I’ve worked with Viv for almost his entire tenure since his return to the Brotherhood. When I was Voice, I appointed him a Judge, somewhat reluctantly at first as he had only returned to activity recently and I needed people I could count on. He did not disappoint. Immediately he dived head-first into projects and grading, earning himself a Grand Cross. To briefly summarize, Viv had the distinction of grading the most battles of any Judge (excluding Voices/Combat Masters of the time) from the ACC’s re-launch until December of 2014, despite having only served as Judge for a few months of the time the ACC had been open! He is consistently available for help and feedback on any question or open project. As Wally details below, he has continued this activity since I’ve left the Voice’s office.

Beyond his contributions to the Brotherhood as a whole, Viv has also been a strong Consul. He leads by example, taking a Gold Novae in the Great Jedi War, participating in 8 of the events, and earning himself a Sapphire Blade from then Grand Master Ashen for his leadership and participation during the War. It was through his personal leadership that Plagueis took fourth, and completely dominated the group section of the War. His activity has been exemplary, even outside of the War. He has participated in 53 total competitions since his last promotion, earning 8 crescents for placements.

More than just being an active participant himself, Viv is a creator of activity and a great leader, as well. He has run more than 30 competitions since his last promotion, many of which have been large scale events for his unit,such as the Restoration Event detailed by Teylas below. Plagueis has thrived under Viv, evidenced not only by their placements in the GJW and Crusades, but by the impressive number of Knights that Plagueis converted during the DGM’s first activity reporting period. Plagueis converted four members to Knighthood, almost double the average number of Knights per unit in that period.

Since I became Deputy Grand Master, Viv has been a voice we could count on. He has been a good Consul, leading by example, and his work beyond Plagueis exemplifies everything we expect from Equites. There are few members of his caliber, and Plagueis will undoubtedly miss his leadership.

Viv, you more than deserve this elevation to Warlord. Congratulations!

~Mav

Telaris "Mav" Cantor, 2015-08-17 20:36:14 UTC

Clan Plagueis has had a series of ups and downs over the past several years. Those ups and downs have led to dramatic leadership challenges that have placed Plagueis in a difficult position. Fortunately for the Dark Brotherhood and for Plagueis, Viv stepped into the void and provided the leadership that Plagueis desperately needed. Viv’s leadership did not begin when he took the position of Plagueis Consul, but has been building and consistent since his last promotion.

What does leadership look like? With Viv, it looks like a member who has served honorably and proficiently in five leadership positions, organized over thirty competitions, participated in over 60 news posts, and has led by example by staying active and participating in over 50 competitions.

Outside of the numbers, there is an important and subjective manner that sets Viv apart as an EQ3 and leads us to push for his promotion. Viv was a member that was needed to step up and lead in a time that was not necessarily the best for him, but a time that was required by his club. We needed someone to come into Plagueis and to provide it with consistency, with normalcy, and with a steady state of affairs that was outside of recent Plagueis ups/downs.

I’m proud and honored to recommend Viv as an EQ4, a rank that he is obviously deserving of.

GM Sarin

Grand Master Declan Roark, 2015-08-17 20:34:03 UTC

Viv served as Consul of Plagueis for a few days past the one year mark, and in that entire time as consul he was more than just a manager: he was a leader. I served under him as both a quaestor and, later, his proconsul. During that entire time I can say I never truly felt like his subordinate but always his partner. The summit was a team. Things were thoroughly discussed as a team before action was taken. Issues were resolved before they became problems.

As consul, Viv had a very specific view for the future of Plagueis: a place that cultivates friendship and fun. I say without reservation that every action he took achieved that goal. In most recent memory the two events that stand out the most to me are the most recent Great Jedi War and the Plagueis: Restoration event. During the Great Jedi War, Viv tasked the summit to work with him to develop a fictional story line that would be interesting, fun, and drive Plagueis narrative for the foreseeable, and immediate, future. That was accomplished by essentially beating Plagueis down to a pulp, driving the narrative with character development and conflict. The reception to that was also extremely positive from all the membership of Plagueis. That carried onto the Restoration event, which was a conclusion to that story line. Not only was Restoration a continuation of narrative success, but also a huge increase in activity. By engaging the membership directly, Viv was able to drive Plagueis to a level of activity it hadn't seen outside of DJB-wide events in a long time.

