It's been exactly a week since I ventured into the Advanced Economic System [AES] and so far I'm absolutely delighted with my experience.  I thought I would start a bit of a journal to record the progress made by Mikhail & myself and perhaps help others to learn from our successes and failures in the early days.  I would encourage others that are using ACS to begin their own journals as I'm sure we'd all benefit from the community knowledge.

Tatiana:

• Start Date: May 15, 2019
• Class: Noble
• Funds: 50c

Mikhail:

• Start Date: May 16, 2019
• Class: Townsfolk
• Level: 1
• Funds: 20c

Starting at Level 1 means that our day-to-day objective is basically learning how to survive and thrive.  My long term goal is to climb the social ladder and become a Duchesse.  Mikhail is looking forward to establishing a worthy profession (as yet undetermined).  It's always good to be surrounded by a supportive community so not only are the two of us working together as a team but we're collaborating with friends that are pioneering the system.

I was relieved to see that my starter kit contained objects to keep my Energy & Hygiene needs satisfied.  As for Hunger, I quickly learned that there are a number of apple trees that can be harvested to provide nourishment.  These are spread throughout Antiquity including the City of Bath and the public farm .  I may be a duchesse at heart, but starving is definitely not a good look so I filled my pockets.  I also made my first trip to the bank to receive my weekly allowance of 50 copper coins.  I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I pouted about this pittance until I learned that Mikhail, being a Townsfolk, only received 20c.

Looks like apples will be on the menu for some time to come!

Updated Jan 12, 2020: Changed Antiquity Crafting System (ACS) to Advanced Economic System [AES]  to keep information current. 

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Bright and early the next day I headed out to the public farm , an essential area for those of us sans coin or crops of our own.  Here you will find all the resources necessary for survival including a well, stove, mill, forge, distillery, drying racks and probably a few other items I haven't located yet.  The wheat was tall & golden, waving in the field and enticing me to harvest it.  I cheerfully cut down one field and then another.  BIG MISTAKE (but we'll talk about that later).  I used the mill to grind the wheat into flour, drew some water from the well, and baked my first loaves of bread.  It was oh so satisfying.

I then headed off to investigate the possibility of starting my own small garden.  It was at this point, much to my dismay, that I learned that every crop must be re-seeded after harvest and therefore the wheat I had harvested actually belong to someone else.  Egads! Only one day into farming and my name already was mud.  I was a wheat thief!  I hurriedly purchased some wheat seeds and went back to replant the fields.  All six fields in the area were fallow so I re-seeded them all thinking I would donate them to the community as a way to apologize.

Things were about to go from bad to worse.

Louis happened to wander by and mentioned that he had to change the fields so that only the person that had planted it could harvest it.  Apparently there were complaints that wheat was missing (blushes profusely)!  So now, not only had I taken someone's crops but I had managed to monopolize the remaining fields.  Fortunately, Louis was able to reset the fields again and I was saved from a mob of torch-bearing peasants.  Live & learn!

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As it was Thursday, the day that the weekly allowance is doled out, I made my way to the bank in Bath to collect my 50c.  I now had a grand total of 90c (having expended 10c on wheat seeds), almost enough to buy one onion patch.  I wandered through the bakery, perfume, and tea shops musing on making the most of my meager investment.

It was at this point that fortune did indeed smile on me.  A kindly aristocrat offered me a loan of 1 gold (that's 10,000c for those keeping track) more than enough to get me started on the garden of my dreams.  I'm sure he was just being his habitually generous self but I couldn't help but wonder if he had heard of the "wheat incident" and thought it might be best for the good of all concerned to have me happily puttering in my own private garden rather than rampaging through the public one.

With dreams of orange trees and tea bushes swirling through my head, I accepted his generous offer and promised to repay him as quickly as possible.  This brings up a point about loans that may be particularly interesting to Abbondio of the Banco Rezzonico.  It definitely gave me the kick-start I needed to advance more quickly and I'm sure it would be an interesting strategy to employ.  I await further developments on this front.

