Hey everyone! The long awaited merit badges are here. 
I'm very excited that we've finally completed this, though I want to make it clear that this is a work-in-progress, just as most other new programs, so don't be surprised if something changes. :P Also, this is very long. I tried to be as efficient as possible, but when presenting a new system, even I can reach epic lengths. My apologies. 
For those of you who have joined after we announced this, at our 2010 administrative meeting, we decided that we wanted to have a way that recognized our members who have gone above and beyond the norm and to, in some instances, reward them for their work. After all, every single one of us is a volunteer, and none of us is paid for what we do to make the community a better place. That applies to everyone from the CEO on down to the Citizen who's been here a month and goes out of his way to welcome other new members, answering their questions purely because he wants their time here to be as fun as his has been. There are two different levels of merits (Silver and Gold), and they are given to people who have done things for our community that are above and beyond the norm. Earning them can get you certain privileges/rewards.
It's taken us a while to get this done, primarily because of the technical shift to Drupal and the new forums and because of the upcoming Keeper shift. We had an initial discussion with the focus group (which consists of members from every rank and every Ajah/Company who have served in the administration in some capacity at some point), and then the Amyrlin and I spent a weekend discussing it in person. We hashed out a more final form, and then we brought that back to the focus group for more discussion. After some logistical things (such as who's going to be in charge of this, where it's going, etc), we're finally ready to release them. It's really long. If you want the short version, scroll to the bottom. So, without further ado, here we go!
The Merits
First up is the Membership category. This one is a little different from all the other merit badges, which are geared towards recognizing active service. Instead, this one recognizes that you have enjoyed our community so much that you have stayed around as a member for a long time, participating and enriching the experience of others. The Silver Badge for this one is for those who have been a member for at least 2.5 consecutive years (this means that if you joined and left the site completely after a year, you wouldn't get this; if you took a leave of absence and came back, you're fine). Once you hit 5 consecutive years as a member, your Silver will upgrade to a Gold, which means that you will no longer have the Silver merit, but you will gain the Gold in its place. The Senior Membership Merits are Silver for 2.5 cumulative years as a Senior Member and Gold for 5 cumulative years as a Senior Member. For every multiple of 5 that you hit, your Gold will change to denote that.
So, for instance, Val Gaidin would have a Gold for five years of membership and a second Gold for five years of being a Senior Member. Once he has been a member for ten years, his Membership Gold will show that he's been a member for ten years.
Now, I know that some of you are going to say, “But....a lot of people will have these! Isn't that counter to the purpose of the merits, which is to recognize that small percentage that goes above and beyond?” That's why I said the Membership category is different. All other merits are to recognize those who have gone above and beyond in active service, and as such they'll recognize a small percentage of our membership. For this particular merit, however, you need to think of it with regards to the total number of members we've ever had. We've had a lot (and I do mean a lot) of people who have joined over the years; a significant portion of them have not stayed. This recognizes those who value our community enough to have stayed and participated.
Next up is our Events Leadership category, which recognizes those who have shown themselves to be consistent, active leaders in our real life events. The Silver level for this can be gained by being a Local Liaison one time, serving twice as a Committee Head, serving once as our Camp Nurse, being chosen by the appropriate Mistress of Revels and the Director of Events & Conferences twice as having demonstrated outstanding Committee leadership, hosting three Local Events that were planned in our Local Events forum, or performing an Extraordinary Service at an event (as determined by the leadership at that event).
The Gold level for this category can be gained by being a Local Liaison, Committee Head, or Camp Nurse three times, by hosting ten Local Events that were planned in our Local Events forum, or by being chosen five times for outstanding Committee leadership.
As with the Membership merits, if you serve along the same track enough to have earned a Gold, then the Silver you had previously earned goes away. So if you serve twice as a Committee Head, you will have the Silver. If you then serve again as a Committee Head, thereby giving you three times total, your Silver goes away and the Gold replaces it. Note – there is no Gold level for the Extraordinary Service.
