Hello and good morning. I'd just like to touch on a couple of things for the moment. There's some things I want to get moving on in the coming months, but here are the most important things on my mind, either "just because," or due to seeing certain comments or such from people.

1) Issues with the ACC.

If you have an issue with the ACC, or a member of the staff, you have some avenues open to you. If you feel comfortable enough, please feel free to drop me an email. If there's something wrong, I want to look into it and find out how we can fix it. If it's an issue with a member, bring it up, either to myself, or to your Clan leadership. If it's an issue with an ACC staff member, bring it up to that person. I'm sure they'd be willing to talk it out. Or bring it up to me, again. Or, if you don't feel comfortable with that, email Sarin, Muz and your Clan leaders. They'll pass it on to us with as much discretion and anonymity as possible. But just say something. I've seen a couple people either on IRC or in battle decline comments or wherever mention that they don't want to participate in the ACC until "current issues" with it are resolved. I'd love to know what the issues are that you see. If it's a coding issue, I'll pass it on to Jac. But if it's anything else, feedback greatly increases our ability to enhance the ACC. And that, please know, is my ultimate goal.

2) Trainers and Judges.

The Trainers and Judges of the ACC are members like you, who volunteer their own time. They do it when they can, and try to help you out as much as possible. I greatly appreciate their efforts, and I owe them rewards, for certain. Each of them has my thanks, and I would like to commend them for their efforts. Their rewards have been delayed because, as I have started my new paramedic job, most of my time has been spent at work, with the rest of the bulk of it being spent on homework for my online classes. But please be aware, these people, and the ones who have recently resigned, have worked hard, and are really excellent members, and excellent staff members. Give them a little understanding and leeway when they can't be on here 24/7.

Additionally, I believe there's a need for a couple more Trainers, and maybe a Judge or two. I'm really looking for 2-4 Trainers right now, but depending on who applies and what you're interested in, and how good you are, if you want to Judge, I may consider it. For those of you in the past who had applied for Trainer, if you're still interested, you don't need to submit another application. Just toss me an email with something like, "I'd still be interested in being a Trainer dude." If you've never applied to me (as opposed to other CMs), you still need to submit an application.

3) Custom Weapons and Items.

This still is not released yet, but please understand, all custom weapons and items are "unapproved" until further notice. What does this mean to you? If you're using a custom sword that emits fire from its tip when you scream in the ancient Sith dialect and command the sword to "burn the flesh of the fools who oppose you," or something like that, that is a custom weapon. You cannot use that for now. However, if you're using a "custom sword" that is nothing more than a sword with a name you gave it, that is NOT a custom weapon. It's a sword. It just happens to have a name that you gave it. You can use that. When you make a challenge, though, if you're going to note for weapons, "Two Hethrian Swords," the Judges will not know that they're just named swords unless you say, "Two Hethrian Swords (not custom)," or something like that.

For other items, like armor, if you want to go in dressed as a Stormtrooper, that's cool. Just note "Dressed like a stormtrooper." Do not say you are bringing along Stormtrooper armor without making a note that you understand that, at the present, they provide no tangible bonuses. We are trying to come up with a reasonable solution to weapons and armor, as well as other custom items, but it is somewhat delayed along with the new character sheets just because I'd much rather create one solution that will work for both sheets, or just wait for the new ones to be finished. I know, I'm sorry to make some of you wait. You have my apologies. But that's the way it's going to be for the present.

4) Lightsabers, Blasters and Wookiees.

...Oh my?

Here's the thing that I'm seeing on a lot of character sheets. People put points in swords up until DJK, when they go for lightsabers. People put points in daggers, throwing weapons, even quarterstaff/polearms. People put points in piloting. Where have all the blasters gone?

"But, dude, people can deflect blaster bolts with lightsabers. That makes blasters useless."

Go look in the Lightsaber Combat Guide. I'd like to point something out to everyone. If you look at the work that Muz, Goat and others did on that piece of information, you will note that certain forms have the "skills" allocated to them to either deflect blaster bolts, or return blasterfire (from Soresu and Djem So, respectively). Other forms have the ability to defend against melee attacks, but mention nothing about blasterfire.

Get to know character sheets. Blasters are the predominant weapon in the Star Wars universe. Everyone has one. Everyone's grandma has one in her purse. The old lady will pistol whip you with it if you give her a chance. If you are going to take a sword into a lightsaber fight, you are going to be without a sword in short manner unless you duck and stay away from the lightsaber and somehow miraculously manage to land a strike that the opponent with a lightsaber never sees or blocks (which will likely never happen in any event). If your opponent is using a lightsaber form which does not specifically teach deflection of blasterfire, then here's my new rule. If they do not "know" blasterfire deflection due to their form, then they have to know the form at 4 or higher to deflect blasterfire. They have to be that damn good. If you're fighting someone who uses Makashi, and that's all they know, and they know it at 3, you CAN shoot them. If they use Makashi at 4, then yes, they can deflect blasterfire, but not 100% of the time. Make it believable, people. Granny can bust a cap in your ass once in a while because she catches you offguard, and she's a sneaky old fart.

I'll leave off there. Have a great weekend, everybody. And keep an eye on Granny's handbag. For real.

-DJM Sith Bloodfyre-Tarentae

Cestus of Tarentum

Combat Master