Staff

Materia Magica is managed by a group of dedicated individuals, known in-game as "Immortals".

Immortals are an administrative class of players whose purpose is to assist the running of Materia Magica. Each Immortal has a different function; some Immortals add on to the game by building or updating areas; some handle player differences; some watch over the mortals on the game and enforce the rules when necessary. A lot is expected of Immortals, and most of the time when they are online they are busy doing five things at once. Therefore, if you must speak with one, please keep your request short and to the point. Most cases can be handled by Guides instead.

Do not ask an Immortal for special favors (such as additional experience or equipment); their main responsibility is to the game and its players as a whole, and they must maintain the internal game balance. Immortals follow a strict code of rules and procedures which limits what they can do. Please don't ask Immortals to give you specific information on how something in the game backend was programmed or built, etc.; they can't tell you.

Becoming an Immortal is by invitation only. There is no direct action you can take in the game to turn yourself into an Immortal; this only happens through a deliberate act by one of the Administrators. Immortals are selected from time to time as interested parties and the game's needs require. There are set requirements for becoming an Immortal in Materia Magica: You must be at least 18 years of age in the real world, have an active imagination, have excellent grammar skills, and have the ability to get along well with your fellow Immortals and players.

While the term "Immortal" exists within the game, Immortals are considered separate from the game world and exist outside the game's roleplaying structure.

Guiding Affirmations

Immortals improve the game.
Immortals make the game experience as enjoyable as possible for all players, not just their friends.
Immortals act impartially in all situations, do not let prior relationships affect their judgment, and recuse themselves when needed to avoid likely and significantly perceived conflicts of interest.
Immortals respect the players and realize that they are the reason they are here.
Immortals do not hinder, or otherwise stunt or harm the growth of the game.
Immortals do not stunt, harm or interfere with the character growth of any individual player.
When faced with an uncertain situation in which an authoritative decision is necessary, Immortals seek guidance from the Head of the Ministry under which the situation falls, or if unavailable and it is a time-limited matter, the Head of their Ministry.
Immortals are courteous to each other and help each other when possible.
Immortals set a good example for each other and for the players, whether as an Immortal or as a mortal character.
Immortals are as helpful as possible, within the spirit and letter of the rules.

Immortal Administrative Structure

The administrative staff consists of Ministries, each concerning itself with predetermined aspects of game administration. Each Ministry is headed by a specific Minister (an Immortal) who oversees and is responsible for all other Immortals in his Ministry.

Each Minister is responsible for allocating the resources of his Ministry with input from the Minister of Oversight and Planning to assure that the overall direction of each Ministry is in line with the current goals of the game. Each Minister assigns tasks and responsibilities to Immortals working in that Ministry and communicates the current priorities of the Ministry to its staff. Additionally, it is the responsibility of each Minister to make sure adequate resources and training is available to those Immortals working within his or her Ministry. Ultimately, the responsibility for success or failure of projects within a given Ministry belongs to the head of that Ministry.

Oversight/Plan
Construction
Special Projects
Enforcement
Coding
Player Relations

Ministry of Oversight and Planning

The Ministry of Oversight and Planning oversees all the other Ministries and handles overall project management, overall project assignments, new and existing Immortal training, Immortal rewards, Immortal discipline; maintains and upgrades the server host and Internet connection; and handles marketing and promotion of the game to the world at large. While Ministry heads are the focal point for each of their areas of concentration, all Ministers are responsible for answering and reporting to the Minister of Oversight and Planning.

Duties:

Oversight of the Ministry of Oversight and Planning Immortals and Bureaucrats, as well as oversight of the Ministers of all Ministries
Oversight of everything in the game
Future planning for the game and associated properties
Maintaining and improving quality standards throughout the game and associated properties

Ministry of Construction

The Ministry of Construction handles project management and project assignments within his jurisdiction; builds new areas; maintains and improves existing areas; and constructs new quests and maintains the Questmaster system.

Duties:

General oversight of the construction project-related duties of the Ministry of Construction Immortals and Bureaucrats, and direct oversight of Immortals who are primarily assigned to this ministry
Project management and assignments related to new construction, and/or related to existing construction areas not directly involved in tasks that cross other Ministries (such as Special Projects)
Adjusting, maintaining, improving new and recently-released areas until such time as they are decided by the Immortal Council to have become integral to the rest of the game (with multiple questmaster quests, multiple miniquest involvement, etc.)
Maintaining and improving quality standards across all quests
Maintaining, improving, and expanding documentation about construction projects in the game help files, website, and project management wiki

Ministry of Special Projects

The Ministry of Special Projects handles project management and project assignments within his jurisdiction; builds new global quest and miniquest areas; and maintains and improves existing global and miniquest areas.

Duties:

General oversight of the special project-related duties of the Ministry of Special Projects Immortals and Bureaucrats, and direct oversight of Immortals who are primarily assigned to this ministry
Project management and assignments related to developing, maintaining, and/or improving existing Miniquests or global quests that cross one or more areas
Project management and assignments related to maintaining, improving, and/or developing special projects that fall outside the realm of what could be considered ordinary construction; such as items or NPCs used for or produced by spells or other game code
Project management and assignments related to developing, maintaining, and/or improving existing quest items (both for the Questmaster system and miniquest/global quest reward items)
Maintaining, improving, and expanding documentation about special projects in the game help files, website, and project management wiki

Ministry of Enforcement

The Ministry of Enforcement handles project management and project assignments within his jurisdiction; is concerned with enforcing the game rules; and dealing with player-to-player related problems (reported in-game or through email, such as through the admin email account or the petition mailing list).

Duties:

General oversight of the enforcement-related duties of the Ministry of Enforcement Immortals and Bureaucrats and direct oversight of Immortals who are primarily assigned to this ministry
Oversight and management of enforcement of game rules and guidelines
Maintaining, improving, and expanding documentation about enforcement and the game rules and guidelines in the game help files, website, and project management wiki

Ministry of Coding

The Ministry of Coding handles project management and project assignments within his jurisdiction; maintains and improves the underlying core of the game engine - adding new features and expanding existing ones; provides code enhancements for the other Ministries as necessary (usually for the Ministry of Construction); and quality assures the final product through testing.

Ministry of Player Relations

The Ministry of Player Relations handles project management and project assignments within his jurisdiction; helps new players acclimate to the game environment; maintains and updates the game website; manages the game helpdesk system; oversees the Player Guides (players who are designated "helpers" within the game); constructs and outfits character housing and clan halls; answers players' non-enforcement-related questions (either in-game or through the game helpdesk system); and helps keep the overall environment of the game as entertaining as possible.

Immortal Application

If you are interested in becoming an Immortal in Materia Magica, are over 18 years of age, and feel you meet the other aforementioned qualifications, you may submit an application.

No files