About Rank at Arisen Dark
(And...look, we have rewards too! Keep reading!)
For reference, when we the BOD talk about ranking characters we are referring to the characters listed right below. Please note: This is more inclusive than the in-game concept of ‘ranker’ (which includes gold and bronzeriders...and *maybe* a few brownriders, the highest of MasterCrafters and Lord Holders):
Rank: Hear All Dragons (HAD's), Weyrwoman, Weyrleader, Junior Weyrwomen, Headwoman, Weyrsecond, Wingleaders, Weyrlingmaster, Candidatemaster, Master of any craft, Hear all Firelizards/Whers (HAF/HAW's), Wingseconds, Female Blueriders (including Weyrlings), Gold Weyrlings
Minor Rank: Assistant Headwomen/Stewards, Assistant Weyrlingmaster, Assistant Candidatemaster, Bronzeriders, Journeyman Healers/Harpers, Bronze Weyrlings, Female Greenriders (including weyrlings), Any pets (whers, flits, felines, canines, etc.) and their owners.
1.) Rankers are exactly that- rankers. Were they real people, they'd have worked long and hard to get there, and even harder to keep their rank.
Please play them!
We aren't going to strip them out of your hands if you slack off for a while, but please also show consideration to the rest of the club and keep them active. Remember, a lot of other people may need access to a persona of that rank and so not having the ability to speak or interact with a ranker their character needs to speak to will eventually have an effect on their character and on the club.
Anyone gaining a ranking position will be asked that if, in the event of either an announced LOA or an unannounced period of inactivity lasting 3 months (or if a lack of posting is causing interference with a MAJOR plot), they allow the BoD to make posts as the inactive ranker in order to move the plots along. If at all possible, this will be done with your approval. If you do not respond to emails (which will state the time period for a response), permission will be assumed by default, however. It is therefore vitally important that you keep your contact details current for this purpose.
2.) It's our aim to be sure in-game rank is fairly divided at all times. We also prefer it out of the hands of our BOD, except in certain circumstances (like when the game opens or when there are no reliable players to fill the necessary spots and we are avoiding inactive/unplayed major ranks- after all what kind of game would it be without an active Weyrwoman?) We feel that holding all the major rank players not only does not benefit gameplay but gives you the wrong idea about our aims in the game- we don’t lurk in your closet at night stealing all your socks either. We promise ;) Arisen Dark is here to be enjoyed by everyone, and everyone has a fair and equal shot at rank characters. However, this works both ways- if a ranking spot is given to a BoD player it *isn’t* a slight on the other players but a sign that the BoD has fairly earned that rank, just like everyone else.
3.) Rewards System: We are in the process of creating a rewards system for active players too. Stay tuned and see below.
4.) Circumstances where the BoD will reclaim a rank: If someone holds a key role, it is necessary for that persona to be accessible for game play. If you have worked hard to earn a rank, we do ask that you work just as hard to keep that rank active! All the same, we know life happens. Your hard earned ranker won’t be snatched from you immediately, or even very soon at all. However, if your absence begins to affect gameplay by tying up a character role, the BOD do reserve the right to require you to amend that circumstance or help us make a plan to move the game forward.
5.) LOA’s (Leave of Absence) or LIA (Limited Internet Access): If you know that you are going to be offline for a large period of time in advance of the LOA or LIA, it is asked that you send a post to the OOC list informing the other writers as a courtesy. In the event of a plot happening that *might* have an effect on your character, or those your character interact with, other writers may need to know how to react in regards to your character. In which case, we ask that you either suggest in-character circumstances for their absence or ask someone to ‘borrow’ them (the BoD might be able to play them if you don’t have a prefered writer). Regardless of rank it is the courteous thing to do to announce if you are going on a LOA, just to keep us all from worrying - we care about our writers. You don’t want us to come find you, do you?
6.) Gaining rank at Arisen Dark: We expect you to play a nonranking or one minor ranking character for 3 months before applying for a higher Rank character. We have found it is easier to get to grips with the game without the ‘pressure’ of a highly noticeable character to bother you in those first few months, and it lets you and us get a sense of if the game is working for you.
Anyone currently active at either Dark Fort or Arolos is exempt from this rule. An active writer with active characters = good to go. Previously active writers at those sites need to talk with us and we will decide on a case-by-case basis. New writers, after three months playing here with nonranked characters or one Minor Rank character, can submit a higher Rank character for consideration. (See the list at the top of the page for what constitutes a Rank and Minor Rank character).
