Credit System Design
This guide explains the rationale behind the credit and slot cost system defaults. Understanding these principles will help you decide whether to keep the defaults or customize them for your empire.
The Core Philosophy
The credit system is designed to:
- Reward sustained activity - Regular participants naturally accumulate credits over time
- Create natural rotation - Top slots become accessible to different players each cycle
- Self-balance - Players who claim top slots return to low credits, making room for others
- Be fair - Active players earn the right to claim prestigious MGE slots
MGE Slot Costs
Medal Values
MGE (Mightiest Governor Event) awards hero medals based on final placement:
| Position | Hero Medals |
|---|---|
| 1st | 100 |
| 2nd | 80 |
| 3rd | 60 |
| 4th | 40 |
| 5th | 20 |
| 6-7 | 15 |
| 8-10 | 10 |
Default Slot Costs (5x Medal Value)
Slot costs are calculated as medal value × multiplier, rounded up to a whole number. The multiplier can be set in half-step increments (1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, ... up to 5). The default is 5x:
| Position | Medals | Credit Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 100 | 500 |
| 2nd | 80 | 400 |
| 3rd | 60 | 300 |
| 4th | 40 | 200 |
| 5th | 20 | 100 |
| 6-7 | 15 | 75 |
| 8-10 | 10 | 50 |
At half-step multipliers, the 6-7 position (15 medals) produces a fractional cost that gets rounded up (e.g., 15 × 1.5 = 22.5 → 23 credits). All other positions produce whole numbers at every multiplier.
Why 5x?
With ~225 credits earnable per season (see below), the 5x multiplier means:
- 1st place requires just over 2 full seasons of perfect attendance
- Lower slots (8-10) are accessible after ~1 month of regular activity
- Mid slots (4-5) require sustained participation over several weeks
This creates a tiered accessibility where:
- New active players can claim bottom slots relatively quickly
- Top slots are reserved for veterans who've demonstrated long-term commitment
- Players who spend on a top slot need time to rebuild credits
Credit Earning
Activity Schedule
In a typical ~3 month hero season (~13 weeks):
| Activity | Frequency | Events/Season |
|---|---|---|
| Wonder/Battle of Dawn | Weekly | ~13 |
| KvK (Kingdom vs Kingdom) | Biweekly, skipped during DD | ~4 |
| GEE (Golden Expedition Events) | Biweekly, skipped during DD | ~4 |
| Desolate Desert | 2 per season | 2 |
| Performance Bonuses | ~5 per season | ~5 |
| Leader Discretionary Bonuses | Ad-hoc | ~3 |
Default Credit Awards
Credits are weighted by activity importance:
| Activity | Credits | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| KvK | 15 | High-stakes cross-server competition |
| Desolate Desert | 15 | Major seasonal event |
| GEE | 10 | Significant empire-wide event |
| Wonder/Dawn | 5 | Regular weekly activity |
| Performance Bonus | 3 | Reward for helpfulness and strong performance |
| Leader Bonus | 5 | Discretionary recognition by leadership |
Season Earning Potential
With perfect attendance, a player earns approximately:
| Source | Calculation | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Wonder/Dawn | 13 × 5 | 65 |
| KvK | 4 × 15 | 60 |
| GEE | 4 × 10 | 40 |
| Desolate Desert | 2 × 15 | 30 |
| Performance Bonuses | 5 × 3 | 15 |
| Leader Bonuses | ~3 × 5 | ~15 |
| Total | ~225 |
The Self-Balancing Mechanism
The system naturally prevents any single player from dominating top slots:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ THE CREDIT CYCLE │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Player A accumulates 500 credits over ~2.2 seasons │
│ ↓ │
│ Player A claims 1st place slot (spends 500 credits) │
│ ↓ │
│ Player A now has ~0 credits │
│ ↓ │
│ Player B (who was saving) now has highest credits │
│ ↓ │
│ Player B claims 1st place next cycle │
│ ↓ │
│ Player A begins rebuilding credits │
│ ↓ │
│ Cycle continues, naturally rotating top slots │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This ensures:
- No permanent "slot owners"
- Active participation is always rewarded
- Everyone eventually gets a turn at top slots
Starting Credits
New players receive 25 credits by default when registering.
Why 25?
| Consideration | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| Below lowest slot (50) | Can't immediately claim any slot alone |
| Meaningful head start | Combined with 1-2 activities, can reach slot 8-10 |
| Scales with empire size | 200 players × 25 = 5,000 credits (not enough to monopolize all slots) |
| Encourages participation | Players need to participate to claim anything |
Configuring Starting Credits
Leaders can adjust this in /empire config. Consider:
- Lower (0-20) for stricter "earn everything" approach
- Higher (30-50) to help new members contribute immediately
- Changes only affect future registrations (not retroactive)
The Warm-Up Period
When first adopting the credit system, we recommend tracking credits for 3-4 MGE cycles before enabling slot reservations. This allows credits to naturally accumulate and differentiate active players from casual participants.
