Help System

NAME
reward units - information on financial contributions to the success
                of Materia Magica, and syntax on the rewardunit
                command
SYNPOSIS
rewardunit - displays the amount of rewardunits you currently have

rewardunit transfer <amount> <target> <reason> - transfers reward
     units to the specified player (who must be online at the time),
     with reason <reason>.

DESCRIPTION
Materia Magica is a free entertainment service provided to most users
of the Internet by Ingenii Interactive Co. (http://www.ingenii.com).
In order to maintain the high quality of the service that has over
the years attracted over nine million visitors, we rely on the players
themselves to support the service.

Our contribution philosophy is based on the honor system, the idea that
"those who are able to contribute, do, those that aren't, don't". This
philosophy works.

Materia Magica is a success, entirely due to loyal and satisfied players
who contribute with money, time, and expertise, in order to keep the
systems that make up the Materia Magica IEN running.

Why should I contribute?
The Materia Magica IEN lives across multiple servers on a multi-homed,
Cisco-powered network with reliable, low-latency connections to the
Internet backbone. This network is further supported with dual-city
electric feeds, dual generators and a multiple UPS grid for redundant,
uninterruptable power. As you can imagine, this is not free.

Operating expenses, advertising, and hardware maintenance and upgrades
(such as adding new servers, more memory and disk storage to existing
servers, or CPU power upgrades) cost thousands of US dollars a month.

What do I get if I contribute?
Besides providing you the Materia Magica IEN, every time you contribute
financially to the services' success you will receive what is known
as "reward units" (ru). These reward units can then be traded at reward
unit-only shoppes in-game for access to special reward items. These reward
items can be used proudly in the world of Alyria, letting everyone who
sees them know that YOU support Materia Magica IEN.

Most of the reward items are indestructible, cannot be dropped, lost
in battle, mailed, stolen, or otherwise leave your character in any way.
Once received, a reward item is yours forever - you cannot transfer it
to another character, with the exception of a few items such as restringing
tokens, which can be traded with other characters.

To find out what's available, head over to Edric Van Pelt's reward unit
shoppe, located in the temple in the Towne of Rune. Edric stocks his
shoppe daily with interesting items available only to reward unit
holders.

The reward unit system is simple and gives additional rewards to those
who contribute more during a single transaction (please note remainders
are dropped):

Contributions $1   to  $10 receive reward units for 65 cents apiece.
Contributions $11  to  $60 receive reward units for 60 cents apiece.
Contributions $61  to $100 receive reward units for 56 cents apiece.
Contributions $101 to $150 receive reward units for 52 cents apiece.
Contributions $151 to $200 receive reward units for 49 cents apiece.
Contributions $201 to $350 receive reward units for 47 cents apiece.
Contributions $351 and up  receive reward units for 45 cents apiece.

How do I contribute?
CONTRIBUTE USING A CREDIT CARD OR CHECKING ACCOUNT
To contribute using a credit card or your checking account, Materia Magica
happily accepts the PayPal system, an eBay company. PayPal is fast,
secure, and best of all, it's free! To open a PayPal account, visit
the following URL:
https://secure.paypal.x.com/affil/pal=donate%40ingenii.com

Our PayPal account email address is donate@ingenii.com.

To contribute, go to http://www.materiamagica.com/support/get-reward-units
and verify the amount you wish to contribute.

PLEASE NOTE! If you contribute via PayPal using a credit card, you
MUST include your confirmed shipping address. This is the billing
address that your credit card gets sent to. Contributions sent without
the confirmed shipping address will be declined - it's safer for
both parties involved to protect from fraudulent credit card use.

CONTRIBUTE VIA POSTAL MAIL
To contribute via postal mail, please send check or money order
drawable on a US bank (out of country banks, Canadian banks, etc.
cannot be accepted - please see your bank about a US money order that
is drawable on a US bank), to:

Ingenii Interactive Co.
12407 N. Mopac Expressway
Suite #100-180
Austin, TX 78758-2499

The check or money order should be made payable to Ingenii Interactive
Co. Cash is accepted; however it is not recommended, as it is not
recoverable in the event the post office loses your mail. Ingenii
Interactive Co. accepts no liability for lost mail.

Please remember to include the following information with all
postal-sent contributions:

1. Your Player Name
2. Who gets the reward units, if the reward units are being sent as
    a gift
4. Your email address in case we have questions, and so we can
    notify you when we receive the contribution

Please allow 1-3 weeks for receipt and delivery if you are sending a
contribution by postal mail; 1-4 days if you are contributing via
PayPal.

TRANSFERRING REWARD UNITS
Once in your in-game reward unit account (REWARDUNIT shows the
amount of reward units in this account), reward units can be
transferred to another player within the game (the player must be
logged in at the time) using the REWARDUNIT TRANSFER <player>
<amount> <reason...> syntax.

Reward units can easily be traded in this way for other items
within the game. You may not trade reward units for anything outside
the game (i.e., real world cash).

It is strongly recommended that you engage the services of a Guide
(see HELP GUIDES) to assist in your reward unit transaction, if you
are trading. Guides can act as a form of "escrow", where they hold
the tradable items until both parties are satisfied with the deal.

DISCLAIMER
Remember that even if you contribute to the game, you are expected
to abide by the rules of conduct for all players. If you break
enough rules and your character(s) are removed as a result, all
of the reward units and reward items on the character(s) will be
removed as well. We reserve the right to restrict or remove any
player who violates the game rules, so please respect the game and
others. Obviously no one would contribute if this occured frequently,
but all players - even those who contribute - are expected to
obey the game rules.

Also, please realize that any contributions made using fraudulent funds
- such as with a credit card, Paypal account, or checkbook that isn't
yours - or even reporting the transactions as fradulent in order to
save some money months later - can result in the termination of your
account and the reporting of these financial activities to the
appropriate authorities.

REFUND AND EXCHANGE POLICY
There are NO REFUNDS for contributions, and NO EXCHANGES for items
traded for reward units. This is necessary in order to keep the service
free of monthly fees. Please make sure that the item you request to
trade for reward units is what you want. Items are not guaranteed to
remain unchanged their entire lifespan.

FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION ALTERNATIVES
It is understood that some players have limited budgets and are simply
unable to afford to contribute financially to the game. There are some
alternatives, involving effort on the part of the player, just as if
he or she were to get a job in real life. For more information, please
see "Earning Reward Units" on the Materia Magica web site, located at
the following URL: http://www.materiamagica.com/support/get-reward-units

We thank you for your dedication to Materia Magica and the world
of Alyria, and hope, with your support, to provide many years
of entertainment to come.

SEE ALSO
Donate, Hall Of Honor, Guides