Hello, yes this is Wally, and yes, I like swords.

Rivalries

ACC Rivalries has been completed. The final placements have been confirmed and the event has been closed out. Before I get into the results of Rivalries, I wanted to say a few things.

As the competition wound down, a few people asked me how I thought Rivalries went as an event on the whole. To be honest, it went better than I could have ever dreamed or expected. I had the idea for Rivalries in the back of my mind for over a year. It was a gradual process being able to slowly realize that it could become a reality and more than just an idea. In short, I couldn’t be happier with how Rivalries turned out. It was my first time running something Brotherhood wide. I’ve done this kind of thing internally with Arcona for years, but there is something different when you have so many different people from different places all working together and competing against one another...it’s just a really cool feeling. So, thank you, everyone of you who signed up for a match, laughed/rolled your eyes at my silly match announcements on Telegram, and were patient as we smoothed out some of the mechanics on the fly.

I think the biggest take-aways from this event are the following:

1. Rivalries were created. Bonds were formed, tested, and some broken. Character histories were both created and altered. I’ve already seen members planning out their next “encounters”. The spirit of the competition was maintained throughout, and I think the people who invested the time have come away with more knowledge of not just other people's characters, but their own.

2. Goodwill and Sportsmanship were evident across the board. Everyone was understanding of their opponents. Were even cordial to one another and communicated, despite being from different units and competing directly against one another.

3. “Singular Endings are actually kinda cool.” I think that a lot of members now understand that Singular Ending matches offer a lot of different possibilities from the Alternative Ending matches that have been the lone stable of the ACC since...well forever. (Definitely BCW).

4. CS 2.0 was field-tested in a way that I don’t think would have been possible otherwise. Questions arose and were answered. Documentation and Policies were updated and clarified. Even our speed bumps or hiccups ended up leading to better development of the Character Sheets and the ACC.

5. Fun. It genuinely seemed like everyone had fun with their matches. This, to me, means more than anything, and I look forward to hearing what you guys liked and didn't like in this nifty survey.

Buuut you don’t really care about my little speeches. You guys want to hear about results. The spoils of battle. The glory of combat. The immortality of being remembered for centuries. The danger of the zones in which fierce new rivalries were born. Lighties went dark as lovers were killed in “alternate realities”, new venues of “combat” were explored and the borders of consent were teased and in one case completely ignored.

Without further ado, below is a really really really pretty graphic made by our wondrous Herald, Vyr. Vyr was kind enough to take time from his busy schedule to take the results from my Rivalries spreadsheet and made them into a really cool graphic.

Congratulations to Andrelious on winning ACC Rivalries. With 17 matches, Mark’s score was nearly untouchable. After that, there was a little more contention between the 2nd and 3rd place fighters, with Turel coming out just ahead of V’yr. Damn lighties! Fortunately, 4th place was rounded off with a little bit of grey jedi in Terran...but then back to another lightie (I mean...Shadow Lady) with Atyiru in 5th place.

The superlatives were fun little things I decided to pull out of the overall competition. I really wanted to give a shout out to Brimstone who, throughout the entire competition, never gave up and never Timed Out even when he was dealt a series of repeated loses. This level of perseverance really paid off, because the judging staff and myself saw improvements in his writing from match to match. Nothing makes me happier than to see writers grow. So, great work, Brimstone! Proud of you, and keep on truckin’.

To see the full breakdown of scoreboard, statistics, and a breakdown of matches, click here.. I want to give a HUGE shout out to Denath, who came in last night and literally bunkered down and over the course of a few hours took my mess of a scoreboard, automated the whole process, and made it look presentable. He worked with me into the wee hours double checking automatics and other spreadsheet wizardry, and even had Arden use his lawyer-fu to triple check the matches and the scoreboard.

To see the mess that was my organization of the sign up forms (shared for maximum transparency) click here, and feel free to browse the revision histories.

While we don’t have a lot of stats to use as a comparison to other ACC competitions, here the Combat Master’s notes after looking over the results:

• 70 Unique matches (no repeats) were created for ACC Rivalries
• More matches were completed than Timed Out
• No one unit stood out against the others, as members from various units make up the Top 10
• Andrelious’ 17 matches accounted for ~25% of the ACC Rivalries Matches.
• The Top 4 members on the scoreboard signed up for no less than 10 matches. (Turel-11, Vyr- 10, Terran- 10)

Highlights

I asked each of the judges who graded the Rivalries matches to pick one match that stood out to them as their favorite/best example of the competition theme.

