Test of Marriage

Overview

The Test of Marriage is perhaps the easiest challenge you will have. Be forewarned, however: A spouse can use and dispose of your goods as they see fit, and can even log in as you!

New for T4: Same-sex marriages!

Principles

• Witness a wedding (see The Ceremony) requirement.)
• Introduce yourself to a potential mate (click on a player avatar of the opposite gender)
• Have a potential mate introduce themselves

NOTE: Completing a marriage ceremony as a bride/groom participant also satisfies the principle.

Demonstrate the Principle

What it took to unlock the test for Egypt:

Demonstrated by PetruxII in Nomad's Paradise on 2009-01-11.

Details

The Test of Marriage is passed by being part of a (or a series of - see Casanova Passes) 'successful' marriage(s). See the Scoring section for more detailed information.

Being married allows your spouse to:

• Spouse Warp to your location without the need for use of Travel Time. (If the spouse is offline, you travel to their last location)
• Freely access your belongings and buildings.
• Log into your avatar through the Utilities menu, and play as you with no limitations or restrictions, other than being unable to access the billing menu and password functions.

Marriage Ceremony

At a Common Altar:

• One person should clear the altar of any items, and meditate at it in order to clear and reset any previous interactions with it.
• The first partner places a medium diamond on the (Statue's) left focus.
• The second partner places a medium diamond on the right focus.
• Five witnesses click on the altar and choose to 'meditate'. The witnesses all need to meditate within a few seconds of each other, else it may be necessary to restart the ceremony.
  • The couple themselves do not meditate as part of the ceremony.

If you hear music, the ceremony was a success. If something goes wrong, just clear the items and the altar, and try again. Remember to take the diamonds back when you're done!

Divorce

Either partner may end a marriage at any time through an option available at an Essence of Harmony. Divorce is a completely unilateral decision -- the other partner's consent, knowledge or presence is not required.

This sometimes results in nasty property disputes and increased levels of Egyptian Drama.

Scoring

A marriage accumulates points equal to the product of the following amounts:

• The current length of the marriage (in TeppyWeeks).
• The total number of tests passed by both partners since the marriage began.(? see discussion)

Thus, if a marriage has lasted 8 weeks, and in that time the wife has passed 3 tests and the husband has passed 2, the total score of the marriage so far is 40, or 8 * (3 + 2).

Your personal marriage score is the sum of the scores of all the marriages you have been in so far.

Each week, the two individuals with the highest personal score pass the Test of Marriage. It is possible for only one partner in a marriage to pass in a given week, if one partner has points from a previous marriage and the other does not.

"Casanova" Passes

Having a long and productive marriage is not the only route to passing. There is a second option, which conflicts with the first. In addition to the test passes for the high marriage scorers, there are 2 additional test passes per week, and these go to the individuals who have been in the most marriages over time. These "Casanova" passes do not compete with the standard passes.

To gain credit for a marriage:

• Your spouse, not you, needs to have passed at least one test since the marriage began.
• You must remain married until your points = 1 (either for one week, or through a Sunday).
  • In other words, if you marry, your spouse passes a test, and you immediately divorce with points equal to 0, you will receive no credit for the marriage.

Casanova passes are not retained from one week to the next. If there is a tie (3 or more players), the pass(es) are lost.