Policy: Guests, Visitors & Applicants

Post by **Faustus** » Mon Aug 22, 2022 11:35 pm

Plains of Turia groups non-members into four categories:

Guests - by default, any non-member is classified as a guest. While they might have registered an account for these forums, their access is significantly restricted; they do not have access to the room Discord server; they are not permitted to use the Narrator pulldown. Guests are absolutely welcome and encouraged to come in, chat (while keeping public OOC to a minimum), get to know people, roleplay and see if they're interested in putting down roots. Eventually (there's no set timeframe, but 2-4 weeks is probably about right) a guest will be encouraged to either apply for membership, or move along.
Visitors - any member of a home with which we have a standing agreement will be considered a visitor. Visitors have more access to the roleplay-focused boards (Citizen Rolls, Slave Registry, Messengers, Board RP, and Judgements), no access to the room Discord server, and are not allowed to use the Narrator pulldown. Unlike guests, there's no time limit on their welcome - visitors from other homes we have reciprocal agreements with are welcome to enjoy their stay for as long as they like.
Applicant - as soon as any guest begins the process of applying for membership, they are considered an applicant. Applicants mostly have the same forums access that members do (save for the members-only discussion board), access to the room Discord server, and are permitted to use the Narrator pulldown with some additional restrictions (outlined in the Narration policy). Being an applicant is a temporary status that (ideally) ends with becoming a member.
The Venerari - are a special case that exist outside our standard structure. Admittance into the Venerari ("those who are revered") is a special recognition used to identify individuals who, despite not being members of our home, have our full-throated trust and support. There is no defined method of joining this group, and we don't expect there to be very many (if any at all) at any given time. Venerari have member-level access to forums, the Discord server, and Narration privileges (as outlined in the Narration policy).

We don't require non-members to identify themselves as such in their tags, though Visitors are expected to identify their home of origin. Applicants are allowed to include Applicant to Plains of Turia in their tags if they so wish, but it isn't mandatory.