The Great Jedi War, and the Value of Teamwork

My friends,

The last two months have been absolutely momentous. In a way, Taldryan was right - we did indeed have to deal with more drama than a Chilean soap opera. But rather than getting the best of us, it made us even more determined to do well. Faced with a crippled Summit mid-War, a lot of people stepped up their game to make the Clan function smoothly again. Faced with a huge deficit in team gaming, our top gamers put in a massive effort to turn that event into our biggest victory of the War. The list goes on, but I think I've made my point.

Since the Exodus six years ago, there have been four Great Jedi Wars, and by some weird twist of fate I was Proconsul during every single one of them. The last time I saw Arcona leading was in 2004, after the first chapter. I've seen a third place that felt like a victory, a third place that felt like a crushing defeat, and a fifth place that left us glad we weren't last. Evidently, this victory is by far better than any of the other Wars I've seen, but there's another aspect. Results aside, I have never felt such a sense of unity within Arcona as there is now. Perhaps in spite of all the drama, perhaps because of it, but the general feeling of being Arconan is greater now than I've ever seen it.

Of course, everyone wants to be part of the winning team. And I'd be the first to admit that this victory feels like a vindication for all the times we didn't quite make it. But this isn't just about winning - it's about knowing you can win. As a Clan, we've never been the favourites to win anything, and I must confess that I often resigned myself to a place somewhere in the middle before the event had even begun properly. Those days are gone, though. From now on, every Arconan will remember that we can win large-scale DB competitions - after all, we just have. That fact alone will give us a confidence boost in future Wars and Vendettas.

However, before I start dishing out enormous quantities of praise, a few words of warning. We've just won the Great Jedi War, we're on top of the world right now, but there are two things we must never become. One is complacent. Blind faith in our pure awesomeness alone will not win us any future competitions. Did Rafael Nadal just sit back and relax after he'd won his first French Open? Of course not, he won the next three as well. That's not to say we should all start playing tennis and speaking broken English, but you get the point. Two is arrogant. We may have won this time, but as you've all seen, the scores were ridiculously close - one small mistake and it could've been Taldryan or CSP getting the honours. We're all enormously proud of what we've just achieved, but the other Clans worked as hard as we did, and deserve no small amount of credit for their dedication and hard work. And let's be honest - beating two of the other Clans by a noselength somehow makes this win even sweeter. I'm glad for the excellent competition they've given us.

And now for the praise - the Oscar acceptance speech, if you will, although this particular Oscar was won by our ensemble cast. I could throw down a huge list of names, and obviously Malidir deserves some extra special credit for his titanic efforts in getting first place overall, but the simple fact is this: we could not have done it without any of you. We beat Taldryan by 28 points and CSP by 58 - a lot of your individual scores are much higher than that. And although this War, more than its predecessors, valued quality over quantity, for which I'm grateful, the amazingly close finish just shows that every little does indeed help. You can all go to sleep in the knowledge that your contribution made Arcona win. As for the bigger picture, I feel the key factor in our victory has been the sense of teamwork and unity. A framework of circumstances that allowed our best players to flourish, and encouraged everyone to do their part, however small they might have thought it was. It's a wonderful feeling, and I hope to see it last for a long time to come.

I've seen many things happen to and in Arcona over the course of my time in here, I've seen times of turmoil and great triumphs alike, but this one absolutely tops the list. Hats off to every one of you, including the stellar GJW staff, for making this happen. And members of Arcona, let me say this: it doesn't end with this victory. In fact, as far as I have any say in the matter, the fun's only just begun.

In closing, no phrase seems more fitting right now than that which has become our unofficial Clan motto... ARCONA INVICTA!

Have a great week everyone,

• Strat
  

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His Excellency, Dark Side Adept Strategos Thanatos Entar, di Tenebrous Arconae

Proconsul of Clan Arcona

DA Strategos Thanatos Entar Arconae (Krath)/PCON/Clan Arcona [GMRG: CRU] [ACC: CL:3]

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