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Revision as of 04:04, 1 October 2013 by Andysao (talk | contribs) (Add new Charitable Synergy red tape offer)
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General information

Tiny Empires 3000 is a massively multiplayer game that you play entirely in the HUD window in Second Life. The game is set far in the future, when the human race has spread across most of the galaxy. A devastating galactic war has ended, and the corrupt empire of old has been overthrown by a freedom-seeking rebellion force. The economy, badly damaged during the war, is starting to recover. Goods are being traded again among the various star systems.

You start out as a Pilot with a single transport spaceship, earning a modest living by delivering goods to outlying colonies and trade outposts.

The goal of the game is simple: Grow your trade empire by purchasing ships, joining a guild, gaining subordinates, and cultivating colonists.

Of course, you may find that friends make for good subordinates, and subordinates can make very good friends.


The game hud will go into idle mode after a while of no activity, similar to original Tiny Empires. In idle mode there is no income, no dues, nothing. So there is no danger in leaving your HUD attached all night.

For choosing your own superior, the following rules apply: the superior has to have a minimum of 5 ships, maximum 3 ranks down can hook up with a superior. This limit was relaxed in 2010 - a Mogul is now the highest rank that can take on a Pilot.

Red Tape

Red Tape started being awarded during January 2012 and may be received for any of the following:

  • Paying end of year dues
  • Paying fleet tax for being at/above a certain rank (2 or 3 Red Tape)
  • Refunding a direct's commission
  • Buying a ship (1 to 3 Red Tape)
  • Selling a ship (1 to 3 Red Tape)
  • Entering a puzzle answer (up to 3 Red Tape)
  • Gift from MV (2 to 5 Red Tape)
  • Completing some steps on the Call of Leadership (Step 2 gave 5 Red Tape)
  • Hiring the flagship designer in the Director's Quest (3 red tape)
  • Random Event, eg "A distributor that you sometimes work with owes you payment. He recently changed his Accounts Payable process. You spend hours trying to get your credits. You gained 1 Red Tape"
  • Paying for the medical clinics at the 30K ships stage on Call of Leadership (5 Red Tape)
  • Paying for the planet terraforming at the 50K ships stage on Call of Leadership (5 Red Tape)

The Bureaucrat made his first appearence on Jan 26, 2012 in game month July 3259 visiting all guilds. As anticipated, there are similarities with the Alchemist in TE including the multi-turn approach sequence and the trading of red tape for game modifiers.

List of offers seen so far, ordered by their cost.

  • Fleet Tax Arrangement 202(r) - fleet tax 20% less forever - 2 red tape
  • Reserve Bond 908.5(m) - fleet donation matched twice - 2 red tape
  • Clarity Renumeration Forum 1 (c) - +50% on puzzle bonus forever - 3 red tape
  • Unity Match Contract - unity bonus 50 % forever - 3 red tape
  • Research Arrangement - Jump Ahead 3 research levels - 4 red tape
  • Dues Stipulation - annual guild dues 10% less - 4 red tape
  • Census Agreement 47 (s) - 10% more per sub - 5 red tape
  • Census Agreement 219 - 10% more/colonists - 5 red tape
  • Research Arrangement RA6 - Jump ahead 6 research levels - 6 red tape
  • Colonist Contract 710(a) - +10% colonist capacity - 7 red tape
  • Dues Compromise 20(v) - Annual Guild Dues 20% Less - 8 red tape (This was seen after previously purchasing the Dues Stipulation that gives 10% less, possibly it's not offered until after the 10% contract has been bought)
  • Unity Commitment C(f.100) - Unit bonus doubled forever - 10 red tape
  • Clarity Premium Form 2 (c) - Puzzle bonus doubled Forever - 10 red tape
  • Charitable Synergy - Give double ships for a while - 10 red tape (first seen Oct. 2013)
  • Fleet Tax Arrangement 404(r) - Fleet tax 40% less forever - 12 red tape
  • Dues Compromise 30(z) - Annual Guild Dues 30% less - 12 red tape
  • Ship Concessions s5 - Ships cost 5% less forever - 15 red tape
  • Census(s) Treaty 57(s) - 20% more per subordinate - 20 red tape
  • Census(c) Treaty 819(c) - 20% more per colonist - 20 red tape
  • Research Contract I.Nf.2x - Research is doubled forever - 20 red tape (clarification required: what is doubled?)
  • Colonist Accord 20.r(b) - +20% colonist capacity - 25 red tape
  • Fleet Tax Embargo - Total immunity to fleet tax - 25 red tape
  • Ship Concessions s10 - Ships cost 10% less - 30 red tape
  • Unity Incentive 3x.k - Unity bonus tripled forever - 30 red tape
  • Alien Negotiation Contract - MV price 25% less forever - 35 red tape
  • Colonist Accord 144.33(b) - +33% colonist capacity (200% cumulative) - 35 red tape
  • Ship Settlement s15 - Ships cost 15% less - 50 red tape
  • Bureaucratic Entente - Fleet Efficiency +100 cr/ship - 60 red tape
  • Bureaucratic Coup - Fleet Efficiency +100 cr/ship - 100 red tape

