Combat Master Report #3 - Qual No More
Hello everyone! Thanks to James being a speedy genius I’ve got a small bit of news to cover regarding the ACC!
ACC Qualification is KILL
The end of an era has come. Following a conversation between our lovely Headmaster, Arch, and myself, then with Evant and Bubba, the qualification exam requirement to participate in the ACC has been removed.
Some may recall the original plan was to turn the ACC Qualification exam into a quicker light weight process. This is something we have gone all in on. No more gatekeeping this as an activity, no more scary premise of “what if I don’t pass” anxiety. This comes with several changes including:
- ACC Qual Exam removal from JM Promotion Requirements
- Eventual removal of the [ACC: Q] indicator on your dossier
2a. Headstrong Trophy change is still in discussion - Mentions of the ACC Qual exam have been removed from the major resources on the wiki. If you notice a place it was missed please just let us know.
- ACC Qual is no longer a requirement for some of the SA degree work, and is no longer a prerequisite course (Arch might touch more on this later, but I just wanted to make sure it was out there).
- ACC Combat Studies is still going to be reviewed and refreshed to continue to give a basic overview of the ACC (and it is a pretty awesome course already).
But the ACC is WEIRD!
Yes, a common comment from people coming in from other “multiplayer” writing venues is the notion you write both characters, tell more than just single actions, etc. This has been the long-standing justification for requiring a qualification process in the first place, and it remains a valid one, cause honestly, the ACC is a bit weird.
Like any activity, there is a learning curve to become “good” at something. The benefits of ease of access to participate far outweigh the notion of deciding whether a member is good enough to participate in it. The ACC is meant to be fun and not a scary/stressful thing to utilize. Losing a match or two to learn the system is better than never getting to try in the first place.
So been thinking about wanting to try out the thrills of the ACC but pushed back because it required passing a test? Fret no longer. Go and challenge Appius, I hear he is always willing to take on matches. ;)
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Excellent change.
Sounds good
This is wonderful, Mother approves!
Fun fact: if anyone out there has completed 5 ACC matches without being qualified, this might have given them the Tactics Savant.
Also, to clarify the rationale a bit, the qual was based around making sure members wouldn't immediately tank their score by making numerous major detractors right off the bat or DQing themselves. It's just not fun to slog through three more posts of a competitive activity if the result is already predetermined. Even though it was 20 questions, the exam was effectively pass/fail based on whether you made it through the two posts without any rubric-defined major detractors.
The rubric and judging process have changed, and when Idris and I got to talking about his goals for the ACC qualification, we both agreed very quickly that the qual was no longer adding much value to the community. Evant agreed. I'm a bit sad to see it go, but it was time.
All three of us are committed to making sure there's content in the Shadow Academy to make sure members are able to learn more about the ACC and get comfortable with it before diving in. We'll be looking over ACC Combat Studies to make sure it's in line with current practice and I'll be working closely with Idris as any more changes to the ACC go live.
Arch is the best birb.
"All three of us are committed to making sure there's content in the Shadow Academy to make sure members are able to learn more about the ACC and get comfortable with it before diving in." This is my biggest desire is to have courses and lessens which breakdown combat and set-up rounds/match ups to practice different styles to learn more. The effort to remove the qualification exam in what is being removed seems more of a hindrance considering the system breakdown and overall explanation of how everything works is within that exam. If the effort was to remove the overwhelming intensity of the exam with the detailed writing at the end, then it would have seemed better to just remove that part. Removal of the Qual exam isn't going to improve activity and participation. Demystifying the ACC via workshops, team building, fundamentals courses, etc. would improve.
This is a change I've made noise about a few times on and off over the years. It really makes me happy to see this finally get implemented, and all of the people involved have my sincere thanks. It had felt like an oddity that there was this one activity in the DB where one had to Prove Their Worth in order to participate, so it's great to see this brought in line with everything else we do!
Feed. Me. More.
More accessible activity = good.