Cybernations

[Darkdragon]

There are many reason as to why it could be. I had a time where my net income was in the hundreds of dollars range (when my bills were in the hundred thousands range), and I had calculated that it would have taken something like five years at that rate to build up a warchest of just ten days.

Anyways, there are many things which can cause inefficiency in income. Do you have all your trade slots filled? Are they improving your income to the best they can be? Are you housing too many troops? Do you have a large surplus of military on standby? Do you have the most efficient improvements? Is your national religion not what they want? Are your nation options optimal? Is your tax rate not at the highest it can be? Look over your nation carefully to determine what could be cut / what investments you should change to increase your income.

[Tezkat]

After a week of not purchasing any new equipment. I have 2 days worth of a warchest. I'm not sure if this Foreign Aid is for Tez's tech or not?

My net income every day is $601,000.   My net bills are $480,000.

I'm not sure if I'm doing this right or wrong really... I feel like I'm failing at cybernations.

Er... you seem to need the cash more than I need the tech right now...


Honestly, I don't see anything horribly wrong with your nation just looking at the description. I might, however, point out that your current build focuses rather heavily on cost reduction at the expense of revenue maximization. You may not make as much income per day as players heavy on pop or happiness enhancers, but stuff costs a lot less for you to buy. Tech in particular should be dirt cheap, so we might want to try to set you up with more tech deals while you're still small enough for them to be profitable.

You're also at the bottom end of an infra jump. As you build up beyond 2k, the revenues should build up more quickly than expenses.

One thing you should do is focus on the better improvements. Now that you have both universities, you don't need anymore schools until you fill out your banks and stadiums.

[Keleth]

Oh yes, about the infra. Does the maintenance cost increase per 1k blocks? or per 100 levels of infrastructure? I have it at 2,099, because I assume if I bought 5 levels, it'd be more expensive than buying it in 100 level blocks.

Also, originally I thought I needed 5 schools for universities, I realized my mistake when I bought school number 4, and am now working around that. n_n;;

[Tezkat]

Infra jumps occur at 20, 100, 200, 300, 500, 700, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 8000. Outside of those, there's no particular benefit to buying large blocks of infra at once except to take advantage of back collections on foreign aid boosts or possibly wonder purchases.

[Keleth]

Dang, if I would of known that at first, I would of sat at 1,999 for a much much longer period of time.

What's the best thing for me to do now? Send Tez some tech as I'm sitting at 100? Then buy some infra so I'm around 2,500?

[Kasarn]

HOW DO I IMPROVEMENT SWAP? I AM NEW TO INTERNET AND NOT VERY GOOD.
First you'll need $2m plus 10+ days worth of bill money on hand.

Demolish 5 improvements and build 5 Labor Camps.
Switch gov to Capitalist and pay your bills for 10+ days but do not collect your taxes.
When you're read to collect, demolish the 5 Labor Camps.
If required, build 5 Factories, buy 100+ infra and then demolish the Factories.
Build 5 economic improvements, switch gov to Democracy and collect your taxes.
Repeat.

[Darkdragon]

*Crickets chirping*
I know this is borderline necromancy (shy a few days), but this is a less-visited forum so please excuse this behaviour which would no doubt earn me some ire of the administration if done elsewhere.
------------------------------------------------

Some advice please: I think I'm going to save up for a fourth wonder for Christmas, and would like to get some advice on what I should get. I currently have the Stock Market, the Disaster Relief Agency and the Social Security Wonders. Any advice on the matter (or even just advising me to invest in infra instead) will be appreciated.

PS: Kasarn, do you need me to send 3 mil next time the tech expires? I don't remember any active tech trades going along but I could be wrong, with my slightly busy schedule making me lose track of things.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

*Crickets chirping*
I know this is borderline necromancy (shy a few days), but this is a less-visited forum so please excuse this behaviour which would no doubt earn me some ire of the administration if done elsewhere.