Rank: Hear All Dragons (HAD's), Weyrwoman, Weyrleader, Junior Weyrwomen, Headwoman, Weyrsecond, Wingleaders, Weyrlingmaster, Candidatemaster, Master of any craft, Hear all Firelizards/Whers (HAF/HAW's), Wingseconds, Female Blueriders (including Weyrlings), Gold Weyrlings
Minor Rank: Assistant Headwomen/Stewards, Assistant Weyrlingmaster, Assistant Candidatemaster, Bronzeriders, Journeyman Healers/Harpers, Bronze Weyrlings, Female Greenriders (including weyrlings), Any pets (whers, flits, felines, canines, etc.) and their owners.
1.) Rankers are exactly that- rankers. Were they real people, they'd have worked long and hard to get there, and even harder to keep their rank.
Please play them!
We aren't going to strip them out of your hands if you slack off for a while, but please also show consideration to the rest of the club and keep them active. Remember, a lot of other people may need access to a persona of that rank and so not having the ability to speak or interact with a ranker their character needs to speak to will eventually have an effect on their character and on the club.
Anyone gaining a ranking position will be asked that if, in the event of either an announced LOA or an unannounced period of inactivity lasting 3 months (or if a lack of posting is causing interference with a MAJOR plot), they allow the BoD to make posts as the inactive ranker in order to move the plots along. If at all possible, this will be done with your approval. If you do not respond to emails (which will state the time period for a response), permission will be assumed by default, however. It is therefore vitally important that you keep your contact details current for this purpose.
2.) It's our aim to be sure in-game rank is fairly divided at all times. We also prefer it out of the hands of our BOD, except in certain circumstances (like when the game opens or when there are no reliable players to fill the necessary spots and we are avoiding inactive/unplayed major ranks- after all what kind of game would it be without an active Weyrwoman?) We feel that holding all the major rank players not only does not benefit gameplay but gives you the wrong idea about our aims in the game- we don’t lurk in your closet at night stealing all your socks either. We promise ;) Arisen Dark is here to be enjoyed by everyone, and everyone has a fair and equal shot at rank characters. However, this works both ways- if a ranking spot is given to a BoD player it *isn’t* a slight on the other players but a sign that the BoD has fairly earned that rank, just like everyone else.
3.) Rewards System: We are in the process of creating a rewards system for active players too. Stay tuned and see below.
4.) Circumstances where the BoD will reclaim a rank: If someone holds a key role, it is necessary for that persona to be accessible for game play. If you have worked hard to earn a rank, we do ask that you work just as hard to keep that rank active! All the same, we know life happens. Your hard earned ranker won’t be snatched from you immediately, or even very soon at all. However, if your absence begins to affect gameplay by tying up a character role, the BOD do reserve the right to require you to amend that circumstance or help us make a plan to move the game forward.
5.) LOA’s (Leave of Absence) or LIA (Limited Internet Access): If you know that you are going to be offline for a large period of time in advance of the LOA or LIA, it is asked that you send a post to the OOC list informing the other writers as a courtesy. In the event of a plot happening that *might* have an effect on your character, or those your character interact with, other writers may need to know how to react in regards to your character. In which case, we ask that you either suggest in-character circumstances for their absence or ask someone to ‘borrow’ them (the BoD might be able to play them if you don’t have a prefered writer). Regardless of rank it is the courteous thing to do to announce if you are going on a LOA, just to keep us all from worrying - we care about our writers. You don’t want us to come find you, do you?
6.) Gaining rank at Arisen Dark: We expect you to play a nonranking or one minor ranking character for 3 months before applying for a higher Rank character. We have found it is easier to get to grips with the game without the ‘pressure’ of a highly noticeable character to bother you in those first few months, and it lets you and us get a sense of if the game is working for you.
Anyone currently active at either Dark Fort or Arolos is exempt from this rule. An active writer with active characters = good to go. Previously active writers at those sites need to talk with us and we will decide on a case-by-case basis. New writers, after three months playing here with nonranked characters or one Minor Rank character, can submit a higher Rank character for consideration. (See the list at the top of the page for what constitutes a Rank and Minor Rank character).
Character Limitations: (for more info about
limitations please go here.)
1.) Goldriders, Hear-all-Dragons, Weyrleaders, and Master Crafters are high ranks of great responsibility and privilege. They are also very rare. Because of this, there is a limit of ONE out of that category per player. Goldriders are eligible only for Weyrwoman and Junior Weyrwoman rider rank, though they may hold minor Craft or HAF/HAW rank.
