Made my account, havent logged into the game yet and wanted to rename myself to Google.

Yep, Google. I was reading the info on referrals and thought to myself "hmmm 10% karma tax bonus for each added referral sounds tasty" And then it hit me as funny that it was Google that referred me to this game.

If there was a player named Google in game he could make a easy fortune.

But the referral process has a special hidden link that only registered players can send invites from. And there is no "Referred to this game by(_______)" on the game's registration page. Well drat.. My silly dreams of easy fortune vanished.

But still.. A little tweak to registration, some body reads this and names them selves Google.. Wheee! The dream lives!

Referral system works through a special link with your unique id, not a nickname.
So whatever you call the account it won't get google's traffic through it.

Earlier today I saw that one of the players listed as being in the forum was 'Google [bot]' ...

Was this actually Google indexing the posts for searching? I ask because it had in brackets after the name [bot].

At the moment the users read like this:

"Registered users: psbot [Picsearch], Ripper, Yahoo [Bot]
Legend :: Administrators, Global moderators"

Yes these are bots from search engines, they have special IPs and they are registered by default

Ahhh There's the "fine Print" which prevents my dream from succeding

I didnt even know there was a referral system till I stumbled apon its link near the bottom of the management screen. Sneaky. And hardly any mention of it at all in the public forum.

So every players referral link accessed from the account management page has its own unique ID. "http://Terrabellica.com/9999" ( 9999 is an example= I didnt post my actual referral number ) So the 9999 would be the unique identifier directing new players to my account correct?

Yep

Edsgarth... I hope that you use the referral system to your advantage... think of all that extra Karma that you will earn!!!

I feel guilty bout signing up with no one benefiting from the referral bonuses.
Especially with the very slow karma gains in game.

I wonder if it would be possible to donate the karma referral bonuses ( but not the cash ) after joining the game. Like the option "Restart on another continet" available for 3 weeks after joining.

As a way for new players to reward helpful established players for their advice. Just as a passing thought, it would add another dynamic to long term established players diplomacy

I prefer to think better of people, but probably there would be a lot of dishonest players trying to simply buy refs from new players for some piteous 100 gold, which is nothing for a developed player. I don't see how that would benefit the game.

Yes it could be abused by established players. And it could become another cause for war. Being labeled a scoundrel and there fore a "Worthy Target".

But I also think its effects could be like a feudal societies low end Fealty taxation. Guilds come and go. But a Liege Lord can exert political influance as well as added military might. And the referral karma bonus is small enough that some one would have to really work at being a Liege Lord to gain awesome corporeal powers!

On the other hand A horrible Liege lord would have a huge amount of angry neighbors.

It could actively encourage retaining players and outright hostilities. Turning new players into a long term valuable resource, and creating another layer of profitable alliances out side of the guild structure.

Not really asking for such changes. Just wandering around and wondering out loud