Prestige and You.

Prestige and Member Classes

Games Without Borders relies on members who volunteer their time to provide all of the organization’s services and events. Because members are not paid for their time and effort Games Without Borders has developed several ways to recognize those who volunteer. The most common form of recognition is with the prestige point system. Prestige points are a reflection of effort, time and energy volunteered to GWB. Prestige points are not awarded for actions or events that result in experience point awards, monetary gain, or other forms of compensation.  Prestige points for service to the organization is awarded by the office of the Coordinator.

Members who have earned prestige points can qualify for a higher member class resulting in awards, recognition in the organization’s publications and more flexibility in character creation. Members who advance in member classes also take on more responsibility for supporting the organization and helping other members. While a higher member class does show distinction and grant some privileges it does not give members authority over one another. All members are treated equally regardless of the member class they have earned. It is easy to become caught up in the race to gain another member class by earning as many prestige points as possible, however the true value of the time and effort you volunteer is found in such intrinsic rewards as new relationships, completed projects and leadership experience.

Because prestige points lead to recognition and privileges in the organization they can become a hotly debated issue. A member may think it unfair that another member gains prestige for doing something he or she cannot do. Some members for example, cannot afford to donate money or items for whatever reason and may argue that certain ways to donate should not be used. However, members should remember that all prestige activities are voluntary and there are many other ways to help out. If a member cannot donate money that member may consider alternate things that GWB could use such as volunteers to help run that charity event or help develop an alternate charity drive.

If you would like to start a project, you should begin by discussing your idea with your coordinator. Your coordinator can explain your group's needs and help you tailor your ideas to fit with the goals of our local domain.

Reporting and tracking

Members who wish to have their prestige recorded must regularly report their activities to their immediate coordinator. For record keeping purposes of our domain, all member prestige logs are kept and managed by the Domain Coordinator (Jeremy Hicks) and the Assistant Domain Coordinator (Justin Cline). The initial prestige report will be compiled by the Assistant Domain Coordinator, then it will be passed up the chain to the Domain Coordinator for a final go-over.  This means that all prestige that a member wishes to report, will need to be reported directly to the Assistant Domain Coordinator, not the Domain Coordinator, nor should it be reported to any of the Storytellers.  The coordinator will report members’ prestige in their monthly report so that the organization has up-to-date prestige records. The organization cannot track prestige if said prestige is not reported so make sure that you provide the required proof any activities that would earn you prestige i.e. the paper that you are given by the blood bank for your donation.

Your prestige log will be itemized. Each entry will include a date, activity description, award amount, award type, and award category.  If for any reason you wish to view your personal prestige log, you may request a copy from the Assistant Domain Coordinator, and they will provide you with a copy.

Benefits

A member’s prestige point totals determine his or her Member Class (MC). Each MC gives the member a title from Associate (MC 1) to Trustee (MC 15). While it is common for a member to earn fifty prestige points a month it takes a very active member to earn 100 prestige per month. Awards over 100 points per month are often reviewed for appropriateness at the regional or higher level during the review process.

When members have enough prestige points to advance in member class, the coordinator will review the prestige log to determine that all awards are in accordance with the prestige rules set forth and then will either grant the member class (if it is within the range that coordinator is able to grant) or passes the request to the next level in the coordinator chain for further review.

If a member loses prestige points through disciplinary action that loss of prestige immediately results in a loss of member class if their prestige total drops below the required totals for their current MC.

MC Chart

The following chart explains the requirements for each member class including the amount of general (G), regional (R) and national (N) prestige required for each level, its title and the coordinator within the chain who must review and approve the appropriate MC. As you rise in MC, you will require higher approval for your MC.  Regional and National level prestige can only be granted by the National Coordinator.

The levels include:
Chapter Coordinator (CC): We currently have no CC. All CC duties are assumed by the DC.
Domain Coordinator (DC): That would be Jeremy Hicks
Regional Coordinator (RC): There is currently no RC.  All RC duties are assumed by the NC.
National Coordinator (NC).

