Introduction

Yay, I’ve finally reached a dozen reports. Boo, it’s a day or so late. Yay, there’s lots of stuff for you to read. Boo, Furios writes too much. Quit your griping and read on for my monthly insight and news. It’s beneficial to you as a member.

News and Events

The ever-present exploration of ways to improve the club goes on with more change than you can shake a stick at. But as they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Our goal to bring the members the best experience an online Star Wars club can give will not waver and that’s one of the things that make the Brotherhood great. Here are the latest examples of the ever-evolving club’s progress.

• The reign of our soon-to-be late, great Grandmaster Pravus is coming to an end and he’s made his nomination for his successor. This important news can be read here. Yeah, apparently there are term limits. I must not have read all of those Covenant updates from awhile back. #bestQUAever

• The Headmaster’s 18th report details the end of Laren’s reign as Praetor to the Headmaster, Scroll of Foundation awards for the HM staff, and their upcoming/current projects. Congratulations to the new P:HM, Seraphol. You can comment with your regards on this update.

• The Voice has opened up applications for a new Magistrate. Applications were due on the 18th and the new Magistrate is Mauro Wynter. Congratulations!

• In Fistologistical News(TM), we’ve received a Praetor Report this month since Drac’s on his “fun” desert excursion. To sum it up, there’s gaming news, PoBs, Brotherhood Gaming League (BGL) updates with JA and HOTS, game deals and gaming comps, and the usual links you need to participate in Brotherhood Gaming. We’ve also got updates in the Brotherhood Gaming League with 16.4, Star Craft 2 with 16.5, and Titanfall in 16.6.

• Great Jedi War Chapters 5 and 6 were released here and here. They detail the fictional end of the Great Jedi War and seems to promise more conflict with the Collective in the future.

• MAA Report #8 was released at the end of last month and features a list of all the recent promotions and medals related to last year’s GJW as well as important information about running comps, families, and questions about administrative actions that may be of interest.

Quaestor’s Words

What do I want to talk about this month? Competition making of course. There’s been a small wave of comp creating from the clan members, which is good. So in reference to that, I’m going to share some competition making tips so that we can spend less time making and possibly remaking a competition.

Step 1: Pick a competition type and prompt. When you go to the Competition creation page (Administration>Manage Competitions>+ Create Competition), there will be different archetypical templates for different types of comps. Make sure you pick the most appropriate archetype for the type of competition you’ve chosen.

Step 2: Fill in the Competition Attributes. In my opinion, all following steps are easier done in a Google Doc or other text application. Once you’ve picked your competition archetype, the template will appear and you can copy+paste the details needed and fill them in freely without risking losing our progress if the site happens to crash. More importantly though, make sure all of your details align with the competition you’re running. If you’re not sure, find the information on the site or ask a summit member. For example, the general requirements for medal choices are on the DJB Wiki’s Crescents page.

Step 3: Write your Public and Subscriber Competition Details. This takes a bit more time and effort than the rest so pay attention. You need to make sure you clearly state what you want. The fewer discrepancies in the definition of a qualifying entry, the better. The specific circumstances you want included in the entry should also be stated. Generally at the end of the Public Details, make sure you’re entirely clear on how you’ll be grading the entries. Certain competitions, like fictions and gaming, have predefined rubrics and rules you can use for easily consistent grading. Finally, if you have details that would compromise the fairness of the competition being revealed to non-subscribers, write it in the Subscriber Competition Details box. Not all competitions need this, but timed competition types like Trivia or Puzzles rely on it.

Step 4: Make necessary adjustments to which boxes are checked in the Competition Settings section of the page.

Step 5: Submit and wait. If the competition is bounced back, fix whatever details you need to alter, and if you need clarification, you can always ask the summit.

Step 6: Advertize and cheer-lead for your competition. Making the comp is only half the battle. Following it through is the other half and is key to running a successful competition with at least 10 entries for that Crescent upgrade. Ask our blue-skinned PCON for the best tips in comp-cheering.

Step 7: Grading. Just do it based on the criteria you defined in the Competition Public Details. Finishing your grading in a timely manner is a good thing mkay.

Furios’ Fantastic Feature

Most of my free time these days is spent reading and researching a few personal projects that don’t as of yet have tangible results. But that doesn’t mean my creative juices have been stifled. They’re just flowing through less time-intensive things than drawing, such as block stacking. I think I’m actually getting quite good.

In Conclusion

I am tired and always busy with something or other. Really makes life difficult, but that’s just part of the magical journey that is consciousness. I’ll have another report for you in March, but in the meantime, participate in some comps (or make some) and join us on [Telegram - Log in to view join link] or in my next HKM QUA Skype Chat. Practice your Force powers or other abilities. Keep your eyes on the horizon for future Clan/Brotherhood news.

See you next month!

Furios Morega