Message from the Fist

Hello, and welcome to my 12th report as Fist of the Brotherhood. We’re six weeks away from the start of GJW XII, and I couldn’t be more excited. I don’t get all that excited about fiction, but the new direction we are going in has me interested in taking crayon to wall pen to paper again. Gaming-wise, with the removal of the T1 game restriction, there will be a lot more options for people to take part in a GJW Gaming event. Gone are the days where Jedi Academy and Pazaak were the only path to winning a GJW. And that is a good thing.

Since I put out so many supplementals last month, I will re-hash a few things just to get everything rolled into one place. There are a couple gaming changes to go over, some policy items that need clarification, and some other goodies.

Gaming Updates

Destiny 2 Launch Day Support

Destiny 2 launches on consoles in a couple days, with PC following next month. With that, I am excited to be able to provide a baseline support structure for the game that will allow you to earn gaming credit immediately upon launch! The staff utilized the open Beta as a testing ground for Crucible and Strikes to determine time per cluster ratios. I think we have it right for the start, but will make adjustments as we progress through the first month of the game.

Immediately upon launch, you will be able to submit for Crucible and Strikes. Raids and other events will be added as they go live (and show the right level of interest).

Crucible (PvO): 2 CFs per match, 30 CF daily cap in place.

Strikes (PvE): 6 CEs per strike, 30 CE daily cap in place.

Heroes of the Storm Update

After further review and discussion with our HotS players, I agree that the cluster payout for Quickplay matches (PvO) aren’t in line with the rewards for PvE. Effective immediately, the CF payout for a QP match has been raised from 2 CFs to 4. Daily cap is still in place.

Magistrate Rotation Halted

Normally, I’d have a call for applications for a new M:FIST as both Uji and Juna have served their six month term. That said, with the GJW coming, I do not have the time to train two new magistrates to cover down on day to day processing of gaming activity. I have asked both Uji and Juna to stay on for a second six month rotation, and fortunately for me, they agreed.

Additionally, I have decided that two magistrates is enough. I don’t need three magistrates to process gaming activity and run competitions. I also don’t have a need for magistrates to focus on running guilds, since that is no longer a requirement for any games we support. So, from now on, two Magistrates it is.

On Free-for-Alls

I’m glad to see all the FFA activity in DB Gaming. Contrary to popular belief, I’m always happy to see people playing SW games, even if I don’t play them.

Remember, FFAs can not be exclusive. They have an extremely high Cluster payout, and absolutely must be announced in DB Gaming. For the most part, you are all doing well at announcing when a FFA starts. What we’re not doing well on is announcing when they end and when another is going to begin.

So to clarify: You must announce all FFAs in DB Gaming. That means all of them. If you play a FFA, and then start a new one, you have to announce it. Give people a couple of minutes to log in. “FFA starting in 5 minutes” is totally acceptable. “FFA complete, would like to play more, next one starting in 10 minutes after Knight Hot Pockets finishes his lunch” is also acceptable.

So, announce start and finish. Any FFA that was not announced properly will be rejected.

Admin and Policy Reminders

Fist Supplemental 11.1 - Teamspeak is out. Discord is the official DJB voice server.

Fist Supplemental 11.3 - Updates to the RoC and Wiki. The T1/T2 game delineation has been removed. All games are eligible for use during GJWs and Vendettas.

• Gifs, stickers, images, charity solicitations, and being a jerk are all banned from DB Gaming. The Gif, Sticker, and image ban is non-negotiable. I stated in this news post what the rules of engagement were. If you post something that you aren’t supposed to, I’ll simply delete it. If you do it again, I’ll restrict your posting ability to text only. It’s that simple.

• The staff has 24 hours from the time you submit gaming activity to approve it. If your submission has been sitting for longer than that, there is a problem. If it hasn’t, there is no problem. The staff do their best to process gaming submissions as quickly as possible, but they are real people with real lives. I do not expect them to sit behind a computer processing gaming submissions all day, and neither should any of you.