You are able to hold multiple merits from this category. For instance, Riley Gaidin has served as Committee Head and as Camp Nurse enough times that he will hold a Gold for each, as well as a Silver for being a Local Liaison. However, he can only have each specific Gold once, which means that even when he has served as Camp Nurse six times, he won't have two Gold Camp Nurse merit badges.
The next category is Events Participation. This, obviously, recognizes those who participate in our real life events more than the average attendee. To gain a Silver for this, you must have participated in the Amyrlin's Tournament three times, participated in trivia three times, participated in the costume contest three times, participated on any committee three times, or attended ten Official Events.
Gold merits from this category can be gained by winning the Amyrlin's Tournament or by attending twenty Official Events.
For events attendance, once you have attended twenty events, the Gold replaces the Silver. You are awarded a Gold merit each time you win the Amyrlin's Tournament, but that is the only merit for which that is true (ie, you won't have two Silvers for participating in trivia 6 times or two Golds for attending forty events). You can hold multiple merits from this category. For instance, Valorian Gaidin has attended enough Official Events to have earned a Gold, plus he has won the Amyrlin's Tournament twice, earning him 2 Golds, plus he has participated in enough Amyrlin's Tournaments to earn him that Silver.
The next category is Online Spirit, which recognizes those who have gone above and beyond in making our online community more engaging. These are all Silver and can be earned in a variety of ways. Each Online Event gives an award to someone who has really participated in that specific event; these are called “Spirit of [Bel Tine/Shaoman/Feast of Lights]” awards. Earning two of these will gain you a Silver merit. Every six months, forum moderators and chat ops from the Department of Moderators will choose one person from each medium who really participated and made that medium fun, and those two people will be awarded a Silver. Epic pranks (such as Melana Sedai blowing up the Tower) can earn Silvers. Being awarded a Members' Choice Award will earn you a Silver as well.
You will earn Silvers for these as many times as you actually earn them. If you pull off an Epic Prank more than once, you'll get the Silver for it more than once. If you earn multiple Members' Choice Awards, you'll receive a Silver for each of them.
The next category is Wild Card. It recognizes those things that don't really fit into any other category and aren't as cleanly defined, but are still worthy of receiving recognition. These are all Golds. Receiving an Amyrlin's Award will earn you a Gold for each. Serving one full term as Head/Commander, Heart/Honor Guard, and Sitter/Councilor will earn you one. Serving as staff, administrator, and Executive will earn you one. Attending three Official Events on at least two different continents will earn you one. You can earn one by doing something epic that isn't defined elsewhere, usually given out by Officers.
You receive one Gold for each Amyrlin's Award and each Wild Card given to you. All others can be received only once. So, I will receive one Gold because I have received one Amyrlin's Award, one for serving as staff, administrator, and Executive, and one for attending three Official Events on at least two different continents. If I had been awarded another Amyrlin's Award, I would have two of those Golds, but not for any other path.
The next category is Administrative Service, recognizing those who serve in some capacity in our administration. It's a fairly straight-forward category. To earn a Silver, you must spend two and a half years in a staff position, two years as an administrator, one and a half years as an Executive, or one year as an Officer. This is time cumulative, not consecutive, which means that if you spend a total of two years between three administrator positions, you qualify for the Silver. This is not a mix and match sort of merit; you're not going to earn a Gold because you're spent eighteen months as a staff member and a year as an administrator. You must spend the amount of time in that level of position.
There is a Gold that replaces each Silver as you earn it. To earn the Gold, you must spend five years in a staff position, four years as an administrator, three years as an Executive, or two years as an Officer. Some positions (such as writer for the TVT) don't count for this category, as their service is counted elsewhere (usually under either Pro Bono or Publishers).
You can earn each one only once, though you can have one from each path. So, for instance, Riley Gaidin will hold two Golds from this category, as he has served in various staff positions totaling over five years and spent four years as an administrator. When he has served two years as an Officer, he will earn a third Gold for that time.
