Managing Miscellania

Managing Miscellania is a repeatable reward from quest Throne of Miscellania, in which the player is the regent of the nation Miscellania. The player is in charge of the subjects on the island by assigning them to collect resources. If the player maintains high popularity with the citizens and invests a considerable number of coins, the subjects will share a portion of their resources with the player. Because many of these resources are valuable, this quest reward is considered to be highly profitable. After the completion of the quest Royal Trouble, players gain more subjects from Etceteria and can increase their profits with the new labour at the expense of an increased maximum salary.

Managing the subjects
The idea is to manage the island in a way that is most profitable to the player. Players have control over three factors that influence productivity: what the subjects collect, the salary of the subjects, and the approval of the subjects. Controlling what the subjects collect and the salary of the subjects is done through Advisor Ghrim in Miscellania castle. Talking to him brings up an interface with all the options. Players can also speak to him via the Lunar Magicks spell NPC Contact without having to visit Miscellania, but they can only ask about their approval rating and distribute what the subjects collect. Using the contact spell does not allow players to change the salary of their subjects.

Factors of productivity
Players have control over three factors that influence productivity:
 * The approval of the subjects
 * The investment of coins in the coffers (the salaries of the subjects)
 * The resources that the subjects collect

The approval rating and coffers are drained every 24 hours. This depends on when you have finished Throne of Miscellania. For example, if you complete it at 19:55:40 (UTC), it is at that time where you will collect your resources, and other things such as falling approval rating. This time is not changeable anymore after completing the quest.

Approval rating
The approval rating, ranging from 0% (bad) to 100% (good), depicts the feelings of the subjects towards the player. A high approval rating increases the number of resources players obtain, so it is recommended that players return every day to keep their approval rating at 100% or else the subjects collect fewer resources for the same money. The approval rating falls by 2.5% per day (or 1% per day if Royal Trouble has been completed). The approval rating can be checked by speaking to one of the several NPC subjects on the island or by talking to Advisor Ghrim. The Game Bar is a great way to stay updated on the approval rating and coffers.

Players can increase their approval rating by helping the subjects around Miscellania in various tasks. These tasks have a level requirement and some also require the use of tools such as a hatchet. Fremennik sea boots 2 (or higher) increase the percentage of approval gained per task (see table below) which can speed up trips to Miscellania. The player does not need to be wearing the boots to get the rating boost, but does need to wear them for the agility shortcut. Once the approval rating reaches 100%, the subjects will prevent the player from performing the task again. These tasks do yield experience, but it is not recommended that players use them to train skills due to the negligible amounts.

Two actions on the island actually decrease the approval rating and those are killing the subjects and stealing from market stalls. Since attacking is the default left-click for many citizens, care must be taken to avoid attacking them. High-level players can kill them in one hit, compounding the problem of accidental clicks. Players may wish to make themselves unable to attack by wielding a bow without arrows or a "fun" weapon, as it deals no damage when attacking. Alternatively, players can use the minimap to click where to go.

The amount of resources collected is determined by your approval rating multiplied by the amount of money withdrawn out of the coffers as a salary that day. For example, if your approval rating is 95% and 75,000 coins is withdrawn that day, 71,250 coins (0.95 times 75,000) will be spent on gathering resources for that day, and 3750 coins will be wasted.

The table below outlines the actions that can be performed that influence approval rating. The approval rating will only increase if the subject recognises the player's work by saying "Thanks!". The player may have to perform between 0 and 5 actions without being recognised. The percentage values in the table marked with an (*) need to be checked for accuracy.

Note that while doing an action such as raking a weedy patch, each time you stop your percentage will be rounded, so each patch can give +3%, by clicking off and the back for each set of weeds.

Coffers
The coffers is an investment of coins that the player uses to pay the subjects for their work. The completion of the quest Throne of Miscellania allows for a maximum of 5,000,000 coins in the treasury. This amount increases to 7,500,000 coins after the completion of Royal Trouble.

