The EMC "Tax" and you (closed)

Discussion in 'General Minecraft Discussion' started by Kephras, Mar 28, 2015.

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  1. Most of this information I already posted in the other thread, but that was back on page six and I suspect most people won't see it. If there's a productive discussion to be had, it's probably best to get the "facts" (such as they are) straight, first.

    Q: Why would EMC implement a tax, anyway?
    A: Short answer, a combination of rupee sink and automated event funding.
    Longer answer, in the past contests Staff have had a rupee pool for donations. The concept is (was?) that this would simply be an automated way to handle that. Yes, Aikar can just magically wave his code-wand at will and create rupees, but the desire is to redistribute existing rupees within the existing economy, not compound the inflation already taking place.

    Q: So I'd have to file taxes with EMC / pay a percent of my rupees?
    A: The most likely implementation would be per shop-sign transaction, and the percentage of funds siphoned off was still very much up for debate. 8% was ballpark guesswork, and little else. And yes: this is easily circumvented with /pay (user), so it would mainly only affect shop owners / customers. I sincerely doubt any staff would seriously consider dipping into player's rupees without their consent.

    Q: Why wasn't this openly discussed with the community before now?
    A: Staff have a lot of ideas. Most of them will never see the light of day, and the ones that do are properly thought out and presented for discussion. They're not required to share every random thought with us just to see if we'll approve.

    Q: I'm staff / contrib / other team member. Why haven't I heard about this?
    A: Couldn't say. Considering the fallout, maybe it's better that way? See below.

    Q: Is this why you, Shell, and FDNY were demoted?
    A: Part of it. If they wish to share more details, that's up to them, but it should be done privately. A public forum isn't the place for discussion of staff disciplinary actions. Beyond that... well I don't have access to the Team forums now, but they state pretty clearly that information is confidential and not to be shared until made public. Maybe someone from Contrib can find that one for me.

    Q: This is just some stupid April Fool's joke, right?
    A: Players outside the US might not be aware of this, but April 15th is the deadline for filing income tax here in the US. I know a lot of folks are thinking this is an early prank, and I don't fault you for finding the timing suspect, but taxes are actually pretty topical for this time of year, all jokes aside. Obviously I can't stop you from drawing your own conclusions.

    Hope this clears things up some. /Discuss.
    Equinox_Boss, Tuqueque, 607 and 7 others like this.
  2. There is no info on demotions in the Contributor Forums.
  3. I didn't mean about demotions specifically, just the discussion of confidential information. I may be confusing it with something I was told when joining Build Team on Stage however.
    Equinox_Boss and Tuqueque like this.
  4. I don't get it... For what I understand of this, this is a topic brought up by leaks there wasn't supposed to hit the spotlight yet. If the staff wanted an opinion or wanted the involvement of the community they would have made an official announcement. I'm sure no matter what, the staff is doing the best they can to make a solution that will benefit the community the best way possible. There will always be people who will find some decisions an inconvenience, but there is no option that benefits each and everyone of us.
    Equinox_Boss likes this.
  5. Rumor most likely
    Equinox_Boss likes this.
  6. True, but most decisions aren't taking something from you that you earned and putting it towards something you don't take part in.
    Equinox_Boss and PenguinDJ like this.
  7. I think you are. There's nothing on the Wiki forums for that, so I'm guessing there may be some secret stuff on Stage.
    Equinox_Boss likes this.
  8. Well, we always have player to player transactions, could possibly provide communication between players?
    Equinox_Boss likes this.
  9. #NoTaxationWithoutRepresentation
  10. I can relate, I live in Denmark so my time zone makes it impossible for me to join events unless I'm awake at 3 am. But again nothing is public yet...
    Equinox_Boss likes this.
  11. What if we don't pay for the Tax? Are we fined? Do staff take our belongings? I personally don't like the idea. What if we don't pay tax?
    Equinox_Boss likes this.
  12. I don't have that information, but last I heard it'd go something like this:

    Imagine you set a shop sign, selling diamonds at 100r ea. When a player buys, they pay 100r and you'd receive 92r. The other 8 (in this example) gets "taxed" and put into whatever pool is set up.

    By itself that 8r isn't much, but when it's pulling from every mall and shop on every server...
  13. what if it's like seeds? I can buy a stack for less than 8r or a weird number as of that
    Equinox_Boss and 607 like this.
  14. Here's a better solution. If there's an event coming up, they can post a way for us to donate. Create an account for donations or what ever. I'm sure many people would donate when not forced to.
  15. The example is not a fixed 8 r but a percentage.
    Equinox_Boss likes this.
  16. I would donate EmcOverLord for donations
    Equinox_Boss and ThaKloned like this.
  17. They've done that already. Guess this is looking for a better and more consistent method?
    Also keep in mind this is largely speculation and a contest prize pool is just one of the possible uses.
    Equinox_Boss, Tuqueque and 607 like this.
  18. I'm sorry but forcing people to give their money is not a better way. But's that's my opinion.
    Equinox_Boss and MeadMaker like this.
  19. How about a 50/50 draw? You buy tickets and have a chance to win half, EMC pools other half. There's got to be a better way then taking.
  20. You'd have 0.64 rupees subtracted from your balance - which, since EMC doesn't work on decimals in rupees anymore and hasn't done since early 2012, would be highly inconvenient and stupid.
    Equinox_Boss, 607 and ItsMeWolffpack like this.
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