The next set of merits is for Pro Bono Service. This award is set up to recognize those who work eight hours a day doing something, and then they come home and do pretty much the same damn thing for us, providing us with a service for free that would otherwise cost us hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars without any real recognition amongst the community. You either have to really love our community or really love what you do in order to do that; we're choosing to believe that they just really love us that much. To earn a Silver, you must provide legal, graphical, IT, HR, or financial expertise to the Tower free of charge for one and a half years in an unnamed. To earn the Gold, you must provide the Tower with one of those areas of expertise for three years in an unnamed position.
So our legal consultants will receive the Pro Bono Merits to recognize their work and not Merits related to time spent as staff.
The next category is Publishers, meant to recognize those who contribute greatly to our written works. To earn a Silver, you must write one hundred articles for the Library, spend one and a half years consistently editing the Library as a volunteer, or write twenty articles for the Tar Valon Times.
To earn a Gold, you must write two hundred and fifty articles in the Library, spend three years consistently editing the Library as a volunteer, write fifty articles for the Tar Valon Times, or put in an exceptional effort in copywriting for our website. An example of this last would be Erin Sedai's long, exhaustive efforts in transferring webpages from our old website into Drupal.
The next set of merits comes from Raising the Next Generation and consists of all Silvers. You must complete six classes, teach three classes, or mentor ten members who advance one rank to receive a Silver.
So that's the current list! Again, we will examine things and add in more as necessary. This is a system designed to recognize those who give a significant amount of time and effort to better our community and make it stronger, so if we see an area we neglected, we will make the effort to correct it.
How do I get them?
We are going to have a temporary group of people working together to handle the initial rush of researching and awarding merits. Once that rush has died down and it's more into a maintenance mode sort of thing, we'll see if we still need a group or if just having one coordinator suffices.
For now, email merits@tarvalon.net with the ones you think you should get. Please read over the Membership Manuals carefully to know what you would and would not qualify for and what proof you need to submit to get them.
Once merits awarding older service are given and people are earning merits based upon new/current service, you can either email merits@tarvalon.net when you believe you have earned one, or you can wait for our manual tracking systems to catch up.
Sooo...rewards?
There are currently three awards associated with merits.
Signature and Profile Icons
As you earn merits, you will get access to icons that will go into your Drupal/Who's Who profile and minaturized versions for your signatures. You still have to follow signature rules, so you can't go crazy if you have a ton, but you'll be able to choose which ones you want to stick into your signatures. We also hope that those who receive Golds will be able to display up to 5 small badges below their avatars. Icons are currently in process in Marketing, so as those come out, we'll release them!
Bond +1
If you have the Senior Membership Gold Merit plus any other four Gold merits (not including the Membership Gold Merit), you will gain one additional bond slot from your current limit. This means that for members of all Companies and all Ajahs except Green and Red, you would be able to bond two people. Green Aes Sedai would be able to bond three Warders, and Red Aes Sedai would be able to bond one. Just because you have this additional bond slot doesn't mean that you have to use it; it is simply there as an option should you wish to.
Events Ticket Discounts
If you have the Gold merit for attending twenty Official Events plus one other Events Gold merit plus any other three Gold merits (only one Gold Merit from the Membership Category counts towards the three others), you will receive 10% off of your tickets to attend our Official Events (excluding conferences).
When will these be awarded?
Our plan is to roll out the first set of these at the North America Anniversary Party in two weeks. After that, they will be awarded more sporadically, as we get to them. For the first few months, however, they should be awarded fairly regularly.
Other Notes
Please, please view the Membership Manual portions for this system before you email merits@tarvalon.net requesting merits. Those pages have important information, such as what kinds of proof will be accepted for proving that you've hosted Local Events for which we have no records, and other important information.
Please give us time and realize that we're going to be inundated in the beginning, plus we're going to be figuring out a tracking system, plus we're going to be doing research. Don't be upset when it's not awarded immediately. You're not the only one in line.