Nah. This thread is quiet because there isn't much going on. We're relaxed about it.

PS: Kasarn, do you need me to send 3 mil next time the tech expires? I don't remember any active tech trades going along but I could be wrong, with my slightly busy schedule making me lose track of things.

Ditto. Kasarn, I think you've flicked me 250 tech with no money going in the other direction. Would you like some cash? ;-]

[Kasarn]

Some advice please: I think I'm going to save up for a fourth wonder for Christmas, and would like to get some advice on what I should get. I currently have the Stock Market, the Disaster Relief Agency and the Social Security Wonders. Any advice on the matter (or even just advising me to invest in infra instead) will be appreciated.

If you use Firefox: http://www.babelphish.net/cnextend/

[lucas marcone]

*Crickets chirping*
I know this is borderline necromancy (shy a few days), but this is a less-visited forum so please excuse this behaviour which would no doubt earn me some ire of the administration if done elsewhere.

Nah. This thread is quiet because there isn't much going on. We're relaxed about it.

PS: Kasarn, do you need me to send 3 mil next time the tech expires? I don't remember any active tech trades going along but I could be wrong, with my slightly busy schedule making me lose track of things.

Ditto. Kasarn, I think you've flicked me 250 tech with no money going in the other direction. Would you like some cash? ;-]

ditto the ditto..........

[SquirrelWizard]

Rawr! I just joined up with cyber nations. Could anybody zing me an alliance invite?

User: SquirrelWizard
Nation: Sarcordia

edit: nvm, found out how to add myself

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

CN has no invite. You get to put whatever alliance you want into the dropdown, and if they don't want you, they get to threaten violence...

[Tezkat]

Bwahahaha! New tech farm!!!!

Er... I mean... welcome aboard.

[SquirrelWizard]

okay my nation is coming along, I'm still waiting for two people to get back to me on some trading agreements (I should be able to get cars, beer, asphalt, construction, and steel bonus resources should they accept.) I do have a question though.

As it stands right now, I have 49.99 infrastructure and 3 technology. I make about 6k in taxes with a 28% tax rate, and the last two days I've purchased 10 infra and it left me with about 1.1k in the treasury afterwards. I was wondering when I really needed to worry about my technology, is there an amount in taxes that need to be generated before I can start pumping it out?

[insidexml]

Pumping out technology? Now that's difficult.

Two million surplus money is barely enough for fifty tech, isn't it?

[SquirrelWizard]

well typically with games like these, you tend to build around. that is, one thing gets focused on, but periodically you toss resources towards your other stuff or else you end up lopsided, and having to play catchup. I was just wondering if this held true in cybernations?

[insidexml]

I'm too lazy.

Technology - Technology is represented by a technology level that represents the tools, hardware, and software that help your nation do what it does...better. Technology works similar to infrastructure in the game but is much more expensive at a base cost of $10,000 per level. (You can purchase technology at fractions of levels for less than $10K) Like land and infrastructure, the cost of technology increases the more you buy. You cannot sell technology as you can land or infrastructure but you can send up to 50 technology levels at a time away to other nations in foreign aid. Technology can also be captured or destroyed by an attacker during war. The following are the benefits of Technology.

Technology makes your people happy. Here's how the game currently figures the technology happiness bonus:
Technology = 0 then happiness = -1
Technology > 0 and <= .5 then happiness = +0
Technology > .5 and <= 1 then happiness = +1
Technology > 1 and <= 3 then happiness = +2
Technology > 3 and <= 6 then happiness = +3
Technology > 6 and <= 10 then happiness = +4
Technology > 10 and <= 15 then happiness = +5
Technology > 15 then happiness = + 5 + (Tech purchased * .02) up to level 200 tech

