Below is a list of ranks, the access and privileges that come with said ranks, and how one might go about obtaining those ranks:
- The people who are the primary driving force of Project Utumno. Final decision makers. A Developer has access to all forums, all restricted material, and all areas of the main site. A Developer's decisions and suggestions are weighed first and must contend only with the vote of other Developers. Must be trusted and known by a majority of the other Developers and must have a serious interest in contributing to Project Utumno. Any Developer may veto the invitation of any new Developer candidate. Developer candidate invitations will be extremely rare. Please do not ask to become a Developer. We'll contact you when we are ready to promote you to Developer.
- The people who are trusted and known by at least one of the Developers. Creators have access to all forums, almost all restricted material, and almost all areas of the main site. A Creator's decisions and suggestions are weighed very heavily and must contend only with the vote of other Creators and Developers. To become a Creator, email or private-message your wishes to a Developer that you have met in person at some point. The Developer may choose to nominate you for no reason, or only after you demonstrate some level of dedication, or they may choose not to nominate you for any reason. The Developer will nominate you by posting on the forum. Other Developers will have an opportunity to object to your nomination. It rarely happens, but it might. Provided no objections are voiced from another Developer, you become a Creator.
- Anyone, known or unknown by the Developers, who contributes valued material or ideas like graphics, music, story concepts, sound effects, game code, etc. Contributors have access to all forums and some select restricted material. Posts made in the Development section of the forum may require Developer review and approval before they appear. A Contributor's decisions and suggestions are weighed very heavily and must contend only with the vote of other Contributors, Creators, and Developers. To become a Contributor, send material to utumno@medicinestorm.com or post a link to it in the General section of the forum. We don't steal other people's materials or claim their work as our own, but for legal purposes please see . Contributors may be invited to participate in beta tests of the game. Contributors may be granted a free early copy of the game.
- Anyone, known or unknown by the Developers, who contributes a universal commodity (money, meal coupons, gold, etc.) to further the progress of Project Utumno. Sponsors have access to public forums and read-access to the Development forum. Responses to posts in the Development section of the forum should be emailed or private-messaged to one of the Developers or Creators. A Sponsor's decisions and suggestions are weighed heavily, but they must contend with the decision of other Contributors, Creators, and Developers. Sponsors are encouraged to suggest ideas and concepts as they clearly have a interest in the success of the game. In the event the game produces revenue, donations are not connected to compensation or earning revenue shares. To become a Sponsor, visit the Donate section of the main site (http://utumno.medicinestorm.com/index.php?area=Donate) or contact us at utumno@medicinestorm.com about donating something. Currently, the minimum is anything valued at 5 U.S. Dollars or more. You may donate less than that if you wish, but it doesn't come with an automatic promotion to the Sponsor rank. Sponsors may be invited to participate in beta tests of the game. Sponsors may be granted a free early copy of the game.
- Anyone, known or unknown by the Developers, but trusted by the Developers, who is familiar with forum navigation and maintenance. Moderators help users navigate the forum, answer technical questions about the forum, enforce forum rules, and help maintain useful and organized topic threads. Moderators also have the authority to ban disruptive members and remove spam posts. Moderators have access to all forums and certain restricted areas of the main site. Moderators are considered Registered Users with regard to decisions and suggestions of the game project. To become a Moderator, contact us at utumno@medicinestorm.com and indicate your experience and skills with websites and/or forums. Further questions and instructions will follow.
- Any person interested in this game and a fan of the work we are doing. Registered Users have access to read and post topics in the public sections of the forum and email us comments and suggestions as well as ask any questions they may have. To become a Registered User, visit $2, agree to the terms and follow the instructions. Note: being a Registered User is a prerequisite for promotion to any of the ranks listed above. A Registered User's decisions and suggestions are weighed, but they must contend with the decisions of ranking members. Registered Users are encouraged to make suggestions and ask questions because they are the ones that will be playing the game, so we want to know what they think would make the game great.
Many decisions are made by majority vote of Developers, Creators, Contributors, and Sponsors. The weight of your vote is automatically directly proportional to your frequency of involvement. Polls, votes, and major decisions are usually only open for about a week and may be presented by any Developer at any time. Important polls should be marked as "Announcements" for the same duration the poll is active. If only 2 members are active during that week, then each of those member's votes count for 50% of the total decision. Members who were not active during the decision-making period have no bearing on the decision at all and get no say in it's outcome. In other words:ou choose your own level of involvement!