If you have any questions, please email merits@tarvalon.net. I'll answer them as I'm able.
Now what?
You get a cookie for reading all that! If you think you qualify for one (or more) of the Merits, go ahead and email merits@tarvalon.net with the information requested in the Membership Manual. If you want to nominate someone, do the same.
Bullet Points!
Bullet points for those of you who want them. :P
Membership Category
Events Leadership Category
Events Participation Category
Online Spirit Category
Rock Star Category
Administrative Service Category
Pro Bono Category
Publishers Category
Raising the Next Generation Category
I'm very excited that we've finally completed this, though I want to make it clear that this is a work-in-progress, just as most other new programs, so don't be surprised if something changes. :P Also, this is very long. I tried to be as efficient as possible, but when presenting a new system, even I can reach epic lengths. My apologies. For those of you who have joined after we announced this, at our 2010 administrative meeting, we decided that we wanted to have a way that recognized our members who have gone above and beyond the norm and to, in some instances, reward them for their work. After all, every single one of us is a volunteer, and none of us is paid for what we do to make the community a better place. That applies to everyone from the CEO on down to the Citizen who's been here a month and goes out of his way to welcome other new members, answering their questions purely because he wants their time here to be as fun as his has been. There are two different levels of merits (Silver and Gold), and they are given to people who have done things for our community that are above and beyond the norm. Earning them can get you certain privileges/rewards.
It's taken us a while to get this done, primarily because of the technical shift to Drupal and the new forums and because of the upcoming Keeper shift. We had an initial discussion with the focus group (which consists of members from every rank and every Ajah/Company who have served in the administration in some capacity at some point), and then the Amyrlin and I spent a weekend discussing it in person. We hashed out a more final form, and then we brought that back to the focus group for more discussion. After some logistical things (such as who's going to be in charge of this, where it's going, etc), we're finally ready to release them. It's really long. If you want the short version, scroll to the bottom. So, without further ado, here we go!
The Merits
First up is the Membership category. This one is a little different from all the other merit badges, which are geared towards recognizing active service. Instead, this one recognizes that you have enjoyed our community so much that you have stayed around as a member for a long time, participating and enriching the experience of others. The Silver Badge for this one is for those who have been a member for at least 2.5 consecutive years (this means that if you joined and left the site completely after a year, you wouldn't get this; if you took a leave of absence and came back, you're fine). Once you hit 5 consecutive years as a member, your Silver will upgrade to a Gold, which means that you will no longer have the Silver merit, but you will gain the Gold in its place. The Senior Membership Merits are Silver for 2.5 cumulative years as a Senior Member and Gold for 5 cumulative years as a Senior Member. For every multiple of 5 that you hit, your Gold will change to denote that.
So, for instance, Val Gaidin would have a Gold for five years of membership and a second Gold for five years of being a Senior Member. Once he has been a member for ten years, his Membership Gold will show that he's been a member for ten years.
Now, I know that some of you are going to say, “But....a lot of people will have these! Isn't that counter to the purpose of the merits, which is to recognize that small percentage that goes above and beyond?” That's why I said the Membership category is different. All other merits are to recognize those who have gone above and beyond in active service, and as such they'll recognize a small percentage of our membership. For this particular merit, however, you need to think of it with regards to the total number of members we've ever had. We've had a lot (and I do mean a lot) of people who have joined over the years; a significant portion of them have not stayed. This recognizes those who value our community enough to have stayed and participated.
Next up is our Events Leadership category, which recognizes those who have shown themselves to be consistent, active leaders in our real life events. The Silver level for this can be gained by being a Local Liaison one time, serving twice as a Committee Head, serving once as our Camp Nurse, being chosen by the appropriate Mistress of Revels and the Director of Events & Conferences twice as having demonstrated outstanding Committee leadership, hosting three Local Events that were planned in our Local Events forum, or performing an Extraordinary Service at an event (as determined by the leadership at that event).
