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Exit: light

Welcome to my first Herald report.

To say that I’m hyped to be in this position is, quite frankly, an understatement. Yes, I’m very hyped, however this hype is somewhat tempered by the amount of work that needs doing now and in the future. A new website design, Possessions, new Robes, Sabers, Accessories, Crusade Cases...Fiction Society? Jesus, Mary and Joseph I’m gonna be a busy Herald. But that’s alright, because I enjoy my work. That’s why I do it, and that’s why I’ve been doing it for almost eight years.

See eight and a half years ago I started doing some Photoshop thanks to the Shadow Academy exam at the time. I sort of played around with functions, colors, effects and such. I took me a good part of a year to make solid graphics. It started with forum signatures and avatars and soon turned to sabers and the like. But all that time Muz kept me on as his Magistrate. Later Shikyo elevated me to Preator, first term. I truly started working on sabers and robes (my robes really sucked at the time, though). Slowly, slowly I started learning. Then I had to step down and take some chill time from the DB.

Eventually, somewhere in 2013 or 2014 I returned to the Club, became a member of Odan-Urr and also started working as Orv’s Magistrate. He wanted my help with sabers. At first I was afraid, I was petrified… yeah, really :P ....that I wouldn’t be able to do it. But I did. Somehow the knowledge and experience - the muscle memory more like - of making sabers sort of stuck in my head. I made my newest set of gradients and * bam * there you are. From then on it’s all uphill.

Then came Socorra’s term. The most active in my career as Herald staff. I really learned a lot from the folk I worked with, and with that I would like to thank everyone that worked with me, and still does so to make shiny new graphics for you guys.

Expect even more ;)

Up until now I’ve been Proconsul in Clan Odan-Urr, a place I love very much, and it still sort of stings that I’ve had to step down from that position. It was very, very fun and engaging. I built up great friendships there and am still doing so, however now it’s time to step up and pass my knowledge and share my gift with the whole Brotherhood in a more substantial manner.

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Enter: night

I have several important announcements in my first report. All of these have to do with the work the office does on a daily, and not-so-daily basis. Let’s start with

Staff

New Praetor

The Praetor position is very important in our office. I’ve handled it successfully for some time now and I can honestly say it’s equal parts hard and rewarding. You constantly need to be on your toes, learn new techniques and designs and keep ahead of the game. Basically it’s a steep learning curve where you have a very short amount of time to study, learn and do a project (often days). But for all its intensity, it was always fun. If it weren’t I’d never have applied for Herald.

The important thing in this section, though, is the actual appointment of the Praetor to the Herald. Rhiann Baenre has been a constant presence in the office for a very long time. It’s time she stepped up. Congratulate her next time you see her on IRC. ;)

Magistrate applications open!

The Magistrate’s duty in the office is to maintain the day-to-day workings in the office. Warbanners and Leader requests being two of those, and the primary. Some Magistrates get the chance to work on higher tier projects, though. But onto the important part...

I’m officially opening applications for Magistrates to the Herald. Do you have skills in computer graphics, using Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel or any other program? Maybe this is your shot.

Send all applications, with portfolios to my mail. The applications are open until the 23rd of July (One week from now).

Avatars - on hiatus

An announcement from this department, since many people have had questions. Project “Avatars” will remain on permanent hiatus until Baxir gets back in a more permanent manner - then, and only then will we talk about it in an official fashion. Sorry if this is bad news for you, but that’s how it is.

The whole project was based on Baxir’s style of drawing. No one can truly replicate it, nor should we. Unfortunately, we do not have the time nor resources to handle this type of project on a day-to-day basis without outside help (such as Baxir). With what’s coming in the next several months (Website redesign and Possessions), there are more pressing matters to attend to.

Herald Style Hanukkah

...continues on as planned, this year. However, come New Year, a new system will be set in place that releases graphics more frequently, all year-round. You can expect more on this in the future...

Custom Robes

The Custom Robes remain a DC-only privilege for now. However, I will hold two competitions per year where you, the members, will have the possibility of winning a custom robe.

To see what i mean, you only need to check Aaleeshah’s dossier. She won the last comp that Socorra held a few months ago.

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Take my hand

Crusade Ribbons/Cases Project - Done!

Ladies and gents,

The Crusade Cases, with Ribbons of course, are now available to everyone and anyone who has participated in the events of the Dark Crusade, Fading Light and Great Jedi War XI. You'll find your Crusade cases in your Accessories selector.

NOTE: If you have participated and cannot find your Crusade Case, please inform me immediately via E-mail.

To explain a bit more about the project. We were tasked with creating custom ribbon cases for each contestant of the three events mentioned above. To put into perspective how huge this project has been I'll just mention several numbers: The file created for all of these was 105 layers (for those who don't understand Layers, they are basically overlapping images, one over top another), there were 341 contestants. Each individual case is a separate image that had to be cross referenced on a spreadsheet, created, saved and then uploaded. It was monumental work and I have two individuals to thank for their hard work on this project: Rhiann Baenre, my Praetor, and Mirus Hi'ija, who volunteered to help us complete it in time (and helped he did). Thank you both for your hard work.