Membership Class

MC                       Min Gen   Min Reg    Min Nat    Awarded By
Associate (1)            0            0             0            none
Journeyman (2)        100          0             0             CC  
Artisan (3)               300         0             0              CC
Contributor (4)          600         0             0             CC
Sponsor (5)             1000        0             0              CC
Steward (6)             1500        0             0              DC  
Benefactor (7)          2100        0            0              DC
Advocate (            2700        0            0              DC
Adviser (9)              3400       100           0              RC
Patron (10)              4100       300          0              RC
Mentor (11)             4800        600          0              RC
Luminary (12)           5400       900         100             NC  
Executive (13)          6100       1200       300             NC
Fellow (14)               6900       1500       800             NC
Trustee (15)              N/A         N/A        N/A           TBD

Awarding prestige

Prestige is divided into three types which are general prestige, regional prestige and national prestige. Only the coordinator chain can award prestige, though for rewards relating to storytelling, they will base their decisions on recommendations made by the storytelling chain.

National prestige may be recommended by assistants who are granted the authority by the national coordinator and national storyteller. National prestige is awarded by the national coordinator for those serving in a global or national level position, participating in a national charity drive, moderating national lists, or otherwise doing work from the following charts that impacts the organization on a national or global level. The only exception to this is the ANC Prestige determines and awards the national coordinator his or her national prestige awards.

Regional prestige may be awarded by a regional coordinator as well as by anyone able to grant national prestige. It is awarded for serving in a regional position, helping with a regional event or regional charity drive, moderating a regional list or otherwise doing work from the following charts that impacts the organization on a regional level.

General prestige may be awarded by a domain coordinator, chapter coordinator or by anyone authorized to award regional or national prestige. It may be awarded for anything from the charts listed in the GWB Handbook and is most commonly awarded for work or contributions that affect the organization on a local level.

Prestige Awards

Listed below is a truncated listing of activities that can earn you prestige.  The comprehensive list is far larger, but for most members, this list will be sufficient.

It is important to take the caps for each category into account as awards in excess of these caps will be removed during the review process. If a member deserves more prestige points for their efforts above and beyond what is ordinary they may be awarded points in the “Exceptional Service” category. These caps encourage members to participate in a variety of different activities instead of focusing upon one area of the club to the exclusion of all else.

Several individual line items also have specific caps for the same reason. These line item caps apply to the awards given in any particular month (or event, in the case of the “Event Services” category). Thus, while a member cannot receive more than 30 prestige points for donations to a specific charitable cause during a given month they may receive that award for the same cause during different months.

Itemized Prestige Awards (Abreviated)

Communication and Web (Max of 50/month)

This category is for maintaining an online presence for the club.  On the domain level, this pretty much exclusively entails our forums.

Donating web space (10g)

If you donate to keeping the forums up and running you can earn a 1 time prestige reward of 10g. At the bottom of the forums you will see a small link that says “contribute.” If you click that link you will be taken to a page that will allow you to donate via PayPal to the forums.  This is tracked by the web admin.  Report the donation to the Assistant Domain Coordinator, who will then consult with the web admin for proof of donation.

COMMUNITY SERVICE (Max of 70/month)

Most charity drives are local and result in awards of general prestige awarded by a DC or CC. The regional or national coordinators may sponsor a regional or national drive but any regional or national prestige awarded as a result must be granted by the RC or NC respectively. Proof of donation or charity work will need to be provided for prestige to be awarded.  Most charity events or locations that accept donations will give you a receipt for your donation.  In the case of volunteer work, any documentation proving that you donated your time there should be provided.  If you have any questions on what sort of documentation is required, contact your Assistant Domain Coordinator.

• Donating items as part of a GWB charity drive (1-10 per item, max 30 per charity)

Includes any donated items. Must be part of a charity drive that has been announced to members of at least one domain or chapter.

• Volunteer time as part of a GWB charity drive (5 per hour, max 30 per charity)

Labor donated to charities as part of an organized GWB charity event or drive announced to at least one domain or chapter. May include time spent at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, park cleanups, local libraries and other charitable institutions as accepted by the presiding coordinator.