The Gold level for this category can be gained by being a Local Liaison, Committee Head, or Camp Nurse three times, by hosting ten Local Events that were planned in our Local Events forum, or by being chosen five times for outstanding Committee leadership.
As with the Membership merits, if you serve along the same track enough to have earned a Gold, then the Silver you had previously earned goes away. So if you serve twice as a Committee Head, you will have the Silver. If you then serve again as a Committee Head, thereby giving you three times total, your Silver goes away and the Gold replaces it. Note – there is no Gold level for the Extraordinary Service.
You are able to hold multiple merits from this category. For instance, Riley Gaidin has served as Committee Head and as Camp Nurse enough times that he will hold a Gold for each, as well as a Silver for being a Local Liaison. However, he can only have each specific Gold once, which means that even when he has served as Camp Nurse six times, he won't have two Gold Camp Nurse merit badges.
The next category is Events Participation. This, obviously, recognizes those who participate in our real life events more than the average attendee. To gain a Silver for this, you must have participated in the Amyrlin's Tournament three times, participated in trivia three times, participated in the costume contest three times, participated on any committee three times, or attended ten Official Events.
Gold merits from this category can be gained by winning the Amyrlin's Tournament or by attending twenty Official Events.
For events attendance, once you have attended twenty events, the Gold replaces the Silver. You are awarded a Gold merit each time you win the Amyrlin's Tournament, but that is the only merit for which that is true (ie, you won't have two Silvers for participating in trivia 6 times or two Golds for attending forty events). You can hold multiple merits from this category. For instance, Valorian Gaidin has attended enough Official Events to have earned a Gold, plus he has won the Amyrlin's Tournament twice, earning him 2 Golds, plus he has participated in enough Amyrlin's Tournaments to earn him that Silver.
The next category is Online Spirit, which recognizes those who have gone above and beyond in making our online community more engaging. These are all Silver and can be earned in a variety of ways. Each Online Event gives an award to someone who has really participated in that specific event; these are called “Spirit of [Bel Tine/Shaoman/Feast of Lights]” awards. Earning two of these will gain you a Silver merit. Every six months, forum moderators and chat ops from the Department of Moderators will choose one person from each medium who really participated and made that medium fun, and those two people will be awarded a Silver. Epic pranks (such as Melana Sedai blowing up the Tower) can earn Silvers. Being awarded a Members' Choice Award will earn you a Silver as well.
You will earn Silvers for these as many times as you actually earn them. If you pull off an Epic Prank more than once, you'll get the Silver for it more than once. If you earn multiple Members' Choice Awards, you'll receive a Silver for each of them.
The next category is Wild Card. It recognizes those things that don't really fit into any other category and aren't as cleanly defined, but are still worthy of receiving recognition. These are all Golds. Receiving an Amyrlin's Award will earn you a Gold for each. Serving one full term as Head/Commander, Heart/Honor Guard, and Sitter/Councilor will earn you one. Serving as staff, administrator, and Executive will earn you one. Attending three Official Events on at least two different continents will earn you one. You can earn one by doing something epic that isn't defined elsewhere, usually given out by Officers.
You receive one Gold for each Amyrlin's Award and each Wild Card given to you. All others can be received only once. So, I will receive one Gold because I have received one Amyrlin's Award, one for serving as staff, administrator, and Executive, and one for attending three Official Events on at least two different continents. If I had been awarded another Amyrlin's Award, I would have two of those Golds, but not for any other path.
The next category is Administrative Service, recognizing those who serve in some capacity in our administration. It's a fairly straight-forward category. To earn a Silver, you must spend two and a half years in a staff position, two years as an administrator, one and a half years as an Executive, or one year as an Officer. This is time cumulative, not consecutive, which means that if you spend a total of two years between three administrator positions, you qualify for the Silver. This is not a mix and match sort of merit; you're not going to earn a Gold because you're spent eighteen months as a staff member and a year as an administrator. You must spend the amount of time in that level of position.