I wasted no time in travelling to Mont Saint Bruno where I showed the Harvest & Garden Merchants my coins and ordered delivery of my first set of trees and plants.

Now to build my garden!

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Good picture, handsome couple of farmers, and glad to see you too had a glorious harvest of vegetables. I teased you enough about the wheat situation. You solved it with charm, but it will probably haunt you for some time haha.
As for the loans, Louis was already considering such. But yes, I would certainly consider expanding the services of the Banco Rezzonico for this. Already thinking about how to design such an enterprise to make it a justifiable ploy, perhaps with the option of paying off through a share in produce. It could make it interesting for me at least to invest in farms and entrepreneurs, and benefit the development in general. I will give this some more thought over time, we're not in a rush

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Thanks, Abbondio!  I truly feel that Mikhail & I are soul-mates and I'm so glad he can help with the posing as well as the heavy lifting

The wheat incident is one of those golden SL moments that can unfold from a good active RP.  I know that I shall cherish my faux pas for years to come.

I love the idea of taking a share of the crops as you say it would really benefit enterprising low-levelers. I also love pioneering this system and dreaming of its future.  Too much fun! 

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As noted in My Adventures in Virtual Gardening I absolutely love gardening in SL.  Back in 2013 when I wrote that post I had just finished my first set of garden meshes for the Queen's Kitchen Garden.  The plants & flowers were pretty but I always regretted that they were static.  When the QH Co-op began using G&S I planted a variety of fields but was disappointed that there was nothing suitable for a potager.  Now with ACS I can re-plant my original garden and enjoy watching it grow. Woohoo!

I cleared the hedged enclosures of most of the decorative plants and started planning.  I knew it was going to take quite some time for me to be able to afford a full garden but I was happy to be starting out with an orange tree and tea bush.  Over the week I added more trees & vegetables and as you can see there's still plenty of room for more.

I'm also looking forward to adding a variety of herbs as they become available.

The central fountain has been converted into an ACS well and the Branch Benches provide both Health & Hygiene when you sit on them.  As I had hoped, it's a lovely place to just sit, relax and watch the garden grown.  It's open to the public so please feel free to drop by the Queen's Kitchen Garden anytime.  

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A quick look at our statistics after the first week. 

Tatiana:

• Date: May 24, 2019
• Class:Noble
• Level: 3
• Funds: 10s 70c

Mikhail:

• Date: May 24, 2019
• Class: Townsfolk
• Level: 1
• Funds: 60c

I've spent 60s on trees (orange, lemon, pear & tea), 18s on vegetables , 2s on seeds, 1s on grinding tea and a bit more on an orange tea recipe.  At level three my weekly income has increased to 1s 50c.  Mikhail has managed to save all of his weekly income.  I had hoped to be generating further funds from trading with Adam the Merchant but alas, somehow I managed to insult him on our first meeting and he refuses to accept my goods.  A complaint to his management has been lodged!

We've been eating a lot of bread but will be upgrading our cooking skills shortly in order to diversify our menu.  We have a nice assortment of fruits and vegetables just waiting to be turned into delicious meals.

I've gained most of my experience through harvesting though I did enjoy one social gathering which gave me a nice experience point (xp) bump to start out with.

Mikhail has been working hard grinding wheat, baking bread, drying tea leaves and distilling oranges & lemons.  However, because he tried to accomplish his tasks in short sessions, he really didn't benefit fully when it came to xps. He's been taking a more leisurely approach in the last few days and benefiting from that.

We're both trying to work smarter not harder

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Is it me or does Mikhail bear a striking resemblance to that Scottish lad...Jamie.  Relations perhaps?

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If you're referring to JAMMF … could well be … nothing like a good Scottish lad to help around the farm

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Sipping my morning coffee, happy at the reports that the looting of farms has stopped for now.  Must have been Louis patrols that spooked them off.

I congratulate you on your great progress so far.  This insight is so important to help us make sure things are working right.  Both you and Abbondio are well advanced and leading the pack in XP.

