Katimavik Bay: Frequently Asked Questions

Katimavik Bay

1. What is Katimavik Bay?

Katimavik Bay (also known as KB) is a city within the Catan Online World (COW). It acts as a social base for Catan players in Canada and competes against other COW cities in tournaments and other championships within the COW metagame. The name Katimavik is Inuktitut for meeting place. Katimavik Bay was established by a group of pioneers during the second COW game period. Although essentially a Canadian city, we mirror our Canadian society by welcoming and embracing players of all nationalities and are proud to be the city of choice for players seeking the right blend of social competition and a strong community spirit.

2. What are its objectives?

The primary objectives of the City are to ensure that our members get the best possible experience from playing Catan online. We want to create a positive social environment where everybody has fun playing their favourite games, whilst still trying to keep the city as competitive as possible within the wider metagame. We share the ambition of rising to the challenge of becoming Capital of Catan, but believe that the only way to achieve this is through a strong community which pulls together to reach shared goals.

3. How did I end up in Katimavik Bay and do I have a choice of my location?

Since its establishment, KB has become the primary location for any residents of Canada when they first register for COW. If you do not feel that this is the right place for you, you can relocate to another city by choosing that option from your backpack (which is located in your house or hostel). But we hope that you will enjoy the experience and will not wish to move.

4. What are the numbers besides peoples names?

This denotes the city that the person is from. Here in KB we are number 15. Numbers below 10 are German cities and those above 10 are international cities.

5. Who organises activities within our City?

We do. The Mayor coordinates the smooth running of the city, but in KB we firmly believe that this is a collective effort and that it is important for everyone to get involved. Please talk to the Mayor or Deputy if you would like to become more involved in city activities.

6. How do you join the Council?

The Council is selected automatically according to the number of donations made to the city. The 15 citizens with the highest number of donations are on the Council, but only donations made within the last four weeks are eligible, so the Council can constantly change. In any case, we encourage all city members to become involved in council discussions through our city skype chat. If you wish to be involved, please send a message with your skype name to Vixter or Islandwonder.

The Metagame

7. What is the Metagame and is it important?

The metagame is a competition which takes place between the cities of Catan, which involves competing for the title “Capital of Catan”. In addition there are several tournaments and other activites which can earn statues and/or gold for the city. In KB we believe that the metagame is important because it provides a focus for the activities of the city. But we also believe firmly in the element of choice and nobody should feel pressured to participate if they are not interested in the metagame.

8. How do I get started?

The first step is to build yourself a house in the village. You can then use your resources to help advance your personal belongings and make donations to the city. In order to contribute to the metagame you have to be an active citizen.

9. How do I become active?

You become active once you have earned a minimum of 15 resources in a 28 day period. To do this you will need to regularly spend the resources you earn on upgrading housing and clothing and/or city and guard donations. Once you are active you will see smoke coming out of the chimney of your house and your avatar will have a necklace. Any 28 day period in which you fail to earn 15 resources will result in you becoming inactive again. If this happens, you will lose your necklace and smoke will no longer rise from your house.

10. How do I earn resources?

You earn at least one resource per day, depending on your housing level. Higher housing levels have higher resource potential. You can also win additional weekly resources depending on the number of games you play and how often you win, and you can win monthly gold by placing in one of the top five positions within the City on the monthly gold lists.

11. How can I trade resources?

You can trade resources at the market, which is open for half an hour every three hours, or with your fellow citizens. You will often see people at the market square looking to trade or you can set up trades through the city skype chat. You can also trade resources for coins at the bank, although you can do this only once per day.

12. How many resources can I store?

Your storage capacity depends on your house level. A level 1 house can only store four resources and you will not receive any further resources once your house is full. So it is important to use your resources regularly so as not to lose out on production.

13. How do I choose or change my profession?

Your profession dictates the types of resources you will receive so it is important to think about what to choose. In order to obtain resources for building you will need to be a lumberjack or a brickmaker whereas for guard donations or clothing upgrades you will need to be a miller, shepherd or smith. You can change your profession at four week intervals by choosing that option from your backpack.

14. What is the importance of the dice and desert sons solo games?

The dice and DSS games help to earn donations for the city, provided we have at least 15 citizens participating and can finish in the top 10. The dice game is played in the Assembly Hall and the DSS at the Park. Tutorials are available for both games, but if you would like further advice on either please send a message to Vixter. The city currently rewards the top 15 players in both dice and DSS with gold at the end of the month.

15. What if I don’t want to get involved in the metagame?

If you just want to play the games without getting involved in the metagame then you should do so. But joining the metagame and pulling together with your fellow citizens is not only challenging and fun, but makes for a much more social game environment. We would love to see everyone make city and guard donations even if they do not wish to get involved in the metagame. Gambling at the bath house is also a large help to the city.

