22.1 Mortal Builders in Achaea
What is a Mortal Builder?
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A mortal builder is a player who contributes to Achaea from behind-the-scenes as
a writer. Many areas in the game, from Azdun to Enverren to much of Meropis, to the highest reaches of Yggdrasil, would never have been completed without the assistance of mortal builders!
Some items you see at the Itinerant Bazaar and other denizen-run shops have been
created by mortal builders. Some of the special caves that open during the Great
Hunt are designed by mortal builders. Mortal builders have even, on occasion,
prepared events for players to participate in. Last but not least, hundreds of
rooms have been rewritten by mortal builders since the early days of Achaea,
bringing them up to a high standard of writing.
What It's Like
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If you are considering applying to become a mortal builder for Achaea, keep the
below in mind:
Being a builder in Achaea is not like being a builder on many text games (muds).
You do not become an immortal. Instead, you initially work with the Building Lead to complete projects, after which we may grant you limited powers for creating and editing rooms, denizens, and items yourself.
Building is not easy. It has great rewards and can be very satisfying,
creatively. Our standards for building are quite rigorous, and we insist on
excellence in writing quality. Every mortal builder begins as a trainee, with
more responsibility being given as he or she demonstrates the ability to
complete projects in a satisfactory and timely manner.
In return for their hard work, mortal builders are compensated with credit
rewards. These are given on a case-by-case basis for completion of various
building assignments, depending on scope, speed, quality, and other factors.
Mortal building is a completely OOC position. It has nothing to do with your, or
anyone else's, character in the game.
Currently, the mortal building program is focused on a mix between developing new areas for Achaea, refreshing older areas and bringing them up to modern standards, and on occasion, writing contributions to various ongoing development projects. This can include anything from room descriptions, quest items, denizens, dialogue, attacks, atmospheric messages, and anything in between!
If you're applying to be a mortal builder because you have an idea for a new
area that you really want to design and build, please understand that there is
no guarantee that you will ever have your own area proposal approved. You must
prove your quality of writing and reliability before a draft proposal will even
be accepted. Most mortal builders contribute to areas that are Garden-designed, under supervision, though there is often some measure of freedom in the implementation.
As a builder, you are always given the opportunity to pass on an assignment. We
don't hold it against you. We understand that you have school, work, vacations,
dates, family obligations, parties to attend, etc.! You're not expected to be
constantly writing room descriptions every day. We do think it's a fair
expectation that you stay active in the program, though. So, when not assigned
to a specific project, we expect mortal builders to complete a minimum of five
descriptions per real-life month. It doesn't take a lot of time, and these can
usually be selected from a list of existing descriptions in need of revision.
Once committed to a specific project, we expect mortal builders to submit about
one description per day until it is completed. Note that this doesn't mean
submitting precisely one room per day; it's ok to submit once per week with 7
rooms (or 7 denizen descriptions, depending on the project). The main goal is
that writing is steady and ongoing, with an AVERAGE of 1 description per day.
Deadlines will be given with this in mind! If you don't think you can manage
this, please reconsider your application.
Becoming a Mortal Builder
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An announcement will be made when we are accepting mortal builder applications,
with instructions on how to do so. You must be at least 18 years old in real
life to apply.
What are we looking for? Players who are:
- experienced and knowledgeable about the game world
- excellent and creative writers
- self-starters
- reliable, disciplined, and able to meet deadlines
- passionate about making Achaea the BEST immersive experience possible!
If you've decided to submit an application, read HELP STYLE. Read it again. Then
read this file again, thoroughly.
Check your grammar and spelling extensively. We cannot stress this too much!
More than a couple of mistakes will disqualify you automatically as a potential
builder. Your grammar needs to be not only adequate, but exquisite. It is
equally as important as your descriptive writing skills, if not more.
Once you have applied, please be patient. You'll hear back from us one way or
another.