These are just small examples of the successes Clan Plagueis has had under Viv's leadership. To say the least, Viv's tenure as consul could be described as successful, active, interactive, fun, and the type of environment you join the Dark Jedi Brotherhood for. Viv's himself could similarly be described as active, engaging, encouraging, fair, and extremely supportive of the membership. These are all traits we look for in our leaders, and especially getting one step closer to the elder echelon of ranks. The atmosphere cultivated, the drive of story, the engagement of membership, the appointments of proactive staff members, the warming tone for new members, and his fair and balanced approach are just many of the marks Viv aimed for and achieved to further support his ascension in the ranks.

I think I speak for myself and every member of Plagueis in saying that we are grateful for everything and the experience that Viv provided as consul of Plagueis. There are so many more positive things that could be said about Viv's tenure as consul, but these highlighted points really summarize well the type of leader he has been for us. This promotion is well earned, and well deserved. Congratulations!

Teylas Ramar, 2015-08-17 20:34:32 UTC

Viv is awesome. I've had the pleasure now of both working side-by-side with him as a Consul-Judges, and over the last 5 months as his CM.

I'm sure others will talk about his time and service as Consul of Clan Plageuis, but as his peer, I always found him incredibly easy to talk to and engage with. This was huge at the time, I feel, because there had been turbulent relations between Arcona and Plagueis leadership for years. But when Viv stepped into to fill the spot, I suddenly felt like I had an old friend to share stories with and talk about the stress of the job. Viv was patient, level headed, and I watched him always chime in on any given Dark Summit or Dark Council discussion that came to pass. His opinions are hard, crisp, and fast, but always come with careful thought behind them. His introspection is part of what makes him not just a good leader, but a good part of the Brotherhood in general.

As fellow ACC Judges, Viv and I often compared notes. In his time as a Judge, Viv has graded 26 matches, which is 3rd behind only the Grand Master and Deputy Grand Master...who both served as Voices. His experience is invaluable to both myself and the new judges, and he continues to step up every day as we adapt to changes.

Beyond this, Viv has been an all-star with assisting on various elements of Character Sheets 2.0. Most notably, you will see his work in the Force Power 1-5 tiers. Viv took on the task of revamping our Force Powers into a more realistic usage that fit more with the GM/DGM's visions of how the Brotherhood integrated better with Canon Star Wars as opposed to the characterized use of the Force seen in video games like TOR. There were many long arguments and discussions, but Viv always kept a level head and managed to get the work done when push came to shove. He never got discouraged, and his drive was contagious and helped me keep pushing forward to keep up with him. Beyond even that, Viv was huge in addressing some major concerns with how the core attributes (Might, Athletics, Endurance, Resolve) were defined within the system. This served as a starting point and basis for the rest of Skills 2.0, and is something that will be subtly impacting every member of the Brotherhood who makes a Character Sheet. Going one step further, Viv has been a huge help with helping me keep up with post-CS 2.0 launch changes. He has added multiple points to the CS 2.0 FAQs, and continues to do his work as an ACC Judge. He has also graded 10 ACC Qualifications and 8 Fundamentals exams.

He did all of this while serving as a Consul. As one of the few people who has done both of the past few years, I can tell you this is not easy. So, with that said, I can't think of anyone else right now that deserves to join the highest of the Equite ranks. I'm sure I'll be writing up another one of these soon enough--and I look forward to all the things still on the horrizon.

Thanks for being an awesome co-worker, subordinate and friend, Viv. You rock.

-W Combat Master

Lord Marick Tyris Arconae, 2015-08-17 20:34:53 UTC