The salaries are paid out to the subjects every 24 hours. The amount withdrawn from the coffers is always equivalent to 10% of the balance. However 50,000 coins (75,000 coins after Royal Trouble) is the maximum amount that can be withdrawn out of the coffers as a salary. Players are advised to make sure that the maximum amount is withdrawn every day in order to receive the most resources from the subjects. This means that players need at least 500,000 coins (750,000 coins after Royal Trouble) in the coffers to get the maximum deduction. To go six withdrawals (seven days) without adding to the coffers, players would need 800,000 coins (1,200,000 coins after Royal Trouble) in the coffers to get the maximum amount of resources (since to get maximum resources it also requires the maximum salary to be withdrawn from the coffers daily). If the player deposits the maximum of 5,000,000 or 7,500,000 coins, 90 maximum withdrawals (91 days) will be made without having to add to the coffers. If players reached the maximum amount of resources stored, subsequent days will not deduct any coins from the coffers nor will the approval rating go down.

Flatpacks
After completing all of the Fremennik Province hard tasks, Advisor Ghrim accepts flatpack items as payment into the coffers. Only un-noted flatpacks are currently accepted. Players may purchase flatpacks from the Grand Exchange for incredibly small sums and convert them to make a large profit. Alternatively, those training Construction can use this to regain some of the lost coins. See flatpack for information on prices. This is not very popular because it takes a huge amount of time to run un-noted flatpacks from the bank. Thanks to the Ring of Wealth update on 15 March 2011, it is now much easier to invest your flatpacked furniture in the coffers as one of the teleport destinations is the throne room of Miscellania. Teleporting to the throne room requires a ring of wealth with at least one charge.

Subject distribution
There are 10 subjects (15 after Royal Trouble) available to gather resources. The subjects can be split any way among the six resource categories, but a maximum of 10 subjects can be assigned to each resource. Suggestions on how to distribute the subjects can be found within the descriptions of each resource below.

Note: The game only records the histories of the coffers and the approval rating. This means that just before claiming the rewards, players can switch the subject distribution, which then applies to the entire period.

Resources
There are many different resources that a player can assign their subjects to. However, some resources have larger profitability than others. The Miscellania Management calculator provides up-to-date information on the profitability of resources, but more often than not, assigning ten subjects on woodcutting maples is the most profitable as bird nests are worth a lot, as well as the contents inside bird nests. The rest of the subjects (if Royal Trouble has been completed) can be assigned to whatever resources the player desires. Each resource also rewards the player with bonus items such as gems from mining, birds nests from woodcutting, or caskets from fishing.

For exact calculations and the current most profitable area to assign subjects to, see here.

Harvesting
Herb farming is often profitable. Players may gain herbs from Tarromin to Dwarf Weed.

Flax farming uses the same slot of subjects as herb farming and usually gives a smaller return. The bonus items for this resource option include the regular herb seeds between guam and fellstalk, not including wergali or spirit weed.

Fishing
Raw fish is a rarely chosen option. The value of raw fish barely covers all the costs of running the kingdom. Players may choose this option to train Cooking without the need to spend time Fishing.

Cooked fish is an option that really only makes sense if players need food for training combat, although the price of cooked fish fluctuates and can exceed the price of raw fish. It is usually more sensible to choose anything else and sell it for money to buy cooked fish.

Players receive caskets, gems (sapphire through diamond), and level 1 clue scrolls as bonus items when choosing this resource.

Mining
Coal mining also covers the cost of the kingdom. Players may choose this option as a good alternative to purchasing coal to train Smithing, since the cost to collect coal is cheaper than buying it from the Grand Exchange.

Players receive gems (sapphire through diamond) as bonus items when choosing this resource.

Woodcutting
Maple woodcutting is an option if players need to obtain logs for training Firemaking or Fletching bows without spending the time Woodcutting. This can be profitable taking into account bird's nests as a bonus item.

Bird's nests are very commonly given as bonuses in quantities of 1 nest per 100 logs cut (if you have 100% working on Maple trees, you will get 892 logs in one day -> 8 nests.) The profits from seeds can be very large, but are highly variable depending on what seeds are received from the bird's nests. Bird's nests themselves can be crushed to obtain Crushed nests which players require for Saradomin brews, and so a steady profit is obtained from these even when the seeds are not valuable. To maximize profit, some players fletch the maple logs into unstrung maple longbows due to the fact that they currently sell on the Grand Exchange for profit.