The table below shows the evolution of each theme

Theme Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
Lower Fleet Tax 20% less 2RT 40% less 12RT Immune 25RT
Reserve Fleet Match donation twice 2RT - -
Puzzles 50% bonus 3RT 100% bonus 10RT -
Unity Vote 50% bonus 3RT 100% bonus 10RT 200% bonus 30RT
Annual Dues 10% less 4RT 20% less 8RT 30% less 12RT
Research Gain 3 steps 4RT Gain 6 steps 6RT -
Census - Directs 10% more per direct 5RT 20% more per direct 20RT -
Census - Colonists 10% more per colonist 5RT 20% more per colonist 20RT -
Colonist capacity 10% more 7RT 20% more 25RT 33% more 35RT
Ship Pricing 5% less 15RT 10% less 30RT 15% less 50RT
MV Cost 25% less 35RT - -
Fleet Efficiency +100/month 60RT +100/month 100RT -
Giving Ships Give double 'for a while' 10RT - -

The Bureaucrat takes slightly longer to arrive than the Alchemist in TE, which is a three turn sequence. The turns and text are:-

  • Month 1: The Bureaucrat has come to (name of guild) space. His ability to navigate political minefields, bypass elaborate over-regulation, and cut red tape is truly astonishing. He should be here shortly.
  • Month 2: The Bureaucrat is a man of mystery. Nobody knows how he can do what he does. Some say he's not human at all, but is actually an advanced AI under the control of a shadowy pseudo-governmental agency
  • Month 3: A spaceport has been set up for next month's Bureaucrat visit at guild headquarters. Long lines are anticipated. The only thing that can cut red tape is more red tape. You check your inventory. You have X red tape. (Slightly different message if none)
  • Month 4, page 1: The Bureaucrat sits at a desk surrounded by assistants, who are constantly whispering into his ear. He is also connected to an untold number of other parties via comm-link insterted into the base of his skull
  • Month 4, page 2: You feel that the Bureaucrat could make anything possible. Which contract will you sign?
  • Month 5, page 1: Feedback on your purchase or a generic message if nothing purchased.
  • Month 5, page 2: The line of visitors dwindles. The Bureaucrat unplugs his comm-link, smooths his tie, and strides out of the room, followed by his assistants. The sign on the wall enlightens you: "Facilitate, Leverage, Perseverance!"

The three buzzwords above vary from visit to visit.

So, there is an extra month in the prelude compared to the Alchemist in TE.

Notification of Bureaucrat visits whilst offline is given in the "While you were away" pages when someone direct to their Guildleader logs into the game.

The frequency is assumed to be daily and individual to each guild from the second visitation onwards. The first was seen in all guilds simultaneously.

The offers may not all be affordable, but do seem to be tailored to the number of red tape held, eg when holding 15 tape the offers presented cost 10, 10 and 15. Also some situations have been seen where less than 3 offers are presented.

Medals, Titles & Ship Caps

Guildleaders can assign medals and custom titles. Operations Managers can assign titles within the guild and Operations Assistants can do the same for their downline only.

Custom titles persist until replaced and survive changes in rank. However a title will begin to fade over a period of a few days if the holder changes guilds.

Each medal gives an award of extra personal ships and an increase in the maximum number of personal ships from 3000. Although medals can fade with guild moves, increases in personal ship ceiling are permanent.

Medals must be awarded in sequence, so the Star of Hera is always the first.

