As some of you have noticed, many medals, promotions, competitions and requests have been denied as of late. Some have remarked that I am being much more stringent with recommendations submitted.

As changes to the medal and promotion systems (collectively referred to as the rewards system) will be made shortly, it is only appropriate that I move to adjust your current perspectives. Therefore, I would like to remind you of current MAA policies and to inform you of a few new ones. These are presented in the order that they were made.

001: All recommendations for rewards are required to contain specific, concrete details. I am not interested in the fact that someone is great; I am interested in how they are great.

002: Silent AWOL checks are prohibited for all members ranked Jedi Hunter and below. Silent AWOL checks are allowed for members ranked Dark Jedi Knight and above. Silent AWOL checks are defined as AWOL checks that lack a formal email notice.

003: Families cannot exceed 10 members in size. Those currently with more than 10 members can maintain their current membership but cannot recruit new members.

004: Do not use the transfer request form as a place for argument. If you have a problem with your superiors, address it to their superior. Don’t just run away without addressing the problems. Transfers are the last resort. If you must transfer, you need to email me first and explain the situation.

005: If you want to run a competition that you are not currently in charge of or that you are not a member of, you must get prior approval from someone that is. If you wish to award a medal that you do not have access to recommend, you must get approval from someone that does. You must indicate this approval in competition requests that are submitted to the database.

006: Do not tell someone they are going to be promoted or given a medal before I have approved the reward. You might be wrong.

007: Do not whine about or demand a reward. I don’t look favorably on this. And most legitimate leaders will not either.

008: You must follow the chain of command when recommending an award or promotion. All medals and promotions should be reviewed by your superior before you recommend them. This means that Consuls should be aware of everything that goes on in their Clan: they should know about every promotion or medal that will be submitted to me for approval.

009: No merit medals may be given for specific, stated tasks. You may not award merit medals for single competition participation or placement unless said competition was a large scale competition taking extended time and dedication (like a Vendetta). In that case, you should confer with me about the medal that you wish to award before you announce the awards.

And now, the new ones:

010: As much as it would be nice to divorce the medal and promotion system, it is simply impossible to do so given the history of the Brotherhood and the logistical impossibility of differentiating between certain types of activity. Therefore, the two systems are not divorced. Recommendations for medals followed by a quick recommendation for promotion for effectively the same thing are not going to be approved. If you award someone a medal, it is unlikely that they will be considered for a promotion shortly thereafter. However, in the case of larger promotions and larger medals, considerations will be made that encompass all the activities that a member undertakes. Do not try to “double-dip.” This includes small competitions – you cannot receive a Crescent and a Legion of the Scholar for trivia: only one.

011: Time in rank and time in the Brotherhood factor into promotions. Dispel the myth you have that they do not. How offended would you be to discover someone promoted to Sith Warrior three months into the Brotherhood while it took you an extended time, years even, to achieve such a prestigious rank? There are no set limits on how much time you must spend at a certain rank or in the Brotherhood but it is expected that people spend a reasonable time at each level. It is also expected that competent leaders take this into account.

012: Recruiting from other Clans is strongly discouraged. Blatant attempts to get someone to join your Clan from another Clan by offering people medals, promotions or positions will be referred to the Chamber of Justice. This does not include legitimate open application periods for positions wherein someone could join another Clan by applying for and being offered a new position. Other recruiting attempts (those without bribes) are strongly discouraged. If you develop a reputation for siphoning off members, I will not protect you from harsh criticism received by your colleagues. Learn to take responsibility for your own actions (something that I think is all too often not said in this organization).

013: Transfers from Clan to Clan will be more rigorously examined. I will personally investigate every single one of them. Be sure to have a legitimate reason. Rogue hopping will not be allowed.

014: The Codex is somewhat out of date on medal descriptions – short-term corrections are being developed. More permanent changes will eventually be made. In the meantime, do not try to cite the Codex to prove that I’m wrong about something. I guarantee you that I am not wrong.

015: Do not cite precedent on anything when arguing a reward denial. It should be obvious that since I am slowly changing things, precedent no longer necessarily applies. If you have a question about something, contact your superior or contact me.

016: It is strongly suggested that all Summits start keeping a close account of all activities their members engage in. This ranges from hanging out on IRC to participating in a competition to completing a massive Clan project. Record what your members do. It will make it easier for you to justify a reward when you want to reward them. It will also eventually be required that you do this. So you might as well start getting used to it. I personally can’t imagine why you’re not already doing this – so snap to it.

017: Do not presume that Clan institutions confer validity on your recommendations. I have no interest in how anyone runs their Clan – that is up to you. But that also means that I have no interest in the supposed grand authority of your Consul or his advisors or his body of advisors or your legislative body or your inner sanctum or whatever other ridiculous title you choose to give to your Clan’s governing body. It’s all the same to me. Legitimate recommendations are legitimate recommendations irrespective of who submits them to me and under what fictional authority.

You’ll notice that I just added quite a few policies/decrees. These have been enforced to a limited extent in the past. They are now being enforced to their full extent. They should come as no surprise to anyone.

There is one final semi-official policy. Please be nice to me. I try to be nice when I deny requests so if you want to challenge me about it, please at least be minimally respectful. It'll help your case and it'll prevent me from becoming even more embittered.

Thanks

Dark Side Adept Syn Kaek
Master At Arms