City Plots
General Information
The main Royal cities allow for players to own a plot within the city
With plot ownership, a player may create a building, give any player access to it and collect Silver for the services offered on the building
Players do not permanently own the city plot as they will be auctioned off every four weeks
All plots in the city are on the same auction schedule
Players will always control the real estate for the 7-day duration of an auction
Auctions are a game mechanic that is used to determine ownership of building plots in cities
Players may place any Economy or Military Building on the plot
Players will have the option to place a marker, fence, or wall on their city plot
Players do not have a limit as to how many city plots they own
Players may manage the building on the city plot once the building has been built
Benefits of Plot Ownership
Players may earn Silver from the usage fee that is set on the building they place on the plot
Each city has a unique refining/crafting Local Production Bonus which often given buildings a benefit versus Player Island or Guild Island buildings
To view the bonus for each city, open the city map, then select the yellow triangle below the resources listed at the top of the map. The drop-down menu will then show the Local Production Bonus
Selling or Buying a City Plot
Players may place their plot up for sale at any time
Ongoing sales of properties will be canceled one day before the lease ends
To place the property for sale, the owner of the plot may click on the plot sign on the property. The player should then select "Sell" and the Silver price they wish to sell for
Players may cancel the sale at any time
Players may change the price after placing the plot up for sale by selecting "cancel sell" and then placing the plot up for sale again
To purchase a city plot that is for sale, the player may click on the plot's "for sale" sign and select "buy". The Player will receive a pop-up window to confirm the Silver price
Players may also view the time until the lease ends on the plot by selecting the "for sale" sign
When a player purchases a city plot, they own it for the remainder of the lease - this does NOT reset the four-week timer
Blind Auctions
Players do not permanently own the city plot as the plot is auctioned every four weeks
Players will always control the real estate for the 7-day duration of an auction
City plot auctions use a blind auction system:
During the auction phase which lasts 7 days, bids can be placed on city building plots by first going to the plot you would like to bid on and then placing your desired bid by clicking on the signpost next to it
Twenty-four hours before the end of the auction cycle the bidding will end and the winning bid and player are visible to all players in the Real Estate UI. At this point, any blocked funds, due to bids on the plot are released and all in-game confirmation messages are sent. The winning bid of the previous auction will remain visible at all times
The full amount of the winning bid will be collected from the winner, regardless of their current ownership of the plot
Ownership Advantage
An important mechanic of the land auctions system is the ownership advantage.
The current owner of a building plot will receive a 100% +1 Silver bonus on any bids he makes to defend his plot.
Example:
Player A bids 5 million Silver during the auction week for a building plot. (The current winning bid is now 5 million Silver)
Player B bids 10 million Silver sometime after Player A placed his bid. (Player A will not be notified about this change, but the current winning bid is now 10 million Silver by Player B)
Player C (the current plot owner) bids 5 million Silver during the auction week to defend his plot. (The current winning bid is now 10,000,001 Silver (10 million + 1) by Player C because any Silver amount he bids will count double.)
The auction time ends and there are no further bids on the plot. Player C keeps his building plot.