All across Mythris, there are numerous groups that consist of a variety of creatures, ranging from the main species of wolves, to deer, or even rabbits. Any species that can be played is welcome to join a group, as long as the group accepts them. Groups are not limited by a ranking system and are free to adopt any organization and hierarchy they desire within the bounds of their group.
While we love having packs of all types, requirements are still set in place to prevent an overpopulation of groups. Leaders will have to follow these guidelines and practices in order to be officially recognized!
The base and bare bones are the best place to start if you’re looking to form a group. Mythris has many packs with different origins, purposes, and ideals. So, what are yours? Why does your character wish to make a group? What types of things would they value and support? What kind of hierarchy will they use? While not all of it is needed for your application, it’s nice to have answers so you can supply them to other characters, in-game. After all, groups need members and members like knowing what they’re signing up for!
Many players tend to opt in to using a Google doc, Carrd, or Trello to keep any and all needed information, in one place, that is easily accessible. Ideas for hierarchy, reasons for forming, religious beliefs, rituals, practices, and many more things are stored for your members (or potentially interested parties) to read!
A few things that should be considered, for your official group paperwork:
With your mind full of ideas and eager to make a group, let’s make sure your character is actually capable of being a leader. This has nothing to do with their personality and entirely with their activity and posting! Requirements for leaders change depending on the player. What exactly does that mean?
These rules only apply to players who already run a pack/group. It is to prevent a single player from running 50 different groups and taking over Mythris. So, as of now, leadership requirements increase for each leader a member plays. This post requirement will go up by 20 with each leader they own.
For characters that are purely placed in a figurehead position or bestowed a title of honor with no real power over the group, they do not have to reach any of these requirements. But, those that earn IC promotions to places of power MUST reach these requirements.
I did say groups needed members, didn’t I? To officially form, every group needs at least four founding members, not including the leader (for a total of 5 members). Of course, the more the merrier! There is no maximum to how many founders you can have! Here is all the info needed to know, regarding your founding members!
So, you think you can dance? want to claim a territory? That’s great! This is technically optional, since we allow nomadic groups to exist, however many opt in to wanting a homebase. There’s just a few tasks your forming group must do, to display they are actively claiming land.
Every group in Vivarium must have at least one Group Admin, and may have up to a maximum of three. While the Group Admins do not necessarily have to be the leaders, they are generally responsible for managing the group's OOC aspects, such as adding members, managing ranks, and updating the group page. It is mandatory to have at least one active Group Admin at all times. If Group Admins anticipate being inactive, they should have a designated second-in-command to take on responsibilities. However, if a second-in-command cannot be found, they should contact a staff member to discuss possible solutions.
Think you're all set? Let's have a quick look a tthe checklist, just to make sure!
You’re sure you have everything? Okay! If you feel confident, you are able to submit your group’s application! The staff team will go over all of the details once submitted, and if any issues pop up, we will reach out to you via PM on the site. We’re excited for your group's addition to Mythris!
If you have successfully created a group, then it would be very wise to read these sections, as well. While it may not have been easy to get this far, maintaining a group is also something that needs to be done.
Vivarium allows for characters to have “dual membership”, meaning they can be a member in one group and an honorary member in others. However, characters can only have one primary group. Their primary group is where they will be counted towards the total number of members. Honorary members do not add to the pack/group’s total number of members.
It’s very important to figure out which group will be your character’s primary. The reason being groups must always have a minimum of five characters (played by different members) actively in their ranks. Choosing one group as a primary, over another, could potentially endanger their population requirement!
One of the easier things to maintain would be your group’s territory. Bear in mind, groups may only claim one territory total. Claimed territories will be labeled on the map with the resident group’s name. As long as your members are actively around the area and the pack is recognized as an official group, then that territory will remain yours.
Any threads marked “PRP” by a non-member is open to any member from the resident group. This ONLY applies if the group officially owns the land and the thread is not dedicated to any group members.
Now would be a good time to explain our Group Strike System, this is to ensure our groups are meeting their mandatory requirements.
Similar to our member strike system, if three strikes are earned then the group must be disbanded. Fear not! Even if a group is disbanded, they can always reapply to be officialized, in the future.
If a group earns a strike, it will remain active on their record for three months. After three months have passed, the strike can be removed. However, if a second strike is earned during this time period, the first strike’s three months will be reset and the second strike will expire after four months.
If a strike is earned while there are still two active strikes, the group will be disbanded and must wait five months before reapplying to be an official group.
While leaders cannot force activity, it is up to a leader to be aware of the group's numbers. The group must have five members at all times, this number includes the leader(s). Group leaders should be aware of members that are becoming inactive and are encouraged to reach out to their members that they believe could be going inactive. Please keep this nifty little checklist handy when trying to verify your group is meeting activity requirements.
Failure to maintain these requirements will result in pack strike. Packs will have a 2 week grace period to gain another member, failure to do so will result in disbandment.
On top of member activity requirements, there are also leader activity requirements. Unfortunately, these parameters are a little bit more strict. When you think about it, maintaining a group IC is a lot of work for a character, so we would like this to be reflected with activity.
We understand real life happens, and sometimes this goal can’t be met. So, staff have created a helpful option, should you need to utilize it. Leaders have the option to bypass a monthly check in, should they not be able to post. We ask you please read and respect the listed rules below.
Failure to maintain this requirement will result in a choice: getting a pack strike or demoting the leader that failed the check — there must be another leader or a character that can be promoted IC. Leaders will have a 2 week grace period to make a post, failure to do so will result in forfeiting leadership and face potential disbandment.
If your character would no longer like to associate with their current pack, due to IC events, we ask that you communicate with the leader OOC. This is so your character can be removed from their ranks and group records, it’s also helpful for them to keep track of their group’s member activity and numbers!
Should a leader choose to remove a character, due to IC events, we ask that you send a notification to the relevant player(s) as a friendly heads-up.
At least one thread IC should be posted demonstrating their exit from the pack, be it the character’s choice or the leader’s choice. Don’t worry, if they’re sneaking off, it can even be a 'one-shot' thread demonstrating them running away!