I look forward to you using the stove so i can swing over and have lunch every once and a while...:))

I may be fired from my job as chief perfume bottle labeler, due to a miss hap...that labeled some bottles wrong...so you may see me sooner then you think..:))

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I look forward to learning from your mistakes, Duchess!

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Sipping my morning coffee, happy at the reports that the looting of farms has stopped for now.  Must have been Louis patrols that spooked them off.

Yes!  Louis and his patrols are most efficient.  An educated peasantry who understand their boundaries also helps

Thank you for the congratulations, I'm personally having a lot of fun and plan to drag as many farmers from the QH as I can into this adventure.  Some like Bessie (Satoharu) are taking advantage of my early failures.

Speaking of mistakes,I'm sure your job is safe for now Jacon but you're always welcome in the QH.  Be warned, we eat a LOT of bread & apples.

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Meet Adam the Trader Merchant.  I had big plans for Adam; we were going to be best buddies, he was going to help me on my path to riches.

I scoped him out from afar and he seemed like a nice enough fellow, maybe a little dour looking but I've seen worse.  My plan was to lay on the charm so for on our first meeting I brought him an orange.  He scowled and refused to take it.  Apparently he cannot be bribed by edible items.

Returning the next day with a basket of oranges, I smiled as I gently placed the basket in front of him and politely requested to sell them.  He ignored me.  I poked him in the chest. He shifted his gaze away from me.  I pushed him only to find him rock-solid in his stance and still unwilling to barter.

Enough was enough! I reported him to management!

Returning the next day he informed me he was "Out of service for now" and so he remains.  Good help is so hard to find!

I'm happily stockpiling fruits and vegetables while Adam is being re-programmed.  I plan to hire a huge cart to haul my produce to him on his first day back at work.

Au revoir, Adam.  I'll be back!

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Both Mikhail and I have embraced the Peasant profession.  The coppers earned are enough to pay for our seeds and the double xp are more than welcome. Feeling more secure in our own farming lives allowed us to turn our attention to the QH Co-op as a whole.  With the purchase of both a hen and a cow, official QH Jobs were initiated guaranteeing that, at the very least, there will be bread, eggs & milk free for our little farming community as we get established.

Tatiana:

• Date: May 31, 2019
• Class: Noble
• Level: 4
• Funds: 8s 9c

Mikhail:

• Date: May 31, 2019
• Class: Townsfolk
• Level: 2
• Funds: 99c

The inaugural meeting of Tea & Toast was held and it was a whole lot of fun!  I definitely learned a lot and I can't remember when I've ever had so much to eat & drink at a gathering.  It reminded me of the story Stone Soup as we started out with very little but thanks to the generosity of the community ended up feasting.  One of the stated goals of the ACS is to encourage social interaction and this was one bright little event where you could actually see it succeeding. 

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The month of June saw us establishing a small market presence for the Queen's Hamlet.  There's nothing more satisfying than seeing the fruits of your labours out on display and the coins earned are being used to purchase additional fruit trees for the garden.  This month it was a peach tree; next month I have my eye on apricots and perhaps another hen.

Myriam and her fellow NPCs have taken over the role of Trader Merchant which was hastily vacated by the feckless Adam.  It's always interesting to see what she will offer me on any given day and I've found her to be quite fair in all of her dealings.  Though I tend to under-cut her prices a bit with the QH merchandise she doesn't seem to mind, in fact she never bats an eye.

Tatiana:

• Date: June 29, 2019
• Class: Noble
• Level: 8
• Funds: 25s 76c

Mikhail:

• Date: June 29, 2019
• Class: Townsfolk
• Level: 5
• Funds: 8s 03c

The Tea & Toast gatherings continue to be fun & informative with participants sharing the latest news along with their culinary creations.  Thank goodness I can work off some of those calories in the garden, otherwise I'd be letting out the waistband of my skirts for certain!

