Prestige

Prestige measures an elf's social standing based on their artistic output, audience reception, and fan following. High-prestige elves enjoy greater satisfaction and exert more influence over the settlement's cultural direction.

Overview

Every elf has a prestige score (0--100) and a prestige tier derived from that score. The prestige system runs every 50 ticks, recalculating scores from three inputs: recent Love reactions at revels, number of fans across the colony, and the size of the elf's composition portfolio. When an elf's score crosses a tier boundary, a PrestigeChanged event fires.

Prestige is not accumulated over time -- it is recomputed from scratch each cycle. An elf who stops performing and loses fans will see their prestige decline, especially once decay kicks in.

How It Works

Score Calculation

Every 50 ticks, the system scans three data sources for each elf:

1. Recent Love reactions -- the number of Love reactions the elf received as a composer in the last 5 revels (not the last 5 ticks -- the last 5 completed revel events, however far apart they were).
2. Fan count -- the number of elves across the entire colony who have this elf in their fandom list (i.e., who have Loved this elf's work and become a fan -- one Love is enough).
3. Portfolio size -- the number of finished compositions in the elf's portfolio.

These three inputs are combined into a raw score:

Score = (recent_loves x 5.0) + (fans x 10.0) + (compositions x 2.0)

After the raw score is calculated, decay may subtract from it (see below). The final result is clamped to 0--100.

Source: crates/er-sim/src/sim/systems/prestige.rs, prestige_system -- formula at the new_score computation.

Prestige Tiers

The numeric score maps to a named tier:

Tier transitions fire a PrestigeChanged cultural event. Rising above score 50 produces an emphatic message ("has risen to X status!"), while lower transitions use a neutral phrasing ("is now X").

Source: src/sim/components.rs, PrestigeTier::from_score -- threshold boundaries. src/sim/events.rs, PrestigeChanged -- event formatting.

Decay

Prestige decays when an elf stops receiving audience love. Specifically:

• If the current tick minus the elf's last Love tick exceeds 200 ticks, the system subtracts 1.0 from the raw score each 50-tick cycle.
• The last Love tick is updated any time the elf receives a Love reaction as a composer during a revel performance, not just during the prestige recalculation.

This means an elf who stops performing will lose 1 point per cycle after a 200-tick grace period. Since the score is also being recalculated from current data (recent Love counts, current fan count, current portfolio size), decay acts as an additional penalty on top of naturally declining inputs.

Source: crates/er-sim/src/sim/systems/prestige.rs, prestige_system -- decay branch at tick.saturating_sub(last_love) > 200. crates/er-sim/src/sim/systems/revel.rs, revel_tick_system -- prestige.last_love_tick = tick on Love.

The PrestigeChanged Event

When an elf's tier changes (up or down), the system emits a PrestigeChanged event containing:

This event has Notable priority -- it appears in the event feed but does not trigger a popup.

Source: src/sim/events.rs, PrestigeChanged variant and EventPriority::Notable.

Values & Formulas

Input Weights

The raw sum is clamped to 0--100, so in practice an elf with strong numbers in any two categories can reach Legendary.

Example Scenarios

Timing Summary

Interactions

Satisfaction

Prestige feeds directly into the satisfaction formula with a weight of 0.15:

prestige_bonus = prestige_score x 0.15

At maximum prestige (100), this contributes +15 satisfaction points. At zero prestige, it contributes nothing. This makes prestige a meaningful but not dominant factor in retention -- worth about as much as 3 friends or a perfect aesthetic fit.

Source: crates/er-sim/src/sim/systems/satisfaction.rs, satisfaction_system -- prestige_bonus = p.score * 0.15.

Settlement Aesthetic Center

High-prestige elves have more influence over the settlement's aesthetic center. When computing the mean aesthetic position, each elf's position is weighted by:

weight = 1.0 + (prestige_score x 0.02)

At prestige 0, the weight is 1.0 (equal voice). At prestige 100, the weight is 3.0 (triple influence). This means Legendary elves pull the settlement's aesthetic center toward their own taste, which in turn affects aesthetic fit for everyone else.

This creates a feedback loop: a Legendary elf's aesthetic preferences shape the settlement center, which improves aesthetic fit for elves who share those preferences and worsens it for those who differ. Over time, the colony's cultural identity converges around its most prestigious members.

Source: crates/er-sim/src/sim/systems/satisfaction.rs, settlement_aesthetic_center -- weight formula 1.0 + p.score * 0.02.

Fandom

Fandom is the primary driver of prestige. Each fan contributes 10 points to the prestige score. Fans are created the first time an audience member Loves one of an elf's compositions during a revel -- a single Love is enough. Each elf tracks up to 5 fan relationships, but prestige counts fans colony-wide, so a popular composer can accumulate a substantial fan base.

Love reactions during revels also reset the decay timer (last_love_tick), keeping prestige from eroding while the elf remains active.

Compositions

Each composition in an elf's portfolio contributes 2 points. This rewards prolific creators but at a lower rate than audience reception. A composer with 10 compositions but no fans and no recent performances would have a score of 20 (Emerging) -- respectable but not enough to reach higher tiers without audience engagement.

Revels

Revels are where prestige is earned. The prestige system counts Love reactions from the last 5 revel events. Performing consistently across multiple revels builds prestige faster than a single standout performance, since the window looks at 5 revels regardless of how much time passes between them.

Tips

• Fans are the strongest prestige lever. At 10 points each, even 2 fans bring an elf to Emerging. Focus on scheduling revels so your best composers get repeated exposure to the same audience members, which builds fandom.

• Portfolio compounds over time. Each composition is worth only 2 points, but they never go away. A veteran elf with 20 compositions has a 40-point floor before fans and Love reactions are counted -- enough for Established tier on portfolio alone.

• Decay is gentle but persistent. At -1.0 per 50-tick cycle, an inactive elf loses prestige slowly. But if they also lose fans (because fans expire or shift allegiance), the score drops from both the formula and the decay penalty simultaneously. Keep your top performers active.

• Legendary status influences everyone. Because Legendary elves weight the aesthetic center 3x, their tastes ripple through the entire colony's satisfaction scores. If your Legendary elf has unusual aesthetic preferences, other elves may suffer lower aesthetic fit. Consider this when deciding which composers to promote.

• Prestige smooths satisfaction. The +15 max from prestige can be the difference between an elf staying above their departure threshold and starting the countdown. If an elf is Discontented, boosting their prestige through a well-received revel can buy time. See Satisfaction & Departure for the full formula.

• Watch for tier-change events. A tier drop (e.g., Renowned to Established) signals that an elf is losing cultural relevance -- their fans may be drifting or their Love reactions declining. Schedule a revel featuring their work to reverse the slide.

• New elves start at Unknown. Every arriving elf has prestige 0. They need at least 4 Love reactions across recent revels (4 x 5 = 20) or 2 fans (2 x 10 = 20) to reach Emerging. Early revels are critical for integrating newcomers into the cultural fabric.