Plagueis Consul Report #4: The Oncoming Storm

2017/05/06, 4:15 AM, Consul - Clan Plagueis

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Introduction

Happy Revenge of the 5th, everyone! (At least, it still is here in my west coast time zone.) Now that we've fully decompressed from The Enemy Below, I wanted to take this opportunity to once again applaud just how amazing everyone did during that event. Crunching the numbers we actually performed better than we did in last summer's Plagueis Pro Bowl on an entries per event basis, and the Pro Bowl performance was a serious revelation in and of itself. You've made your Consul extremely proud.

Table of Contents

Seals of Loyalty
Great Jedi War
Clan Survey
Clan Lore
Brotherhood News

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This month's art feature is of of your evil, scheming Consul and Proconsul on the bridge of the Ascendancy by Geirahod.

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Seals of Loyalty

Yesterday the Grand Master announced the recipients of the Star Wars Day seals of loyalty for 2017, but I wanted to highlight the members from Plagueis for some specific praise.

Privateer Pollus Paratus: Pollus has been one of the most active members in Plagueis of late. This goes beyond just all the competitions he enters (of which there are many), though. He is also is there all of the time on our Telegram channel. I know a lot of people may look at Telegram involvement and say "so what?", but I see it as one of the most important parts of our clan. Telegram is the place where we build our community. It is far more suited to this task than email or IRC ever were, and I've enjoyed watching Plagueis evolve since its implementation. Pollus is almost always there to be a part of the conversation, and each time he's sending a message he's helping to bring Plagueis closer together. Also, be sure to offer Pollus a special congrats on this, his very first Seal of Loyalty!
Battlelord Silent: Silent really is the definition of "loyalty" to Clan Plagueis and is the model of what a long term veteran can add to our clan and community. He's one of the few people still around that have been at this game longer than I have, but you'd never think of him as a crusty old fossil that's just taking up space. He's active in telegram, he participates in just about every competition that comes across his desk, and he's always pulling top ten (or better) finishes in Plagueis competitions.
Warrior Azmodius Equesinfernum: Azmodius has been an exceedingly valuable addition to our summit team since his return to the Brotherhood. He is one of the most dedicated members that we have, and was constantly punching above his weight, so the saying goes, as the BTL of The Circle. It's no wonder that he made the move up to Aedile, what with how well he did both personally and as a leader during The Enemy Below.

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Great Jedi War

A Great Jedi War, the first vendetta event since the early part of 2015, is looming on the Brotherhood's horizon, so I wanted to go into the particular quirks of these long dormant events. There are a number of people in Plagueis, both regular members and summit leaders alike, that have never seen a club wide vendetta happen. For those that were around during our clan vendetta with Odan-Urr (Between Light and Dark), it's somewhat like that only turned up to 11 as Spinal Tap would say. The most important thing I can say, however, for those of you who are new to this particular game and those of you to whom this is old hat is this: Don't let the Great Jedi War grind you down.

These sorts of vendettas turn the Brotherhood into an extreme, hyper-competitive version of its normal self, and the environment changes markedly. My feelings as Consul on the subject is that I don't want to focus on where we are in the placements at the end of the competition. I want to make sure people are having fun, because that's what I count as success. Secondary to that, on the "performance" front I'd much rather see Plagueis step up and participate our hearts out than focus on those that can get a Nova. I say this same thing to all my speech and debate students when they're going off to their first tournament: In any competition, you can only control a third of what determines the outcome.

The only thing you can control of all of the things that determine the outcome is you. You cannot control the other competitors, you cannot control the judges. There are more that determines whether or not you "win" a competition that are outside of your control than there are that are within your power to impact. Since that's the case, in my book you succeed when you do your best in that one slice of that pie chart up there. Plagueis has always been the Clan that does all the things, so getting entries in and having fun doing it is the name of the game. Get too wrapped up in placements, and you'll end up not having a good time. And I do not care one iota where Plagueis finishes in the final standings if my members had fun.

Additionally, the more things you enter, the more guaranteed return you're going to see. Every entry gets you a Vendetta seal. Every entry gets you credits to spend in the possession store, and vendetta comps give you more credits than regular competitions. And competition entries are, bar none, the most important metric to stack up when the summit and I sit down to submit recommendations for you all to the MAA's office for promotions or medals. The reason Plagueis has put such an emphasis on participation through all of our Clan events is to prepare for the day the next Great Jedi War appeared. Well, that day is quickly going to be upon us. If everyone brings the same sort of approach to the Great Jedi War they've brought to each end every Plagueis event, you can all have a good time and see great results at the same time. If we end up in the middle of the pack on points but have one of the best participation ratios in the Brotherhood, you'll see a very happy Consul. Really, the more entries you guys get in the easier my job is when I sit down to write up all those post-vendetta recommendations!

So, focus on fun and participation and the success will take care of itself!

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Clan Survey

Feedback time! I've put together a survey for all the members of Plagueis to offer their input on a variety of subjects. There are sections on how we run competitions and major events, the fictional direction of the Clan, and even on the issues of Clan identity. This is your chance to offer up your opinions on a variety of topics, so don't let it pass you by. I do want to say something up front, however. The data from this survey is going to be weighed against input from the entire summit going forward. Also, hopefully there will be a large number of respondents so there will also likely be a wide variety of opinions. Even if all your suggestions aren't implemented, I want everyone to know that the entire summit and I will be reading and weighing everyone's input. We value hearing from you all, no matter what the outcome ends up being, and nobody will be looked down upon if their opinions, thoughts, or suggestions don't align with those of others.

So, without further ado, take the survey HERE.

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Clan Lore

It's time to get things moving on the Clan Lore project! A bit of crowdsourcing of content has already happened via the Aliso Locations competition during The Enemy Below, but that's just going to serve as a starting point. This project is going to be co-administered by Laren Uscot and Ronovi Tavisaen, with oversight from the Clan Summit. We're looking for people to fill out a team that will be charged with developing locations and settings around Aliso that go beyond Aliso City. There is of course going to be room for team generated ideas, but also those that are looking to participate should also be prepared to work on assigned tasks and work from basic outlines. If you are interested in joining the team, please send me an email, CC'ing both Laren and Ronovi, with the subject "Plagueis Lore Project". Hope to hear from a whole mess of people!

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