2.) Only 5 bronzeriders will be allowed per writer maximum. There's no fighting this. So if you have a hopeful candidate that wants a bronze, but you already have 5, someone has to die or at least their dragon does.
3.) Female dragonriders, no matter what colour, count as a rank. And since they are so few at Fort, we only allow 3 female riders with a fighting dragon per writer. We also only allow 3 female candidates per writer.
4.) All firelizards and whers are minor rank.
5.) Blue and greenriders are ineligible for any and all rank other than Searchrider, and a writer is only allowed 1 searchrider. This includes green and blueriders being ineligible for Weyrlingmaster and Candidatemaster staff. At most, green/blueriders will be called upon to give lectures specific to their dragon colors or to inspect other blue and greenriders before Threadfall.
While all Searchriders, male or female, are required to have a non-searchrider rider accompanying them, the only requirement for male searchriders is that the other rider also be male. Female searchriders have much more strict rules, as any and all female searchriders are required to be escorted by a male rider of either brown or bronze rank when they go out on Search. The female rider’s dragon may do the searching, but then they are to inform the higher ranked rider of who their searchdragon picked so that the higher ranked rider can approach the searched person, their parents, or any craft-masters necessary. The female rider is expected not to make contact with anyone but the escort rider while on Search (i.e. seen and not heard), and the female rider’s searchdragon is also expected to make as little contact as possible with people- since although it is known that *some* contact needs to be made for Searching it should be kept very limited.
2.) Only 5 bronzeriders will be allowed per writer maximum. There's no fighting this. So if you have a hopeful candidate that wants a bronze, but you already have 5, someone has to die or at least their dragon does.
3.) Female dragonriders, no matter what colour, count as a rank. And since they are so few at Fort, we only allow 3 female riders with a fighting dragon per writer. We also only allow 3 female candidates per writer.
4.) All firelizards and whers are minor rank.
5.) Blue and greenriders are ineligible for any and all rank other than Searchrider, and a writer is only allowed 1 searchrider. This includes green and blueriders being ineligible for Weyrlingmaster and Candidatemaster staff. At most, green/blueriders will be called upon to give lectures specific to their dragon colors or to inspect other blue and greenriders before Threadfall.
While all Searchriders, male or female, are required to have a non-searchrider rider accompanying them, the only requirement for male searchriders is that the other rider also be male. Female searchriders have much more strict rules, as any and all female searchriders are required to be escorted by a male rider of either brown or bronze rank when they go out on Search. The female rider’s dragon may do the searching, but then they are to inform the higher ranked rider of who their searchdragon picked so that the higher ranked rider can approach the searched person, their parents, or any craft-masters necessary. The female rider is expected not to make contact with anyone but the escort rider while on Search (i.e. seen and not heard), and the female rider’s searchdragon is also expected to make as little contact as possible with people- since although it is known that *some* contact needs to be made for Searching it should be kept very limited.
Rewards:
We the BoD are still working out a point based reward system for our writers, be they with ranking characters or not. Be assured, no matter how long it takes us to fine tune the rewards system, all your posts and threads written before we unveil the system will count toward it. :) Just give us a little time and we will get it out.
A Note about rank, limits of characters, and rewards: If you have earned enough points and decide to use it on a character type that would put you over the assigned limit for that character type, for example if you already have 3 female riders but you earned enough points to acquire a 4th, that is outside the writer limit as it is called a *reward*. The only character types that do not fall under the category of being able to go over rank limits with your reward points are Goldriders, ( 1 per writer), HAD ( 1 allowed in the game), and WW/WL/HW/MasterCrafter (as there is only one rank spot available for these positions. HOWEVER, if we see a growing trend, like a writer having 5 gold flits, the BoD has the right to ask you to use your reward points on something different.
A Note about rank, limits of characters, and rewards: If you have earned enough points and decide to use it on a character type that would put you over the assigned limit for that character type, for example if you already have 3 female riders but you earned enough points to acquire a 4th, that is outside the writer limit as it is called a *reward*. The only character types that do not fall under the category of being able to go over rank limits with your reward points are Goldriders, ( 1 per writer), HAD ( 1 allowed in the game), and WW/WL/HW/MasterCrafter (as there is only one rank spot available for these positions. HOWEVER, if we see a growing trend, like a writer having 5 gold flits, the BoD has the right to ask you to use your reward points on something different.