The Dark Network operates under a Status System. There are more than 100 levels. The higher your level the more power you have on the site.
Advancement
When you sign up for a free Vampire Rave account, the system tracks your site usage. It keeps track of how many pages you've viewed and how much time you've spent here. As you spend more time here your status increases. A number of things are taken into consideration. Your overall status is based upon the following:
50% is based upon your Time Spent
50% is based upon your Pages Viewed
These two statistics form your Base Score. Bonuses and Penalties are then applied to your Base Score, forming your Total Score. Your Total Score is your Vampire Rave Status Level.
Bonuses
There are 12 Bonuses. 5 of these can be negative (a Penalty) and can adversely affect your Total Score.
Ratings
This Bonus can range from 0% to 5%. It takes into account the total number of things you have rated.
Database
This Bonus can range from 0% to 10%. It takes into account the total number of entries you've added to the database.
Forum
This Bonus can range from 0% to 5%. It takes into account the total number of public forum posts you've made.
Profile
This Bonus can range from -3% to 3%. It is based on your Profile rating. If you have not set a Profile up, your Profile rating is zero and this Bonus will be -3%. Creating a Profile and getting it favorably rated is one of the quickest things your can do as a new member to increase your Total Score.
Journal
This Bonus can range from 0% to 3%. It takes into account how many members have marked your Journal as a favorite.
Friend
This Bonus can range from -3% to 3%. It takes into account how many friend lists you are on. It does NOT take into account how many members YOU have marked as a friend. Friend lists on the Dark Network are one-way in nature. If you mark someone as a friend they may or may not mark you as a friend in return. Due to this one-way relationship, the number of members who have marked you as a friend is directly correlated to how well you are liked on The Dark Network.
Blocked
This is a pure Penalty, as the value of this Penalty can only range from -3% to 0%. This penalty measures how many members have blocked you, and therefore, how much you are disliked.
Overblock
This is a pure Penalty. The value is either -10% or 0%. This penalty measures how many members you have blocked. If you have blocked more than 25 members you are assessed this penalty.
Society
This is an all or nothing 1% bonus. If you are in a Vampire Rave Society and have posted to your Society Forum in the past 48 hours, you're awarded this bonus.
Mark
This bonus can only have values of -10%, -5%, 0%, 5%, 10%, or 15%. Marks are a function of Vampire Rave Societies and are more fully covered on the Vampire Rave Society FAQ.
Mentor
This is an all or nothing 1% bonus. If a Dark Network Mentor is mentoring you, you're awarded this bonus.
Referral
One of the higher bonuses, this bonus can range from 0% to 15%. It takes into account how many members you've referred to The Dark Network.
For a more complete overview of the Dark Network Status System, Bonuses and Penalties, and how they are applied, please refer to the Vampire Rave Manual, chapter Status System.
Whenever you log into the Dark Network you Status is automatically updated. Additionally, you can manually update your Status every 10 minutes via the Update Your Status page.
A commonly asked question, is How much time do I have to spend on the site to advance to level _______ ?
There is no one answer to this question. The Dark Network Status System is very complex. This means where one user at a certain level viewed X number of pages to advance to level X, another user may require more or less page views to reach the same level. Bonuses and Penalties have very large impacts on your Total Score. If you spend more time rating, posting to the Forum, and rating Database entries your Status will climb much quicker than another member who has done none of these things, but who has spent more time on the site.
There is no cap to the Status System. Levels continue on indefinitely.
Source: The VR Manuel
