Who's Who: Meridian Social Structure 101

Within Meridian 59, all people are created equal -- and some are more equal than others. What follows is your field guide to whose ring you kiss, who you watch out for, who makes the rules, what happens when you break them, and how you get ahead in this ever-changing social landscape.

The Guardians

The Guardians are supernatural beings created by the Gods to maintain the harmony of Meridian. As higher powers with keen insight into human nature, they benevolently wield their god-given powers in the service of the Law. You can tell you're dealing with a Guardian because his or her name starts with the word "Guardian" and it appears in blue over his or her head.

The Guides

The Guardians have given a portion of their powers to Guides to assist them in watching over the citizens of Meridian. You can tell you're dealing with a Guide because his or her name starts with the word "Guide" and it appears in blue over his or her head. The Guides main purpose is to assist players with questions about the game, help new players understand the world of Meridian, and extend the Guardians' "eyes" and "ears" to spot violations of the Meridian License & Service Agreement.

You can easily tell which Guides or Guardians are currently available in Meridian by typing "who" at the text line. You will see a list of all players; Guides and Guardians will be annotated as such and their names will appear in blue.

If you need to summon a Guardian or Guide at any time, type Appeal at the text line, followed by a short explanation of your plight. This should be used in emergencies only. All Guardians and Guides currently inside Meridian 59 will see it, and attempt to help you. You should contact a Guardian or Guide immediately if you feel that another player is violating the Terms of Service!

Murderers and Outlaws: About Player Killing

As you wander the highways and byways of Meridian 59, you'll notice that most people have their names hovering over their heads for easy identification. You'll also notice that most of these names appear in white...and, occasionally, you'll see one that's red or orange. These people belong to the ranks of murderers and outlaws, respectively.

Murderers

People with red names are Player Killers (colloquially known as PKers): people who have deliberately killed another Meridian citizen in cold blood or the heat of combat. While they may appear to be reasonably nice people, you should be aware that these murderers live with a large burden of social and spiritual sanction. Here's what they're dealing with:

• Any Meridian citizen can kill a murderer. Though you don't do your karma any favors, you will not become a PKer in turn: in fact, the Gods and Guardians passively view those who dispense this kind of ad hoc justice as providing a useful service for the community as a whole.
• When an innocent person is unjustly murdered, his or her spirit lives on in the form of a revenant -- a powerful, invisible being that dogs the murderer's every step, and attacks with vicious force every time he or she tries to rest. The struggle between murderer and revenant is to the death, and will continue until only the stronger of the two survives. For this reason, PKers live as fugitives, constantly running from the revenant's cosmic justice.

The more good karma the dead citizen commanded, the more powerful his or her revenant will be. And even if you are lucky enough to kill a revenant, you will always bear the stigma of a murderer. Your friends and guild fellows are of no help in dealing with revenants: if they choose to get involved, they risk attracting a second revenant to deal with on their own.

The murder of another Meridian citizen is almost never an accident. The Gods, in their grace, have provided a safety mechanism that prevents you from accidentally killing an innocent bystander, or a comrade-in-arms who got a little too close while helping you fend off that troll.

The Allowed to attack innocent players option is located on the Preferences menu at the top of the screen. Most of this time, you'll want to keep this option set to OFF. If you make the conscious choice to murder a non-outlaw Meridian citizen, or to use a spell that creates widespread death and damage, remember to turn this ON before taking the death-dealing action.

Outlaws

In between heroes and murderers are outlaws: people who attacked innocent citizens without killing them, or careless magicians who have cast harmful spells in the presence of other people, some of whom got hurt as a result. Their names appear over their heads in orange. Though outlaws don't carry the heavy karmic freight that encumbers PKers, that orange name flag is a signal to you that the person underneath may have anti-social tendencies, and should be approached with caution.