Grading Guide
The Grading Guide is the standard issue guide for all Spirits to award players for their work on Siliren via skill points, reputation, items, or story rewards. Any time a grade is being issued to a player, this step-by-step guide should be the primary method of determining the rewards. Exceptions can and will be made in the instance that require them, but for Spirits or for players looking up how to receive more points for their work, this guide is the gold standard to work by.
What is a Grade?
A Grade is what the Spirits use to award players for their participation and work on Siliren. Grades can vary in their reward types and how many rewards are given, but typically every grade will award skill points for the skills used IC as well as any items bought or reputation earned IC. Grades are awarded via a Spirit posting the rewards on a completed thread after it’s been submitted for grading via the Grade Request Thread.
When a thread has been graded, any changes to the thread after the grade has been awarded will not count towards the character’s progress or rewards and will not be considered canon. Once a grade has been issued, the actions, rewards, and consequences of the characters cannot be changed, so be sure that you’re happy with your threads and no changes need to be made before submitting them for grading.
If a Spirit has graded a thread but you do not agree with the rewards or consequences you have received, do not edit the thread to try and alter the outcome. Instead, please contact the Spirit who provided the grade and express your concerns. Spirits are always willing to explain their reasoning and even alter the rewards or consequences if they overlooked something.
How Do I Submit a Thread for Grading?
Learned Skills
Submitting a thread (or multiple threads) for grading to earn XP in Learned skills can be done either by submitting the thread/s to the Milestone Grading Request thread or the Seasonal Story Rewards Request thread. These threads are the dedicated grading queues where Spirits will address each request on a first come first serve basis. Depending on the amount of requests already in the queue as well as how busy our Spirits are, it may take some time to receive your grade
Please be patient with this process because Spirits want to give you the best grade possible and rushing through the grading queue may result in some mistakes. Our Spirits are currently volunteers who work on their own time so rushing Spirits to grade likely will only cause problems for the Spirits and players alike. If you are unhappy with the amount of time it is taking to receive a grade for any reason, please contact the World Spirit, Bigealien who can address the issue on your behalf.
When submitting a thread or threads for grading, please be sure to submit the thread in the correct grading queue as both Milestones and Seasonal Story Rewards have their own grading queue.
There are two separate ways to receive rewards for your threads: Milestones and Seasonal Story Rewards.
Basic Skills
Basic skills do not have XP like Learned skills and thus do not get graded traditionally. Basic skills have their own grading request thread which specifies their requirements and how to apply for the next tier. Take a look at the Basic Skills page for more information on these skills and look at the Request Center for their request thread.
Milestones
Every character has a story. In these stories, characters are bound to run the course of various plotlines and develop as an individual. Writing stories like these are worth more than just their word count, so Milestone grading aims to reward players for writing their characters working through problems and being active in their own story progression, whether that be chasing a cat around town or becoming one of the greatest sword fighters of all time. These plots and character developments are considered Milestones.
Every season, players pick and choose to write about particular moments in a character’s story via creating threads each season. Milestone grades are a reflection of your character’s improvement over the course of these chosen moments, whether that be a single thread or whether it’s multiple threads spanning the course of two seasons. When a thread is complete, you have the opportunity to submit it (alone or with other threads) as a Milestone for Milestone grading.
How it Works
For a Milestone to be graded, each thread submitted to the Milestone must challenge the PC in some manner, either physically, mentally, spiritually, or emotionally. This is because a vast majority of plotlines or character developments challenge a character in one way or another. Of course, there are exceptions that will be handled on a case by case basis, but for the purposes of the standard grading guide, each thread submitted in the Milestone request must challenge a PC.
These challenges do not have to be big or long term. A challenge can be as simple as practising your punches on a punching bag or having a philosophical discussion with a colleague, so don’t think that you have to maim your character in order to receive a Milestone grade. If you do find yourself in the situation where your thread/s are not eligible for Milestone grading, you can always submit any complete thread for Season Story Rewards.
When a Spirit decides that a requested Milestone is eligible for grading then they will read through all the threads submitted for that Milestone request. But while they read, a Spirit should keep in mind the following questions: What is challenging the character in this Milestone? How long is the character struggling with it? How does this affect the character? What is the character doing in response to this challenge? The purpose of these questions is to bring the Spirit’s attention to the key elements of the Milestone and award the Milestone based on its most crucial parts. By focusing on the key elements, the character will get the most rewards in the skills the player is likely dedicating the most time and energy to.
With these questions in mind, while they read, the Spirit will award skill points using the Skill Point Guide below.
Skill Point Guide
When determining exactly how many points should be rewarded for a certain Milestone, identify a skill, whether Core or Specialized, that you see the character doing. For each skill, go through the following list:
- If the character does that skill in the Milestone and the act of them doing said skill is 1 paragraph (~5 sentences) or longer, they should be rewarded 1 point per post.