• Solo submissions are never acceptable for Clusters of Earth/Fire. I will reject any that come in. You must play with at least one other DB member, no exceptions. This is not changing any time in the near (or far) future.

• Reminder: feel free to run them DB wide. Gaming is a slightly different community, and is one of the few that consistently brings club members together outside of the competitive environment. Most of the people I currently game are all in different clans. By opening up your event DB-wide, you increase the pool of possible participants, which could allow for a crescent upgrade!

• Reminder: While I sincerely appreciate having proposals sent to me via telegram, please email the staff list (email is at the bottom of this report). I ask that your House and Clan leadership take a look at your proposals before you send them up. This isn’t to add a layer of bureaucracy, it’s because I’m sure they’d like to know how you are trying to help the club improve...helps with award and promotion recommendations and all that. Feel free to cc them on your email to me and my staff.

FIST Sponsored Gaming Competitions

There are a LOT of competitions running at the moment, or coming in the very near future. Watch the Competitions Page to make sure you’re not missing out on something!

[FIST]1st Annual Flash Gaming

[FIST] 2nd Annual Mobile Gaming

[FIST] GMRG Gorefest 2017

[FIST] Quarterly Gaming Challenge 3 2017

[FIST] Diablo III Season 11 Final event is live. It will end prior to the start of the GJW.

August Weekly and Saturday Pendant of Blood Awardees

Congratulations to the following individuals on earning Pendants of Blood for the highest overall PvP score for the weeks/Saturdays listed!

Weekly PoBs

• 30 Jul-4 Aug: Noblius

• 6-11 Aug: Noblius

• 13-18 Aug: Noblius

• 20-25 Aug: Noblius

• 27 Aug-1 Sep: Ranarr

Saturday PoBs

• 5 Aug: Noblius

• 12 Aug: Noblius

• 19 Aug Xantros

• 26 July: TIE: Andrelious and Furios

• 2 Sep: Noblius

Ask the Fist

Couple of great questions this time. If I didn’t answer your question, it’s because a) it was silly or b) I missed it in my search. But more than likely, it was option a.

Val Cole asks: With Destiny 2 launching months apart on Consoles and PC, any plans on if pendants of Blood for Club Firsts will be handled separately for the Console and PC Platforms?

Answer: Not handled separately, but handled differently. I am going to announce a window for the club first to occur. No club first submissions will be accepted until the PC players have a chance to play the game. Once I think that everyone has had enough time to “git gud”, I’ll set up a competition event for the club first. This competition will not provide crescents but will give me a way to check the club first and gives our PC players an opportunity to earn the club first.

Beef asks: Is there anything specific you would advise Clan Gamers to pay more attention to, or to improve upon, that would help the staff out in any way?

Answer: Just be very careful when putting together your gaming submissions. Split them into smaller groups if you have a lot of matches. Reviewing 30 screenshots in one submission is kind of painful. Also, remember that remands are done for a reason. There’s always a comment associated with the remand, and it comes from the staff member who remanded the submission. If you look at the bottom of the notification email, it will say “administrative action performed by (staff member)”. That’s the person who remanded, and that’s the person you need to PM if you need clarification.

Helpful Links

• [DB Gaming on Telegram - Log in to view join link] on Telegram. Come be part of the discussion in the one and only official gaming channel of the Dark Jedi Brotherhood!

• Ask the Fist Google Form. Post a question here anytime, day or night, and either I or a member of my staff will try to answer it for you.

• Send us an email at [Log in to view e-mail addresses]

TL;DR

1) Destiny 2 Soon. Launch Day support!

2) HotS buff.

3) Admin stuff. Announce ALL FFAs. All. Of. Them.

4) ALL THE COMPETITIONS.

The GJW and the Battlefront 2 beta are the two biggest items on the radar for the Fist staff. I hope you all enjoy the GJW and everything (not just gaming) the individual DCers have put together for you.

I apologize for being a little later than normal (even though it’s only one day) with my report. I was out in the mountains and the signal was terrible. But sometimes it’s good to unplug and go outside...how else could you see things like this:

See you all next month!

-Dracpool, out.