If multiple magic, yew, or palm tree seeds are obtained, maple woodcutting can become the most profitable option for players.

Hardwood Woodcutting
Both Teak woodcutting and Mahogany woodcutting often provide little profit, although mahogany is better than teak. Even if players need planks for Construction, which still requires the cost of the sawmill or the use of Plank Make, they should choose a different option and use the money from that option to purchase logs or planks from the Grand Exchange. Players also receive bird's nests from these options just like from maple woodcutting, but at a severely lower rate (about 1/3) plus fewer logs per day. Collecting mahogany from your subjects is a hard task in the Fremennik Province Tasks. Unless you have a decent number of special logs from cutting Teak and Mahogany trees, this is usually not recommended.

Farming
Farming seeds is not a recommended option because of the very low prices of the seeds that are commonly received, although it is possible (but very rare) to get seeds like ranarr and torstol. Players who need specific types of seeds are better off choosing a profitable option and using the money to buy seeds. This option should only be chosen if the player needs a diverse collection of low level seeds. The bonus items for this resource include all tree and fruit tree seeds.

Rewards
Players can collect the rewards by talking to Advisor Ghrim. Because the items go directly to the bank and not the inventory, players need to have enough room in their bank in order to collect their rewards. Collecting can be done at any time, but a player will gain more resources by collecting less often. For example, a player with 10 subjects on maple woodcutting with 100% approval rating will get 595 maple logs and 5 bird's nests with completion of Throne of Miscellania only and 892 maple logs and 8 bird's nests with completion of Throne of Miscellania AND Royal Trouble. This is because one bird nest is received for every 100 logs round down. If the player collects once a week, they will receive 6244 maple logs and 62 bird's nests instead of just 56 nests if collected every day.

Note: Collection rewards are calculated when the player requests to collect, with whatever collection settings are currently active. This means it is possible to have subjects set to collect coal for days, even weeks at a time, but if for example, the settings are changed to herbs before the player requests their rewards from Ghrim, they will collect herbs instead at the time of collection. However, as described earlier, approval rating is accounted for daily, thus meaning the average approval rating over the period is what count for the amount of rewards, not the on-collection approval rating.

The table below indicates the maximum daily reward for each resource. It assumes 10 workers on the tasks with an approval rating at 100% and with sufficient funds in the coffers to support the workers at 100%, which is 50,000 coins per day with one quest or 75,000 coins per day with both quests. Ten workers produce essentially the same amount at full capacity independent of the number of quests completed.

There also seems to be a maximum limit to time you can go without collecting your rewards. This requires not collecting for many months with claims that this limit states that it took 8-12+ months to reach this point. This is accompanied by the statement "The storerooms are full, your Highness. You should talk to Advisor Ghrim to collect what we've gathered for you" although it does not appear if you have an approval rating of 100%.
 * For a calculator to determine profits from kingdom management, see Calculator:Other/Miscellania with live data from the Grand Exchange Market Watch.

1 The number of nests you get is equal to 1/100th of the number of maple logs you have accumulated since you last checked your kingdom, rounded down. For example, if you collected your kingdom after one day, you would get 8 nests, whereas if you collected it after two days (assuming you maintain your 100% rating), you would get 17 nests, because you would have accumulated 1784 logs.

If you select this option just for the birds nests, it's most efficient to put 9 workers on this job, generating 803 logs and 8 birds nests at 100%, allowing you to use the extra worker on another post for more profit. This only works if the 100% approval rating is maintained (and collected daily), otherwise the produced logs per day drops below 800, which would result in a birds nest less every day.

Trivia

 * If there is money in the coffers and the player's membership ends, the workers in Miscellania (and Etceteria, if Royal Trouble is completed) still continue gathering resources and deducting money from the coffers accordingly.
 * It is possible to obtain a big swordfish while fishing for fisherman Frodi and yields the message "Sorry Frodi, but I'm keeping this one" when caught.
 * On 4 August 2010, the day of the Treasure Trails update, there was a glitch which allowed people to get 100 times the resources collected. Players who exploited this glitch did not have any action taken against them, because they did not have a choice to abuse the glitch or not (when you see the collected resources you gain them, there is no way back). Jagex eventually disabled the option to talk to Advisor Ghrim. This has since been fixed.