There is a Gold that replaces each Silver as you earn it. To earn the Gold, you must spend five years in a staff position, four years as an administrator, three years as an Executive, or two years as an Officer. Some positions (such as writer for the TVT) don't count for this category, as their service is counted elsewhere (usually under either Pro Bono or Publishers).
You can earn each one only once, though you can have one from each path. So, for instance, Riley Gaidin will hold two Golds from this category, as he has served in various staff positions totaling over five years and spent four years as an administrator. When he has served two years as an Officer, he will earn a third Gold for that time.
The next set of merits is for Pro Bono Service. This award is set up to recognize those who work eight hours a day doing something, and then they come home and do pretty much the same damn thing for us, providing us with a service for free that would otherwise cost us hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars without any real recognition amongst the community. You either have to really love our community or really love what you do in order to do that; we're choosing to believe that they just really love us that much.
To earn a Silver, you must provide legal, graphical, IT, HR, or financial expertise to the Tower free of charge for one and a half years in an unnamed. To earn the Gold, you must provide the Tower with one of those areas of expertise for three years in an unnamed position. So our legal consultants will receive the Pro Bono Merits to recognize their work and not Merits related to time spent as staff.
The next category is Publishers, meant to recognize those who contribute greatly to our written works. To earn a Silver, you must write one hundred articles for the Library, spend one and a half years consistently editing the Library as a volunteer, or write twenty articles for the Tar Valon Times.
To earn a Gold, you must write two hundred and fifty articles in the Library, spend three years consistently editing the Library as a volunteer, write fifty articles for the Tar Valon Times, or put in an exceptional effort in copywriting for our website. An example of this last would be Erin Sedai's long, exhaustive efforts in transferring webpages from our old website into Drupal.
The next set of merits comes from Raising the Next Generation and consists of all Silvers. You must complete six classes, teach three classes, or mentor ten members who advance one rank to receive a Silver.
So that's the current list! Again, we will examine things and add in more as necessary. This is a system designed to recognize those who give a significant amount of time and effort to better our community and make it stronger, so if we see an area we neglected, we will make the effort to correct it.
How do I get them?
We are going to have a temporary group of people working together to handle the initial rush of researching and awarding merits. Once that rush has died down and it's more into a maintenance mode sort of thing, we'll see if we still need a group or if just having one coordinator suffices.
For now, email merits@tarvalon.net with the ones you think you should get. Please read over the Membership Manuals carefully to know what you would and would not qualify for and what proof you need to submit to get them.
Once merits awarding older service are given and people are earning merits based upon new/current service, you can either email merits@tarvalon.net when you believe you have earned one, or you can wait for our manual tracking systems to catch up.
Sooo...rewards?
There are currently three awards associated with merits.
Signature and Profile Icons
As you earn merits, you will get access to icons that will go into your Drupal/Who's Who profile and minaturized versions for your signatures. You still have to follow signature rules, so you can't go crazy if you have a ton, but you'll be able to choose which ones you want to stick into your signatures. We also hope that those who receive Golds will be able to display up to 5 small badges below their avatars. Icons are currently in process in Marketing, so as those come out, we'll release them!
Bond +1
If you have the Senior Membership Gold Merit plus any other four Gold merits (not including the Membership Gold Merit), you will gain one additional bond slot from your current limit. This means that for members of all Companies and all Ajahs except Green and Red, you would be able to bond two people. Green Aes Sedai would be able to bond three Warders, and Red Aes Sedai would be able to bond one. Just because you have this additional bond slot doesn't mean that you have to use it; it is simply there as an option should you wish to.
Events Ticket Discounts
If you have the Gold merit for attending twenty Official Events plus one other Events Gold merit plus any other three Gold merits (only one Gold Merit from the Membership Category counts towards the three others), you will receive 10% off of your tickets to attend our Official Events (excluding conferences).
When will these be awarded?
Our plan is to roll out the first set of these at the North America Anniversary Party in two weeks. After that, they will be awarded more sporadically, as we get to them. For the first few months, however, they should be awarded fairly regularly.
