Karma & Emblems
A non-economic reputation layer used for Union eligibility, governance participation surfaces, and forward-only social recognition.
Overview
Karma & Emblems define the social layer of PVERSE inside Game Lane. This page describes how reputation is represented, how Union participation may be gated, how governance participation surfaces may derive weight from forward-only records, and how recognition can be displayed without becoming an economic or protocol truth surface.
Karma is not a reward currency, not a yield multiplier, and not a hidden gameplay buff. It is designed as a qualification and weighting layer for social systems. Emblems are recognition markers that may be displayed in the web game, but they are not authoritative sources of truth. Authoritative eligibility and participation logic must derive from recorded karma state and rule-defined validation, not from cosmetic presentation.
Scope
This page defines the non-economic reputation layer used inside Game Lane for social eligibility, governance participation, and symbolic recognition.
- karma types, weighting logic, and social meaning
- eligibility surfaces for Union creation, participation, and roles
- governance participation boundaries and weight interpretation
- emblems as non-authoritative cosmetic recognition markers
Core Model
The core model separates economic value from social legitimacy. Mining, refining, forging, and ownership define world-economy value. Karma defines reputation and participation qualification. Emblems define visible recognition. These layers must remain distinct so that reputation does not become purchasable and cosmetics do not become hidden governance truth.
- karma is non-transferable, non-tradable, and non-economic
- emblems are display-layer recognition, not authoritative eligibility state
- Union is the canonical in-world social organization term
- all material karma changes and interpretations remain forward-only and auditable
Operational Behavior
In normal operation, karma is derived from game-lane events and verified transitions. Permanent Karma reflects long-term integrity and stable trust history. Activity Karma reflects recent participation and recency signal. A weighted combination of the two may be used to gate social participation such as Union creation, proposal rights, or governance vote weight.
Under abnormal or abusive conditions, the platform may tighten future eligibility thresholds, add anti-abuse checks, or update weighting logic prospectively. Those changes apply to future evaluations only. Past authoritative records remain preserved, and emblems remain cosmetic regardless of future rule updates.
Constraints
- Karma & Emblems do not define drop tables, refining success, forging yields, item rarity, or conversion economics
- this page does not define token allocation, vesting, market activation, or protocol guarantees
- exact source events, caps, floors, decay rules, and weighting curves beyond the canonical model may remain in SSOT
- UI and cached reputation displays may lag without changing authoritative eligibility state
Integrity Considerations
The integrity of this layer depends on keeping social legitimacy non-economic and keeping authoritative eligibility distinct from cosmetic presentation. If karma becomes tradable, it turns into a disguised economic surface. If emblems become authoritative, the system loses clean truth boundaries. PVERSE avoids both failures by deriving reputation from records and treating emblems as cosmetic only.
- authoritative karma state is computed from recorded events and verified transitions
- historical karma records are not silently rewritten retroactively
- eligibility and weight must derive from rule-defined state, not from UI badges or cached surfaces
Core Definitions
Karma
Karma is a record-derived reputation metric produced by game-lane events and verified transitions. It is intentionally non-transferable, non-tradable, and non-economic. Its role is to measure social qualification and participation signal rather than economic reward.
Emblems
Emblems are cosmetic recognition markers displayed in the web game. They can communicate history, distinction, or status presentation, but they are not used as authoritative sources of truth for eligibility, vote weight, or distribution logic.
Union
A Union is the canonical in-world social organization unit. Union systems may include membership, proposals, roles, and voting surfaces. “Union” is the canonical term and replaces alternate naming such as “Guild.”
What This Page Defines
- karma types and weighting model
- eligibility boundaries for Union systems
- governance participation rules and vote-weight interpretation
- emblems as non-economic recognition only
What This Page Does Not Define
- drop tables, refining success, forging yields, or conversion distributions
- token allocation, vesting, or foundational treasury policy
- market activation, swaps, liquidity policy, or protocol-layer guarantees
Karma Types
Permanent Karma (PK)
Permanent Karma reflects long-term integrity and stable reputation history. It changes slowly and represents durable trust. Exact sources, scaling behavior, and caps or floors, if any, are defined in SSOT.
