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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ixal" data-source="post: 8816998" data-attributes="member: 7030132">Places with high tariffs do not become trade hubs though.And the Radiant Citadel not only needs trade to make money, trade is literally its life blood as it hardly has any natural ressources to exploit except for the magical properties of the crystal.One question is when the entry fee is required. When stepping out of the portal or when trying to cross the bridge of the passage. If its the latter then traders could simply switch portals to go somewhere else, cutting out the Citadel completely.And if its the former then making this vital fee a guessing game is a very bad idea.And even when traders have to pay the entry fee to use other portals the question still remains why they would sell anything in the Citadel instead of using another portal to a completely different realm where they can sell their "exotic" goods for a higher price or lower taxes?That would work for anything except basic goods you could get everywhere like grain or (common) wood. But even then, how could a trader make any money of them when the taxes are so high and they have to pay a guessing game entry fee? That would only make sense when the prices are so high that they still make a profit. Which directly clashes with the citadel providing those goods for basically free to their citizens through basic income. So you have a loop where the citadel must raise taxes on trade (main source of income) which leads to traders raising prices, requiring more money for basic income which requires for higher taxes.WotC simply made the Citadel too much into an utopian paradise so that its obvious that it would not work as presented. Remember the line from Matrix. The first instance of the Matrix was a paradise but people did not accept it.The same thing happens here. Its too perfect compared to other mega hubs like Sigil, Waterdeep or Sharn.Frankly, it would have been more believable if they just said that the connected empires are bankrolling the city instead of trying to make it a compassionate trade hub with no industry, high tarrifs and universal basic income.</blockquote>

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