Greetings Members,

Firstly, I want to say that this is not going to the whole Arconan mailing list. If the Summit prefers me to do so, I will do so in the future. This is going to the "Black Hammer Brigade" sub-group I created in my gmail. It includes all the members, the QUA, AED, RM, and other BTLs, as well as the Consul and Proconsul.

Secondly, I would like to talk about the two competitions which I extended the date upon for you:

GFX Tournament:

http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/dbjedi/competition.php?id=4813

So far for this competition I have gotten one entry. This entry is the only one so far. You all have one more day to complete this competition. It's fourth level crescents unless I receive only three entries or less.

Character Analysis:

http://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/dbjedi/competition.php?id=4787

So far I have gotten no entries for this. It's an easy competition, and I have given plenty of time for people to do this. I will not make the times longer on any of these competitions. When you have a month to write half a page and two weeks to do some simple graphics, then I don't see a reason to extend deadlines.

Awards, Passing Exams, Medals

None

Keep trying to gain medals. They add to promotions and give you a chance to progress yourself.

AWOL Check

Clan AWOL check is going on. So what do you have to do to keep from getting booted? One simple thing: email Sashar. His email is 3drufio[at]googlemail.com.

== The Rant ==

So recently we had two BTLs from other BTs owned because they didn't really want to do the necessary work to be a BTL. Being a BTL isn't about just keeping hold of a silly bunch of members for the sake of nothingness. Being a BTL also means you are a leader. A leader is someone who takes charge and leads people. The first competition I laid out was meant to create an atmosphere where you show me where your character is and has been throughout their career in the DB. It was a few days after that I contacted you all each, individually, and asked what you wanted to see out of the Battle Team. I got a good response from almost all of the members. Everyone seemed excited and engaged. Then I put out the GFX Tritournament competition. I did this so I could see a visual representation of what you thought of what you were doing within Clan Arcona, Black Hammer Brigade, and with yourself. I got one entry for the GFX competition so far. I also contacted you individually again to tell you all of the competition. Am I angry or pissed off or irritated that I have only received one entry? No. Not at all. But their is somewhat of a hidden rule to what a leader can do with his members.

I have been working on a few things, or at least getting them started. I am trying to start a BT vs. BT vs. BT competition. I really want this to happen because I think we all would benefit from it. I've also been wanting to lead up to our own BT Run-On (but a different sort of RO, one that doesn't end with the text at the end). I've wanted to do a RO that we can formalize, put onto the Wiki, and create a competition of making images for the formalized version of our RO. I've really wanted to do this stuff. But how can I when I don't get anything in return? Am I looking for thanks? Pleases and thank yous? Gifts? No. In fact I'd rather you not give me those. I need signs of activity. I really want to do this stuff, but I can't (and won't) if there isn't a BT to give it to. It would be similar to me going to a random website, creating all this cool shit for the website, but nobody is ever on the website except for me.

Think of it this way. You don't want to participate? Fine, don't. You feel as though you are of such a high rank that no matter what you do, you will never get AWOL'd? Keep thinking that ;) This BT is like a car. In order for it to run, it needs fuel. You are pumping the gas. I'm the engine, revving to go. Am I being rude? An asshole? Ignorant? Mean? That's not my intention. I am merely summarizing from experience. But in the end, I can't be a leader of a group of people who don't want to be lead.

So am I asking for you to quit and be angry? No. In fact, I want you all to harness your power to complete the competitions mentioned above. I'll give you a challenge. I bet that all of the people that have spoken to me in this BT within the past week can give me at least one entry for one of these competitions, by tomorrow night. I am sure of it. So get out there, and show the House and the Clan what Black Hammer Brigade is made of :D

Luciferus "Scyrone" Leviathan SGT of Black Hammer Brigade 6352