Recognition / "Contest"

Basics

One of the truly unique features of Dark Ages is recognition. Players can create works of Art, Biography, History, Literature, Lore and Philosophy. They are then submitted under one of their Dark Ages character's names for recognition by the Mileth College.

If a work is successfully recognized it will become part of what is known as the 'Library of Loures' and the character who submitted it becomes a member of the in-game nobility.

This system of recognition is most commonly known as 'The Contest'.

History

From 1999 until early 2003 players competed against one another for recognition in scholarly contests personally judged by the Dark Ages Game Director.

Following this a number of different systems were tried, including:

• (~2004-2005): A very scaled back system with infrequent per-subject submissions judged by Kru
• (~2006-2007): A similar system that allowed existing nobles to vote on submissions
• (~2008-2009): System administered by Knights that required entrants to physically speak their submissions out loud in the College Hall

Around 2010 the current system of submissions at any time, using education points earned from attending college classes, that would be peer reviewed by fellow nobles under the direction of an Aisling Contest Host (called a Chancellor from 2021 onward) was implemented.

Although recognition has not involved actual competition for nearly twenty years, most players will still say "The Contest" when talking about recognition.