Other Notes
Please, please view the Membership Manual portions for this system before you email merits@tarvalon.net requesting merits. Those pages have important information, such as what kinds of proof will be accepted for proving that you've hosted Local Events for which we have no records, and other important information.
Please give us time and realize that we're going to be inundated in the beginning, plus we're going to be figuring out a tracking system, plus we're going to be doing research. Don't be upset when it's not awarded immediately. You're not the only one in line.
If you have any questions, please email merits@tarvalon.net. I'll answer them as I'm able.
Now what?
You get a cookie for reading all that!
If you think you qualify for one (or more) of the Merits, go ahead and email merits@tarvalon.net with the information requested in the Membership Manual. If you want to nominate someone, do the same.Bullet Points!
Bullet points for those of you who want them. :P
Membership Category
- Membership merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Silver: 2.5 consecutive years as a member[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: 5 consecutive years as a member[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: 2.5 cumulative years as a Senior Member[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: 5 cumulative years as a Senior Member[/*:m:1kxail4o]
Events Leadership Category
- Local Liaison Merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Be a Local Liaison 1 time.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Be a Local Liaison 3 times.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Serve as a Committee Head 2 times.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Serve as a Committee Head 3 times.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Serve as Camp Nurse 1 time.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Serve as Camp Nurse 3 times.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Be chosen 2 times as having demonstrated outstanding Committee Leadership.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Be chosen 5 times as having demonstrated outstanding Committee Leadership.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Host 3 local events.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Host 10 local events.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Perform an extraordinary service for someone or the Tower at an Official Event.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
Events Participation Category
- Participation Merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Participate in the Amyrlin's Tournament 3 times.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Participate in trivia 3 times.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Participate in the costume contest 3 times.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Participate in committees 3 times.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Win the Amyrlin's Tournament.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Attend 10 Official Events/Conferences.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Attend 20 Official Events/Conferences.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
Online Spirit Category
- Spirit Merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Receive 2 “Spirit of _____” awards, given out for each of our online festivals.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Be chosen as a great participant for the forums or chat.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: If you perform an epic prank (think Melana Sedai blowing up the Tower), you can receive this Silver merit.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Every Members' Choice Award you receive will also get you one Silver merit.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
Rock Star Category
- Amyrlin's Award Merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Each Amyrlin's Award you receive will get you this Gold Merit.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Serving as the Head/Company Commander, Heart/Honor Guard, and Sitter/Councilor for your Ajah/Company will gain you this Gold Merit.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Serving in a staff position, as an administrator, and as an Executive will gain you this Gold Merit.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Attend Official Events on at least two different continents to receive this Gold Merit.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: If you do something really, really off the charts epic to help someone, you just may receive this Merit.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
Administrative Service Category
- Staff Merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Serve in staff positions for 2.5 years.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Serve in staff positions for 5 years.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Serve as an administrator for 2 years.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Serve as an administrator for 4 years.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Serve as an Executive for 1.5 years.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Serve as an Executive for 3 years.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Serve as an Officer for 1 year.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Serve as an Officer for 2 years.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
Pro Bono Category
- Pro Bono Merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Provide legal, graphical, IT, HR, or financial expertise to the Tower free of charge for 1.5 years in an unnamed position.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Provide legal, graphical, IT, HR, or financial expertise to the Tower free of charge for 3 years in an unnamed position.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
Publishers Category
- Editing Merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Spend 1.5 years consistently editing the Library.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Spend 3 years consistently editing the Library.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Write 20 articles for the TVT.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Write 50 articles for the TVT.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Write 100 articles for the Library.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Write 250 articles for the Library.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Gold: Put in an exceptional effort in copywriting for our website, and you might be awarded this Gold merit.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
Raising the Next Generation Category
- Mentoring Merit[list:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Mentor 10 members who rise at least 1 rank.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Participate in and complete 6 classes.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
- Silver: Teach 3 classes.[/*:m:1kxail4o]