Star of Hera - 10 personal ships, ship cap increased to 3100

Order of Merit - 15 personal ships, ship cap increased to 3250

Cross of the Guardian - 20 personal ships, ship cap increased to 3500

Once a guild has donated 10,000 ships to the Reserve, the Guild Leader can have custom names for its medals. For the Cosmic Paradise guild, the custom medal names are:

1st Title - Eternal Beacon of Light

2nd Title - The Big Bang Medal

3rd Title - Master of the Cosmos

If a Guildleader tries assigning a medal/title a fourth time it is regarded as an attempt to convert that player to an Operations Assistant. Similarly, doing it a fifth time converts an Operations Assistant to an Operations Manager.

The Title offers available to the Operations Manager/Operations Assistants do not include medals or a ship grant and can therefore be used even to re-title someone who has received all three medals.

Where a guild has completed the assignment of 10,000 ships into their reserve fleet the Guildleader gains the option to rename the three standard medals. Their other properties are unchanged.

Credit Caps

Credit cap was verified reached with photos on 06/21/2012 by Celeste Auer of Cosmic Paradise. The cap is 10,000,000,000,000 (10 Trillion) credit. Profits continue to be acquired monthly, but then are lost the following month. Depending on earnings or expenses per month, the total will exceed slighly the 10 Trillion credit or fall just below it for a month. Once this was reached and reported to the game creator, he verified that the maximun cap for this game was 10 Trillion. There had been a prior report of someone reaching the cap, but it was after the time they stated having it and were not able to verify it. The amount was different that the above amount and what was verified by the game creator.

Disasters:

  • Disease
  • Corruption
  • Piracy (The Hand of Anarchy)

Possible actions

  • ask for guild protection - price and effect depend on several factors (increase of population)
  • hire war-hardened mercs - price and effect depend on several factors (increase of population)
  • learn about base defense (a.k.a. Research) - price and effect depend on several factors (research pays off in due time)
  • cut a deal with pirates - price and effect depend on several factors

Research

When someone has three colonies, the possibility comes to research:

  • Disease
  • Corruption
  • "Hand of Anarchy"

So far: after 20x research, researching one of the disasters mentioned above results in 200 credits/ship increased efficiency and resistances to future disasters of that type. Further effects of research are not known at the moment.

Fatigue

Fatigue builds up in your fleet from too much trade activity. It only affects you after quite a long time of playing the game in a single day. If you are affected, you will see (Fatigue) at the bottom of your ACCTS tab. It lowers your earnings 1.25% per turn. Windfalls, commission, census and fleet earnings are all affected. Ship buying and selling are not, and guild dues are not. It resets back to zero once per day (at around midnight SLT). You don't have to do anything. It resets whether you are online or off. Fatigue does not build up during idle mode.

Taking your HUD off will not reset fatigue, only the game reset once a day will do that. You won't lose credits, your income goes down, and if you get the mysterious diamond black ship (trader) you won't earn income from that either while in fatigue.

Puzzles

To get a solution for the puzzles, check out the website: Erzabet's TE Calculators

Unity questions

Most people just answer NO on every question, so the chance of gaining some credits is biggest when you answer NO like the majority does [we're talking about percentages of around 90%!!!]. When you're building a flagship Director's Quest, you need 20 YES-answers to the unity questionsm this gived the non-conformist votes needed for the Quest. So it helps when people who are going for the credits answer NO!

There are a couple of unity questions we know of now. They are:

Mysterious vessel (Black Diamond)

A "Mysterious Vessel" will occasionally appear in the HUD. His appearance always causes a lot of excitement and joy in Tiny Empires 3000. When he appears, the "Onboard Entity" will ask you for a lot of of credits to trade for minerals and ore, but won't say what you will be getting in exchange. Definitely pay what he asks if you have the credits, as the Vessel is a bonus to the players. The Vessel can give you a boost in either ships or credits, if played properly. You only get the "Mysterious Vessel" after the rank of Trader, or in other words, you have at least 50 total ships.


On arrival of the "Mysterious Vessel" there are some steps. They are:

  • 1st month = 1st notice, warning about the Mysterious Vessels approach.
  • 2nd month = nothing
  • 3rd month = 2nd notice, warning again of the Mysterious Vessel.
  • 4th month = nothing
  • 5th month = 3rd notice (+ amount of credits asked)
  • 6th month = 4th notice and payment

For a list of vessel sightings, see: MV Sightings

Offers of Mysterious Vessel

For one year, you may buy ships at a very low price.