Having a higher technology level allows you to equip your soldiers and tanks with better weapons and gear. Technology is the most important bonus in ground battles compared to the bonuses for defending infrastructure and defending land area. The technology bonus effect works for both attacking and defending nations and adds bonuses to each nations battle odds.
Technology increases your nation strength by a multiplier of 5.
Technology lowers infrastructure upkeep costs up to a maximum 10% discount based on the following formula: (Technology Level * 2) / Nation Strength = Percent off infrastructure upkeep bill.
Technology increases your chances of spy operation/counter-operation success with the following equation: Number of Spies + (Technology Purchased / 20).
Technology increases damages caused in ground battles, cruise missile attacks, nuclear missile attacks, navy attacking and defending naval attacks, and aircraft bombing attacks by 0.01% per level of technology. If an attacking nation with 3,000 technology causes a defender to lose 20 infrastructure in a ground battle then based on this 'techbonus' the defender would lose a total of 26 infrastructure in the attack. (20 + (20 * (3000 * .01%)))

You could survive without a huge amount of technology. But it's nice to have. I suppose, in that sense, that infrastrucutre is what gets focused on the most.

Infrastructure - Infrastructure in the game is defined as services and facilities that support day to day economic activity in your nation. Infrastructure includes roads, electricity, telephone service, public transportation, sewers, bridges etc... In the game your nation's infrastructure is represented by a number that indicates your infrastructure level. The greater the number the more infrastructure your nation has. Purchasing infrastructure improves your lands which allow your government to both earn more income from your citizens and increase your population count. Infrastructure prices increase as you buy more. This is a result of supply and demand on your infrastructure.

Infrastructure can be destroyed in war via ground attacks, cruise missile attacks, nuclear missile attacks, and aircraft attacks. Defenders in ground battles receive a bonus to their battle odds based on the level of infrastructure of the defending nation.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Generally speaking, buy 10 tech, then sit and work on infra. If you ask the group nicely, we tend to do "tech farming", which is to say, we, as a group, slip you 3 million in cash, and you send us 100 tech.

There's some organisation needed, since you can't send more than 3 million cash, or 50 tech (or both) at a time; and once you've sent some, you can neither send nor receive from that country for 11 days, so what usually happens is that we get three buyers (A, B, and C) and one seller (S). First span of 11 days, A sends S $3m, S buys 50 tech, sends out a "send" to both B and C. whoever is first gets to accept, then S buys another 50 tech so the second one can accept. After 11 days go past, B sends S $3m, S sends A and C 50 tech each. In the third cycle, C sends S $3m, S sends A and B 50 tech each.

This way, A, B, and C have all sent $3 million each, and received 100 tech each, but the cycle means that the timing is as fast as possible.

Note that the 11 days is 11 days from the OFFER, not from the accept. This is why you send 2 offers of 50 tech (totalling 100) when you only have 50 tech on-hand. Secondly, buying 0-50 tech costs about 1/3rd as much as buying 50-100 tech, so doing it this way nets you the maximum profit.


Just to put the money in perspective, at present I collect something like 19 million a day. I pay about 9 million in bills. And it costs me $335,674.17 per level of technology. So at my current level, 50 levels of tech is something significantly higher than $16.7 million. 3 million is a _bargain_. And if you do it right, you can get something close to a million in loose change out of the deal, I think.

[SquirrelWizard]

okay, thanks. I was just concerned as my infra is going up, but my tech was stagnant, and I wasn't sure if everything was alright.

[Keleth]

I think I'm at the point where it's almost cheaper to buy tech from a tech farm than buying it myself
:o I'm not sure at this point. I grew kinda fast with thanks to everyone.

[SquirrelWizard]

I think I'm gonna see about tech trading, hauling in 6-7k in taxes makes for slow growing

Edit: finally got my trading partners to wake up and give me my precious precious bonus resources.

My people now have booze and cars, so we're set.

[SquirrelWizard]

http://www.cybernations.net/nation_drill_display.asp?Nation_ID=374237

just out of the blue attacked me claiming "general dispute" as his reason for going to war. I've built up as much military as I can, but I dont think I'll be able to touch him with my current troops. I have no idea why this guy is ticked off with me, I haven't done anything to him.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

There's a general war going on. You're a target of opportunity.