You can find all the ribbons and all the options here:

The gist of it? For each event you participated in you won a certain ribbon, clusters and or nova laurel, depending on your achievements. The list below shows exactly what I mean.

1. Dark Crusade
   1. Phase 1 & 2
      • Highest ribbon decoration: basic ribbon + double cluster (plus nova if won)
   2. Rest of Phases with 6 Events
      • 1 to 3 events > Basic Ribbon
      • 4 to 5 events > Ribbon + single cluster
      • 6 events > Ribbon + double clusters
   3. Rest of Phases with 5 Events
      • 1 to 2 events > Basic Ribbon
      • 3 to 4 events > Ribbon + single cluster
      • 5 events > Ribbon + double clusters
   4. Rest of Phases with 4 Events
      • 1 to 2 events > Basic Ribbon
      • 3 events > Ribbon + single cluster
      • 4 events > Ribbon + double clusters
2. Fading Light
   1. 1 chapter > Basic Ribbon
   2. 2 chapters > Ribbon + single cluster
   3. 3 chapters > Ribbon + double clusters
3. GJW XI
   1. 1 to 5 events > Basic Ribbon
   2. 6 to 10 events > Ribbon + single cluster
   3. 11 events > Ribbon + double cluster

For more information check the Crusade Ribbons wiki page which will be updated in the coming days.

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We're off to never never land

There’s a Form for that

• Warbanner Request
• Custom Saber Request
• Leadership Graphics Request
• Second Sons Artwork Volunteers

There are two new forms you should consider using:

• Complaints - Allows you to send any issues to the Herald’s staff, which we can then process quickly. E-mails tend to disappear in various filters, folders, etc.
• Herald FAQ - Ask any questions you want through this form. Some of them may be introduced in an extensive FAQ on the Wiki, while others will be addressed in my reports.

Ask the Herald

Cable: Are there plans for any more 'Design your own...' competitions or something similar in the future?

Yes. Read the "Custom Robes" section. That is what Iw as talking about. However the comps themselves may take on a different form. We'll see.

Celevon: Is there a wiki page that explains the Crusade Ribbons? Such as what planet the particular ones are for, stars, etc?

Not yet as detailed as I want it, but here it is: Crusade Ribbons. I will add more detail in the coming days.

Celevon: "What is your policy regarding designs? To be more specific: how do you feel about regular members sending in designs and/or sketches for future lightsabers and robes for the DB as a whole?

By all means, go for it. if you think you have an interesting design for the next selector saber or robe, send it to me and I will consider it if I like it.

Andrelious: What does the Herald do RP-wise? Does he still do the job you do OOCly?

It is mentioned under Fictional Role on the Herald’s page, though it should be expanded further. Basically he is a diplomat and emissary for the Dark Council, constantly in communication with the Clans and the rest of the galaxy. I’m the guy you don’t wanna see carrying a lot of paperwork. :P

Esca: When can we see some uniform robes for those military types, especially with the non-force paths possibly showing up soon? :D

Hopefully very soon. I’m not sure what kind of robes you can expect at the moment because it all depends on the Paths, but I do believe the “Enlisted” path will have some.

Wrooshuu: Now that you have your orders from Sarin to revamp the main website, are we sticking with the planets and stars theme? Does this revamp include Clan Logos?

We’ll see about the theme. We’re still a long ways off from a final product on this front. To answer the second part of the question, no I don’t believe Clan logos will change.

Omega: Do you have a lil green hat, and how often do you expect to "Stop The Presses"

I do have a lil’ green hat. I use it on Patrick’s day often (mostly to not get pinched or whatever). I don’t expect I’ll “Stop the presses” for a while to come. Come August we start on the Website redesign and Possessions later on. much work to be done.

Teylas: Has any thought been put into the expansion of custom Herald-type stuff, specifically robes?

Check up there for robes. As for the rest, we’ll see. Right now nothing of the sort is being talked about, but you never know what the future brings. ;)

NeroInferni: With the incoming new Orders that are not force users are there going to be more non-force user friendly weapons selectable in the selector?

For those specific paths, probably yes. But now that Possessions is coming out fairly soon, i do believe you’ll be able to buy your own.

Uji: If you could name one specific attribute you want to bring to the Herald office, one leadership characteristic, personal touch, or way of design. What would it be?

Whether I bring anything positive into the office will have to be determined by the membership and their reactions to my work. However I do believe I bring with me a new style of graphics that has not existed in the DB so far. For so long we’ve had vector graphics dominating (which is only natural, since both Muz and Shikyo use them). Now it’s time for a more realistic approach.

Ood: What underwear are you wearing right now? Oh, and any ideas for new sabers?

Non-a’ yo business :P There are several ideas for new sabers. Some good, some bad, all just ideas so far.

Atty: Vyr, Firefly is getting a second season one day...right?

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Closing word

My first herald report has come and gone. Hope it was informative and useful for you guys. Use the forms available to you. Send us groovy ideas to work on and expect the unexpected. That is all.

See you Space Cowboys. ;)