A Golden Soul is a token of my appreciation given to those players who donate $25 by clicking on one of the logos below (links lead to secure transaction pages on the specified sites -- I never see your credit info at all):

Oh... it's an activation code which you type into your copy of Well of Souls, and which then sets your soul ID to a personal value. It looks something like this:

SOUL00128374663F34D (subCode C3D4)

The same code also works for the games Arcadia, and Rocket Club, so you get tons of value from your donation!

I send it to you via email after receiving your donation! It's easy! You can tell who has one, because their name appears in GOLD (ooooooooh!)

Oh, well... it's not like that. It's just what you get when you donate $25. You should only donate $25 if you have already gotten $25 of fun out of the game. You don't need to have a Golden Soul just to play the game. The game is free.

Of course it costs me money to run it, and hence the begging for donations. Plus my general love of money, I mean!

OH! That's what you want to know! Yes, there are a few practical advantages to having a Golden Soul, other than it simply turning your name a golden color in the player list of the game.

But those advantages aren't the real reason to donate. You should only donate if you've enjoyed the game and can afford the $25.

Oh Sorry, you'd probably like to know that wouldn't you? Well, of course, things change all the time, but as of right now, here is a list of the extra benefits you enjoy when playing Well of Souls:

• Your character name appears in Gold Text in the player list.
• You have my appreciation for your donation.
• The activation code can be entered into any copy of WoS, making it easier to move your game from one PC to another. (But remember, two computers with the same soul ID cannot play at the same time on the same server)
• This is also useful if you need to reformat your hard drive on your existing computer and want to continue using your existing characters without them being marked as modders. (note: A Golden Soul can NOT 'repair' a broken character.)
• You get unlimited use of certain "Golden Demo Features" like the Monster Radar (which otherwise only works for a brief demonstration period... well... 1,000 hours for the monster radar, but that's an unusual case.)
• Maybe someday there might be other Golden Demo Features... maybe.
• You get to use the "/monsters" command without getting marked a cheat.
• You don't have to see the 20 hour advertising popups when you enter the well. (Shown once after each 20 hours of gameplay.)
• You can talk to your pets (start your line of chat with their name)
• You can see who is on a MIX server before you connect.
• You get a slightly cooler icon on the player list.
• World Developers can choose to treat you differently in their worlds.
• If WoS ever does stop being free, you will have already paid...

I warned you the list didn't have anything all that special on it. Your donation should be based on love, not some sort of greedy anticipation, don't you think?

And, in case you're interested, Arcadians also see some extra benefits in Arcadia. Um.. like:

• Your character name appears in Gold Text in the player list.
• You have my appreciation for your donation.
• Maybe someday there might be Golden Demo Features... maybe.
• You don't have to see the 20 hour advertising popups.
• You can see who is on a MIX server before you connect.
• If Arcadia ever does stop being free, you will have already paid...

Um... er.. you know... and some junk.

Either that, or you have a serious masochistic impulse, but I appreciate your donation for any reason. Just click one of those links up at the top of the page and you'll be on your way!

I lovingly craft each Golden Soul by hand, so please don't freak out if it takes 24 hours for it to arrive in your in-basket!

Thank you! - Dan

Well, yeah. Cash in an envelope, attractive as it sounds, doesn't give either of us the security or instant gratification we deserve! Checks involve way too much standing in line at the bank. And don't even MENTION International Checks, my bank charges $35 just to deposit one of those.

Whether you donate to Synthetic Reality or not, your life will be improved by having a PayPal account. It's the way of the future... join us.... join us... one of us.... one of us...

Well, just that after paying $25 for one, you probably want to keep it for yourself, right? So if someone asks you what your activation code is, or if they ask you for a copy of a file you don't recognize, DON'T GIVE IT TO THEM. If you give them your hero files, your activation codes, or whatever, then they can BECOME you.

You don't want that. And remember: no refunds and no replacements (you didn't donate until AFTER you had your $25 of fun, remember? If you give your code away, it will cost you $25 to get a new one.)

No official representative of synthetic-reality.com will ever ask you for your code or any encrypted files. Keep your secrets to yourself and protect your investment! Beware of strangers offering candy!

Oh, also, a Golden Soul is not a license to do bad things. You can still be gagged, banned, etc. for inappropriate behaviour. It's not a get-out-of-jail-free card. If you were banished for poor behaviour, you will probably remain banished no matter how many golden souls you buy (but your non-refundable donations will be doubly appreciated in that case!)

While possible (I do get sick from time to time), it rarely takes more than 24 hours to send you your activation code. So if you have been waiting a long time, the possible explanations are:

• PayPal/Google never saw your donation (they will send you an acknowledgement email in response to your donation)
• PayPal/Google never told me about it (I haven't seen this yet, but it's possible I imagine :-)
• I died, and forgot to tell someone.
• Your donation included an incorrect email address (it happens..)
• You have an email spam filter which is blocking my email to you
• The Mysteries of the Internet swallowed one of our emails.

The solution is to send me an email directly (contact me), using the email account you used to make the donation, since that should also unplug your spam filter, if needed.

But please don't just wait patiently for days and days, getting ever more angry with me :-) Unless you think I died, in which case you should tell my wife. And I sure hope I am joking.

Codes are registered to email addresses. So if you can send me a request from the registered email address, I can usually re-send your code back to the registered address.

contact us

But you don't want to depend on my ability to do that, so treat it like any other important ($25 important) thing in your life. Print it out, keep it someplace safe. If you completely lose it, and no longer have access to the registered email address, well... there's plenty more where that one came from, and I could always use another donation!

Please note: I never see your credit card info myself (That's what PayPal et al are for), so please never send me your CC# in an email in an effort to identify yourself, thanks!

Google Note: Apparently google offers you some sort of email redirector thingamy so that your real email adress is not handed out. This is great, fantastic, and wonderful. But please understand it means I can probably never re-send you your activation code, so save it in a REALLY special place.

Um. No.

You are the one who made the donation, you should be the only one using the code. If you designate your donation as a gift for someone else, be sure to not use it yourself (and please register THEIR email address as the registered address.)

While it is understandable that you might have more than one computer in your life and you would like to use your code on all of them, if a code is seen in use on too many PCs, it will get de-listed. Remember, if you share it with one special friend, they will probably share it with 50 not so special friends. Encourage them to make their own donation if they crave a golden name.

A golden soul IS NOT REQUIRED to play the game. It's a voluntary donation. Don't donate if you haven't been entertained by the game. It's supposed to be a badge of honor, let's work together to keep it that way!

Thanks!

- Dan

Would you buy a used bridge from this guy? Aside from the basic immorality of posing as someone who made a donation when you really haven't, bear in mind that you have no idea if the GS really belonged to him in the first place.

If that GS gets de-listed, you will be LOCKED OUT OF THE GAME until you get a legitimate Golden Soul of your own. Then that makes me feel bad because I feel like I am forcing you to pay to play, which I don't like the feeling of. In fact you are forcing yourself to pay for your greedy acceptance of a free lunch (when you weren't even hungry).

The game is free, you do not NEED a Golden Soul. Don't just grab one off the street. Choose to donate or not donate, but take the high moral ground. Don't be a thief. Be a philanthropist instead!

Oh, and just because you don't have a Golden Soul doesn't mean you aren't a really super special person. It just means you haven't donated. And that's perfectly OK. I want a Golden Soul to really mean "I donated to WoS." Please help me keep it that way.

Thanks Again!

- Dan