Xp Guide
Experience points are one of the means we have for showing character progression on Arx, as a means that a character can permanently increase their statistics, skills and special abilities. Experience points, shortened to 'XP' which can be viewed under the 'i' (inventory) command, are earned through different role-playing orientated activities on the game and represent a character learning and training.
XP is earned through several main methods: voting, journals, random scenes and first impressions.
1. Voting (see 'help vote'): Using the vote command, players can vote for other characters to receive experience by the end of the week. The 13 votes a player has to give out per week are tracked by account, and are given blindly. Other players are not informed who voted for them and gave them xp, as this is supposed to be a reward for fun or exceptional role-playing, and not something to be expected nor given out for other OOC reasons. The amount of xp received per vote scales based on the number of votes received. This is to try to help players that have much less time per week to RP, to make the fewer number of scenes more meaningful from a character growth standpoint.
2: Journals (see 'help journal' and 'help +relationship' and 'help vellichor'). Updating a white journal, black journal, or a character relationship awards xp up to a maximum of 7 per week per account: 4 for the first journal, 2 for the second, 1 for the third. Journals are a means of tracking the development of a character's story, to write ICly about things that progress, the horrible things they have endured or wish to inflict upon others, or lying through their teeth about how they are an angelic being free from all worldly sin. Aside from the potential hilarity and stirring up more RP, it helps keep continuity for future players by giving them records of what occurred in the past in the own words of the characters.
3. Random scenes: The '@randomscene' command is a list of characters that exist as RP bounties that someone can claim once a week by going and having a scene with them, and then using the @randomscene command that the other player then validates for a meaningful RP experience. All new characters that come off the roster are available for @randomscenes for two weeks from when they first start, so there is always an xp incentive to roleplay with new players. The @where command can also filter just to potential randomscene targets, so someone can use that and then visit available characters for randomscenes and potentially have xp rewards for doing so.
4. First impressions: The +firstimpression command will give a significant xp reward (4 xp) to a character it is written about, and provides an incentive for them to do so in return, to reward player characters for creating a new relationship with other characters and seeking out new players to expand their RP circle. There is a further xp reward for making this public knowledge with the /all and publish switches, but since that could be ICly incriminating not all firstimpressions should be public.
The xp command itself is then used to raise skills, stats, or abilities. Typing 'xp' with no filters will show all trainable options. Finding a trainer to 'teach' any of the skills will significantly reduce cost. The teacher need to have at least 1 point above what they are trying to teach, and the teaching skill increases the discount past a 20 percent base discount 5% per level of teaching.