Activity Karma (AK)
Activity Karma reflects recent participation and contribution signal. It is intentionally more reactive and time-sensitive than PK. Exact sources, recency rules, decay behavior, and caps or floors, if any, are defined in SSOT.
Total Karma Formula
Total Karma is computed as a weighted combination of permanent integrity signal and recent participation signal.
Permanent Karma provides stability. Activity Karma provides recency and participation signal.
Eligibility Surfaces
Union Creation Eligibility
Creating a Union may require minimum karma thresholds. The design intent is to keep Union creation tied to reputation history rather than short-lived activity spikes or trivial account churn.
- Union creation may require a minimum Total Karma
- additional constraints such as rate limits, cooldowns, or integrity checks may apply
Governance Participation Eligibility
Participating in governance surfaces such as proposal creation or voting may require minimum Total Karma and, where policy defines it, a minimum PK floor. This preserves legitimacy even when recent activity is temporarily elevated.
Role Eligibility Inside a Union
Union roles such as owner, admin, or moderator may require stronger thresholds than regular membership. Role evaluation references authoritative karma records rather than display-layer badges or stale client views.
Governance Weight Model
Voting Weight
Voting weight may be computed using Total Karma. This page defines the policy intent only. The exact weight function, such as linear, capped, or logarithmic interpretation, belongs to SSOT and its corresponding enforcement logic.
- no pay-to-win: weight must not be purchasable or tradable
- sybil resistance intent: PK anchors durable integrity; AK anchors recency and participation
- bounded influence: caps or shaping rules may exist to prevent domination
Proposal Rights
Submitting proposals may require minimum Total Karma and, where defined, a minimum PK integrity floor. Proposal gating is an eligibility surface, not an economic reward mechanism.
Forward-Only & Non-Retroactive Policy
Karma is forward-only. Past karma records are not rewritten retroactively. If corrections are required, they must appear as new additive events with references rather than as silent mutations of historical records.
Failure Boundaries & Abuse Resistance
May Degrade Safely
- UI display delays
- cached reputation views becoming stale
- leaderboard refresh lag
Must Not Fail
- authoritative karma computation from records
- eligibility gates for Union creation and governance participation
- non-transferable enforcement
- forward-only audit integrity
Abuse Boundaries
- karma is non-tradable and non-transferable
- karma does not grant direct economic yield
- karma cannot be directly purchased
- suspicious patterns may be constrained through rule-defined checks and future-only mitigation
Emblems
Emblem Scope
- cosmetic and identity-only recognition
- presentation may evolve under forward-only rules
- does not affect eligibility or governance weight by itself
Truth Boundary
Emblems are not truth sources. Eligibility and governance weight are derived from authoritative records and recorded transitions, not from display badges, UI state, or client-side caches.
Relationship to Other Lanes
- Whitepaper — protocol invariants, truth sources, finality, and non-retroactive guarantees
- Foundation — participation administration, intake, schedules, seasons, and status surfaces
- Game Lane — playable world mechanics and social systems such as Karma and Union
Future Expansion
This page may expand over time as PVERSE formalizes richer Union role structures, proposal surfaces, emblem categories, and stronger anti-abuse heuristics around social participation. As the Game Lane section matures, Karma & Emblems should remain the canonical social-layer policy page while SSOT defines exact thresholds, sources, and weighting implementation.
Summary
- Karma is a non-economic reputation layer used for Union eligibility and governance participation surfaces.
- Two components exist: Permanent Karma and Activity Karma.
- Total Karma = PK × 0.40 + AK × 0.60.
- Karma is non-transferable, non-tradable, and forward-only, while Emblems remain cosmetic recognition only.