Class System

The class system of Shadowmere ranges from D to SS. It appears similar to ranks that one would expect from Japanese media.

Class Ordering
The classes from worst to best are as follows: D, C, B, A, S, SS

The SS Class is by far the most powerful and important class, and enjoys the most privileges and power out of all.

There are no smaller ranks within each class. The letter grade is the most specific class. In other words, there is no A+ or C- class, just A and C respectively. Despite this, members of the same class may still perform better or worse than each other.

Legality
In Shadowmere, every official mage is assigned a class from D to SS. This means that outlaws and foreigners do not have a class. However, they still may be informally referred to as a certain class to give people a feel for their power level.

The assigned class that a Shadowmere mage receives is meant to be indicative of their physical and magical strength in combat. Their class also defines their political and social standing. A member of the SS class is considered to have great political power and social respect, more so than any other class, while a D class member may be the butt of jokes and bullying from the higher classes.

Benefits of the Class System

 * The system serves as a global standard that all cities and mages of Shadowmere can use
 * The system (in theory) supports a meritocracy in which the most able mages of Shadowmere rise to the top of the system
 * Potentially destructive privileges (owning companies, hosting events, creating NPCs, etc) are kept controlled by requiring all citizens to pass a certain "skill level" first.

Criticisms of the Class System
Criticisms of the class system mostly devolve into shitposts and loud arguments. This section aims to catalogue the criticisms without their baggage.
 * The class system is quite vague and generalizes both physical and magical strength into one category
 * The class system solely encourages combat strength, not intelligence or skill in other regards
 * Access to highly powerful advantages and exclusive training is restricted only to the higher classes (S & SS), cementing their position above the lower classes.
 * The SS class members wield an extremely large amount of power, and have the potential to become legal tyrants without an equal power to keep them in check
 * What would otherwise be normally allowed is locked behind class requirements