The fine print, but fun
APP Points & Mountain Money.
Two numbers follow you around AppStateFans.com. One says how much you show up. The other is money that isn’t money. Here’s the whole scheme, math included.
Currency one
APP Points.
What “APP” stands for
Appalachian Profoundly Passionate Participation Points.
Yes, somebody named them that on purpose. No, we won’t be taking questions. Everyone just says “AP.”
APP Points measure one thing: how much you take part. You earn them for posting, commenting, checking in and generally being around, and your total never goes down — nothing on the site spends it, ever. That total is your rank, your reputation, and the key to a few doors.
How to earn them
- Show upOpen the site once a day. That’s it. That’s the whole task.+2 AP
- Post in the feedHot takes, cold takes, lukewarm takes. All accepted.+10 AP
- Start a forum threadA post with a title, for the argument that needs room.+10 AP
- CommentAgreeing counts. Politely disagreeing counts too.+5 AP
- Comment on an articleTell the writer what they got right. Or what they got less right.+5 AP
- Quote a postA bonus on top of the post, for bringing someone else’s words into yours.+3 AP
- ReactOnce per post or comment — tapping 👍 on and off all night earns it exactly once.+1 AP
- Check in on game dayFrom the stadium, the lot or the couch, once per event. Stadium and tailgate check-ins expect you to actually be there.+15 AP
- Make a friendWhen they say yes, you both get paid. Most friendships don’t offer that.+5 AP
- Finish your profileName, bio, team. Once per account, forever.+25 AP
- Verify your accountOnce. It also opens up a good chunk of the site.+100 AP
One exception: nothing in a private group earns APP Points. Posts, comments and reactions in one are between you and the people in it — they don’t count towards your rank, and they don’t open anything. A handful of friends could otherwise walk each other past every door on the site in an afternoon, where nobody could see it happening. A private group can give its members ranks of its own, by hand; those show only inside that group and have nothing to do with APP Points or the ranks below.
Ranks
Your rank sits beside your name on every post. It only moves one direction.
One account wears the rank Yes I am AI. That’s mounAIneer, the site’s chatbot. It earns no points and is handling it well.
What they open up
Spending them
You don’t. APP Points aren’t a balance, they’re a record — nothing on the site takes them off you. Your total, your rank and everything they open only ever go up. Spending is what Mountain Money is for.
Currency two
Mountain Money.
Mountain Money is the site’s money. Well — the site’s pretend money. It isn’t real and the bank won’t take it, but it’s earned for real contributions: posts, threads, comments, check-ins and getting verified. Game days pay best, because showing up is the whole point. And unlike APP Points, this is the one you actually spend.
How to earn it
- Show upOpen the site once a day. That’s it. That’s the whole task.+1 MM
- Post in the feedHot takes, cold takes, lukewarm takes. All accepted.+3 MM
- Start a forum threadA post with a title, for the argument that needs room.+5 MM
- CommentAgreeing counts. Politely disagreeing counts too.+1 MM
- Comment on an articleTell the writer what they got right. Or what they got less right.+2 MM
- Quote a postA bonus on top of the post, for bringing someone else’s words into yours.+2 MM
- Check in on game dayFrom the stadium, the lot or the couch, once per event. Stadium and tailgate check-ins expect you to actually be there.+10 MM
- Make a friendWhen they say yes, you both get paid. Most friendships don’t offer that.+2 MM
- Finish your profileName, bio, team. Once per account, forever.+15 MM
- Verify your accountOnce. It also opens up a good chunk of the site.+25 MM
So what does it buy?
Reaction packs — extra emoji for posts and replies (App State Pack: 500 MM). A custom title in place of your rank badge (300 MM — a moderator reads every one before it shows). Avatar frames (from 150 MM) and a name glow (from 250 MM). Highlighting one of your comments in a thread (20 MM each). Summoning mounAIneer into a thread to roast a rival, hype you up or rule on an argument as Judge Yosef (Roast a rival 40 MM, Hype me 40 MM, Judge Yosef 60 MM). Spending takes it off your balance and touches nothing else — your APP Points and your rank stay exactly where they were. You’re buying a look, not a demotion. The Fan Store isn’t open yet; when it is, the rest of the jar will have somewhere to go.
Reaction packs are in Settings → Reaction Packs; everything else is in Settings → Your Look.
The unfunny part
The actual fine print.
- Neither one is real money. No cash value. They can’t be bought, sold, traded or transferred. You cannot Venmo anyone Mountain Money, and please don’t ask.
- The amounts on this page are the current ones. They can change, and so can what points open up.
- Points earned by gaming the system — spam, extra accounts, farming — can be taken back.
- Close your account and both balances close with it.
- Yosef Club verification, and the points that come with it, is coming soon.
- The legal version is in the Terms of Service.
The first point is the easiest one.
It’s the one for showing up.