Equites Enraged - Expect Economic Excess!!

[Khopesh Sidearm]

Has anyone else run into this? My equites RAPIDLY expect increases in their salaries, and no matter how high I raise them, it's never enough! I actually hit the game maximum - 48 denarii!! The little coins icon in the equites' Object Information Display keeps turning red, and I raise the rates, and they're happy for a bit, then it goes red again. Could it be that this icon represents the whole of their economic sattisfaction? My cities frequently run into debt, but I usually pull out of trouble immediately - not long enough to have them go unpaid for long. Or could they be dissatisfied with the availability of things like luxury goods? I thought the luxury goods icon in their household supplies section would go red if that were the case. Any suggestions? They're breaking my bank!

[Spearthrower]

I think you are mistaken here.

Equites NEVER expect a rise in wages!

Sometimes Caesar may change wages empire-wide but you will then be informed.

What is actually happening is that you are seeing that your Equites are unhappy with their wages. This doesnt mean they expect a pay rise, it means that you dont have the funds available to pay them. Get your trade profits up, develop your income and limit your equites to the number of them you actually need and you will find that they only require the standard amount of wages ever!

It is precisely due to your debt and low treasury that they are complaining and leaving.

[Khopesh Sidearm]

Spearthrower-

Fine fine advice, and right on the money. I decided to implement my carefully thought-out "don't go into debt" plan, and remarkably people everywhere became more satisfied. Now...anybody know where I can find more luxury goods in Tarraco (other than just furniture)??

[dorn]

I had the same problem the euquites and the plebs too say that ''we are unhappy with the extremly low wages'', though i pay them the standart wages.
And after one month with this red icon they all leave their houses although they have very much food, good education/entertainment/health....so everything is good, but they keep wanting more, so i pay them more and the icon is turning into normal colour and it says ''we are pleased with the normal payings''.
But after a few month, even when prosperity is not very high they might think that my city is doing well and keep wanting more again, and say that they are very unhappy with the wages: note that the icon with the head, that gives us the overall rating of them about our city is normal or green, but the only thing they dislike is the wages i pay them???!!!
Note also that my city is not in depth!!

So what is going on here????

[Spearthrower]

As I mentioned somewhere else, I dont believe it is necessarily debt that causes Equites to be worried about their pay.

I actually think you need to be making profit to the sum of their estimated pay for them to be comfortable - either that or have enough funds in the coffers to pay for the next round of their wages. If your total funds are lower than their estimated wages for that year then they will get upset - if you are receiving a healthy amount through trade, they seem to take that into account as liquid assets and feel comfortable that you will pay them

Basically, as above.... if your Equites have all they need in terms of entertainment, education, health and religion.... if they are getting a regular and varied supply of food and basic goods (luxury too depending on their housing level) then any unhappiness must be to do with finances.

My main advice would be to ensure that you get a healthy trade going before you really develop a large equite base. At first you only need enough to provide water (pumphouse, reservoir, fountain), Jupiter shrine, Odeum, a clinic and possibly a bathhouse (I like to get that one down immediately) and leave it there until you start to make a decent income from trade. I normally place 5 or 6 domus at the start and unless I make some major cock-ups, I never have them angry enough to leave.

[MarkDuffy]

Equites expect to have a job also, or they get upset. It doesn't matter how much you raise Equite salaries. No job = no money for them. It is not just debt, but ability to pay. Keep 1000 Dn at all times. You may "think" you have 500 Dn, but that is only cuz most of your people are not being paid.

[yoshi]

Originally Posted by dorn

I had the same problem the euquites and the plebs too say that ''we are unhappy with the extremly low wages'', though i pay them the standart wages.
And after one month with this red icon they all leave their houses although they have very much food, good education/entertainment/health....so everything is good, but they keep wanting more, so i pay them more and the icon is turning into normal colour and it says ''we are pleased with the normal payings''.
But after a few month, even when prosperity is not very high they might think that my city is doing well and keep wanting more again, and say that they are very unhappy with the wages: note that the icon with the head, that gives us the overall rating of them about our city is normal or green, but the only thing they dislike is the wages i pay them???!!!
Note also that my city is not in depth!!

So what is going on here????

I had this problem 2, but i figured it out, if you have maybe 200 denari in your vault, they know this and go, "WTF! HE spent our wages!" and wait it out for a month or 2 ,but if you dont get avbove, and stay above 1k denari, *about* equites can get pissy if you get under that for to long.

oops, some one beat me to it

Note, this is a theory, not fact.

oops some one beat me to it

[dorn]

Originally Posted by MarkDuffy

Equites expect to have a job also, or they get upset. It doesn't matter how much you raise Equite salaries. No job = no money for them. It is not just debt, but ability to pay. Keep 1000 Dn at all times. You may "think" you have 500 Dn, but that is only cuz most of your people are not being paid.

For my problem: Marky i have all my equites in work, maybe 20 or 30 not, but not only the house with these people show the red icon, also all the pleb and equite houses!
I have enough money, many thousands, cos i mainly appears when my city is getting many trade route money and patrician taxes and and and...
I have everything comfortable for them: all foods, work, very much money, all other facts ('edutainment', health, religion...).

My city is fine, but the are unhappy with their payings!
Please help me along again, maybe Reed or someon eelse can also give us a tipp here!

[Spearthrower]

From my experience, the only way they can be unhappy with their pay as you say Dorn is if you manually changed the wage setting yourself or if Caesar did an empire-wide wage hike and you didnt notice - You can look in your labour minister at the Standard Wage to see what's expected.

To my knowledge.... Equites can be unhappy (not enough to leave but still unsatisied) about water, services (religion/edutainment/health), food quantity and variety, basic goods quantity & variety, luxury goods quantity & variety, wages and unemployment. If you say that you have all these covered and the only obvious red mark in their house is the wages, then check the happiness overlay and check your labour minister......

Post us up a save game so we can delve - I'd like to see as I have never experienced this yet.

[Fizpez]

I had the same problem - it seemed like it was income and treasury vs. their current pay outlay.

I noticed that I could just about cause it to happen if I was close to break even on treasury (a few hundred denari at most) and I built a new equii home. THe added people would almost always cause my other houses to get mad.