Greetings all, and welcome to my latest Voice report! In this report, I'll break down GJW fiction, including how it was graded, some members that did well that didn't place, and give some general updates on CS and ACC issues, as well.

Writing in the GJW: Fiction By the Numbers

• 800 pages written by Brotherhood authors (single space, 12 pt Arial font) in Phase 1 and 2
  
• ~650 Clusters of Ice from Fictions 1 and 2
  
• 151 Qualifying fiction entries
  
• 14 Different members placing in the Top 10s of fiction
  
• 5 Different Novae winners
  

GJW Run-On Information

Clusters of Ice are still being prepped for the Run-On. James just deployed an update to the Run-On Cluster Formula, which will be updated when the Wiki comes back online. Run-Ons are now earning Clusters of Ice based on Word Count, just as in fiction, but they they have a maximum Cluster number based around the number of posts written in a Run-On. Each post in a Run-On adds 1 Cluster of Ice to the cap, and every 500 words earns 1 Cluster of Ice. So, if a member writes two 300 word posts and a 400 word post, that member will now receive 3 Clusters of Ice for their effort. There is currently no maximum set to this Cluster of Ice cap, but we will be monitoring this change in the coming months.

Grading in the GJW

So I've had a few questions on how grading went in the GJW, so I wanted to clarify the grading process. The workflow went as follows: 3-4 DC members (including me) received 15-20 fictions and read them all, picking out an unordered list of the 10 best stories basd on the Fiction Rubric, with the option to include more. I then read through all the entries from all the 10 best lists, and ordered them into my own top twenty. I read all the stories again, confirmed my top ten, and emailed it off to Muz and Pravus, who then consulted with me on a final top 10.

This was a time consuming process, because overall, the quality of submissions in the GJW was substantially better than that of FL3. In fact, I would hazard a guess that the some members that didn't even place in the top ten this time around would have easily been in the top 5 of FL3 and may even have pushed for a Nova. That is the quality of submissions received.

All entries were scored with the Fiction Grading Rubric. In general, winning entries (or high placing entries) combined unique or unexpected story elements, strong use of characters (either NPCs or DB characters) including integration of aspects or the like from character sheets, character development in some form throughout a story in line with the character's CS-based personality, a detailed central conflict (sometimes as simple as the battle or mission as described in the prompt, but other times involving other facets), fulfillment of the plot and whatever story was written (that is, covering various aspects of the prompt plot as well as resolving whatever central conflict the writer created in his or her fiction), a realistic setting given the Civil War and Korriban itself, and minimal syntax issues. Readability was huge. There were several entries that simply lost huge points because it was hard to follow what was going on due to issues with punctuation, font choice, and the like.

For Phase 1 specifically, there were two types of stories, in general: those that methodically approached the battle and built a rather epic story about it in some way, and those that instead worked around the battle with a very creative angle of some kind. Both stories were reflected in the Top 10, and the GN winner basically had elements of both. However, quite a few members took the approach of a cliffhanger ending in a "to-be-continued" manner, perhaps due to the knowledge of a second phase. This generally didn't win anyone extra story points, though: I was looking for completed stories! For Phase 1, an unordered list of people just missing the top ten was Kz'set, Anshar, Archangel, Atyiru, and Kir. All of these stories were excellent, and it was tough to pick a top ten.

For Phase 2, a variety of perspectives were used, and I had a lot of fun with the stories people wrote. This was a great topic to read, and people had a lot of fun with it. Most of the people screening stories felt that their entries were of higher quality in Phase 2 than in Phase 1, and there were certainly more "finished" stories than in Phase 1. There were some great entries by relatively new faces (to me, anyway) in fiction competitions, and I appreciated that. There were amazing stories by K'tana, Mayda, Anahorn Dempsey, Yacks, in no particular order, that just missed the top ten.

When it came to Run-Ons, only twelve qualified for grading, so that was much simpler. Pravus and I reviewed the run-ons, compared notes, compiled a top ten, and got approval from Muz. The end! ;) Here, many, many run-ons lost Realism points because of not adhereing to character sheets either of NPCs or of their own written members. So always make sure what you are writing fits the character sheets!

If you are looking for feedback on your entry, either to Phase 1 or Phase 2 or both, you can always email me. I'll try to get you whatever I can, feedback-wise.

Playing Catch-Up

Now that the GJW has ended, there are a number of areas I will be shifting focus to immediately. Chief among them is playing catch-up with exams, battles in queue, and ACC venues submitted. If you submitted to any of those areas, please sit tight: Working through my email in box!

Now that the war has ended, we will be polishing up information on the Fiction Society and moving towards something to show to the general membership and get coded into the site. The goal is to have this by the first major project of the Voice's office, post-GJW.

A New Species: Khil

It has been a long time since I mentioned these, but we've been adding new species. We added Coynite some time ago, and just added in Khil just now.

DB-Wide Fiction Competitions

There are currently two DB-Wide fiction competitions running. The first is It was my first day, and offers members a chance to detail their first day in the Brotherhood. This is an excellent opportunity for members to delve into the early history of their characters! The second is The war is over!, which invites stories on how characters are dealing with the aftermath of the massive Great Jedi War. Both competitions run into mid-March, so plenty of time to work on them!

TL;DR

• 800 pages of GJW fiction
  
• New Cluster of Ice Formula
• New Species: Coynite and Khil
  
• Two DB-Wide Fiction Competitions!

Congratulations to Arcona on their GJW win, Taldryan on 2nd, and Scholae Palatinae on 3rd.. and until next time... happy writing!

Voice-Related Links

• Current Fiction Competitions
• Fiction Discourse Category
• Useful Character Sheet System Links
• Useful Antei Combat Chamber Links
• ACC Question and Answer
  

Telaris "Mav" Cantor

Voice of the Brotherhood