RetroMUD has a very strict wizzing policy due to the unfortunate relationship we have with several MUDs, and the unpleasant actions of previous wizards. * YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO CODE. This does not mean you must have a perfect understanding of LPC. It does mean you should have enough ability to code a room, given that you are familiar with our particular mudlib. If you don't have the faintest idea what a mudlib is or how to code an object, don't bother. NOTE: You show some progress on an area within a MONTH of you wizzing! If you can't do that, don't bother. * YOU MUST HAVE A REPUTABLE SITE. It is an unfortunate circumstance that we have had many sabotage attempts, code stealing, and other nonsense that has made it extremely difficult to trust any wizard blindly. Even in cases where we feel the individual applying is trustworthy, wizards associate with other players from their site. We have no way of knowing whether or not this is really the case, so we have to assume it is (assuring us that it isn't doesn't mean much). What this means is that you could be an excellent coder, a trustworthy person, and turned down simply because your site has had individuals on it who have caused us trouble. It's an unfortunate but necessary restriction. * YOU MUST HAVE A SPONSOR. A sponsor is any archwizard or administrator. The said archwizard and administrator is responsible for teaching you the ins and outs of the mudlib code, making sure you code what you're assigned, and most importantly, is the person who has to answer for your actions should you fail to code anything. Sponsors indicate a wizard willing to trust you - that carries a lot of weight. * YOU CAN'T PLAY THE GAME AND WIZ TOO. This restriction came about as a result of having wizards who play the game and unintentionally using their wizardly knowledge to further their own ends. A wizard can't help but find out about level quests, can't help but hear about future changes that may negatively affect his character, and is all too tempted to come on and reimburse his character or his friends when he shouldn't. No matter how honest you are, no matter how much you try not to look at anybody's code, it's an inevitability that the wizard/player has advantages over his more mundane counterparts. NOTE: You MUST PERMANENTLY GIVE AWAY OR SELL your eq and leave your castle deserted. Too many wizards have player friends save their eq so they can dewiz at a later date. * YOU CAN'T BE REWIZZED. There are occassional exceptions to this, but chances are, unless we need your incredible coding skill, once you dewiz, you're dewizzed for life. The reason being that this is similar to being a wizard and a player simultaneously, instead in this case you take turns. Code an area, play for awhile, get bored with that and go back to coding an area. Likewise, wizards who dewiz do so with the knowledge that there's no going back. We do this because otherwise we get the "code-by- night" wizards who only want to code one area (the ultimate area of course) and then play in it as a player. Often we find the areas curiously lopsided to cater to that particular character. We want serious wizards who can potentially be archwizards, not mercenary hacks. NOTE: YOU GET NOTHING BACK WHEN YOU DEWIZ (no, not even your primal energy points anymore). * YOU MUST PLAY THE GAME. We do not accept players who are fifth level and ask to be wizards. We don't know anything about you. Even if you do have a long and glorious history of coding, we don't know you, and you don't know us, so we need to get to know each other - the best way is by playing the game. You also learn what it's like to be a player, and all the nuances that comes with playing. If you don't have the patience to do this, you certainly won't have the patience to code - most of all, no coder is "too good" to be a player. We're here to code for you guys, the best way to do that is to have player experience (but note, have player EXPERIENCE, not be a player). You must be at least 45th level to qualify as 'having played for awhile'. * YOU MUST BE ABLE TO WRITE. MUDs are based on written communication - Everything here is written for players to read. It's a necessary part of the medium. If you can not write well on a basic level, we can't afford to teach you - it takes too much time and energy on our part for very little return on yours. You don't have to be a genius when it comes to writing, but you must be able to write and spellcheck your own areas without having problems in every single room/monster/object that gets put into the game. If you think you have what it takes, if you're creative and open- minded, if you're not afraid to defend your points (note: we argue a lot over things), then ask the wizard sponsoring you, or Talien, to see if you can wiz. New wizards are ALWAYS welcome! |