On the Matter of Prestige

Prestige is a system that’s both new and not-so-new for the players (and Staff) of TI. While it has technically been in place since the launch of Noble Projects, it was a placeholder for a more complex and fully-featured system that was planned but not yet implemented. Across the last couple weeks we saw some of those features enter play, and in the last couple days the system received its stamp of completion.

Because the release of Prestige was admittedly rather piecemeal, there has been a lot of confusion around how some of the middling to later features work.

To start, on the surface there are two types of Prestige: That which can be earned by the titled nobility, and that which can be earned by anyone but the “savage” races. Code-wise, the differences are cosmetic. The nobility count their Prestige at Court, while the common born – the gentry and freeman classes – count their Prestige in general society. The savage races – Charali, Hillmen, and Daravi – don’t generate Prestige at all, as what they are is not a hurdle they can cross to enter Lithmorran society.

For each 5 Prestige points a character possesses, their rank raises by one. Accumulated Prestige decays at a rate of 1 point per OOC week. Even the most distinguished reputation will dwindle over time if a character drops out of Court or the social scene. A well-maintained reputation, however, lasts much longer.

You have probably noticed the cyan-colored tag at the top of character helpinfos, reporting on that character’s Prestige rank. To define what they mean, Prestige ranks are ordered as follows:

Rank 0Known (Unknown for commoners)
Rank 1Acknowledged
Rank 2Notable
Rank 3Established
Rank 4Prominent
Rank 5Distinguished

The final “rank” is less a rank and more an echo of the Champion Skill system. The character with the highest Prestige in the game at the weekly rollover is dubbed the “Court Favorite,” which will appear in their helpinfo. At this time, the Court Favorite is the only Prestige feature that is incomplete.

There are several benefits that Prestige provides to characters who possess it. At ranks 1 through 5 the character will receive 25 silver per OOC week, 1 Influence Point, and an increasingly high support bolster for Seneschal bids. At rank 5, the character may set a Prestige title (prestige title <string>) that replaces their intro description. Setting a prestige title can be done by anybody at any time, but it won’t show up until the character reaches the 5th rank of Prestige.

Generating Prestige can be done a great many ways. Creating a successful Noble Project is a significant booster for the titled nobility, granting an amount of Prestige dependent on the impact of the project. Supporting a successful Noble Project, subverting a failed Noble Project, owning a significant amount of land or particularly large estate (represented by 200 or more silver per month in taxes), employing a significant number of retainers (represented by 200 or more silver per month in upkeep), supporting the community or making large purchases (represented by making payments of 200 or more silver through the banking system), and wearing a Prestige-flagged item (typically gold, Cardinal Red, or Tubori Purple) are all minor Prestige generators, generating 1 point each. Having a large amount of Influence grants Prestige dependent upon how much Influence the character has.

At age 30 a character receives a Prestige point simply for being wizened, experienced, and viewed as a mature person in Lithmorran society. For each decade they live over 30, they receive an accumulative +1.

Additionally, a new codified system for “above and beyond” tithing to the Holy Order generates Prestige for the tither. Check out “help commands tithe” for syntax on how to over-support your Inquisition!

Other than the weekly decay, reputation-damaging systems penalize a character’s Prestige. Being Blacklisted by the Merchant’s guild, having an active warrant, and having an outstanding fine with the Reeves all penalize Prestige points. Being Excommunicated by the Holy Order or Exiled by the Crown zeros out Prestige and marks the character as “Reviled.”

Hopefully this helps to shed some light on the system as stands! It’s possible something was missed, so please feel welcome inquiring with Staff over visnet, the Request Board, or even the forums if there are any lingering question marks.