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“Out of all of the matches I graded, this was the one that stuck with me. It demonstrated such depth of character and story that there was no question about quality at any point throughout the match-up. I invested no less than 3.5 hours of my time into giving this the best judgement I could, and it was unfortunate that I could only grant the win to one of them.” -- Atra

• Selika Roh di Plagia vs. Turel Sorenn

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“I haven't read anything this nicely written in a while, and I thought that I had read some pretty good stuff since I joined the DJB / ACC staff! They actually got me "vested" in both of their characters during this match, which is a rare feat in itself. Sometimes you like one over the other, etc... in this case, I ended up enthralled in this short, but very endearing tale between the two of them.” -- Calindra

• Atyiru vs Arcia

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This was the perfect example of a match that did not include combat, but still showed great conflict in the form of a contest. It was also the funniest thing I've read in the Brotherhood in a very long time. -- Alaris

• Atra vs. Turel -- Epic Rap Battles of ACC / The Dance Off!

(Combat Masters Note: This was going to be my vote, if only because Alaris actually wrote his Judgment in Rap-Lyric prose, and created a youtube video of him performing it. Witnessed!)

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“A lot of what we write in the DJB tends to be dark. Most of us are Sith. We're evil. But I could see the scene that you guys wrote in this ACC match playing out in an episode of Rebels or the Clone Wars TV series. There was an excellent balance of tension and comedic relief. It's generally really hard to end an ACC match without one member significantly maiming the other. Usually, when that happens, it feels like a copout. Based on the overall tone of this battle, however, the ending fit perfectly.” -- Viv

• Kordath v Callus

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“For me it was easily Atty and Kordath. For whatever reason whenever these two get together it's a pleasure to read and this one was no disappointment. It even had angry Wookie women!” -- Arden

• Atyiru vs Kordath

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I only graded one match towards the end to help speed things up. However, I did oversee a bulk of the final gradings. With that said, I wanted to highlight one match that I felt stood out to me as a perfect example of what Rivalries was all about.

“In this match, we see a former Quaestor and Aedile pair who are now in “rival” but “allied” Clans addressing Turel’s departure from Arcona. It builds on the close relationship the two characters have, and leaves a lot of engaging thought and introspection over where both characters will go. It was nice to see a story like this, and the judgement speaks to how close it came down to the wire.” -- Wally

Turel vs Celevon

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As a general rule of thumb, almost every judgement was talked about with the Judging Telegram group as a team. We would get second opinions, and there was never a time where I wasn’t asked a question to ensure maximum clarity and fairness in the judging. It’s never going to be perfect, but know that matches, especially close ones, will always get a second look over.

Please keep this in mind as you read over your judgements. The entire ACC team appreciates it.

Side note, I will take this moment to reiterate how awesome my Judge team is. This was a monumental task, and they did not baulk, back down, or buckle. They simply did what needed to be done, and I can’t ask for much more than that level of hard work and dedication. If you see any of the judges around, be sure to thank them, even if you’re a bit sore about losing a match. We’re all here to learn and have fun, and some people take the time out of their schedules to give back to their fellow members.

I’d like to single in on our newest Judge, Calindra, who recently just earned an Anteian Cross for coming in like a freight train and helping out with the team. She did not stop at that, and during the last week of Rivalries moved from match to match with a fervor I have not really seen anywhere else.

Thank you again to everyone who helped make Rivalries happen. We couldn’t have done it without you, and I’m eternally grateful.

If you get a second, please fill out the Feedback Survey so we can work on improvements to both the ACC and ACC related competitoins!

With Rivalries in the books, there are a few projects that are being worked on. When I do something, I like to give it my full attention. There are a lot of things still left to be fixed, so if you have pitched an idea to me on Telegram and I seem short or curt, it’s because I’m attempting to prioritize the project against everything else that is going on.

If you have a proposal for a project, email is still the best way to do so. I’m always with my phone on Telegram (unless underground on the Subway commuting) but it’s easy to get lost/drowned in my chats (It’s not my fault I’m incredibly popular). My email has a much better filtering system and it’s easier for me to track/delegate information :).

As usual, send your ideas to [Log in to view e-mail addresses].

ACC Exams

The most recent project to complete was the ACC Exam revamp. As I mentioned in my last report: we now have a single ACC Qualification Exam instead of two separate ones (thanks Monty! #MavKilledACCFundementals #JustLikeIRC). The goal here was to cause less confusion for new members, and to make things as streamlined as possible for the new members coming in.

The Exam consists of 20 multiple choice, true/false, or short answer questions that show that you have read the ACC Guidelines and are aware of the various rules and regulations that Judges apply to ACC matches. This includes information from the recent CS 2.0 Update.

ACC Qualification

The new ACC Qualification Exam has been re-written from scratch and is now live! This also comes with an updated ACC Guide (Thank you, Alaris, for Wiki-magic).