City Donations

16. Do I have to make donations to the city?

Nobody is obliged to make donations to the city, but donations are important for the city to thrive and survive. City donations help to expand important buildings in the city, such as the arsenal and wall for defence, the library and town hall for gold production and the market and bank for better trades. These expansions in turn provide benefit to all active citizens. Furthermore, failing to contribute to the defence of the city could result in losing personal clothing and housing levels.

17. How can I make donations?

City donations consist of one brick, one lumber and one ore and can be made at the Mason’s Guild. Guard donations consist of one wheat, one wool and one ore and are made at the arsenal.

18. How are the city expansions chosen?

City expansions are selected through a simple vote amongst current council members, with the Mayor having the casting vote in the case of a tie. However, prior to the vote, there is extensive discussion of the various options within the city skype chat, to which all citizens can contribute. As a general principle, KB prioritises expansions which will either provide defence or improve income, although the order in which these are done is subject to debate.

19. What is the impact of the barbarian attacks?

There are three barbarian attacks over the course of the season (approximately every two months). The impact of the attack depends on a formula which calculates the city danger value (the combined value of houses, clothing, pets, gardens and city buildings) against the number of guard donations, including those generated by the arsenal and the city wall. Those cities which are not adequately defended can lose one level (housing, clothing and city buildings) at the first attack, two levels at the second and three at the third. So it is in everybody’s interests to contribute to the defence of the city. Changes to the rules for the third game period also now means that those who fail to make guard donations in line with their personal expansion stand to lose the most in the event of a failed defence.

20. How can I defend my personal possessions?

The way to defend your personal possessions is by contributing to the defence of the city, either through city expansions for the arsenal and the wall or by making donations directly to the guard. Changes to the rules means that if the City fails to defend a barbarian attack, only those citizens who have failed to make sufficient guard donations in direct proportion to their personal culture points (housing, clothing, pets and garden) will lose their housing and clothing. So it’s a bit like playing Cities and Knights: if you build up your empire without adding sufficient knights, the chances are you are going to lose out at the next attack. To check how many guard donations you require to defend your personal possessions, click on the bookcase in your house and select the option "personal protection".

The Games

21. I don’t know all the games: How can I learn?

Playing Catan on line provides the opportunity to play many different versions of the game but some of them can seem daunting if you’ve never played before. We try to help new players or those wishing to learn new versions by arranging sessions within the city where an experienced player can teach new players over skype voice. If you’d like to learn something new post a message in the City Forum or send a message directly to Vixter, Islandwonder or Pediatron. You can also use the Prof Easy teaching examples. Learning new games not only give you more variety but will also enable you to participate in tournaments and compete for monthly gold.

22. Can I arrange to play socially with friends?

At KB we believe that playing Catan should be fun and one of the best ways to achieve this is by playing with people that you also get to know socially. You can set up “play dates” (with or without skype voice) with fellow citizens either through the KB Forum or the skype chat. If you want to open a game just for friends the best way to do this is to set up the game with a password. Member of our city often open "city games" which can be accessed by any players from the city using the password kb.

23. How do the tournament weekends work?

Every second weekend there is a COW tournament which is announced on login one or two days in advance. Players can enter three games in the official tournament room and their score is accumulated over the three games. Since a different game is chosen for each tournament, it is necessary to have a wide knowledge of most of the different scenarios. Tournament scores benefit the city, provided at least 15 citizens have participated and we are able to finish in the top 10. Currently, any gold won during the tournament weekends is distributed directly to the players involved.

24. What are the monthly gold lists?

At the end of each month the five players ranked the highest in the City in each of the ten specified games earns personal gold (two for the player in first place). With the exception of the card games, you must have played a minimum of seven of each of the games over the course of the month in order to receive a ranking. This is an excellent way to earn additional resources, especially since in KB we don’t always have five people playing each of the ten games regularly. The list of games, together with current rankings, can be viewed by clicking on the scroll in the tavern.

25. How can I improve my game strategy?

A number of strategy guides, written by experienced KB players are available on the KB wiki. We also encourage feedback to help improve the strategy guides as well as any advice for new guides which aren’t yet written. These are recommended to anybody who wants to become more competitive on the basis that, while the key to playing is to have fun, there is nothing more fun than winning and or being able to compete. You can also enhance your game strategy by having mentoring sessions with more experienced players over skype voice. If you would like to try this, please contact Vixter, Islandwonder or Pediatron.

26. Where can I learn more?

This document is designed to provide guidance on some of the most frequently asked questions, with particular emphasis on how we see things in KB. More detailed guidance is available on the Metagame page of the KB wiki or the Catan website.

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