• Organizing charity drive (0-20 per drive, max 20)

Organizing a charity drive, volunteer event or charitable fund raiser. Must be approved by a principle officer prior to the drive. Principle officers and assistants assigned to charity functions are not eligible for this award.

• Donating needed materials to the GWB (1-10 per item)

Includes any items requested by GWB. Must be announced to the members of at least one domain or chapter so that anyone has the opportunity to donate.

• Organizing  GWB fund raiser (0-10 per event)

Any event that raises money for the operation of the club. Principle officers and assistants assigned to fund raising functions are not eligible for this award. Ongoing or permanent fundraisers should be delegated to assistants and awarded prestige in the Administration category.

• Blood Donation (25 per donation)

Donating blood at a blood bank is a great way to help the community.  Even though the category is capped out at 25, by giving a double donation i.e. 2 pints of blood, you will be awarded 25g for the month of the donation, as well as 25g for the second half of the donation the following month.  As with any volunteer work or donation, the appropriate proof of the donation should be provided to the aDC.

STORYTELLING SUPPORT (Max of 30/month)

Most storytelling assistance is local in nature and result in awards of general prestige awarded by a DC or CC. The regional or national storytellers may request assistance for regional or national plots or events with any regional or national prestige awarded as a result must be granted by the regional or national coordinator respectively. All awards in this category should be awarded only in cooperation with the storyteller staff.

Storytellers operating in their own sphere of responsibility are not eligible for awards in this category. For example, storytellers within a particular domain are not eligible for additional awards for work done inside that domain as it is part of their storytelling duties. Assistance provided to other domains would still qualify.

• Submitting an accepted plotline (1-10 per plotline)

Must be approved by the accepting storyteller. Full plot kits should receive the full award while plot ideas and partial plot kits should receive a lower award.

• Submitting an accepted NPC (1-5 per NPC)

Must be approved by the accepting storyteller. Fully detailed NPCs with backgrounds, motivations, etc. should receive the full award while bare character sheets with brief story notes should receive a lower award.

• Playing an NPC in a sanctioned game (5 per session)

May not be awarded if the player elected to assign experience traits to a character for playing NPCs the full game session.

• Mentoring a new player (5 per formal session)

Includes providing advice and help with character creation, roleplaying hints, setting and background information, etc. to any player new to this particular venue or to the GWB organization. One session should be at least 30 minutes. Must be approved by the mentored player as well as the awarding coordinator. This is always general prestige.

ORGANIZATIONAL SERVICE (Max of 40/month)

•Set up and/or clean up a game site (1-5 per game, max 20)

Awarded once per game/meeting. Members who both set up and clean up still receive the award once for that event.

• Transporting 2+ members to a sanctioned event (5 per trip, max 10)

Must involve at least one hour of driving round trip.

MISCELLANEOUS (Limited by Sub Category)

These awards are always general prestige and awarded by the domain or chapter coordinator under very specific circumstances.

• Recruiting a new member (10 per member)

New member must attend at least four games and obtain a GWB membership number. If two or more members are responsible for the new member split the award between them.

Final Statement on Prestige

While member class is earned through accumulating prestige points, it represents much more than that. It is a symbol of dedication and service to the club and its values. When accepting a new member class, you are agreeing to serve as an example of this service and dedication to the other members of the club. The higher one’s member class, the more one is expected to act as a leader, maintain a positive attitude, and set a higher standard of ethics and responsibility. With this in mind, member class is not guaranteed to all who earn the requisite number of prestige points, and can be removed if a member abuses the privileges of their member class or consistently creates conflict within the club (outside the confines of the GWB global chronicle). Member class is most definitely a privilege, not a right.

As stated before, the full list is quite comprehensive, including things such as prestige from official office positions, special events, and administration.  If anyone would like to see a more comprehensive list, feel free to contact me and I can provide it.

P.S. You will have to forgive some of the formatting.  The forums do not like certain types of formatting, particularly when you try to make a list.