As I mentioned earlier, ACC Fundamentals has been removed as an Exam. The ACC Qualification is now one, single exam that members will take to participate in the ACC.

To answer some questions before they are asked:

1. If you already Qualified for the ACC (ACC:Q on your Dossier) previously, you do not have to take the new Qualification Exam.

2. If you are not Qualified for the ACC, you will need to pass the new Exam in order to compete.

3. Reminder: You need an approved Character Sheet in order to qualify for the ACC.

ACC Combat Studies

The new ACC Combat Studies was written as a post-Qualification continued education course on how Character Sheets are used in the ACC. The exam involves reading a full 4-post ACC match between the same NPCs featured in the Qualification Exam (Krin and Harry) and has you answering multiple choice questions based on the details and content of the match. From the course description:

The ACC Combat Studies Exam aims to both heighten and test your ability to read an existing ACC match and break down how the Character Sheets are used to create the story of a conflict between two characters. The fight is staged between a Sorcerer/Force User and a Weapons Specialist Mercenary/Non-Force User. The battle will highlight key changes in CS 2.0 and the the way that Force Powers, Feats, Aspects, and Skills all play a part in writing the characters realistically.

There is a rhyme and reason for everything in the way this match was written. In it, some of the more common questions asked of the ACC Staff are organically addressed, and we show off how a conflict between a Non-Force User and a Force User could happen. There is also the creation of Harry West as a half-Chiss. This was done to give an example to how a hybrid species could work in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood.

(Please note, Hybrid species are highly discouraged. But if you’re going to try one, use Harry West as an example. Please also note that Hybrid races are subject to harsher scrutiny from the Voice Staff).

This exam is not required. However, I encourage anyone who is serious about participating in the ACC to read it over and take it. It will help you know better understand how Judges look at matches, and hopefully lead to less confusion when you're writing your own matches.

It's a new exam, so any feedback or notes you have would be appreciated. Drop us a line at: [Log in to view e-mail addresses]

ACC Halls / Venues

There is some work to be done with ACC Halls and Venues. People have requested more venues, and we have been exploring how best to make the “Story Hall” a bit more useful. I will have more information on this in my next update, but for now, know that new venues and Halls are on my radar and being tracked.

If you want to add venues for your Clan, please make sure you talk with your Summit, who know to email me directly to start that discussion. I’m happy to add in Clan venues, just make sure you bring it to my attention.

ACC Space

Yes, you read that right. Pilot battles in the ACC. There is currently a team working on a unified proposal for this. It is not high priority, but it is being worked on.

ACC Live

It’s on the List. Relax, Esca :P.

Antei Contract Bureau

More importantly, I wanted to remind everyone that the ACB is up and running! I’ve had our lovely Commissioner, Celevon, running the show since I have been so focused on Combat Master and Voice work.

The run of the ACB will be shortly beginning the second round. The first round of the competition will be ending in the next seventy-two hours. Upon completion of the first round, the monthly leaderboard and overall leaderboard will be updated.

Things are going well so far, but we're still looking for volunteers to get involved from Naga Sadow, Plagueis, Taldryan and Tarentum. The goal is to have at least one 'officer' per unit whose roles would be to create uniquely designed prompts from their clan’s perspective. Volunteers would be joining a team/staff led by Celevon and working with members of other units. It's a team effort, so being able to work with the other staff members (officers) is important.

If you have any interest, email myself ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]) and Celevon ([Log in to view e-mail addresses]) and make sure to CC your Clan Summit so they are aware.

Lightsaber Combat Guide

Sai, Vivackus and I have finished a comprehensive guide that covers how writers can use the various Lightsaber Forms found in the lovely Lightsaber Guide and apply them to the ACC or when writing lightsaber duels. It will also contain some clarity and information on the nature of the different types of lightsabers that are available, and will answer a lot of common questions that come up.

This guide is currently pending Grand Master approval, and I will let you know more about it soon (TM).

ACC “Invitational”

This has been hinted at in Sarin’s reports. I have submitted a proposal to the Grand Master and am awaiting feedback. The second I know more, so will you guys.

Thanks for your patience!

GJWXII

I don’t know anything about this other than the ACC is supposed to be involved. Again, when I know details, you guys will.

Thanks everyone for checking out this report. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. My email is open 24/7 and you can usually grab me fairly regularly on Google Chat or Telegram.

I think that’s everything for now.

CS 2.0 Links

• Species Wiki
• Disciplines Wiki
• Aspects Wiki (Which now include the new Aspect Templates(TM)
• Skills Wiki
• Force Powers Wiki
• Feats Database -- CDawg

New Exams

• ACC Combat Studies
• ACC Qualification Exam

Thanks everyone.