Believe me, we can boost you _way_ out of his range in less than a week.

Okay: First point, make sure you keep your troop strength (not numbers, but effective strength) less than 60% of your population. Keep it as close as you can to that sweet spot, though.

Second point: Don't buy guerrilla camps. They make you much stronger, but suck the life out of your country. Start with factories and banks, and only after you're maxed out on those do you start looking at things to make your people happy.

Third point: Don't bother buying anything other than infra, tanks, and troops at present.

Fourth point: I'll flick you 3 million; spend it on infra and improvements as specified above. Then we'll get Tez to supply you with more useful suggestions, and another 3 million. And then Kasarn. And then...


Yeah.

Don't leave any money lying around, though, unless you're much larger than the guy attacking you. Otherwise he'll attack and get heaps of cash. If you're big enough to buy missiles, throwing a couple of those at him wouldn't hurt. Since he's so small, I don't think any of the rest of us can help you out other than monetarily; even if we were to flick you as many troops as we can, you'd just anarchy through overburden, and you can buy enough to keep yourself afloat anyway.


Ah... does that help? If so, I'll flick that money over now.

Edit: Oh, yes. Tanks: max the suckers out. You should be able to buy up to 10% of your effective level, I think.

[SquirrelWizard]

is there a way to keep surplus funds safe? I've got two people I'm doing tech trades with, I kinda want to earmark the money for keeping (obviously so I can send them their tech in about 7 days).

oh yeah, and my current nation setup was a reaction to the attack, i had 2 factories prior to the attack, I converted them because the guy has like 4 camps meaning he's got a massive soldier efficiency boost over me.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

pfft. You've got, like, 11 bigger brothers who make him look like a chimp. If you want, we can boost you out of his range _easily_. Seriously.

And now I know you're online, I'll heave 3 million in your direction. Have fun.

[insidexml]

How does this guy manage to afford all this upkeep? Soldiers are no good if you can't maintain them. This guy'll ruin himself financially sooner or later.

[SquirrelWizard]

beats me, I was just on the recieving end. My guess is that he is aiming for countries that are doing tech trades.

edit: oh yeah, thanks for the 3 million.

edit2: to be honest I was tempted to switch my country around and make a nuke to lob at his ass. but I didn't have the funds to do so... and it would mean screwing up my trade slots and purchasing a ton of other stuff, not really worth it.

[Keleth]

Kasarn - I got that message you sent, but I'm not gonna be able to do any mor etech trades as I'm losing money in the deal.

10 Tech costs me around 750k right now, 3 million kinda puts me in the black for 50.

As I think I mentioned earlier, I'm probably gonna be buying tech instead of selling it now.

[Kasarn]

Kasarn - I got that message you sent, but I'm not gonna be able to do any mor etech trades as I'm losing money in the deal.

10 Tech costs me around 750k right now, 3 million kinda puts me in the black for 50.

As I think I mentioned earlier, I'm probably gonna be buying tech instead of selling it now.

Under what assumptions do you believe that you need tech at all?

Here's a simple breakdown:
Less than 4k infra = selling tech
Between 4k and 5k infra = whatever
More than 5k infra = buying tech

You should be getting rid of your tech, not buying more. Moreover, You aren't losing anything by giving away tech that I gave you in the first place.

Fact is that it should take you a month to reach 5k infra from where you are right now. Of course, with you sticking your head in the sand, it'll take closer to half a year... probably more. In the mean time, you might as well make yourself useful by forwarding tech.

edit2: to be honest I was tempted to switch my country around and make a nuke to lob at his ass. but I didn't have the funds to do so... and it would mean screwing up my trade slots and purchasing a ton of other stuff, not really worth it.

You can't buy a nuke without a Manhattan Project.

[SquirrelWizard]

You can't buy a nuke without a Manhattan Project.

well, we can always dream...