What to do: BUY ships for 12 turns (and sell them if you want to make profit)

The price of buying a ship will be incredibly low. Not totally free, so you will need to have some credits to buy the ships. If you don't have enough gold to buy, you can always buy/sell at the same time, but be careful the selling price doesn't drop too.

For one year your ships will be worth more than normal

What to do: SELL ships for 12 turns (and buy them back if you want to keep your personal fleet the same level)

Your ships are worth a lot with this bonus, but depending on your situation you may want to BUY and SELL at once so you do not lose total ships. However you will get a slightly higher profit if you sell all at once then buy back at a lower cost. This will take more time though it you are patient. ***This is not a true statement. You will get less money every time you sell and lose the income and windfalls from these ships*** Buy/Sell unless you are just out for credits.

Offers fuel pellets, your efficiency skyrockets.

What to do: WAIT out the 12 turns to collect credits and BUY ships (when you can/want)

Your ship efficiency will skyrocket for 12 turns, and you will get a ridiculous amount of credits per turn. Like with any bonus that builds up your credits, buy ships when you can. Unlike old TE,the efficiency goes up instead of down when you buy.

Fleet efficiency has been raise by 100 credits/ship permanently.

What to do: Nothing!

This bonus permanently increases your ship efficiency by 100cr/ship. You can check your ship efficiency by clicking on the Accounting tab in the HUD. When you get this bonus, you have nothing further to do. This is the best bonus in my opinion, and pays off the most in the long run.

Purchased ships are very likely to contain surprises

What to do: BUY ships for 11 turns

You will receive a surprise in credits which is close to the price of the ship you just bought. Sometimes "hidden chamber with a credit chip", or "transport previous owner", or "left-over cargo". Basically you are getting ships for free or incredibly cheap. Note that for the last month of the Trader bonus year, you don't get the bonus - hence you only buy for 11 of the 12 turns.

ONE of your ships is worth more.

What to do: SELL ships (and buy back if you want)

You receive messages that say, "Do you want to sell this ship? Perhaps it is worth something" during normally occurring ship buy/sell turns. Selling this ship may or may not give a profit. Usually it takes 3-7 sales to receive the "rare ship" worth more, but depending on how many it takes (the longer it takes to find, the more it seems to be worth), you will receive between 2 and 3 times what you paid the vessel in return. This is the only "Buy and Sell" option that you can log off and come back later and finish, as it does not finish with the trader year but will continue until you receive your pay out.

You match velocities with the mysterious vessel. Your minerals vanish, to be replaced by.... nothing? Wait. Searching again, you find a liquid metallic sphere encased in a carbon shell. This must be purified Soleinium.

Required component for the Flagship, part of the Director's Quest. No other benefit.

You match velocities with the mysterious vessel. Your minerals vanish, to be replaced by.... nothing? Wait. You search again. In your cargo hold is a mountain of paperwork for you to complete. You gain 5 red tape.

You get 5 Red Tape to use with the Bureaucrat.

WARNING

If you have FATIGUE when the Mysterious Vessel comes, be careful, after you pay him, you may zero out and not get any profits from fuel pellets! You may end up losing all your credits! Depending on which bonus you get or how bad your fatigue is, it is very risky!

I missed the reward message!

If you missed the message saying what you got from the MV, it can be figured out by working through the following.

Are you getting a ship buy/sell offer every turn? If you are it's Buy Low, Sell High or Surprises. The first two can be seen from the prices being proposed. If both prices are normal then you got Surprises. You may also get a random Buy Low or Sell High (or even both if you have Surprises); if this happens look at next turn's offer to see which figure has returned to normal.

Look on the Accounts tab. If the efficiency figure has jumped to something massively over 3300 you got fuel pellets. If the efficiency has increased by 100, that's what the MV just gave you. If your Red Tape total has increased, that's what you got.

When you get a buy/sell offer, the sell offer says 'might be worth something' - this indicates that you got One Ship Worth More. It typically takes around six sales to get the bonus.

If none of the above apply you got the Solenium from the MV.