Virtual Goods

Virtual goods are being produced but cannot be stored. These are

• Crosses
• Construction
• Bells
  These Resources could be added:
• Health Care
• Comfort
• Prestige
• Culture

Crosses

Are produced in the chapel, church and cathedral.
They are being used by colonists as resource and will provide direct immigration through religious freedom Immigration type and indirect immigration by being a bonus resource or immigration quality by being a luxury resource, see Colonist States.

Construction

Is used to construct buildings. There will be a construction queue, and the colony planning office (see Automation Buildings) will make it possible to define a default construction queue.

Bells

Currently bells are used to produce integrated with a logic, that is similar to the original game but renamed. Instead it would be interesting to change that: Bells will become something like Political Development Points, and will be used to change laws for the colony. Furthermore, colonists would take action and use their Power to progress their own laws. This can be countered by people working in the Political Buildings, and would have a similar effect like the current implementation: You can grow your colony, but if you don't take care about the internal organisation in a political way, things go sideways.
Additionally, we can invent political buildings that work somewhat centralised by passing law templates for all colonies that can be implemented locally relatively cheap.
This system would be starting to be useful (or hindering if neglected) in the mid game, would become important in the late game, especially with many things automised, and then expand into the international political scene, preparing the outbreak of the independence war.
A few ideas for what these laws could be:
Good laws:

• Give production bonus for a good, especially in town manufacturing, construction
• Attract immigrants from the old world
• Decrease luxury needs for certain colonists
• Attract natives
• Attract international trade ships
• Neighbourhood watch gives better control over enslaved and indebted colonists.
• Organise expedition
• Fund schools, libraries: Raises literacy
• Reach out to European power for war support (especially independence war)
• Increase relations with natives
• Centralise: All laws passed in this colony will be much cheaper in other colonies to adapt
  Bad Laws:
• Increase luxury needs for certain colonists
• Increase storage for colonists (they will store more goods, making them unavailable for the player)
• Tolerate piracy: Will make a random person a pirate, who does not work anymore.
• Pacify: Colonists refuse to be made into soldiers
• Create independence movement (from player). Goods are boycotted one after another, so the player cannot interact with it, eventually rendering the colony absolutely useless. Once a good percentage of the storage is boycotted, the colony will declare independence and remove itself from the colonial empire. An option to declare war will be present.
  Ambivalent Laws:
• Allow raids to nearby native towns: will trigger raids, which cause tension and bring loot
• Tax natives, creates tension, yields goods and slaves
• Allow/Disallow slavery
• Allow/Disallow slave trade
• Land reform centralise: increases inequality
• Land reform localise: decreases inequality
• Found representative councils that handle daily affairs: Gives production bonus and power to colonists. Could have multiple levels: found council, allow local taxation, ...

This mechanic could have an interaction with the king, who orders you to pass a law, which forces you to either invest into that law or fear consequences from the king.

Each law has a state disabled, enacted or debated. If the player wants to enact a law, he chooses a law to enact (similar to the construction) and the statesmen will bring it into debate and will make progress until enacted. Some laws maybe unpopular and will be blocked by colonists, which adds a negative progress. When the progress has reached 0 and no statesman is working on it, it will be removed. Colonists may also start the process of debating a law. The player will get informed and can choose to block this law, effectively using the statesmen in the colony to add negative progress to this law. This process can of course be automated / centralised, so that the player does not have to block millions of laws for all his colonies.

Health care

Is needed when a colonist gets sick: When a colonist gets sick, he starts to require health care. If provided, it will enhance his chances for survival.

Comfort

Is provided by better housing. It can be a bonus resource and will give a small health benefit.

Prestige

Is a luxury resource and provided by expensive housing.

Culture

Another luxury resource, can be produced in Theater and Opera House.