I'm trying to apply my experience gained with G&S to my mid/long term strategy for using AES in the Queen's Hamlet. G&S seems to encourage a bit of industrialization which can lead to pointless grinding for little reward if you're not careful.  With AES I'm more conscious of the joys of limited scope and I intend to concentrate on producing key products while buying (or trading for) whatever else is needed from the community.  Time will tell if I can stick to this strategy but at the moment it seems like a much more enjoyable way to live my days in the hamlet

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Bessie Hull

• Date June 30th, 2019
• Class: Townsfolk
• Level: 1
• Funds: 2s 14c

I'm not sure why I'm still just level one, but oh well. I just keep my nose to the grindstone.

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Hello Bessie!  You probably know this but just in case here are some of my observations regarding experience points (xp).  The Experience meter turns blue when it is maxed out.  I try not to do any tasks during this period, I just keep wearing the HUD to gain back more room on it.  I believe that the last thing I read said you gain back 1 point of room per 30 minutes.  Depending on the current level you may have to wait a number of hours before being able to earn the most xp per task so I tend to spread my work out across a full day.

I've also found that doing different kinds of tasks, e.g. harvesting, cooking, grinding, making extracts, provides a better yield on xp than just straight harvesting does.

Hope this helps!

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[/quote]

I believe that the last thing I read said you gain back 1 point of room per 30 minutes.  Depending on the current level you may have to wait a number of hours before being able to earn the most xp per task so I tend to spread my work out across a full day.

[/quote]

Sorry for the delay but you are right Tat, when you XP bar is blue you don't get any Experience until it get green again. Tough, you get 1% room back after 30min not 1 pts. So yes if you are level 1, 1pts = 1%, at level 10, 1% = 10pts. So yes in any cases to get your 10% a day back you need 5h online wearing the HUD.

But should you know, if you wish to increase your XP faster, the best of the best way is to be social and eat or drink with others. The more you are the more XP you'll get.

Also the HUD save your progress only once every 5min, so if you log off right after doing something it may not be recorded, the safe way to do is to either unwear the HUD before you log off, or go to OOC and log off.

Enjoy

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Good to know, Louis!  Thanks

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Also the HUD save your progress only once every 5min, so if you log off right after doing something it may not be recorded, the safe way to do is to either unwear the HUD before you log off, or go to OOC and log off.

Imparo qualcose di nuovo tutti i giorni...
(You learn something new...)

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How time flies!  It's been more than six months since my last journal entry; apparently I've been so engaged playing that writing rather fell by the wayside.

Shortly after the last journal entry, back in June, the focus of our farming in the Queen's Hamlet switched over to using the brand-new Household (HH) functionality.  Anastasia, Duchesse de Coeur, stepped in as the QH HH Owner and we adapted our production strategies to better suit our HH needs.

I'm glad to say that controlling the scope of our endeavours proved to be a wise decision. Our QH HH has slowly grown to include seven members, a size that seems to be easily sustainable even during times of transition. It's always good to keep in mind that this active roleplay is for fun!

Tatiana reached level 30 (January 5, 2020).  Along the way she worked as a farmer, herbalist, doctor, brewer, and beekeeper. She eagerly grabbed her first official noble title "Chevalier de Provence" (pricey but worth it) and stepped up as the QH HH Manager. She is currently retaining her role as a doctor.  Given that no further XP can be gained from crafting after level 29, she expects to be called "the horse of Provence" for the foreseeable future.

Mikhail reached level 20 (January 10, 2020).   He has tried his hand as a farmer, butcher, brewer, beekeeper and tavern keeper.  As a "townsfolk" he plans to always retain his farmer title but enjoys trying out the new professions as they come along.  Perhaps pastry chef is in his future.

We both have enough pocket money to walk around with but the majority of personal funds went to paying for Tatiana's knighthood .  A word of advice; if you plan on climbing the ladder of nobility make sure you include a financial strategy early-on so you're not disappointed.  This makes for an interesting challenge that certainly adds flavour to the roleplay.

All-in-all, the quest for personal advancement has mellowed allowing for more time looking after the HH including the QH Market and QH Branded Products.

It's wonderful to report that life is good in the Queen's Hamlet!

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A horse by any other name is still a Duchesse.   LOL

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