Why a Warm-Up Period?
Day 1 Problem:
- Everyone starts at 25 credits (or 0 if set lower)
- No one can afford any slots yet
- MGE still happens and needs to be filled
After 3-4 MGEs (~6-8 weeks):
- Active players have 100-200+ credits
- Clear differentiation between participation levels
- Natural hierarchy based on activity has formed
- System can now meaningfully allocate slots
How to Run the Warm-Up
- Enable credit tracking - Configure activities with
/activity config - Run activities normally - Players earn credits for participation
- Fill MGE slots manually - Leaders assign slots as before (no reservations)
- Communicate - Tell players they're building credits for future reservations
- After 3-4 MGEs - Announce that reservations are now active
What Players Do During Warm-Up
- Participate in activities to earn credits
- Watch their balance grow with
/credits - Understand the system before it fully activates
- Build toward their first slot reservation
Choosing the Right Multiplier for Your Empire
The default 5x multiplier is balanced for ~70 registered players. Smaller empires should lower it — see the Quick Reference table below, then use /mge costs to set it.
How Empire Size Affects the Credit Economy
For the credit economy to stay healthy, the total credits earned by all players each season must be enough to fill all 10 MGE slots across all 6 MGEs. The total medal value across all 10 slots is 360, so at a given multiplier the credits consumed per season are:
Credits consumed per season = 360 × multiplier × 6 MGEs
The default 5x multiplier requires ~48 fully active players to maintain a balanced credit flow. "Fully active" means perfect attendance across all activities and earning all available bonuses — which is unlikely for most players. Not everyone will receive performance and leadership bonuses every season, and even dedicated players will miss the occasional activity. This means a realistic per-player earning rate is closer to 70-80% of the theoretical 225, so you'd want 60-70+ registered players to sustain 5x comfortably.
With each fully active player earning ~225 credits per season, the minimum number of fully active registered players needed to sustain each whole multiplier is:
| Multiplier | 1st Place Cost | Total credits consumed/season | Fully active players needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1x | 100 | 2,160 | ~10 |
| 2x | 200 | 4,320 | ~19 |
| 3x | 300 | 6,480 | ~29 |
| 4x | 400 | 8,640 | ~38 |
| 5x | 500 | 10,800 | ~48 |
Quick Reference: Multiplier by Empire Size
The following table assumes 70% average activity and the default credit awards for all activities and bonuses. Use this to pick the right multiplier based on how many players are registered with the bot:
| Registered Players | Recommended Multiplier | 1st Place Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 15-20 | 1x | 100 |
| 21-27 | 1.5x | 150 |
| 28-33 | 2x | 200 |
| 34-40 | 2.5x | 250 |
| 41-47 | 3x | 300 |
| 48-54 | 3.5x | 350 |
| 55-61 | 4x | 400 |
| 62-68 | 4.5x | 450 |
| 69+ | 5x | 500 |
Use /mge costs to set or change the multiplier for your empire. You can enter whole numbers or half-steps (e.g. 3, 4.5).
This table relies on the default credit awards for activities and bonuses described above. If you adjust activity credit values with /activity config, these recommendations no longer apply — you'll need to recalculate based on your custom earning rate.
When to Increase Costs
Consider higher multipliers (6x-10x) if:
- You have a large, highly active player base (60+ fully active players)
- You want longer intervals between top slot claims
- Top slots feel "too easy" to achieve
When to Decrease Costs
Consider lower multipliers (3x-4x) if:
- Your empire has fewer than 40 active players
- Players are discouraged by unattainable costs
- Lower participation means fewer credits earned
- You want more turnover in top slots
Adjusting Activity Credits
Use /activity config to tune credit awards:
- Increase for activities you want to emphasize
- Decrease for less important activities
- Remember: higher credits = faster slot access
Summary
| Setting | Default | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Slot costs | 5x medal value | ~2 seasons for 1st place |
| Starting credits | 25 | Below minimum slot, encourages participation |
| Season earning | ~225 | Balanced against slot costs |
| Warm-up period | 3-4 MGEs | Build credit economy before reservations |
The defaults are designed for typical empire activity patterns. Monitor your players' credit accumulation and adjust as needed to maintain a healthy, competitive system.
Next: See Command Reference for detailed syntax on all credit and MGE commands.