Surrender Dawn Manifesto

The Manifesto of Surrender Dawn is the fundament on which the site was built. It details the Staff Team's ideals for the site as a whole, while granting members consistent and in-depth insight into the workflow of the site. That also means that any changes to the Manifesto or how the site will function will be addressed in our changelog. It will detail not only the changes themselves, but also the thoughts and discussion underlying the changes. We hope this means that discussions will become centered on why changes are made and how we could achieve what we're looking to do better.

The Core Ideals

Our focus and dedication as a Staff Team, is to create an environment that allows for people to build long lasting friendships while enjoying great roleplay. Character experience, in-character fighting, in-character glory, and otherwise selfish desires for character or personal progress - it all comes second row to the betterment and enjoyment of our community as a whole. Of course, we'll be doing our best to make these things perfect as well, but never at the expense of our core beliefs. That belief being that roleplay should first and foremost be fun. As a Staff Team, we recognize that scenarios which could be extremely fun for one person, may interfere with the fun of another. Therefore, certain rules and systems are in place to ensure that no one pays the expense for anyone having fun. A fair, level playing field for all.

This, however, also goes the other way. We're not going to be policing people making casual jokes. Should situations arise where comments, conversations or posts make anyone on the site uncomfortable, the first step should be to communicate that discomfort to the person who caused it, trying to explain and resolve the issue. Should this dialogue not reach any amicable conclusion or, if after it, the behaviour continues, please talk to a member of the Staff Team in order for the situation to be analyzed and taken care of. We're also not going to prohibit roleplaying characters that others may, for their personal beliefs or any other reasons, find offensive or simply disagree with. If any extreme situation arises where, for example, there is an attempt to use roleplay as an excuse for any type of hate speech or discrimination, the Staff Team will deal with it appropriately and severely.

Remember: we're seeing the community as a group of friends and as a small family. As such, please be kind, respect each other, behave with dignity and establish healthy dialogue. If any party of a conflict decides to solve issues in an underhanded manner or with the intent of spreading flames, the consequences will be harsh. We're expecting that all members of the site have the desire to be a part of this home, so please act accordingly and don't contribute to anything that can damage it or hurt the people under its roof.

Staff Structure

The Staff Structure of Surrender Dawn was made with efficiency and support in mind. Responsibility was split between different roles, meaning members always know exactly where to go with feedback, issues or otherwise problems. Surrender Dawn has a Staff Team that consists of three main positions. They are Head Administrator, Administrators and Moderators. Additionally, you'll also find the existence of two other roles: Assistants and Storytellers, who are secondary roles not directly considered Staff. The site will be operated with the desires, wishes and needs of the community in mind. That being said, the site is not a democracy. Ultimately, the Staff Team has the vision for the site in mind. Allowing said vision to blur in favor of pleasing everyone or anyone will never be acceptable.

Each member of the core Staff Team will be assigned to a specific part of the site. If you have any questions, problems or dilemmas, please refer to one of the staff members in charge of said section. We're doing this to prevent any individual of staff being overloaded with too many questions.

You can look at the Staff Structure of Surrender Dawn here.
If you have questions regarding Grading & Submissions, please see Dessen
If you have questions regarding Mechanics & Combat, please see Dauwz & arkwright
If you have questions regarding Storytelling, Arcs & Events, please see narlivion & risaka
If you have questions regarding Community & Discord, please see Fluffy


Equality - Staff & Members

Staff on Surrender Dawn are bound to make mistakes, just as any human would. When this does occur, we'll follow the principle that staff mistakes should not negatively impact the community. This means that we'll be taking the approach to correct the issue which costs the ones affected the least amount of stress, pain & uncertainty. That, in turn, means that we expect members to understand that the Staff Team is comprised of fellow human roleplayers. We're not above making mistakes, we're not above admitting mistakes, and we're not above fixing mistakes. As such, be respectful and understanding towards members of Staff, just as we shall be understanding and accomodating towards you.

This illustrates the core belief that everyone has an equal right to enjoy roleplaying on the site. Without members of Staff, the site would not function. Without members to roleplay on the site, the site would not function. As such, there will be no favoritism shown towards any group or individuals when it comes to the site. There will be no in-character benefits for out-of-character contests. These contests will still exist, but the prizes and rewards will be focussed on art, roles on discord and other similar prizes. 

Because we believe in such equality, anyone finding any loopholes or insecurities in any of our systems has the obligation to assist in correcting them by making the Staff Team aware that said loopholes exist. Attempting to game the systems or taking advantage of any discovered loopholes will be considered malicious practice and will therefore be punished as cheating. If you should be in doubt whether something is a loophole or intended, contact a member of Staff before attempting to utilize said strategy.


Character Progression & Expectations

Upon creating the systems of the site, the timeline for reaching certain threshholds was reverse engineered. Numbers wise, an average member who had no major absences (a month or more) from the site during a one year period is expected to earn roughly 4500 experience. This means that anyone who 's around this experience number, give or take, for a yearly experience gain, reaches our benchmarks. Complaining, whining or expecting things to be moving faster, is unacceptable. A lot of time and effort went into making sure the site progress would stay relevant for a longer period of time. Additionally, each Star Rank corresponds to roughly a third (33%) increase in power over the last rank. That means that even though a character is technically a full level ahead (2-Star abilities versus 1-Star abilities, for example), the fight is not completely hopeless for the weaker player. Tactics and strategy can and will bridge that gap.

Once the site has been running for a while, we as a staff team are committed to assisting newer players in catching up. We do not believe that said catchup should bring newer individuals on par with those who have roleplayed on site a long time, as this would invalidate the journey said characters have been on. That said, we understand that being potentially a year behind on progress would make catching up an impossible task.