I wanted to get a quick report out to address some project updates, some Character Sheet changes that may impact some members, and updates on the ongoing competitions the largest of which is Rivals being run by the Combat Master. It should be a busy month but there is a lot of change going on. See the recent DGM Report for the bulk of these. So let’s get into it.

Updates

Fiction Society

Things are moving forward again based on my latest proposal for the fiction society based on Dark Council feedback. James has completed the coding that follows the new framework for achieving various ranks, I’ve proposed a bit of balancing and after some approvals we should be good to go.

Still a few others things to complete such as finalizing a brief Shadow Academy history course planned at launch to gain credits for learning about the new society, graphics are in the queue with the Herald’s office along with everything else, possible Feats to come with the different ranks are waiting on approval and the society is being worked into the DJB fictional background.

I’m excited about how it’s shaping up, reconciling so many different visions and thoughts on what a Fiction Society should be, and expect to have it launched by the end of this month.

Voice Competition Approval Guidelines

The Voice Competition Approval Guidelines saw a solid overhaul by Arden, where we added language to address some confusion, and specifically put in place better details where we’ve seen issues arise that I’m aware of. Changes are…

• Clear grading criteria in the public portion of a competition
• Co-op fiction is addressed with minimums word counts, maximum entry rules and how to measure that participation.
• After the competition section expanded showing formats as a reminder, and need for competition ID.
• DJB wide competition section added, for additional requirements that I am looking to see enforced by my staff when things are run for the entire DJB.

Thanks again to Arden for his help getting this updated. We will continue to focus on other guidelines and processes.

Character Sheets

• CS2.0 Conclusion: We can officially call the CS2.0 efforts concluded. Wally did a great job of summarizing this conclusion in his report, and awards given to all who had great contributions to this effort. I’d like to thank Wally as well for all his great work and efforts on this front, and his continued support in the future.

• CS2.5: The next stage of the CS development (already named by Wally) is under discussion by Wally, Mav and I. This will likely include a lot of discussion on weapons as NFO are now available, and the lightsaber and hand to hand resources could use a cleanup with a CS minded look. Including guides and continued review of how things are going in CS2.0. We are scoping this project and now and I’m deciding how to proceed before pitching it to the GM for project approval. The best thing that can be done from a member perspective, is to continue to provide your feedback, it’s greatly appreciated.

• Weapon Loadout: We are seeing new weapons come through the CS request queue in this free form field with the introduction of the NFO. This could result in some discussions with the Voice staff as we move to approve things we haven’t seen before. I haven’t seen anything get too hung up but have seen an uptick. As a reminder - don’t list every weapon your character might use, just a list of specific weapons that they carry into general combat omitting any and all details on how those weapons are used.

• CS Languages: Every character will automatically gain proficiency in common languages associated with their species, this list can be found on the Species Wiki page listed for each species. In addition to this, one additional language for each rank in the Linguistics skill. With some coding by James, a number of available places for Languages will show up equal to Linguistics skill, during approval it will be checked to ensure multiple aren't jammed in where it should be one. A few notes: All character sheets that had an incorrect number of languages listed (too many or too few) have been invalidated and if there is a language not listed that should be discussed for adding to a CS, please email the Voice staff for discussion.

• CS Lore: There is currently an ongoing effort to review all CS data and look at standardizing and cleaning up the Lore topics. Where an open space to place a Lore skill will appear for each skill point that a member takes. Helping keep things lined up and more intuitive for anyone creating a character sheet. This should see quite a reduction in simple errors resulting in a CS being remanded. Expect to see a round of invalidated CS as this is rolled out as well, I’ll keep news posted in my reports.

• Grandfathered Species: The coding on the site allows us to prevent new CS from being created using grandfathered species, while not preventing members who are currently using them from making copies of their Character Sheets for revisions. This will reduce confusion about what species a member can create a new character around.

• Aleena Approved: After some review by the GM/DGM and myself, we have decided to approve Aleena as a species. We are currently discussing how to approach small characters in the system, and finalizing details for approval. I hoped to have final approval and drop it in the selector for this report, but hope we have more on that next time. For now, just expect to see these short reptilian bipeds soon.

Fiction Archive

I am working with Etah d’Tana to take a first pass at tracking down all the fiction from the Dark Crusade through the most recent Great Jedi War. Looking through countless news posts and reports, and getting things in order. His work will take great steps towards allowing us to highlight all this great official work on the story. Once he is done, I will have another pass with Sarin to ensure it’s complete and you should see it published somewhere on the site. Talking with James already about the best way to deal with site navigation to these types of fictions.

Active Competitions

• A PUN Little Fiction Competitoin: Kz’set di Plagia, from Clan Plagueis, has started a pun based competition for fun, where you get a chance to create puns. This will run for five more days, until September 12th.

• Antei Contract Bureau: LIVE!: Celevon Edraven, from Clan Arcona, is still running a fiction ladder based on contracts, where participants request contracts via the form on the competition, then complete and post their completed contracts for judgement and feedback. Completed contracts earn points throughout the running period with the winners receiving crescents. This first period will run until the end of September.

• ACC Rivalries: Wally, the Combat Master, is running an ACC competition that runs through Sept. 22nd. I’ve already seen some great matches, and a lot of skilled writing, so if you haven’t already jumped in, or are still needing to get ACC Qualified, it’s a great reason to do so.

Competition Results

Road to Damascus
* 1st Place Elincia Rei
* 2nd Place Braecen Kaeth
* 3rd Place Destin Oceanfel

A Tourist’s Guide To The Galaxy
* Results Pending Grading

Voice Staff Links

• Antei Combat Center
• Character Sheet Approval Guidelines
• Voice Competition Approval Guidelines
• Cluster of Ice
• Standard Fiction Grading Rubric
• CD-4WG

Cluster of Ice Requests

Organizers must send their pins and word counts to [Log in to view e-mail addresses], for Clusters of Ice to be awarded. Format: Pin#wordcount

Conclusion

We are still in the midst of the Path and Order roll out with some work still to be done. Yet, things are still moving forward with everything else. I hope to have some new fiction released soon, a new society, and a plan for further improvements to the awesome CS system. Including continued fiction opportunities.

If you ever have any questions, ideas, feel free to let me know. I do my best to reply quickly.

In darkness,

Evant Taelyan
Voice of the Brotherhood