- If the character is doing the skill for an extended period of time, aka, doing it over the course of at least 2 different posts (within the Milestone, it doesn’t have to be in the same thread), they should receive additional points. Add another point for every 2 posts the character is participating in the skill, including posts that were awarded points from #1.
- If the skill they are doing plays any role in the plot of a thread, whether minor or significant, they should receive another point. A good way to determine if the skill is pertinent to the thread’s plot is if the structure or outcome of the thread would have changed if the character was doing any other skill or if they weren’t doing anything at all. If the answer is yes, then they should be rewarded an additional point.
- If the skill they are doing plays a significant role in the plot of the Milestone they should receive an additional point for each thread within the Milestone (so if it’s 5 threads, they should receive an additional 5 points). A good way to determine if the skill is pertinent to the Milestone’s plot is if the structure or outcome of the Milestone would have been changed if the character was doing any other skill or if they weren’t doing anything at all.
- If the Milestone is taking place over the course of 1 whole season then add an additional point for the primary skills requested in the grading request per season.
Multiple Submissions
Because a thread can be important to multiple Milestones, players are allowed to submit a thread multiple times. However, if a thread has already been graded as a Milestone then that thread has some restrictions on its grade. Threads that have already been graded as a Milestone will not receive skill points from methods 1-3. They can only receive points from methods 4 and 5.
Example: If a player submits 5 threads as a single Milestone but 1 of those threads has already been in a previous Milestone, the Milestone would still be graded as 5 threads and the primary skills would still receive an additional 5 points rather than only 4. That thread may even receive additional points via method 4 if a skill in the newly requested Milestone asks for a skill that was not rewarded in the old Milestone, but the thread will not receive any points via methods 1-3, regardless of the skills requested.
Reputation
Via Milestone grading, you can earn more than just skill points. The Reputation system lore article holds the information on the Reputation system and what earning or losing points in reputation mean for your character. Read about the Reputation Tiers and other details here.
Earning reputation points is different from earning skill points because gaining reputation, especially at higher levels requires multiple actions and decisions to earn. Different society groups also require characters to do vastly different things to earn reputation, so it’s much more difficult to have a predetermined list of things that will award you x and y numbers of reputation. Because of this, the exact number of reputation is awarded more on a case by case basis rather than with a specific outline, unlike the skills.
However, to get a general idea of how many reputation points you may receive for any given action, look at the Reputation scale. Each tier of reputation has a brief description of the number of people affected by your reputation. An example of this is the Neutral zone, which affects one or two individuals within that group. If you are earning reputation with one specific individual, you can earn anywhere from 1-20 points of reputation. For instance, if you save an old man’s life, you may receive up to 20 points of reputation for his particular group.
However, if your reputation exceeds the Neutral zone and you are now within the Friendly reputation, you can no longer receive points via Neutral methods. Saving the old man a second time will not award you anymore points since the Friendly category pertains to a small group of people. However, if you save the old man’s entire family, then you would receive an appropriate amount of points and can further progress within the Friendly category. This process continues for every tier.
If you earn enough reputation in one grade that would allow you to exceed your current tier’s limit, apply the points normally. For instance, if you have 15 reputation and you earn 10 points, your reputation would be 25. You do not forgo 5 points to stay within the Neutral tier. However, now that you are at 25 and are in the Friendly tier, any reputation earned from then on must be done within the new tier category.
Reputation will be awarded regardless of the player’s request. If a character does something good (or bad) that justifies earning or losing points in reputation, the Spirit will award that whether or not the player requested reputation within their grade request. However, if you want to request reputation for a specific action, especially one you are concerned will be overlooked, you may request reputation in your grade request form.
This automatic reputation grading also applies to spending reputation points. Players should keep track of their own reputation and specify when they are spending points via OOC notes in the thread. However, if a player fails to signify they are spending points for any reason, a Spirit may deduct the points for you in the grade. An example of this would be if a stranger buys you a drink at a bar and you do not deduct reputation, the Spirit will add in the grade that you spent x number of reputation points for that group.
If you have a question about earning or losing reputation, feel free to look at the Reputation page for potential answers or contact any Spirit as they will be able to clarify any confusion or concerns.
Items
Unlike skills and reputation, players can always ask for any thread to receive items either bought or earned IC, regardless of whether that thread is normally eligible for Milestone grading. If a character is buying an item traditionally (aka at full price with no special qualities) the player does not need to request a grade to add the item to their inventory. Simply deduct the item from your ledger and add it to your inventory and you’re free to roleplay with that item, even if you roleplayed buying it.
If you are receiving an item as a gift from another player and this item was already officially earned by the giver (aka the item has been awarded via a graded or bought traditionally) then the receiver does not need to request items via grading and can add it to their inventory free of charge due to the giver having already paid for the gift.
