Luxury Cars Tax

[Pan Grama]

I've made this a new thread because I have a lot to say on the new proposed proposed solution to the luxury cars epidemic and I didn't want make a large reply in the main thread.

 

I propose that a single tax be applied to each car that a player owns that is taken automatically from every paycheck. The tax is linked to the car itself. Some low-end vehicles may be exempt, mid range may have nominal taxes, luxury cars pay more and supercars pay a ridiculous amount.

 

Let me explain my reasoning for this.

 

The first reason is that it cuts down on unnecessary red tape. There is no true RP value to having to wait for a player to be online so we can go to an office and fill in forms. We've seen it before with people waiting for firearms licenses or getting their cars from the impound.

 

Secondly, it's a relatively simple system to apply. I think it may already be in the code and not used cos people didn't like paying $20 per vehicle when one is a Faggio and the other is a Bati.

 

Thirdly, and this is the reason why I am so for my own idea, it automatically adds an in-character factor to the game. This is the part I want to explain and may become quite long, even though I'll try and keep it short.

 

Imagine we have a Strawberry gangster RPing as a drug dealer. He may make a few thousand dollars a day from RP. It may even be an official faction job that pays him a few thousand dollars per paycheck. Over time this is going to build up to the point where he can afford a nice car. We now have a hood rat who sells weed driving an expensive car and robbing people and liqueur stores. It doesn't make sense.

 

Imagine we have a player who's been playing for a few months and has built up a good faction, legal or illegal, that brings in the big bucks. She owns 5 supercars and drives around like city like a crazy bastard, when in reality she should be a respectable part of the community if legal, or not wanting to bring attention to her if illegal.

 

These two characters are opposites of the RP food chain, yet they have the same attitudes and access to the same vehicles.

 

Now imagine that there was a $5000 per paycheck tax on a supercar.

 

The hood rat can only really afford that if he sells a lot of weed. Or robs a lot of stores. Either way, it isn't really a viable way to live. He'll always be poor and may even get into negative cash just by owning an OOC car.

 

The faction leader is in the same position with the 5 supercars. No job is gonna pay $25,000 per paycheck so it's decision time. Own one good car.

 

The players are forced to RP within their character's means, which automatically adds an RP element to the game; You see a player riding around in a Jester, you automatically have an idea of how much that person is earning. Because they can afford a Jester. You see a Baller riding around in a modded Chino, you have an idea of what kind of gangsta he is.

 

It all encourages players to get RP jobs, that pay paycheck money that allow them to own cars.

 

It also eliminates people's ability to grind cash for cars. If you're spending an hour fishing to get the cash, your paycheck is gonna tick and you have to pay. You may be able to fish for a few weeks to be able to afford a good car, but once you own it, you're not going to be able to maintain it. Simply fishing or mining for hours is not going to make you richer.

 

Now there would need to be a discussion on how to handle people spending cash on a car that they can't afford to maintain, because nobody is going to want to play a character in debt. We get enough of that shit IRL.

 

Mainly, it shouldn't be possible to afford a car if your paycheck doesn't cover the tax, despite how much cash you have. Kinda like a credit check and refusal.

 

Secondly, if a player buys a car and then loses the ability to pay for it, then their paycheck could actually be a negative number. Then their cash is going to eke away over time. If it ever gets to the point where they can no longer afford the paycheck, then the car can default and be taken from them. All IC of course.

 

I do propose that the actual cost of the cars come down. Maybe by a factor of 10, to signify the fact that you're buying a money pit. Look at it as a downpayment, and the paycheck are the repayments. This would also keep the used car market alive.

 

This is just my proposition and reasoning behind it. I welcome any criticism about things that I may have been too simple in explaining, or more importantly any glaring mistakes I've made.

 

Thanks for getting to the end.

[M52B28]

Please try to explain taxing me $5000 every hour of gameplay (I average around 10 a day at the current rate) just because I own a nice car and take it out on Sundays for a nice spin in the canyons or the occasional car meet (I am not talking about the ones taking place every day in some random parking lot).

 

The idea is nice to control those extreme samples that you brought but I could see it hurting my roleplay a lot. (and I'm not being selfish, I see this applying everyone that doesn't use their expensive car as a daily driver)

Edited July 3, 2018 by M52B28

[Topinambour]

48 minutes ago, Pan Grama said:

The first reason is that it cuts down on unnecessary red tape. There is no true RP value to having to wait for a player to be online so we can go to an office and fill in forms. We've seen it before with people waiting for firearms licenses or getting their cars from the impound.

Yes. That stuff creates very little RP, the little RP created is pretty uninteresting and not engaging at all (who would want to RP fillling forms? It's already boring IRL lol, why would it be any more interesting in a game?), there is very little reason to add that. =/ Apart from "we want realism and tediousness", but generally speaking, in any game, when a realistic feature doesn't add anything interesting and is tedious, then you just don't add it.

