Hi all,

I've seen a lot of great debate and discussion about the new XP system since we officially put the organization on the path. One of the biggest concerns, or unknowns, is how medals will work going forward.

• Awarded for XP
  They will continue to be awarded, in such a way that XP that is earned by a member, can be used by leaders to award that member. So you can easily reference the data to see exactly how much XP you need to earn, in order for leaders to grant you a medal. Once awarded, that XP is spent and matched off against the medal.

Example: You earn 450 XP for doing competitions and earning society ranks. Your leader can award an Anteian Cross and consume those XP giving you a medal. You earn 0 XP for the medal because you have already received the XP associated with the award.

• Awarded for projects
  That said, medals can also be awarded for activity not on the dossier. Completing a project. Running a workshop. Any of the things you could award medals for before, that weren't tracked on a dossier, can still be awarded. However instead of consuming XP, these medals will grant XP.

Example: You create a new course for the Shadow Academy, the Headmaster awards you a Steel Cross, you are granted 1012 XP along with the medal.

• Awarded for a combination of both
  To add to this, leaders can also award a combination of both. If you have some XP for dossier activity which hasn't been used in a medal yet, and also have project work completed. You can combine them into a higher medal.

Example: You earn 1500 XP for doing competitions and earning society ranks. You create a new course for the Shadow Academy worth a Steel Cross and 1012 XP. Instead of a Steel Cross however, you are awarded a Grand Cross which is 2278 XP. 1266 XP earned on the dossier is used, and 1012 XP is brand new and granted towards your next promotion for the project work.

So what does this mean for a new member experience. Will members get more medals? Or less medals? Well one thing changed, which is that promotions no longer consume any activity. In the past it was double dipping but that is basically built in now. Without promotions consuming activity, and looking at how much XP is earned on the way to different ranks new members will actually get more medals than before in the new XP system.

To track this, and show the logic in balancing I put together a list of events which would occur as a new member joined, someone who only did dossier tracked activity and never once did anything worth awarding otherwise. This member would earn 1 DC, 1 AC, 1 SC, 2 GC, 2 SB and 2 AK before they ever reached EQ4. If you know how sacramental awarding went in the past you'll know this is trending probably more than it has been in the past but in discussion with the MAA it's where it should be.

I put this table below to show, how this plays out and when medals can be awarded consuming the XP earned for dossier tracked activities. It looks at XP earned on the way to each rank, and checks it against what's consumed by medals along the way. Showing how frequently and what medals can be earned at the current rank thresholds and values of each medal. Of course how long it takes to earn XP plays into the experience and maybe you save up for a first AK before your second SB, or grab lots of GC. It's all up to the leader to know how long it's been since a member was awarded, and how much XP they've earned and keep awards coming.

You can find more explanation of medal awarding in XP on the XP Policy page.

As always, any questions please share them here, the MAA will be updating their policies to reflect as noted in the earlier announcement. I just wanted to send this out to be clear about the path forward with medals as we implement it so everyone understands the experience and plan put in place when we moved forward with the current values.

Regards,
Evant Taelyan