However, if your character is receiving an item in a non-traditional manner, like stealing, looting, buying at a reduced price, etc, or if the item itself is not an ordinary item, like magic items or items earned via winning writing challenges, then the player must request the item via grading before adding it to their inventory. This is to ensure that the players are truly earning the items by playing within their skill level and not breaking any rules that may be attached to particular items, etc.
If you have a question about receiving item rewards, feel free to contact any Spirit as they will be able to clarify any confusion or concerns.
Request Form
When requesting threads to be graded, you have to specify which grading you are requesting. The form for requesting Milestones is listed within the Grading Request Thread linked here.
Seasonal Story Rewards
Every post describes what a character is doing in a single moment during a season. And each thread shows what a character is doing during a specific hour/day/couple of days in said season. It requires no small amount of effort from each player to contribute to their character’s story in this way. And each character is working towards their goals off-thread as well. A thread can either highlight a moment where they are attempting to better themselves, or have become distracted by another circumstance.
Seasonal Story Rewards are a reflection of the efforts your character is making off-thread. Because over the course of 91 days it is likely they have made some improvement on something. After each seasonal changeover, a character can submit a request for Seasonal Story Rewards. This will allow characters to receive increases to skills based on how much writing they have accomplished.
How it Works
In the Request forum, there is a Story Rewards Request thread. Players place a submission there that will include the links to every graded thread that they have participated in during a single Season. This can include threads from previous seasons because the Spirit Moderators understand that it can take a long time to complete a thread. The only type of thread that cannot be redeemed for Seasonal Story Rewards are Memory Threads. Memory threads show actions that a character did either in a season they previously played in, or in a moment that took place before character creation.
For example, if it is Summer 320AC currently, and the Player wishes to submit threads for Story Rewards from Spring 320AC they may only turn in threads that are completed and graded. If some Spring threads have yet to be completed and graded, the Player can wait for the next Season to turn in those threads – along with the next Seasons own graded threads.
A Spirit Moderator will calculate the player’s total word count from every post in the list of threads that have been provided. For every 1,000 words that a player wrote, one skill or spell gets an increase of one point.
Skill Selection
As part of a player’s Seasonal Story Rewards request post, they list what specific skills or spells they wish to benefit from Seasonal Story Rewards. However, players cannot select a skill or spell that they do not have any points in. They are only able to select skills and spells that they have at least 5 experience in.
When a player selects their skills or spells, they must list them in priority. The first skill listed will receive a +1 increase for the first thousand words they wrote. The second skill listed will receive a +1 increase for the next thousand words. So on and so forth. After each skill has received a +1 increase, the Spirit Moderator will cycle back to the first skill listed to continue granting additional experience.
Example: Joseph selects 1-Endurance, 2-Auristics, and 3-Observation. The Spirit Moderator confirms that Joseph does already have at least 1 point of experience in the three skills they selected. The Spirit Moderator calculates that Joseph has a little over 14,000 words written in total from the threads they submitted. The Spirit Moderator then bestows +5 to Endurance, +5 to Auristics, and +4 to Observation.
Higher Skill Levels
Skills grow more difficult to improve as a character gains more experience in them. If a character is an Apprentice or Journeyman with a skill or spell, it only requires 1,000 words to improve by one point. Skills of Expert level require greater challenges for there to be any improvement. For Experts, it requires 2,000 words in order to improve by one point. And the challenges are even greater for Masters, who require 3,000 words in order to improve their skill by one point.
Example: Joseph makes his request for Seasonal Story Rewards and still selects 1-Endurance, 2-Auristics, and 3-Observation. However, Joseph is an Apprentice of Endurance, Expert of Auristics, and Master of Observation. The first 1,000 words improves Endurance by +1. Auristics would not gain a +1 increase until the 3,000 word milestone (1,000 for the apprentice skill + 2,000 for the Expert spell). And then Observation would not receive a +1 increase until the 6,000 word milestone because it is a Master level skill for Joseph. Because Joseph wrote over 14,000 words, the Spirit Moderator would reward him with +3 Endurance for milestones 1k,7k, and 13k, +2 Auristics for milestones 3k and 9k, and +2 Observation for milestones 6k and 12k.
Rewards and Limits
No individual skill can receive more than a +20 increase from Seasonal Story Rewards per request, and each character can only make 1 Seasonal Story Rewards Request per season. After the Spirit Moderator calculates your character’s Seasonal Story Rewards they will send a PM listing how much each skill improved, and provide a link to be added to the skills section of your character sheet. The experience is to be identified as SRXP on your character sheet. The Moderator will make a note about which threads have been used to claim Seasonal Story Rewards so that a player does not receive multiple rewards for a single thread.
Request Form
When requesting threads to be graded, you have to specify which grading you are requesting. The form for requesting Seasonal Story Rewards is listed within the Grading Request Thread linked here.
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