 

48 minutes ago, Pan Grama said:

Secondly, it's a relatively simple system to apply. I think it may already be in the code and not used cos people didn't like paying $20 per vehicle when one is a Faggio and the other is a Bati.

i think it could exist somewhere. The original script used by GTAW was the same used on FiveRP, and FiveRP had a vehicle upcost that removed money from your paychecks. The more cars you had, the more you paid (it was a flat $15 I think).

 

48 minutes ago, Pan Grama said:

Now imagine that there was a $5000 per paycheck tax on a supercar.

Now... ^^ I know it's an example, don't worry! But I wouldn't go for a very high tax, mostly because it could end up encouraging more grinding or rewarding time spent online instead of time spent RP'ing. Some characters fish a bit here and there, and RP that they have a day job (to which their char go while they're offline). It's a reasonable solution imho. However, this won't work anymore if the tax is too high. They could RP being a well-paid marketing manager, but it doesn't matter: they'd have to fish like a motherfucker to afford living like a well-paid marketing manager, or they'd have to tend bars (why the fuck would a marketing dude tend BARS? We have an RP problem), or whatever job is available within the game. And it's not that many. 

 

50 minutes ago, Pan Grama said:

It all encourages players to get RP jobs

And it's a small issue, though maybe it belongs to another discussion (in general maybe?), that many people work IRL. Why the ungodly fuck would they want to RP work, AFTER THEIR REAL LIFE WORK? The whole point of playing GTA is to not do something boring I already do IRL, especially if I'm not paid any real money :p So maybe not making it too reliant on the mythical "RP job". 

[Shareef]

While I would like to see a solution to the issue, a tax like this is not it. I’m struggling  at this point to recognize that it is an issue, but $5k for every expensive car isn’t really the way to go.

 

We have a system on this server to give new players $200k in order to let them RP whatever they want in a comfortable way without grinding. You want to charge a tax and essentially reverse that? 

 

I don’t know if this is a big issue but if it is, there has to be a better way. 

[Pan Grama]

OK so I want to reply to the $5000 per paycheck issue first.

 

The number was arbitrary. It was just a f'rinstance to show what I meant by a large amount. The prices can be anything the devs like based on how much they was $1 to be worth in the game's economy. If the base unemployed paycheck is £200, then the supercar tax could be $250. That way there is no feasible way that someone unemployed could own and maintain a supercar. Which is how it should be.

 

Now say someone gets a job, scripted or RP that pays $400 per paycheck. $250 goes on a supercar. Then take away fuel and rent (my suggestion is kinda how properties are working now anyway) they could be left with very little per week. Which is their own fault for owning a supercar. Living beyond their means.

 

In this case fishing or mining or whatever serves no other purpose than topping up their wage. Cash becomes an RP prop rather than a means to get stuff.

 

It then forces people to role-play the position they are in. It might not be what the player wants, but we're directly trying to reduce the type of OOC cars here. If someone works in a bar and they're getting $300 per paycheck, they drive a car that they can afford.

 

Don't look at it as a tax, it's the cost of your lifestyle.

 

Now I'm not suggesting that people will be forced to work in a bar when their background is a law school graduate. But faction jobs pay a wage. You may need to perform some minimal job once a day/week just to qualify for the paycheck, but the fact is, you're ICly working as a lawyer or whatever and they pay is higher than being unemployed.

 

A Grove Street banger is not going to be able to ICly join a law firm and earn lawyer paychecks. He is going to be able to join a Set and earn dealer paychecks. The lawyer may want to show off and drive a car that he can't really afford and walk around with $50 in his pocket. The banger might drive a 40 year old car and be carrying $1000. These all seem like realistic scenarios to me.

5 hours ago, M52B28 said:

Please try to explain taxing me $5000 every hour of gameplay (I average around 10 a day at the current rate) just because I own a nice car and take it out on Sundays for a nice spin in the canyons or the occasional car meet (I am not talking about the ones taking place every day in some random parking lot).

I think the tax (repayment) should be ignorant of how you use the car. ICly you own it. Whether you drive it only on a weekend or not is irrelevant. If you want a hobby car, you drive what you can afford. Or maybe even sink all your cash into it like people do IRL. If you work in a bar you still shouldn't be allowed to own a supercar, even if you only use it once a week.

 

4 hours ago, Shareef said:

We have a system on this server to give new players $200k in order to let them RP whatever they want in a comfortable way without grinding. You want to charge a tax and essentially reverse that? 

My suggestion would eradicate the need for the $5K paycheck.

 

When the player starts they are given some cash. Not a lot but enough to get started. Say $2000. Now say an Asea costs $1700 and has an upkeep of $50. The player is unemployed but instantly has access to a low end vehicle that they can buy. They earn $200 pp for being unemployed. They can easily afford to maintain their car.

 

I hold to my idea. The numbers, I agree, need to be discussed. But I genuinely think this is a real solution to changing player's attitudes towards what constitutes an affordable car for their character.

 

Please, anyone challenge my idea, or suggest changes to it. I very much want this to be considered.