Hegemony' with ruler 'Hegemon' and lord 'Lord' available for Civ level 4 or above (ancient greek term referring to dominant city state over other city states)
Added new kingdom type 'Kingdom' with ruler 'Zilath' and lord 'Warlord' available for Civ level 4 or above (Etruscan term for the annual magistrate rulers)
Added new kingdom type 'Empire' with ruler 'Basileus' and lord 'Lord' available for Civ level 4 or above (greek term that signified king or emperor)
BUGFIXES (45 features) An astounding number of bugfixes here, thanks mostly to player suggestions and reports, thanks everyone especially u/TJTheSoundBoard, doing the lords work!
Fixed issue with using name unity law blocking you from being able to use any evil laws (credit u/skullxghost220)
Fixed text bug in songwood graveyard
Fixed set your origin cheat guide showing incorrect numbers for certain origins and not showing new slave revolt leader origin
Fixed text bug issue with cave beast
Fixed ability to send knight soldier or peasant to fight cave beast even if you don't have the unit
Fixed 2 bugs in gnome insult texts showing broken characters
Fixed 'exist' miswritten as 'exit' in custom game text (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Fixed 2 text bugs in Blackmarket Herld recruitment text
Fixed Blackmarket Sudden death gambler in the central district not gaining new gold after a year ends when running out (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Fixed 5 text layout and grammar issues with closed prison screens
Fixed musicians guild tribute being incorrectly displayed as scorpion fighters pit income causing duplicate (credit u/TheSoundBoard)
Fixed text colour bug in prison upgrades screen (credit Finderpath)
Fixed 6 grammar bugs with arena intro text (credit Cat)
Fixed text bug in silver cat statue description (credit Cat)
Fixed Miner dialogue text bug (Credit Cat)
Fixed bard imprisonment missing a line (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed boy turning into old man and rewarding you encounter incorrectly referring to all characters as king regardless of title choice (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed duplicate gold road guardians payment appearing in wage report in end of turn (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed duplicate mercenary group wage reporting in end of turn report (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed duplicate mercenary group quitting reporting in end of turn report (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed all peasants or soldiers deserting you encounters blocking full desertion
Fixed rebels deserting and joining you encounter partially blocked from happening
Fixed Hyruk the Moneygrubber not giving you 2 gold coins post quest bonus (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed court musician skill not changed by 495 cheat code (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed spymaster wants to quit encounter not showing correct gold loss or staff loss indicators (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed text bug with Spymaster accepting offer to remain with you
Fixed general wants to quit encounter not showing correct gold loss or staff loss indicators (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed text bug with general accepting offer to remain with you
Fixed text bug with general refusing offer to remain with you
Fixed hiring mercenaries from Darkdale mistakenly showed post purchase text as if you hired the 3rd unit available from the foreign merc hall instead
Fixed tributes and taxes section spacing issue if player doesn't receive any harvest income
Fixed issue with Assurak demon worshippers not being tracked properly in save games (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed issue with Lava pit sacrfices not being tracked properly in save games (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Fixed graphic for tavern brawl introductions
Fixed Rihhm relation bug not showing any peasants gained when recruiting from village
Fixed Blackrow tavern slaver missing space in text
Fixed you a bloodied man text bug in random event entering fighters district blackmarket (credit Night_Shift_Sleepy)
Fixed Goblinwood Jamboree event happens infinitely if you leave and come back to goblinwood on the year it happens (credit u/thebestroll)
Fixed Goblinwood Jamboree doesn't happen if you meet Goblinwood on the year of the event, now new screen added letting you know of the event and inviting you to it
Fixed bank interest rate being shown incorrectly as 100x less than it gives (credit Trafulgoth)
Fixed graphic error where knights would wear hats and a floating helmet above, now knights just wear helmets
Fixed bug where watching tournaments held by the arena owner if not you would earn you gold (Credit Defender and Night_Shift_Sleepy)
Fixed broken joke text for witch trial joke
Fixed text bug with musicians guild tribute text (credit u/TheGamingDictator and Night_Shift_Sleepy)
EVERYTHING ELSE (24 features) A ton of different stuff I couldn't fit in any other category here, new kingdom names, now the demon horde will totally destroy land and not have it terraformable to avoid a pretty easy solution to surviving the demon attacks, a new celebration year option, and tons more!
Made demon horde destruction of land completely ruins the land and does not turn it into a terraformable barren land
Added 5 new witch names 'Flemeth, Tamitha, Winnifred, Hagna, Hagtha'
Added ability to set custom celebrations to happen every 4-years (previously 2,3,5,10 etc) (credit u/themitchnz)
Added missing set of graphics to shutting down prison screen from within prison menu
Added new picture on cat wall of fame in Darkdale cat tavern (credit Night_Shift_Sleepy)
Added indicator of +1 musicians guild relation when entering during century festival special event
Reworked musicians guild relation system to be properly capped at 100 and -100 and added new indicators or max and lowest when relation changed (credit TJTheSoundBoard)
Reworked rebel desertion encounters to explain the reason for desertion is due to the size of the rebel army (credit u/Verminterested)
Reworked rebels deserting to join you encounter to explain the reason for desertion is due to the size of your army (credit u/Verminterested)
Added failed enlistment attempt text instead of 'You enlist 0 Peasants'
Added failed enlistment attempt text instead of 'You enlist 0 Soldiers'
Added indicator of Smallhaven population drop when you recruit local peasants
Added indicator of slums population drop when you recruit slum scum
Reworked slums scum hire screen to better display entering zero
Added indicator of Rihhm population drop when you recruit from Rihhm
Added indicator of Arasuk population drop when you recruit from Arasuk
Added indicator of Shaian population drop when you recruit from Shaian
Removed Aslona reference in Wall of love in Love cult camp (credit u/TheGamingDictator)
Added new human name 'Trafulgoth' (credit Trafulgoth)
Reworked Blackmarket treasury looted text (Credit TJTheSoundBoard)
A new cat worthy of note - https://i.imgur.com/zUHLg2m.png WHAT'S NEXT So now I will begin planning combat update basics and get myself prepared to dive back in to the earlier version of the new combat update code I got working on last year, It's been a long time coming and there's a lot of work to do but I'm going to try my best! Thank you so much for all the continued support and patience Hope everyone is doing ok and surviving! :) Cheers Huw
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