Upgrading Again?
Long ago in the age of XT and AT computers, I played a strategy game which involved territorial development and warfare. It was quite a neatly thought out, intelligent game. In order to accumulate funds, you had to tax the people. The more you taxed the people, the less loyal they were and the more likley they would rebel. Playing the game well would require a careful balance between overspending and underspending, being too aggressive or too timid …
But there was a flaw which I exploited to the fullest. I found that the peasants were richest just after the harvesting season. That’s when I taxed them heavily. Loyalty sank to an alarming low. Then, before they could revolt, I quickly lowered the taxes - that’s after I’ve already taken all their money. Guess what. Their loyalty went up after taxes were lowered. Then, when they have accumulated enough money again, I would tax them of every penny, then quickly lowered taxes when they had no money. It seemed that the virtual citizens had completely forgotten that I’ve emptied their pockets just a while ago.
Was that a flaw in the program? Or did the creators of the game really think that there might be people in this world who would rejoice when cheap freebies are given immediately after a major collection.
