Bubba’s DGM Report, First of Its Name

Welcome to my first report as Deputy Grand Master! I plan to put these out regularly, though I won’t commit to a monthly schedule in these early days.

For those just joining us, our riverine Dark Lord appointed me as his deputy a little over two weeks ago. And it’s been a busy fortnight. In that time, we have initiated discussions with the Consuls on the status of their clans, their personal goals, and plans for the future. As part of that process, we have also shared substantial data on clan performance for the fourth quarter of 2020. In the coming weeks, we will continue that dialogue and follow up on the Q4 data with fresh information from the first quarter of this year.

We’ve also had an unprecedented two Electorate votes, including an unsuccessful vote for Justicar and a subsequently passed amendment to the Covenant’s voting procedures to improve how our process handles abstentions. As I mentioned in the wake of the amendment vote, I anticipate a further set of minor amendments to 1) provide additional voting time for Proconsuls called upon to replace an abstaining Consul, and 2) clarify and standardize some of the language in section 1.05 related to the effect of vacancies and abstentions. I’ve been working with Blade, the Consul of Clan Odan-Urr, on the new proposal and expect it to be formally proposed in the coming weeks. If anyone has any questions about the recent amendment or the upcoming proposal, I’m happy to chat about it!

For the rest of this report, I’m going to announce a praetor, a project, and discuss some of the feedback we received on the last GJW survey.

But first!

Hi, I’m Bubba. I’ve been a member of this club for almost twenty years, and have known Evant for most of that time, but I wasn’t really active until maybe 2005/6. Since then, I’ve been in and out of leadership at every level from Battleteam Leader to Plagueis Consul. I spent two years as Headmaster, then took a little time off (during which I helped Evant and the team launch possessions), and then returned to leadership as Justicar in 2018. My time as Justicar has been exceptionally rewarding, but as I found myself increasingly involved in advising Mav and Evant on personnel and policy decisions and helping them run the last two GJWs, I realized that I was interested in stepping more fully into a traditional leadership role.

So here I am! I want to thank Evant for this opportunity, and, once again, thank Mav for nominating me as Justicar nearly three years ago. We have some very exciting projects in the works that we hope to bring towards completion during Evant’s term, not least the new experience promotion system. Before then, though, there will be a vendetta! We’re in the early stages of planning, so stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks including an official announcement of the schedule and format.

In the meantime, be sure to read the first chapter of the new Shadows Coalescing fiction series, which will establish the current state of the DB following the siege of Arx and lead up to the first vendetta fiction.

Assistant to the Regional Manager

Some observant members have spotted a new name on the DGM staff roster. After discussing some exciting potential projects that he is uniquely qualified to execute, I have appointed Kereban Zolar (AKA Cyris, Bale, Logen Ninefingers) as my praetor. While we have several projects germinating, his initial focus will be a total visual refresh of our medals, starting with our sacramentals -- after all, you can never have too many knives. This is particularly exciting because a young Cyris is the artist responsible for the sacramental images we use today, and it will be great to see how his skills are put to use reimagining his old work.

It’s early days still and I don’t have any pretty pictures to share yet, but I hope to be able to show some snippets of his progress in future reports.

GJW Fourteen Survey Results

Following last summer’s Great Jedi War, we cobbled together a survey so members could share some basic information on their participation and provide their thoughts on all aspects of the War, from the Collective plot to the number of bins, to the details of specific competitions. We received substantial feedback and today I will share some broad themes.

As an initial matter, nearly everyone who filled out the survey participated in the GJW (82 out of 85 -- why did the remaining three take the survey without participating? One of the great mysteries of our time :p). The responses were fairly evenly distributed amongst the clans, and the vast majority of respondents indicated that they had adequate time to complete at least one competition in every bin for each phase of the event.

We also received positive feedback on the variety of competitions in each bin, with most members apparently able to find something they were interested in and capable of doing within each bin, which was a major focus of ours during the planning stage.

On the topic of competitions that were not present this time around, or that should be excluded in the future, there was notable support for trying an ACC event (a difficult prospect, but something we’re absolutely exploring), small-group run ons in lieu of clan-wide, and an option for individuals to participate in battle plan events without needing to round up a team. These are all things we may try in the future, though not necessarily in the next vendetta. A few members dislike poetry (Howie?) while an equal number love it, and one person suggested using multiple members in future Hunt the Jedi comps, which seems like a great idea to me.

Aside from the continued success of the bin system, the feedback to this war also highlighted the popularity of Theaters of War, which we first introduced in GJW XIII and expanded upon this time around. Based on the feedback, members overwhelmingly like the Theater system and want to see it return in future vendettas, though perhaps with more meaning tied to clans’ selection of Theaters and balance between the number of clans in each Theater. Finally, most members indicated that they did not make any use of the list of Theater Combatants (DJB members present in each Theater that could be used in others’ fictions). We’ll see what we can do to improve the system for the next time around!

In addition to what I’ve discussed here, we sought and received pretty substantial feedback on the specific gaming, graphics, and fiction comps run in GJW XIV and what members would like to see in future vendettas. I’m not going to go into detail on those comments here, as it would make this report far too long. The Dark Councillors responsible for those events have or will have access to the survey and will take your feedback into account as we work to develop the next major event. We’ll also be taking more direct feedback from the Consuls as we try and create the best vendetta experience for the most people.

Fin

Before I wrap this up, I want to plug the new fiction one more time. Idris and Atty put a lot of work into it and I’m very happy with the final product!

And that’s it! If you ever have any questions or concerns about the club or just want to chat, my door is always open. You can find me on Telegram or shoot me an email.

Bubba

Master Dacien Victae
Deputy Grand Master