The Sherpa program

A new player’s first ten minutes decide whether they stay. Sherpas are the players who make those minutes good — the friendly veterans who answer “how do I sell?”, point someone to their island, and make the harvest feel welcoming. The name borrows from the mountain guides who help others reach the summit: a Sherpa doesn’t climb for you, they help you climb.

What a Sherpa is (and isn’t)

A Sherpa is a recognised community helper. The recognition is cosmetic only:

• A cyan [?] badge that shows in chat, TAB and your nameplate, alongside your normal earned or staff rank — it never replaces it.
• A Sherpa role on Discord, so helpers are visible in the community there too.

That’s the whole reward. A Sherpa is not staff and has no powers:

• No kick, mute, ban, freeze, or any moderation command.
• No access to staff tools, the staff panel, or staff chat.
• No effect on score, balance, or anything competitive — the badge is pure vanity, exactly like the supporter badge.

If you want moderation responsibilities and tools, that’s a different path — see Staff & moderation and apply for staff instead.

What Sherpas do

There’s no quota and no shift schedule. Good Sherpas simply:

• Welcome newcomers and make the first hand-harvest click.
• Answer questions in chat patiently — even the ones already in the rules.
• Point, don’t carry — help people learn the ropes rather than doing everything for them.
• Set the tone — a calm, kind presence when someone’s frustrated after losing a streak or being outscored.

How to become a Sherpa

1. Sign in with Discord and head to the Sherpa application.
2. Tell us how you like to help and when you’re usually around. (Linking your Discord is required — your Sherpa role lives there.)
3. Staff review every application and approve people who already help and would represent the community well.
4. On approval, the [?] badge appears in‑game and the Sherpa Discord role is assigned — automatically, with no acceptance step. You’ll see the decision on your application in My Cases.

Because it’s a recognition of how you already treat people, the best “application” is a track record of being helpful in chat. Staff can also remove the tag if it’s ever misused — it’s earned by being kind, not owned forever.

Secondary badges

HarvestSeason layers several secondary badges beside your main rank. They’re independent — you can hold several at once, and they show in this priority order:

Badge	Who	How you get it
[P] Partner	External partners (servers, creators, brands — colour by type)	Apply to partner → staff approval
[?] Sherpa	Recognised community helpers	Apply → staff approval (this page)
[♥] Contributor	Volunteers who gave their skills	Contribute → sign the agreement
[$] Supporter	Store supporters	Bought on the store (cosmetic, EULA-safe)
[★] Champion	Season winners	Win a season
[✦] Founding Farmer	Launch-week players	Logged in during launch week

In chat you see your rank prefix + your single highest-priority badge; hover the rank prefix (in chat or the TAB list) to see your full set with descriptions. None of these affect competitive play — helping new farmers is its own reward; the [?] just lets everyone see who to ask.