Greetings all,

The ACC is ready to begin testing on the staging site for those qualified to participate. While there are still some minor coding-related things in the pipeline, the functionality of the new Combat Center is ready to begin large-scale testing! Our goals for this test are to gather information and feedback on the site as well as how players feel about the character sheets and how they work in the ACC. We're interested in your overall experience and thoughts on the ACC in general! To that end, we've got a feedback form ready to go, so after you've poked around the ACC some, please submit feedback or bug reports here.

During the ACC Beta, you will have all of the tools and options available during live, though we do not yet have a Society set up (the Voice will have an announcement regarding this in the future!). You can earn CoIs at the new rate, and we will also be awarding members based on participation and feedback through the process, in addition to any CoIs they earn. Furthermore, if you're interested in being a Judge, now's the time to email the Voice and myself to let us know you might be interested. We have a full slate of judges for the beta period, but I am always interested in evaluating potential new judges!

To get started, simply head over to the staging site and select the ACC from the main dropdown menu. Alternatively, click this link! Please note that you must complete both ACC exams and have a valid character sheet on the live site in order to be marked as Qualified on the staging site. If you have both of these things on the live site and do not see the ACC, please contact me and I'll get it straightened out!

Once on the new site, feel free to either challenge a friend, or issue an open challenge and get fighting! Because the staging site is an older database copyover, please use the 'Live" version of your opponent's character sheet for all ACC matches as this is the most accurate reflection of his or her character. Note that all realism grades WILL be based on the live version of participants character sheets.

Useful Links for the ACC:
ACC Guide
ACC Grading Rubric
ACC Fundamentals (Needed to Qualify for the ACC)
ACC Qualification (Needed to Qualify for the ACC)

Useful Links for the Character Sheet System (Many needed for the ACC):
Character Sheet Express Guide
Character System Reference Document - Force Power Levels
Character System Reference Document - Skill Levels
Database of Feats, Aspects, Other stuff

Q&A:
If Qualification happens on live, how do I get qualified on the staging site?
When you complete qualification, ACC judges get an email letting us know you’ve qualified, and we very quickly and easily manually qualify you on the staging site.
Why is this being done on the Staging Site?
Simply put, because we want to make sure that people’s Elo rating doesn’t get messed up early on due to testing and weird bugs we didn’t anticipate. We don’t think this will happen, but we wanted to be sure.
What IS Elo?
Elo is a zero sum rating system designed by a nice dude named Elo. No kidding. Anyway, it is designed such that the amount your Elo rating changes is determined by your rating relative to your opponent’s. The primary function in this system will be to allow you to pick opponents close to you in Elo rating… and maaaybe allow for some cool perks to those that earn them. ;)
Where can I see my elo once I’ve been playing for a bit?
This is something we’re working on, along with other ACC-based achievements. You’ll know more on this soon!
Where are all the Venues?
We are currently reformatting tons of Venues, and new Venues will become available throughout this process. Have one you really want included? Email the CM!
How do I find an opponent?
First, I suggest people start hanging out in #ACC, and we can use that to coordinate matches. In addition, there is a new feature, called the Open Challenge, that will allow you to find a random opponent! Keep in mind your enemy may be far higher, or far lower, rank than you… But the ACC is about story and quality of writing, not necessarily win or lose.
What are Ladders?
We’ve got a few tricks that are part of the ACC that will be used primarily by competitions. We’re actually going to be testing this functionality as well, so stay tuned for this additional announcement. ;)

So with that… Welcome to the ACC, all. Enjoy!

Combat Master Telaris “Mav” Cantor